False Witness - by Karin Slaughter (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

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

Review Quotes

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 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

Cunningly conceived and written . . . Deeply satisfying.--Washington Post on False Witness

Slaughter reliably delivers high-stakes thrillers, but False Witness is the author at her best, weaving a multi-layered, addictive story with characters you won't soon forget.--The Augusta Chronicle on False Witness

"Karin Slaughter is a master of the thriller genre and her genius comes through on every page, in every character, through every plot twist. False Witness is so suspenseful, it's tension palpable, and the action so visual, I can't wait to see its brilliance in film."--Francesca Momplaisir, critically-acclaimed author of My Mother's House

"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 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

[False Witness] will keep readers transfixed. Slaughter is writing at the top of her game.--Publishers Weekly (starred review) on False Witness

In the enthralling False Witness, Slaughter ramps up her storytelling skills to explore how two sisters cope with the aftermath of a crime. False Witness works well as a psychological exploration of its characters, as a legal thriller and as a family drama. . . . Slaughter's mastery at suspense is at full throttle . . . A thriller that kicks into high gear from the first page to a stunning ending.--Sun-Sentinel (South Florida) on False Witness

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