Tag / Karin Slaughter

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Book 19 (of 52) – Broken

Broken – Karin Slaughter

When Sara Linton returns to Grant County for the first time since leaving following her husband’s death, she stumbles across a murder, a suicide, and a chance to settle some long-standing grudges.  GBI agent Will Trent joins her to investigate the crimes, and the local police department that seems to be covering up the whole thing.  When a second murder occurs, the coverup falls apart and one local detective puts her career on the line, comes clean, and teams up with Will to find the truth.

Broken, the fourth entry in Karin Slaughter’s Will Trent series and my fifth overall, feels like the wrap up of Slaughter’s Grant County series, which predated this one.  Having not read any of those books, I will say that I am now interested to see how there characters got to where they are here.  But first, there is the remaining entries in the Trent series to get to, all of which are waiting on my Kindle, except for the tenth which was just published last August.

 

by admin

2020: The Year In Books

As we wrap up 2020, a year where I should have been setting records due to the pandemic and stay at home orders, I managed to read only 23 books, a decrease of 5 books over last year.  Of those 23, 8 were non-fiction and, of the 15 novels, only 2 were tied to a TV show.  None of the books came out of my dwindling “to-read” drawer and 15 were e-books.  I read just over 7,800 pages, my seventh highest total of all time.

For the first time in years, a majority of the books I read this year were by authors I have read before. The 11 authors that I read for the first this year were:

  • Ken Harrelson
  • Jeff Snook
  • Liz Phair
  • Megan Abbott
  • Greer Hendricks
  • Sarah Pekkanen
  • Cameron Esposito
  • Rich Lindberg
  • Sara Schaefer
  • Alex Trebek
  • Trevor Noah

Tom Perotta, Erle Stanley Gardner, and Karin Slaughter were the only authors that I read multiple titles from during 2020.

6 of the books I read were released this year, while 5 of them were released last century, with the oldest first published in 1933.

Finally, the breakdown by month.  My vacation to Hawaii in February and being off in December certainly helped pad its totals a tad bit. Continue reading →

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Book 19 (of 52) – Undone

Undone – Karin Slaughter

A simple traffic accident turns in to so much more when Detective Will Trent finds a cave and, after a search, a dead body in Undone, the third entry in Karin Slaughter’s Will Trent series.  When another pair of women go missing, Trent and his partner try to find out what links them together in order to find out who took them.

This is now my fourth entry in the series and I’m glad to see that it has broken from the pattern established in the previous three, where there was a personal connection between Trent and one of the primary players in the investigation.  This time it was all old fashioned police work that led the detectives to the killer/abductor.

I know I have a few more entries sitting on the Kindle, so I look forward to continuing the series in the future.

by admin

Book 7 (of 52) – Fractured

Fractured – Karin Slaughter

Fractured, the second entry in the Will Trent series, follows the state investigator, who teams up with a detective from Atlanta PD when a brutal crime scene leads to the discovery of a kidnapped girl.  The investigation leads to old acquaintances and feelings of inadequacy as the police try to find the missing girl before her time runs out.

Last year, I had my first experience with this series from author Karin Slaughter, taking in the 8th and 1st entry in that order. Once again, there was a personal connection between Trent and one of the primary players in the investigation, a crutch that I fear Slaughter leans on way too often.  That said, I finished the book in less than a week, so it must have had something going for it.  I look forward to continuing the series and seeing where it goes from here.  Hopefully in order.

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2019: The Year In Books

As we wrap up 2019, it is time to take a look back at the 28 books I read over the past year, an increase of 6 books over last year.  Of those 28, 7 were non-fiction and, of the 21 novels, only 3 were tied to a TV show.  Only one of the books came out of my dwindling “to-read” drawer, 19 were e-books, and, for the first time, there was 1 audio book.  I read nearly 9,500 pages, my second highest total of all time.

Once again, a majority of the books I read this year were by authors I’ve never read before. The 15 authors that I read for the first this year were:

  • Bill Clinton
  • Charles Willeford
  • Nell Scovell
  • Ernest Cline
  • Katrin Schumann
  • Lindy West
  • Luke Jennings
  • Agatha Christie
  • W. P. Kinsella
  • Aziz Ansari
  • John Gregory Betancourt
  • Julie Gregory
  • Mindy Kaling
  • Anthony Stevens
  • Louis Strauss
  • Dean Wesley Smith
  • Kristine Kathryn Rusch
  • Nell Zink
  • Stephanie Wittels Wachs

Jeffery Deaver and Karin Slaughter were the only authors that I read multiple titles from during 2019.

5 of the books I read were released this year, while 5 of them were released last century, with the oldest first published in 1934.

Finally, the breakdown by month.  My vacation to Hawaii in February and being off in December certainly helped pad its totals a tad bit.

Continue reading →

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Prolific Authors 2019

Way back in December of 2011 (and again in the Decembers of 2013, 2015, and 2017), we took a look at the authors I have read the most, dating back to high school. Since our last check-in, I’ve read an additional 48 books from 50 different authors. There shouldn’t be much movement over the past 2 years, but it’s time to take another look and see if my “favorite” authors have changed much in that time span. Once again, we will be limiting ourselves to the now 70 authors from whom I have read more than one book.

 

Author Name Current Total 2017 Total Difference
Nancy Holder 16 15 1

Nancy Holder adds 1 new book over the past 2 years to maintain her lead.

Richard Castle 15 14 1

The writer (or writers) using the nom de plume of the main character from the television show Castle sees a slight increase, despite the show being off the air for well over 3 years now.

Stephen King 13 12 1
Greg Rucka 13 13 0
Christopher Golden 12 12 0
Brad Meltzer 12 11 1

Very little movement in the next tier the past 2 years.

Jeffery Deaver 11 8 3

We round out the double digits with Deaver, who will be going up again soon, as I’m currently reading one of his books. Continue reading →

by jim

Book 21 (of 52) – Triptych

Triptych – Karin Slaughter

Triptych, the first entry in the Will Trent series, follows a state investigator who teams up with Atlanta PD when a murdered prostitute matches the MO of other cases.  The investigation brings together old loves, family ties, and a secret buried for 30 years.

Earlier this year, I had my first experience with this series from Karin Slaughter, taking in the 8th entry.  Because of this, some of the twists, like the relationship between 2 of the characters, were lost on me as I was already aware.  That said, the reveal of the killer and the ultimate connection of the B plot to the A plot made for an enjoyable read.  I’m sure I’ll be back for more before too long.

 

by admin

Book 7 (of 52) – The Kept Woman

The Kept Woman – Karin Slaughter

The Kept Woman, the 8th entry in author Karin Slaughter’s Will Trent series, follows a team of state investigators as they work the death of a former Atlanta police detective and a missing and injured loved one of one of their own.  As their investigation continues, they find it ties into a previous case, involving NBA superstars and the rape of a young girl.

My first experience with Slaughter’s work, a stand alone story outside of the Trent series, came last year and was very enjoyable.  Had I known this was part book was part of a series, I might have been hesitant to pick it up, but there really isn’t any indication on the cover.  I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy this effort, but there were some plot points that seemed a little far fetched, and I’m not sure if that is inherent in the series or just part of this outing.  The interconnectedness between all of the players, and the number of them who were ex-cops, despite being bad actors, did pull me out of the story a bit.  But, overall, it was an enjoyable read.  I’ve got some more of her work sitting around and I’m looking forward to giving it another try.

 

by admin

2018: The Year In Books

Another year has come to an end and it is time to take a look back at the 22 books I read over the past year, 6 less than last year.  Of those 22, 7 were non-fiction and, of the 15 novels, only 1 was a TV show tie-in.  Only one of the books came out of my dwindling “to-read” drawer, and 12 were e-books.  I read over 7,000 pages, my lowest total since at least 2013.

Once again, a majority of the books I read this year were by authors I’ve never read before. The 15 authors that I read for the first this year were:
Mamrie Hart
Dan Harris
Ginger Zee
Krysten Ritter
Karin Slaughter
Michelle West
Paul Ruditis
Michelle McNamara
David Ross
Don Yaeger
Araminta Hall
Amber Tamblyn
Laura Lippman
Lauren Graham
Drew Magary

There was not a single author that I read multiple titles from during 2018.

6 of the books I read were released this year, while 1 of them was released last century, exactly 60 years ago

Finally, the breakdown by month.  My vacation in September certainly helped pad its totals a tad bit.

Continue reading →

by admin

Book 9 (of 52) – Pretty Girls

Pretty Girls – Karin Slaughter

This one had been sitting on the Kindle for a while, and the flight to Las Vegas seemed like a perfect time to start it.  In Pretty Girls, Karin Slaughter tells the story of Claire, the glamorous trophy wife of an Atlanta millionaire.  When her husband is killed, Claire starts to learn the truth about him, including the connection he has to her sister’s death years before.

I don’t even know how I ended up buying this book, but I’m glad I did.  It was a good introduction to Slaughter and her work, and I hope I come across more in the future.