I might be getting a little tired of binge reading Karin Slaughter, which is my fault not hers. It's hard to read five thrillers by one author in such a short time. I returned to the Will Trent series, but didn't love this one quite as much as the first two. Which isn't to say anything bad about this book, I still gave it four stars which is still really high for me. I rate cop thrillers around 3 stars on average, but Karin Slaughter has only had one book dip below 4 for me.

This book felt a little bit less like a whodunit and more just like it was exploring trauma suffered by the victims and the main characters. There definitely was a mystery (who is kidnapping, mutilating, and killing women???), but I just didn't care about it the same way I've cared about the cases in her other books.

I'm also still not the biggest fan of Will Trent the character. There's something about him that I just don't enjoy reading from his perspective. I still really like the discussion on literacy and reading disabilities in adults, but beyond that, he just kind of bores me. And I liked Faith Mitchell in the previous book, but not so much here. This book just felt a little bit less interesting in every way.

But I still loved it. Karin Slaughter just has this way of drawing you into a story and making you care. I cared intensely. Maybe not quite as intensely as her other books, but if I take the comparison to her books away, this is still a great thriller. It's gritty and fascinating and still so painfully dark. I love following her characters as they investigate these horrific crimes. And I loved this book.

Additional note: At this point, the Will Trent series starts spoiling the Grant County series. You don't need to read the Grant County series to understand the relation here, but I figure it's nice to have a heads up if you care to read things in order.