Unseen

A Novel

Karin Slaughter

Random House Publishing Group – Bantam Dell

Delacorte Press

ISBN: 9780345539472

Description:

Karin Slaughter’s New York Times bestselling novels are utterly riveting and masterfully drawn. Her latest thriller, Unseen, pits detectives, lovers, and enemies against one another in an unforgettable standoff between righteous courage and deepest evil.

Bill Black is a scary guy: a tall ex-con who rides to work on a Harley and trails an air of violence wherever he goes. In Macon, Georgia, Bill has caught the eye of a wiry little drug dealer and his cunning girlfriend. They think Bill might be a useful ally. They don’t know that Bill is actually a Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent named Will Trent. Or that he is fighting his own demons, undercover and cut off from the support of Sara Linton—the woman he loves, who cannot be told of the risk Will is taking.

Sara herself has come to Macon because of a cop shooting: Her stepson, Jared, has been gunned down in his own home. Sara holds Lena, Jared’s wife, responsible: Lena, a detective, has been a magnet for trouble all her life, and Jared’s death is not the first time someone Sara loved got caught in the crossfire. Furious, Sara finds herself involved in the same case that Will is working without even knowing it, and soon danger is swirling around both of them.

In a novel of fierce intensity, shifting allegiances, and shocking twists, two investigations collide with a conspiracy straddling both sides of the law. Karin Slaughter’s latest is both an electrifying thriller and a piercing study of human nature: what happens when good people face the unseen evils in their lives.

My View:

Another stunning performance by Karin Slaughter, I was enthralled, I was mesmerised, and I was riveted to every word. It is no secret that I am a Karin Slaughter fan – I have read every book she has written since Blindsighted and what great reads they have all been.  I love this series and have particularly liked the Will Trent and Sara Linton union and story line.

This novel is not for the faint hearted- the opening chapter had me holding my hands over my eyes as I read the attack at Lena’s house; it was brutal, ferocious and gruesome but I couldn’t stop reading. Karin Slaughter’s characters depict honest emotions and responses – sometimes they may not be quite how we would respond or how we think we might respond but the responses are real. Karen shows us that relationships are complicated and that the past does affect the future – but she gives us hope that we can move on, each at our own pace.

Conspiracies, shocking twists and turns, violence, crime and passion abound.  Every range of emotion is portrayed in this novel; fear, courage, hope… loyalties and trust are tested and love that is all consuming, healing and cleansing is victorious; this novel has it all.

This novel was a stirring and emotional read – I really felt for the victims of the crimes, especially the children. I am glad that Slaughter has courage to draw attention to the plight of the disempowered, especially children and has shown how power can corrupt – no one is exempt from suspicion and the sepsis of corruption.

Karin Slaughter you are a brilliant writer and I look forward your next offering and wish you luck with the Edgar nomination for short story: The Unremarkable Heart!