Unseen by Karin Slaughter ISBN: 9780345539472 (hardcover) ISBN: 9780345539489 (ebook) ASIN: B00AXIZ3HE (Kindle edition) Publication date: July 2, 2013 Publisher: Delacorte Press
Karin Slaughter’s New York Times bestselling novels are utterly riveting and masterfully drawn. Her latest thriller, Unseen, pits detectives, lovers, and enemies against one another in an unforgettable standoff between righteous courage and deepest evil.
Bill Black is a scary guy: a tall ex-con who rides to work on a Harley and trails an air of violence wherever he goes. In Macon, Georgia, Bill has caught the eye of a wiry little drug dealer and his cunning girlfriend. They think Bill might be a useful ally. They don’t know that Bill is actually a Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent named Will Trent. Or that he is fighting his own demons, undercover and cut off from the support of Sara Linton—the woman he loves, who cannot be told of the risk Will is taking.
Sara herself has come to Macon because of a cop shooting: Her stepson, Jared, has been gunned down in his own home. Sara holds Lena, Jared’s wife, responsible: Lena, a detective, has been a magnet for trouble all her life, and Jared’s attack is not the first time someone Sara loved got caught in the crossfire. Furious, Sara finds herself involved in the same case that Will is working without even knowing it, and soon danger is swirling around both of them.
In a novel of fierce intensity, shifting allegiances, and shocking twists, two investigations collide with a conspiracy straddling both sides of the law. Karin Slaughter’s latest is both an electrifying thriller and a piercing study of human nature: what happens when good people face the unseen evils in their lives.
Unseen provides a fascinating glimpse of the interaction between characters from both the Will Trent and the Grant County series by Ms. Slaughter. Sara Linton is still in a romantic relationship with Will Trent and living in Atlanta. Lena Adams is now a detective in Macon and has married Sara’s stepson, Jared Long. After a home invasion and attempts on both Lena and Jared’s lives, Jared is critically injured and in the ICU at Macon General Hospital. Both Darnell, Jared’s mother, and Sara presume Lena must be to blame. Darnell is relying on Sara for emotional support during this trying time, and Sara is wishing she can rely on Will but he’s on an undercover assignment and unavailable. Sara’s past, present and possible future collide as Jared recuperates, Lena suffers in silence, and Will attempts to uncover a growing menace from a new drug dealer, Big Whitey.
Ms. Slaughter incorporates major and menacing drug dealers, child abduction/prostitution/pornography, corrupt police officers, and much more in a taut story that pulled me in from the first page to the very last. Unseen provides bad guys that are willing to kill anyone, including police officers, to send a message of fear and intimidation. Lena suffers silently presuming her investigation and recent drug bust may have resulted in a retaliatory strike against her and her husband. She’s also depressed and somewhat guilty that her recent miscarriage may have been punishment for her past. Will is tormented over the idea that he can’t be readily available to support Sara in this crisis situation but he’s a little closer to the situation than anyone can know as he plays a corrupt ex-con trying to catch the bad guys. Unseen reveals that life isn’t black and white and the law isn’t static, sometimes both stray into the gray areas in order for true justice to be done and for the innocents to be protected and the corrupt to be punished. If you enjoy thrillers, then you’ll definitely want to read Unseen.
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Disclaimer: I received a digital copy of this book free for review purposes from the publisher via Edelweiss and NetGalley. I was not paid, required or otherwise obligated to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
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