[AD/Gifted - I received a copy of this book in order to take part in a readalong with Tandem Collective. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links.]
False Witness by Karin Slaughter - 5/5
Blurb:
You thought no one saw you. You were wrong.
Leigh and her sister Callie are not bad people – but one night, more than two decades ago, they did something terrible. And the result was a childhood tarnished by secrets, broken by betrayal, devastated by violence.
Years later, Leigh has pushed that night from her mind and become a successful lawyer – but when she is forced to take on a new client against her will, her world begins to spiral out of control.
Because the client knows the truth about what happened twenty-three years ago. He knows what Leigh and Callie did. And unless they stop him, he's going to tear their lives apart …
Just because you didn't see the witness … doesn't mean he wasn't there.
Review:
Oh wow. I had never read a Karin Slaughter book before and after this, I will be reading every single thing she has written.
The first chapter grabs you and you instantly know that you won't be able to put this book down.
In the 90s, Callie, who is in her early teens is babysitting five-year-old Trevor. It is apparent that his father Buddy is raping Callie, recording it on secret cameras and sharing them with his friends. After an altercation, Callie believes she has killed Buddy and calls her older sister Harleigh to come help. This chapter is gruesome with some unbelievable descriptions.
Fast forward to present day and Harleigh now goes by Leigh and is a lawyer. She has been requested to help on a case for a man named Andrew who is said to have raped a woman, potentially a couple more. There is a reason why Andrew wants Leigh on this case. What does he know about what she and Callie did as teenagers?
This book is just superb and makes you feel every emotion. It explores what the sisters' lives are like now; Leigh, a lawyer, and Callie who is a drug addict, clearly affected by her past. The twists and turns had me gasping and it is just meticulously planned. Slaughter has obviously done an amazing amount of research.
The story in current time mentions the Covid-19 pandemic but it isn't a massive part of the story. I read to escape and Covid is omnipresent so although I didn't like this aspect, it was weaved well into the narrative.