The Last Widow

June 24, 2019
In bestseller Slaughter’s harrowing seventh novel featuring Sara Linton and her boyfriend, Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent Will Trent (after 2016’s The Kept Woman), Sara and Will are visiting her family in the Atlanta suburbs when explosions rock nearby Emory University. As the couple heads toward campus, they encounter a multiple-car accident. Sara stops to offer medical assistance and discovers that one vehicle contains several armed men—two with gunshot wounds—and a traumatized woman she recognizes as missing CDC epidemiologist Michelle Spivey. After a brutal fight that injures Will, the men take Sara and flee. Will is certain that Sara’s kidnappers bombed Emory, and intelligence suggests the men are part of a paramilitary group that’s planning something catastrophic. With the clock ticking, Will and his partner, Faith Mitchell, scramble to follow bread crumbs left by a terrified but determined Sara. Vivid characters and rapidly escalating stakes complement the riveting, adrenaline-fueled plot. Along the way, Slaughter examines such topics as misogyny, white nationalism, and the politicization of law enforcement. Thriller fans will devour this visceral, gratifying entry. Author tour. Agent: Victoria Sanders, Victoria Sanders & Assoc.

Narrator Kathleen Early returns to bring listeners another addition to Karin Slaughter's series featuring Georgia Bureau of Investigations agent Will Trent and his colleague and lover, Dr. Sara Linton. The story kicks off with the abduction of an infectious disease specialist from the CDC; then Sara is kidnapped by a group of domestic terrorists. Slaughter takes an innovative approach to the storyline, recounting the same series of events in the same short time period through three different viewpoints. Listeners may find this confusing until they pick up on the narrative structure and the nuances Early provides to each perspective. In doing so, she masterfully differentiates the main characters and delivers a chilling depiction of the militia leader. A gripping listen. E.Q. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award � AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine