According to Amazon I bought this book in July of 2014 but I didn’t read it until last week.  My only excuse is that sometimes my relationship and expectations of an author are complicated. I love Karin Slaughter! Her Will Trent series and Grant County series are amazing and I wait with bated breath until a new one comes out. But this book was a stand alone back story set in 1974, of two supporting characters in her other books and somehow everything else that I had on my Kindle was way more interesting. Well, lesson learned.  That is not going to happen again!  This book was phenomenal; a tour de force of nail biting suspense, an impassioned and deeply insightful look at discrimination against women, blacks and gays, along with Slaughter’s attention to historical details make this one of my all time favorites.

Atlanta’s police department in 1974 was highly segregated-mostly white and male. The few women who joined were usually assigned to the typing pool, but a handful wanted to become beat cops, like Maggie Lawson who came from a cop family and Kate Murphy, who joined because her husband had died in combat in Vietnam and she wanted to find a way to support herself.

The story begins with the terrible news that Jimmy, Maggie’s brother has been shot and his partner killed by the the cop killer who had been targeting the department for the last few months. Nicknamed “The Shooter,”a manhunt had been in effect creating even more tension in a department that was already experiencing enormous pressure as the new black police commissioner began implementing new policies and procedures.

Unfortunately for Kate Murphy the day Jimmy gets shot is also her first day on the job. Her reception is anything but easy. Wearing a uniform three sizes too big and shoes that don’t fit, her efforts to blend in only make her stand out more. The other women are less than kind to this newcomer, but Kate perseveres and eventually is teamed with Maggie as they try to track down the killer who almost killed Maggie’s brother.

Slaughter’s gift for developing her characters is on full view in this book. Maggie and Kate leap off the pages and simply glow with life. Their encounters with misogyny and discrimination are brutal and are a reminder of the heavy cost paid by the women who went before us and how far we have yet to go. There are several scenes that powerfully foretell the women they later become in Slaughter’s other books. The suspense and pacing keep you at the edge of your seat until the very end. So don’t be like me, get this book and read it immediately!

Brenda’s Rating: ***** ( 5 out of 5 Stars)

Recommend this book to? Keith, Sharon, Marian and Lauren

Book Study Worthy? Yes!

Read in ebook format.