Joined in 2023 
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63 About this deal
Her first assignment as a Marshal is to help protect a judge, Esther Vaughn, Emily's mother, who has been receiving credible death threats. I listened to half of this as an audiobook, and Kathleen Early does a great job with her narration, as she did with Pieces of Her (and all of Slaughter's books for that matter).
Forty years later, her murder is still unsolved but a very cold case might just begin to heat up when. For the diner scene at the end, she hasn’t taken her work phone with her even though it’s the climax with all the arrest warrants etc. Now if that doesn't make any sense then be forewarn that even though this book could stand alone it would not be half as interesting and fun if you haven't read "Pieces of Her" first. I don't usually read anything involving cults, but I am glad I decided to override this preference in favour of Karin Slaughter's writing.
I also admired the characterisation of the two lead investigators in the contemporary setting - Andrea Oliver and her experienced partner, Deputy Leonard "Catfish" Bible. I felt very much attached to the both Emily and Andrea in this story, they had so much depth to them that you Can be forgiven for believing them to be real.
The dual timelines were very intriguing and absorbing, I loved learning about Emily and the difficulties she had to go through as well as learning about Andrea and her unexpected discoveries all these years later. We delve into a current and connected cold case with plenty of mystery,tension and secrets to keep the reader totally engrossed and trying to discover who out of several suspects is involved and why. And I have to say, these flashbacks are not a fun, nostalgia-filled romp, but instead almost exclusively contain cruelty and violence.
Equal parts hyperrealistic thriller and epic tragedy, Slaughter's latest is pitch-perfect storytelling. That doesn’t stop her from giving her all to the judge’s protective detail or the case of Emily’s murder.
Andrea's also trying to solve a cold case where a pregnant high schooler Emily Vaughn of Longbill Beach, MD was fatally attacked after prom in 1982. Emily was part of the clique that consisted of Rikki, Rikki’s twin brother Blake, Nardo, Cheese aka Jack Singleton and the police chief, and last but not least Clayton or Clay Marrow, Andrea’s biological father. Emily Vaughn had a reputation of being a good girl but before her tragic death her life had changed. The dual timeline was handled well with flashes back to the 80s, the day of the prom and the days leading up to Emily’s vicious attack. For an athlete, who is smart, pretty and well-liked, this night should be the highlight of her high school career.It was a fine book but I guess reading her books for over 20 years has given me certain expectations. I found the narrator’s voice very boring at normal speed (it was sooo slow in some parts, perfect for putting me to sleep), so I had to speed up to match my reading. However, she also has been enlisted by her "evil" uncle, to investigate the death of the daughter of that very federal judge. She’s joined the Marshal program, much to the disapproval of her parents Laura and Gordon, and has cultivated the skills and instincts she was previously lacking. I thought that the case in the past was a bit too convoluted, too many characters, and not enough of what happened was explained in the end.
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