I can´t remember which Karin Slaughter book I discovered first. But according to my list, I read Triptych first. If you are looking for a great thriller but don´t know the author yet, this book is a wonderful opportunity to discover her work.
Triptych
by Karin SlaughterWill Trent Series #1
Publisher Arrow on May 1, 2011
Genre Thriller
Pages 514
Format Paperback
Source Blanvalet
Goodreads
✶✶✶✶½
When Atlanta police detective Michael Ormewood is called out to a murder scene at the notorious Grady Homes, he finds himself faced with one of the most brutal killings of his career: Aleesha Monroe is found in the stairwell in a pool of her own blood, her body horribly mutilated. As a one-off killing it's shocking, but when it becomes clear that it's just the latest in a series of similar attacks, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is called in, and Michael is forced into working with Special Agent Will Trent of the Criminal Apprehension Team - a man he instinctively dislikes. Twenty-four hours later, the violence Michael sees around him every day explodes in his own backyard. And it seems the mystery behind Monroe's death is inextricably entangled with a past that refuses to stay buried...
Story
Detective Michael Ormewood is called to a gruesome crime scene. What he finds there is a shock and difficult to grasp, even for a man like him. He doesn´t like the fact that special agent Will Trent is placed at his side as an observer. And certainly not its behavior. And yet they set about solving this bloody case. But the truth behind this murder case is not easy to find, and by the time Will Trent begins to grasp the context, it is almost too late for his colleague Angie.
Style
Karin Slaughter has written a captivating game of cat and mouse that makes use of somewhat crude, almost obscene language, which, however, never seems out of place. It describes the scenes straightforwardly and clearly, brings the often very bloody scenes to the reader´s eyes, and still leaves enough room for your own imagination. The plot is nifty and not easy to follow at first. The pace of reading is almost comfortable, almost too comfortable for my taste for a thriller of this kind. Nevertheless, Karin Slaughter manages to keep the tension going until the end. The author´s writing style is fascinating, and you flip through the pages captivated by the plot.
Characters
The individual characters are very complex. At the beginning of the thriller, Karin Slaughter draws the characters very clearly for the reader and throws these resulting images almost completely over later in the plot. For a while, it is not at all clear who is really bad or in which direction the whole thing is going. From about halfway through the thriller it becomes clear to the reader who the killer is, and Karin Slaughter uses the rest of the plot to show the reader how he is hunted down.
Will Trent is a character who at first glance seems almost boring, even if he is about six feet tall. His strengths and weaknesses aren´t really revealed until late in the book and he might be one of the best characters in this thriller.
Conclusion
A great thriller with a few surprises, but not nearly as bloody as I expected. Can be read as a standalone novel, but I recommend reading the Will Trent series in chronological order.
Happy reading
Karin Slaughter
Karin Slaughter, born in 1971, is from Atlanta, Georgia. In 2003 her debut novel Blindsighted was published and went straight to the top of the international bestselling list and catapulted her onto the Thriller Olympus. She is the #1 internationally bestselling author of more than a dozen novels, including the Will Trent and Grant County series and the instant New York Times bestselling standalone, Cop Town, and Pretty Girls. There are more than 35 million copies of her books in print around the world.
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