The Kept Woman Review

Title:  The Kept Woman
Series:  Will Trent #8
Author:  Karin Slaughter
Publisher:  William Morrow
Release Date:  Sept. 20, 2016 (in U.S.A.)
Buy Link:  Amazon
My Rating:  5 Psychotic ♥'s





Synopsis:
Husbands and wives. Mothers and daughters. The past and the future.

Secrets bind them. And secrets can destroy them. 

The author of the acclaimed standalone Pretty Girls returns with this long-awaited new novel in her bestselling Will Trent series—an electrifying, emotionally complex thriller that plunges the Georgia detective into the darkest depths of a case that just might destroy him.

With the discovery of a murder at an abandoned construction site, Will Trent and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation are brought in on a case that becomes much more dangerous when the dead man is identified as an ex-cop.

Studying the body, Sara Linton—the GBI’s newest medical examiner and Will’s lover—realizes that the extensive blood loss didn't belong to the corpse. Sure enough, bloody footprints leading away from the scene indicate there is another victim—a woman—who has vanished . . . and who will die soon if she isn’t found. 

Will is already compromised, because the site belongs to the city’s most popular citizen: a wealthy, powerful, and politically connected athlete protected by the world’s most expensive lawyers—a man who’s already gotten away with rape, despite Will’s exhaustive efforts to put him away.

But the worst is yet to come. Evidence soon links Will’s troubled past to the case . . . and the consequences will tear through his life with the force of a tornado, wreaking havoc for Will and everyone around him, including his colleagues, family, friends—and even the suspects he pursues.

Relentlessly suspenseful and furiously paced, peopled with conflicted, fallible characters who leap from the page, The Kept Woman is a searing novel of love, loss, and redemption. A seamless blend of twisty police procedural and ingenious psychological thriller, it marks Karin Slaughter’s triumphant return to her most popular series, sure to please new and diehard fans alike.

Review:
The Kept Woman - Very fitting title for this raw, gritty, emotional monster of a read!  I've tried to write this review several times since reading it and still can't seem to find the words to do this story justice.  It ran me through a mine field of highs and lows - at times making both my head and heart feel like they would literally explode as I rode out the waves of intense emotional turmoil radiating through these characters.  Some, like Agent Will Trent and Sara Linton, find themselves and their relationships strained and very nearly destroyed by the fiery hell storm brought about with the reappearance of Angela (Angie) Polaski.  While it is no secret that she returns in a big way in this book, I won't discuss particulars of the story as to do so would reveal spoilers that need to be experienced first hand by each reader.  I will say there are some questions answered and some shocking revelations as the story plays out.

Needless to say, Angie wreaks havoc on the lives of everyone she touches.  Her brutally tragic backstory is revealed in "real-time" as the book's timeline swings between past and present. Her horrifying past molded a young girl into a cold-hearted, uncaring, dangerous, psychotic madwoman - one hellbent on destroying anyone and everyone who crosses her path.  Angie uses dark secrets and half-truths like daggers, piercing the heart of her target over and over with her malicious lies as she stalks her prey and leaves a bloodbath in her wake.  She hasn't a clue what love and happiness should feel like - and if she can't have it, she'll make d*mn sure that Will doesn't either.  Every time I felt even an inkling of sympathy for Angie, she threw another of her poisonous daggers - intentionally destroying lives with her vicious manipulation.  The depth of this character's derangement is truly frightening at times - as is her pain.  

Will Trent is  . . . Will.  Fans of the series know what I'm talking about.  It's impossible not to care about this damaged, haunted man-of-few-words as he struggles to accept the idea that he might actually deserve the love and support of a woman like Sara Linton.  He knows their relationship is fragile and dependent upon him trusting her with the truth and upon breaking the powerful, destructive, magnetic pull that Angie Polaski holds over him.  For the past 30 years, he's been there for Angie every time she returned, allowing her to manipulate him, to walk all over him, always helping her, no questions asked.  Can he finally find the strength to tell Angie "No" or will he allow Angie to manipulate her way back into his life and destroy the happiness he's found with Sara?  Sara learns Will hasn't shared all his secrets with her . . . will this be the straw that finally breaks the camel's back?  Has she finally had enough of this whole nightmare to call it quits?

The Kept Woman is INTENSE - cover to cover can't stop reading intense, hyperventilating, heart stopping intense, sit up all night to finish reading intense.  For me, it ranks up there with the last Grant County book, Beyond Reach, in intensity and emotional overload.  The story is graphic & raw (rubbing chest) - it made me hurt and wish for "more" for these characters - all of them.  The action is high, the case a mystery, the plot twisted and then twisted again, the story shocking & riveting, and the characters so d*mn real - dark, damaged, fallible - some evoke hate and contempt, others love and caring.  Brilliant addition to the series, Karin Slaughter! Thank you for another Must Read!  A burn the house down Page Turner!  Deserving of 5k stars!

My Rating:  5 Psychotic ♥'s . . . And that's the truth!

Cross My Heart . . . xxx

Sandra