Triptych by Karin Slaughter

This is the first novel in the Will Trent series. It features justice and vengeance. For one character, I could argue some redemption, at least redemption from a justice perspective. I am a huge fan of the Will Trent television series. Therefore, this novel threw me for a loop and was disappointing in comparison. One of the characters in this novel is portrayed radically differently than in the series. The real mystery is why the screenwriters chose to adapt this character as they did.

The book has several points of view. We don’t meet Will Trent until chapter four. The first character we get to know is Michael Ormewood, detective for the Atlanta Police Department. For the first half, the story is a mystery. But halfway through, the mystery is revealed and the book becomes a thriller. The topic is the brutal rape and murder of young girls by a serial killer.

The story kept me engaged. There are several issues I have with the book. First, it reads like an author’s first novel. Information dumps abound. Especially in the first several chapters, which made the story drag. I kept going due to liking the television series and was curious to see where things would go. Immediately knowing the life story of characters was not necessary.

The second issue is the graphic sex and sexual references. I understand that the story involves awful things done by the killer to the women, but I feel the scenes could be handled more delicately.

Finally, Trent doesn’t really solve the crime. The killer reveals himself by something he does because Angie Polasky stumbles onto something. I didn’t see the inner brilliance of Trent as portrayed in the series. But this is the first novel. I’ll try another one later and see if that starts to emerge.

As mentioned before, this novel has a lot of graphic sex, an abundance of profanity, and graphic, though not gratuitous, violence. Not a clean read in any way. I’ll rank this one thirteenth of the ones read this year. The star rating is a three point five. Not quite a four due to the graphic sex and info dumps.

1. The Last Exchange by Charles Martin
2. The Keeper by Charles Martin
3. The Chair by James L. Rubart
4. Weapons of Remorse by Chevron Ross
5. When Heaven Weeps by Ted Dekker
6. Relentless by Ed Gorman
7. The New Iberia Blues by James Lee Burke
8. Framed by James Scott Bell
9. 61 Hours by Lee Child
10. The Big Empty by Robert Crais
11. After Her Deceit by Steve Rush
12. The Final Detail by Harlan Coben
13. Triptych by Karin Slaughter
14. Water Grave by Mitchell S. Karnes
15. The Book of Answers by Darrow Woods
16. My Brother’s New Wife by Matt McGregor
17. Deadly Silence by Erik Carter
18. Neon Prey by John Sandford
19. A Tan and Sandy Silence by John D. MacDonald
20. Perfect Daughter by Ion Esimai
21. Her Last Wish by Blake Pierce

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