Thrillers & Suspense
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False Witness: A Novel
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
"There's deception, sabotage, violence, family secrets . . . all the stuff you could want from a fictional page-turner."- theSkimm
Recommended by Washington Post • theSkimm • GMA.com • Popsugar • Bustle • Atlanta Journal-Constitution • Augusta Chronicle • Sun-Sentinel • Mystery and Suspense Magazine • and more!
He saw what you did. He knows who you are…
From the New York Times bestselling author of Pieces of Her and The Silent Wife, an electrifying standalone thriller.
AN ORDINARY LIFE…
Leigh Collier has worked hard to build what looks like a normal life. She's an up-and-coming defense attorney at a prestigious law firm in Atlanta, would do anything for her sixteen-year-old daughter Maddy, and is managing to successfully coparent through a pandemic after an amicable separation from her husband Walter.
HIDES A DEVASTATING PAST...
But Leigh's ordinary life masks a childhood no one should have to endure … a childhood tarnished by secrets, broken by betrayal, and ultimately destroyed by a brutal act of violence.
BUT NOW THE PAST IS CATCHING UP…
On a Sunday night at her daughter's school play, she gets a call from one of the firm's partners who wants Leigh to come on board to defend a wealthy man accused of multiple counts of rape. Though wary of the case, it becomes apparent she doesn't have much choice if she wants to keep her job. They're scheduled to go to trial in one week. When she meets the accused face-to-face, she realizes that it's no coincidence that he's specifically asked for her to represent him. She knows him. And he knows her. More to the point, he may know what happened over twenty years ago, and why Leigh has spent two decades avoiding her past.
AND TIME IS RUNNING OUT.
Suddenly she has a lot more to lose than this case. The only person who can help is her younger, estranged sister Callie-the last person Leigh would ever want to drag into this after all they've been through. But with the life-shattering truth in danger of being revealed, she has no choice...
"A high-stakes thriller . . . Her heroines are believable, flawed and courageous." –OYINKAN BRAITHWAITE
"There's deception, sabotage, violence, family secrets . . . all the stuff you could want from a fictional page-turner."- theSkimm
Recommended by Washington Post • theSkimm • GMA.com • Popsugar • Bustle • Atlanta Journal-Constitution • Augusta Chronicle • Sun-Sentinel • Mystery and Suspense Magazine • and more!
He saw what you did. He knows who you are…
From the New York Times bestselling author of Pieces of Her and The Silent Wife, an electrifying standalone thriller.
AN ORDINARY LIFE…
Leigh Collier has worked hard to build what looks like a normal life. She's an up-and-coming defense attorney at a prestigious law firm in Atlanta, would do anything for her sixteen-year-old daughter Maddy, and is managing to successfully coparent through a pandemic after an amicable separation from her husband Walter.
HIDES A DEVASTATING PAST...
But Leigh's ordinary life masks a childhood no one should have to endure … a childhood tarnished by secrets, broken by betrayal, and ultimately destroyed by a brutal act of violence.
BUT NOW THE PAST IS CATCHING UP…
On a Sunday night at her daughter's school play, she gets a call from one of the firm's partners who wants Leigh to come on board to defend a wealthy man accused of multiple counts of rape. Though wary of the case, it becomes apparent she doesn't have much choice if she wants to keep her job. They're scheduled to go to trial in one week. When she meets the accused face-to-face, she realizes that it's no coincidence that he's specifically asked for her to represent him. She knows him. And he knows her. More to the point, he may know what happened over twenty years ago, and why Leigh has spent two decades avoiding her past.
AND TIME IS RUNNING OUT.
Suddenly she has a lot more to lose than this case. The only person who can help is her younger, estranged sister Callie-the last person Leigh would ever want to drag into this after all they've been through. But with the life-shattering truth in danger of being revealed, she has no choice...
"A high-stakes thriller . . . Her heroines are believable, flawed and courageous." –OYINKAN BRAITHWAITE
Editorial Reviews
"Cunningly conceived and written . . . Deeply satisfying." - Washington Post on False Witness
"Annnnd she does it again. Slaughter's latest high-stakes thriller follows a defense attorney whose dark past is coming back to haunt her - all thanks to a new client she's called in to represent days before his trial. There's deception, sabotage, violence, family secrets . . . all the stuff you could want from a fictional page-turner, really." - theSkimm on False Witness
"Slaughter offers us a high-stakes thriller that handles the tragedy of addiction with empathy and grace. Her heroines are believable, flawed and courageous." - Oyinkan Braithwaite, award-winning author of My Sister, The Serial Killer, on False Witness
"Karin Slaughter's False Witness is a twisty, searingly contemporary mystery steeped in a dark past, and she weaves a story that catches your breath and keeps you gasping and guessing until the end." - Stacey Abrams, author of While Justice Sleeps
"Slaughter doesn't save her twists for the end, instead peppering them throughout the intricately layered story amid stomach-churning near misses and gripping character revelations. Equal parts hyperrealistic thriller and epic tragedy, Slaughter's latest is pitch-perfect storytelling." - Booklist (starred review) on False Witness
"[False Witness] will keep readers transfixed. Slaughter is writing at the top of her game." - Publishers Weekly (starred review) on False Witness
"Slaughter skillfully and assuredly relates the violence of a sociopath, while creating an emotional connection to lives touched by tragedy and addressing current events." - Library Journal on False Witness
"Slaughter reliably delivers high-stakes thrillers, but False Witness
"Annnnd she does it again. Slaughter's latest high-stakes thriller follows a defense attorney whose dark past is coming back to haunt her - all thanks to a new client she's called in to represent days before his trial. There's deception, sabotage, violence, family secrets . . . all the stuff you could want from a fictional page-turner, really." - theSkimm on False Witness
"Slaughter offers us a high-stakes thriller that handles the tragedy of addiction with empathy and grace. Her heroines are believable, flawed and courageous." - Oyinkan Braithwaite, award-winning author of My Sister, The Serial Killer, on False Witness
"Karin Slaughter's False Witness is a twisty, searingly contemporary mystery steeped in a dark past, and she weaves a story that catches your breath and keeps you gasping and guessing until the end." - Stacey Abrams, author of While Justice Sleeps
"Slaughter doesn't save her twists for the end, instead peppering them throughout the intricately layered story amid stomach-churning near misses and gripping character revelations. Equal parts hyperrealistic thriller and epic tragedy, Slaughter's latest is pitch-perfect storytelling." - Booklist (starred review) on False Witness
"[False Witness] will keep readers transfixed. Slaughter is writing at the top of her game." - Publishers Weekly (starred review) on False Witness
"Slaughter skillfully and assuredly relates the violence of a sociopath, while creating an emotional connection to lives touched by tragedy and addressing current events." - Library Journal on False Witness
"Slaughter reliably delivers high-stakes thrillers, but False Witness
Readers Top Reviews
LiseyPKindle Mrs
Thank you to the author, publishers HarperCollins and NetGalley for access to an advance review ebook. This is an honest and voluntary review. This is a dark story. Karin Slaughter has never shied away from the depths of the adversity her characters face. Child abuse, adult survivors of rape, people in positions of power who abuse that power to extreme extents. These are all fairly common themes in her books. But, False Witness feels even darker. Callie and Leigh are sisters. On the surface they are very different people. Callie is a drug addict, at her best when working part-time at a vet surgery where she steals maintenance level of drugs and sells them locally. Leigh is a lawyer at a prestigious firm, while she’s separated from her husband she loves him and their daughter dearly. But, they have a huge secret in common. A secret that someone else knows, and could tear their lives apart if he shares it. As always it is the strength of Karin Slaughter’s characters that this book finds it’s hook. The desperation and determination shared by Callie and Leigh had me rooting for these characters despite their bad decisions. Yet there was also a big distraction - Covid and the pandemic loomed large over these pages and it really put me off. At one point it felt like every second page was referring to face masks or hand sanitiser. And, every time they were mentioned it pulled me right out of the story. In a note at the end of the book the author explains why she felt the need to make the pandemic part of the setting, but I really wish she hadn’t. Hand washing, face masks and physical distancing should be left in the real world, reading is how I get away from that. A good story, but would have been better without so many Covid references.
J. MedinaLiseyPKi
Karin Slaughter never fails to disappoint, and she has done it again for me with False Witness. You know with her books you are going to get a dark, disturbing, gritty tale, and that is the case here. You have been warned. This is almost a tome at 450 pages, and it was a tad long for me, but again, that’s really my only complaint here. Slaughter is a genius at taking current day issues and weaving them into dark storylines but somehow by the end you have some hope that everything will be ok. She strategically takes you on a winding path and weaves the narratives together by the end, and does this well with both her standalone novels (which this one is) and her series books. This one grabbed me from the start and while quite long I could not stop until I was done. I listened to this one via audio which was narrated by Kathleen Early, who always does a fantastic job with Slaughter’s books. I highly recommend this one but again want to note the very dark subject matter in here.
MyraJ. MedinaLise
I'm glad this is in my library! I know I will read it again and again! The story was captivating and held my attention.
gretchen p.MyraJ.
This is easily one of the best thrillers that I have read. I finished it in a matter of hours because I couldn't put it down.
Rebecca Paigegret
After reading 20+of Karin's books, I can honestly say that this story brought about a reaction that was unexpected. I've read 100's of thrillers and I don't remember crying at the end. Be prepared for a level of involvement that is not the norm. The subject matter is the relationship between 2 sisters and the experiences that shape their lives. It is tragic and moving in a private way that takes you on a journey that no one should have to live through. It is beautifully written and involves the pandemic as a relative part of our time. Obviously, I am a huge fan of Ms Slaughter's and I recommend her. She is unique and poignant in her approach to the subject matter. Thank you for writing this terrific book.
