False Witness By Karin Slaughter

‘False Witness’ is the latest book by Karin Slaughter.

Leigh and her sister Callie are not bad people – but one night, more than two decades ago, they did something terrible. And the result was a childhood tarnished by secrets, broken by betrayal, devastated by violence. Years later, Leigh has pushed that night from her mind and become a successful lawyer – but when she is forced to take on a new client against her will, her world begins to spiral out of control. Because the client knows the truth about what happened twenty-three years ago. He knows what Leigh and Callie did. And unless they stop him, he’s going to tear their lives apart.

Today I spent my day with my head in Karin’s latest book, a gruesome and gripping story about revenge, absolution and survival.

The story is seen through the narrative of sisters Leigh and Callie who’s lives change for the worst one evening and one day many years later, it comes back to haunt them when Leigh now a successful lawyer has to represent a man accused of rape. A man called Andrew Tenant specifically asked for Leigh’s representation bringing up old ghosts that Leigh and Callie had hidden.

I love crime thrillers and I’ve actually not read many by Karin, so when I was given the opportunity for this tour, I jumped at this.

The story is set during the pandemic and is not for the faint hearted. Leigh has to defend Andrew and she fears that he’s not quite the wholesome man that he leads people to believe. From a wealthy background, people find it hard to believe that he’s committed gruesome sexual assaults and the scenes are quite upsetting and hard to read.

Her younger sister Callie has never properly recovered from that particular night and has since developed a drug addiction that helps numb the pain of the past. I loved Callie, for all her issues and problems, she was a breath of fresh air to read with her wit and warmth. Her mother Phil was also entertaining, a hard woman who’s heart only softened for animals. Whilst Leigh, the eldest of the two is extremely protective of her sister and her family.

Karin’s books are not for the timid and focus on hard hitting issues such as child abuse, drug addiction and sexual assault and there were times in the story, when I had to physically put the book down as it got a bit too much at times. The story is current and is set during the pandemic which adds a time stamp to the story.

Cleverly written with compelling characters that made for gripping reading and with twists and shocks that keeps the reader on their toes, ‘False Witness’ is an intense story of sibling love, protection and made a for a rollercoaster of a thriller.

You can buy ‘False Witness’ from Amazon and is available to buy from good bookshops.