Tag: #karinslaughter

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: After the Night by Karin Slaughter

Book Description

Will Trent and Sara Linton are back in an electrifying thriller featuring GBI investigator Will Trent and medical examiner Sara Linton from New York Times bestselling author Karin Slaughter

After that night, everything changed . . .

Fifteen years ago, Sara Linton’s life changed forever when a celebratory night out ended in a violent attack that tore her world apart. Since then, Sara has remade her life. A successful doctor, engaged to a man she loves, she has finally managed to leave the past behind her.

Until one evening, on call in the ER, everything changes. Sara battles to save a broken young woman who’s been brutally attacked. But as the investigation progresses, led by GBI Special Agent Will Trent, it becomes clear that Dani Cooper’s assault is uncannily linked to Sara’s.

And the past isn’t going to stay buried forever . . .

***

Elise’s Thoughts

After That Night by Karin Slaughter is typical of her books.  She intertwines a fascinating thriller with a very important relevant subject matter, drawing readers into the story from page one.

Fifteen years ago, Sara Linton’s life changed forever when she was violently assaulted and raped. With a strong support system, she became a successful doctor and is now engaged to Detective Will Trent, a man she dearly loves. She has tried to put her past behind her. But one evening changes everything.  

She is now working at Atlanta’s Grady Memorial Hospital when 19-year-old Dani Cooper is admitted with fatal injuries from a car accident. Sara recognizes signs of rape, which Dani confirms with her dying breaths. Having been raped herself 15 years earlier, Sara vows to bring Dani’s assailant to justice.

Fast forward three years and Sara is now testifying in court against Thomas Michael McAllister IV.  He is the son of two of Sara’s former medical school peers, pediatric surgeon Mac McAllister and his wife, Britt. Even more surprisingly, Britt McAllister, when Sara encounters her in the courthouse restroom, smugly informs her, “What happened to you. What happened to Dani. It’s all connected.” Sara decides to tell Will and his partner Faith and works with them to take down the bad guys.

As with all her books the story is riveting and touches on important subjects of the day. Slaughter not only shows readers the effect that rape has on victims but shows how predators get away with it. It is gripping and shocking from the very first page.  This book had a nice number of twists, turns and revelations. There are plenty of little quips, bickering, and witty banter sprinkled throughout to ease some of the tension of the story.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for this story?

Karin Slaughter:  I write about stuff I have seen going on in the world.  It was time to write more about what happened to Sara Linton, a character readers like. Now would be a good time to talk about where she is at. At my heart I am a thriller writer and that has always been my goal, to write thrillers.

EC: Can you talk about why that quote at the beginning of the book?

KS: You are referring to this one, “Remember to speak from the scar, not the wound.” It is from the trauma counseling community.  Those sexually assaulted should give themselves some distance.  It takes time to process, for a woman to get through it, to recognize and understand it, and to get to a point she can speak about it.

EC:  This is like sex trafficking?

KS:  Sex trafficking is a good corollary.  There was this movie, “Sound of Freedom,” made about it. One of the main investors was just arrested in sex trafficking.  People put themselves in the spotlight as advocates for children and women as they speak about family values but are using it to hide their true selves.  They have an “alibi” if ever accused because they appear to be such a supportive person.  It is the same way for rape where a lot of men hide in plain sight. My point is that a predator is not someone who can be easily spotted.

EC: There is a scene in the book where Sara says she is not sure how she should feel:  Outrage, matter of fact, emotional, or devoid of emotion.  Please explain.

KS:  Sara is talking about how as a victim she also must manage others’ feelings around rape. It is true that this is one of the few crimes where society puts value judgements, especially other women. I think these women are not nasty, but fearful. Every woman has lived with this fear that they could possibly be raped. The fact is rape can happen no matter what a woman does. Women should not be saying ‘she should not have worn that or done this.’

EC:  There is a statistic in the story that fewer than 1% of rapes lead to a felony conviction. Please explain.

KS: A lot of police are driven by numbers.  They do not prioritize cases. Sometimes they ignore the cases because maybe the victim was a prostitute.  Once again, it is a judgement call. Sara feels this weight to suppress her own emotions and help others in the story work their way through what happened to them. Everyone thinks the system works until they are in the system. Rape consistently gets pleaded down to a lesser offense, so men are not put on a sex offender registry.

EC:  How did the rape affect Sara?

KS:  I openly write about her rape since book 1, Blindsighted, and how it affected her life. Sara feels however people responded to being rape is how they should respond. She managed to rebuild her life including falling in love with a man and to be able to trust him.  She did have her family as a support structure.

EC:  What about the relationship between Will and Sara?

KS: I have this quote in the book about her relationship with Will, “This is the miracle of her recovery.  She trusted with every fiber of her being that he will always be there. He can pick up her moods.” This is one of the strongest parts of Will’s character that he is intensely loyal. He always has Sara’s back and is very supportive.

EC:  How would you describe Britt, one of Sara’s medical school peers?

KS:  She is a ‘pick me.’  She always is talking about how she does not get along with other women, but the fact is other women do not like her. She will always choose a man over her women friends no matter what.  She has no identity outside of a man. She identifies herself only as being the wife of this powerful man. All her self-worth and power come from the fact that she is married to Mac, a top surgeon. She wants to be the cool girl, one of the guys. It is a sad way to live. She is spiteful, insecure, and bitter.

EC:  How would you describe Mac, Britt’s husband, who was also a medical school peer of Sara?

KS:  He is a control freak. This is not a bad thing considering he is a surgeon. He needs to pay attention to the important details.

EC:  How would you define the rapist?

KS:  He uses coercion, control, brainwashes, and false imprisons his victims. He uses charm in the beginning, the brain washing part. He does not show all women that part of himself but only the victims are showed this part of his personality. All this work is put into being the thing that they are not.

EC:  Are all the rape victims in the story similar?

KS:  Sara later talks with Sloan, another medical school peer who was raped. There were different women from different walks of life. They had different ways they chose to deal with it. There is no one way to recover. Sometimes the police have a hand in it also.  When a woman files a complaint there are some who say ‘I do not believe you and I will arrest you for filing a false complaint. I am not going to investigate.’ I wanted to show how all these women had different responses and different outcomes.

EC:  Next book?

KS:  It will be another Sara and Will story. I am working on it now. It will be out next year this time.

EC:  What about the TV series on ABC?

KS:  I hope people are enjoying it. There will be a second season out when the strike is over. I look forward to the series continuing.

THANK YOU!!

***

BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Girl, Forgotten for by Karin Slaughter

Book Description

A small town hides a big secret…

Who killed Emily Vaughn?

Prom Night. Longbill Beach, 1982. Emily Vaughn dresses carefully for what’s supposed to be the highlight of any high school career. But Emily has a secret. And by the end of the night, because of that secret, she will be dead.

Nearly forty years later, Andrea Oliver, newly qualified as a US Marshal, receives her first assignment: to go to Longbill Beach to protect a judge receiving death threats. But Andrea’s real focus isn’t the judge – it’s Emily Vaughn. Ever since she first heard Emily’s name a year ago, she’s been haunted by her brutal death. Nobody was ever convicted – her friends closed ranks, her family shut themselves off in their grief, the town moved on – so the killer is still out there. But now Andrea has a chance to find out what really happened…

***

Elise’s Thoughts

Girl, Forgotten by Karin Slaughter is a follow-up to her 2018 thriller Pieces of Her. Earlier this year, Netflix produced a Pieces of Her mini-series. This book will take readers back to their high school days with a reminder of how cliquey a group of students can be.  Par for the course, Slaughter has a riveting murder mystery and fascinating characters.

The plot starts out with Andrea Oliver graduating as a US Marshal.  Her first assignment is to protect a judge receiving death threats, but she is also asked to secretly investigate the cold case murder of the judge’s daughter, Emily Vaughn, who died forty years ago.  There are dual timelines of Emily’s past and Andrea’s present perspectives broken up by witness statements given in the original investigation. These captivating flashbacks follow Emily in the period leading up to her death as she engages in a Columbo-inspired investigation of her own.

What Slaughter does best is draw readers into the event as they sympathize with the victim.  In this case, Emily had dreams and was going places after high school.  But it all came to a drastic halt after she was ostracized because of what happened to her. She was also murdered because of that event and Andrea is determined to bring her justice especially since the small town moved on with Emily’s friends closing ranks, her family ignoring their grief, and no one was ever convicted.

This plot is a page-turner with many twists. As always, the pacing makes the intensity of the story ratchet up.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: What did you think of the Netflix series, Pieces of Her, based on your book?

Karin Slaughter: It is clearly different than the book.  I just thought that the book is the book, and the show is the show. It was really a lot of fun to watch. We will see if they make more episodes.

EC:  Is this book a continuation of your first book?

KS:  They will market it when the book comes out with a sticker on the book referring to Pieces of Her. This started with a question about Andrea. In the previous book she wonders about her mom and herself.  In this book she is trying to figure out how to be unlike her father, to be a good person. It is really important that she has Leonard Bible, a senior US Marshal, mentoring her.  He shows her how to do things the right way.

EC:  Why a US Marshal?

KS: I found writing about the US Marshals and Andy interesting. I talked with a ton of Marshals.  It was fascinating to see all the cool duties they have. I wanted her to have this profession as a way to rebel against her mother, Laura.  She was in witness protection and feels Andrea joined the enemy. I find it fascinating how people have one kind of life and then must have a new life. Usually someone made a deal to testify.  Many times, they still must go to prison, which is what happened to Laura.  I wanted to show how Andy grows up and becomes her own person. If I decide to write it as a series, having Andy as a Marshal gives me an opportunity to write about a lot of different crimes.  They hunt down and keep track of pedophiles, chase after fugitives, and are responsible for security.

EC:  How would you describe the relationship between Laura and Andrea?

KS: In the beginning it is a little broken. But then I think Laura does what good parents do. She accepts that Andrea will make her own choices even if she does not agree.  By the end of the book, she comes around to that way of thinking.  Andrea learns she can disappoint her mother and that is OK. There has been a transition from the first book to this book between the mother-daughter relationship. 

EC:  Do you think Andrea grew up in this book?

KS:  Andrea had a lot of growing up to do.  I wanted her to go through that evolution to find her strength. She blew everything up to find herself just as her mother did.  There is a line by Laura, “wherever you go, there you are.”  Maybe the world is not the problem, but she is the problem. She ends up as someone who is independent and a survivor.

EC:  What about Judge Esther?

KS:  She would tell you she is a good person who did some bad things.  She only supports a certain type of woman, who must be just like her.  She only gives a hand to people she approves of. She had her and her daughter Emily’s life all planned out. But after the incident, Esther only wanted Emily to disappear.

EC:  Is Wexler evil?

KS:  Calling him evil lets him off the hook. He is an opportunist. He tries to make his life as easy as he can that is directed toward his pleasure. Clearly a cult leader. He seems more nuanced.  Like Jim Jones, Manson, and Koresh, those men in charge of a cult do it just to have sex with young girls. He is a bad guy where a lot of his actions comes from a deep hatred of women. He is a psychopath and a narcissist. 

EC:  Did Emily get cancelled?

KS:  Everyone talks about getting canceled as if it came after the Internet. But those in high school know of someone that got canceled.  Yes, because of what happened to her it put her on the outside of a group. All people wanted to do was punish her and considered her a pariah.

EC:  Why did you mention dementia-like actions in the book?

KS:  Esther’s husband, Franklin, did have a massive stroke.  Esther kept him alive because she was under his thumb for most of her adult life and a lot of it was her wanting vengeance.  There is also the fact that once she was caught in this horrible relationship she does not know how to live outside of this relationship.

EC:  Why did you choose the music in the book?

KS:  I grew up as a teenager in the late 1980s.  I really enjoyed putting these songs in the book.  I really love the Go-Gos. I thought how amazing they were considering they were the first all-female group to get to number one, playing their own music. These are all songs I liked.  I am a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll.

EC: Do you have any other books or characters that are going to be made into a movie or TV series?

KS:  Yes. Will Trent is picked up by ABC and will be made into a TV series. It might come out in January, thirteen episodes.  After watching the pilot, it captures the spirit of my books, gripping with lots of twists and turns. Will is played by Ramon Rodriguez. The earlier books did not have Sara, so they are figuring out when to introduce her. 

EC:  Next book?

KS:  In the summer of next year will be a Will and Sara book.

THANK YOU!!

***

BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: False Witness by Karin Slaughter

Book Description

AN ORDINARY LIFE

Leigh Coulton has worked hard to build what looks like a normal life. She has a good job as a defence attorney, a daughter doing well in school, and even her divorce is relatively civilised – her life is just as unremarkable as she’d always hoped it would be.

HIDES A DEVASTATING PAST

But Leigh’s ordinary life masks a childhood which was far from average… a childhood tarnished by secrets, broken by betrayal, and finally torn apart by a devastating act of violence.

BUT NOW THE PAST IS CATCHING UP

Then a case lands on her desk – defending a wealthy man accused of rape. It’s the highest profile case she’s ever been given – a case which could transform her career, if she wins. But when she meets the accused, she realises that it’s no coincidence that he’s chosen her as his attorney. She knows him. And he knows her. More to the point, he knows what happened twenty years ago, and why Leigh has spent two decades running.

AND TIME IS RUNNING OUT

If she can’t get him acquitted, she’ll lose much more than the case. The only person who can help her is her younger, estranged sister Calli, the last person Leigh would ever want to ask for help. But suddenly she has no choice…

***

Elise’s Thoughts

False Witness by Karin Slaughter shows why she is one of the best for writing fabulous characters. This story has two sisters’ childhoods tarnished by secrets, broken by betrayal, and ultimately destroyed by a brutal act of violence as well as one of the sister’s tragedy of addiction. She was portrayed with empathy and grace by the author. This story is brutal, honest, real, and heartbreaking at times involving issues of rape, drug use, murder, and abusive violence. 

Kudos to Slaughter for balancing the strong relationship between the sisters. Readers will grow attached to the sisters Leigh, Callie and Leigh’s husband, Walter, as he becomes involved to help them. Each of the sisters have taken a different route through life. Leigh Collier has worked hard to build what looks like a normal life after being sexually harassed as a child babysitter. She’s an up-and-coming defense attorney at a prestigious law firm in Atlanta, who would do anything for her sixteen-year-old daughter Maddy, while managing to successfully coparent through a pandemic after an amicable separation from her husband Walter. The other sister, Callie, is a drug addict, but sympathetically humanized. She was a child gymnast and cheerleader, who after suffering a broken neck, had constant back pain. Her childhood experience involved being groomed and regularly sexually assaulted by a violent pedophile while babysitting his 10-year-old son, and turning her into a heroin addict.

As Leigh is asked by her boss to defend a serial rapist, she is confronted with her past. When she meets the accused face-to-face, Andrew, she realizes that it’s no coincidence that he’s specifically asked for her to represent him. They know each other. Leigh wonders how much he knows about what happened over twenty years ago. The only person who can help her is Callie, the younger, estranged sister. With the life-shattering truth in danger of being revealed, she has no choice to involve Callie. The shocking twist at the end of the book will keep readers engrossed.

This complex plot has as its central theme, the heart of the relationship between Callie and Leigh. Both these heroines are believable, flawed, and courageous.  The highly intense themes, along with the horrible graphic actions of the evil doers, makes for a riveting read.

***

Elise’s Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Why write about the pandemic?

Karin Slaughter:  I started with a character, Leigh Collier, who I thought about three years ago.  I knew I was going to write a story during the pandemic.  When the book was finished the vaccines came, so I knew I wanted to incorporate the virus into the story.  It was fun and challenging for me as an author.  I tried to make Covid exist, but not as an intricate part of the story.  I made sure not to politicize it. 

EC:  There is a difference between the two sisters?

KS:  Some have the luxury to keep themselves as safe as possible and some do not.  To highlight this, I used the two sisters, Callie and Leigh.  Callie always had to work.  Because of her addiction she had to be on the streets.  Having a disability made her vulnerable. 

EC:  Why the addiction angle?

KS:  I wanted to humanize someone struggling with addiction.  She had an emotional, mental, and physical addiction.  Hopefully, I showed how we are really failing in how to handle addicts and help them.  Callie figured out a way to help herself through maintenance doses.  If only addicts could get levels that could help them function in society and eventually wean themselves off of the drugs.  Instead of punishing the people into the ground we should look at ways people could get help. 

EC:  Drug addicts?

KS:  The personality of the person must be considered.  If someone is actually a good person who is controlled by addiction, they are still decent.  If someone is a horrible jerk, addiction will definitely amplify it.  We spend trillions of dollars on the war on drugs, which has failed miserably.  Imagine if we spent that money on helping low-income students get better Internet, classrooms, schoolbooks, nutritional meals, and safe schools.  This would be more useful.

EC:  How would you describe Leigh?

KS:  She experienced a horrific trauma with her sister when they both were younger.  She is now a successful lawyer.  But Leigh is a control freak, compartmentalizes people, never likes to feel powerless, and is a survivor. She presents a front to hide her guilt and deep vulnerability. 

EC:  How would you describe the bad guy, Andrew?

KS:  My grandmother used to say, ‘if someone wants to be bad, they will find any excuse to be bad.’ He is definitely an illustration of that.  Andrew is someone looking for a reason to justify the bad things he wants to do.  He thinks he should be able to do whatever he wants in life because he is entitled to do it.  He is cruel and likes to terrorize people.  When I wrote that fish scene with him, I laid a foundation for his personality. 

EC:  Speaking of fish, there is some humor?

KS:  I love puns and love to be silly.  It was delightful time for me to make up all that stuff, such as “Anne Chovey, Genghis Karp, Mr. Dar-Sea, and James Pond.”  I spent far more time than I care to admit on this.

EC:  There is a quote about prosecutors and judges caring more about optics than justice.  Please explain.

KS:  Many prosecutors only take cases they think they can win.  They plead out everything else.  Many overcharge to get someone to plead out to a lesser charge.  As voters we need to look at how the justice system runs.  For example, women in prison are limited to the number of tampons and pads they can have.

EC:  There is also a quote about losing someone.  Please explain.

KS:  You are referring to this one, “Your relationship with a person doesn’t end when they die.  It only gets stronger.”  Someone told me that after I lost my 9th grade teacher who I consider my mentor.  She died about five years ago from cancer.  I had all these memories of her.  I remember our relationship and how important she was to me.  The choices I make in the present are based on what she told me in the past.

EC:  Your next book?

KS:  It will have a murder and be out this time next year.  A couple of characters from a previous stand alone will be back.

THANK YOU!!

BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.