Broken (Will Trent, #4)

Title: Broken (Will Trent, #4)

Author: Karin Slaughter

Published in: 2010

Date read: 2nd November 2023

Score: 5/5

Genre: Crime, Detective, Thriller

Plot: (Warning, may contain spoilers):
"Broken" by Karin Slaughter is a tense and emotionally charged thriller that brings together characters from both her Grant County and Will Trent series, focusing on a police department riddled with secrets and a past tragedy that still haunts its players.

The story sees Dr. Sara Linton, formerly the medical examiner for Grant County and now a paediatrician, return home for Thanksgiving. Her return is fraught with painful memories, especially concerning Detective Lena Adams, whom Sara blames for the circumstances that led to the death of her husband, Grant County's police chief, Jeffrey Tolliver.

A new case immediately pulls Sara in: the murder of a young college student. The subsequent police investigation, led by interim Chief Frank Wallace and Lena Adams, quickly spirals out of control. A suspect, Tommy Braham, is apprehended but then dies in police custody, raising serious questions about police conduct.

Convinced of foul play and driven by her deep-seated distrust of Lena, Sara calls in Special Agent Will Trent of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to look into Tommy's death. Will arrives in a town determined to protect its own, encountering immediate resistance and cover-ups from the local police, particularly from Lena and Wallace.

As Will investigates the police force itself, and the local police pursue the college student's murder, the two investigations intertwine. Will uncovers evidence of corruption, incompetence, and a desperate effort to hide the truth. Lena, under immense pressure and burdened by her own secrets and past traumas, is forced to confront her choices. The novel explores the fraught dynamic between Sara, Lena, and Will, as they navigate betrayal, long-held grudges, and the dangerous consequences of a "thin blue line" that could be murderous. The complex plot culminates in revelations about the true killers and the deep-seated conspiracies within the town, forcing all characters to face their own brokenness and the painful truths hidden beneath the surface.

Comments:
Fantastic story - great chance to weave Sara back into Karin's stories. She blends in perfectly, nothing "forced" or "unnatural" about her being there at all.

Books that we've read by Karin Slaughter (18):
Blindsighted (Grant County, #1) (2001), Kisscut (Grant County, #2) (2002), A Faint Cold Fear (Grant County, #3) (2003), Indelible (Grant County, #4) (2004), Faithless (Grant County, #5) (2005), Triptych (Will Trent, #1) (2006), Skin Privilege (Grant County, #6) (2007), Fractured (Will Trent, #2) (2008), Genesis (Will Trent, #3) (2009), Broken (Will Trent, #4) (2010), Fallen (Will Trent, #5) (2011), Criminal (Will Trent, #6) (2012), Unseen (Will Trent, #7) (2013), The Kept Woman (Will Trent, #8) (2016), The Last Widow (Will Trent, #9) (2019), The Silent Wife (Will Trent, #10) (2020), After That Night (Will Trent, #11) (2023), This Is Why We Lied (Will Trent, #12) (2024)