The Last Widow

4/5 stars

Karin Slaughter has done it again and hooked me with another great thriller. A CDC scientist is taken and vanishes without a trace. A month later, bombs tear down a prominent Atlanta neighborhood and cause chaos. Medical examiner, Sarah, and her partner Will Trent happen upon the scene and find themselves entangled in something much bigger than they could have imagined. Sarah is taken by the assailants and Will must go undercover to save her and possibly thousands more. 

I haven’t read every book in the Will Trent series, but I didn’t find it to be a problem. I felt properly caught up with the character development and the plot was not dependent on previous books. The story was full of twists that I did not expect and I was very eager to see how it would end. While some scenes were graphic, they were not at a level that truly horrified me (like her previous novel, Pretty Girls).

This book was digestible and intriguing. The timeline would jump back and forth in short spurts so you could see what was happening to multiple characters in multiple locations at the same time points. Slaughter did a great job at writing characters I loved and hated and weaved together a very satisfying story. I did think the ending was wrapped up a little too quickly, but overall this was a gripping story that was unlike any psychological thriller I have read before.