Paromjit's Reviews > False Witness

Karin Slaughter continues her trademark focus on contemporary American social and political issues with this, her latest exhilarating standalone crime thriller. She documents the impact of the pandemic, everyday safeguarding procedures, the enormous and unbearable death toll, the lost jobs, food scarcity, the starving kids, and the politicians unwilling to provide the resources to address the desperate needs of the nation. She portrays the country's drug crisis in her humanising portrayal of 37 year old heroin addict, Callie, a child gymnast and cheerleader, suffering a broken neck, her life blighted by constant back pain, and as a child experiences the terror of being groomed and regularly sexually assaulted by a violent paedophile, Buddy Waleski, whilst babysitting his 10 year old son, Trevor.

In 1998, after being physically attacked and fearing for her life, Callie nicks Buddy's femoral artery with a kitchen knife, a shocked and traumatised Callie calls her older sister, Leigh, on the cusp of leaving to study Law in Chicago, who deals with the situation. Both cannot escape the reverberations of that event, Callie burying the past deep with the help of drugs, her tragedy being being that of self knowledge, whilst Leigh is trapped in a cycle of self sabotage and guilt. 20 years later, Leigh is a defense attorney at the prestigious law firm of Bradfield, Canfield and Marks. She is separated from her beloved husband, Walter, and desperately missing her daughter, 16 year old Maddy, staying with her husband. Leigh, her family, and Callie are to find themselves gravely endangered when the past raises its ugly head, as Leigh finds herself representing wealthy sexual predator, a rapist client, 33 year old car salesman and manipulative psychopath, Andrew Tenant, who turns out to be a grown up Trevor intent on destroying all their lives, knowing what happened to his father, facing a trial on charges of kidnap and sexual assault.

Slaughter excels in her characterisations, capturing the complex sibling relationship between Leigh and Callie, their undoubted love for each other, there is nothing they will not do to protect each other. Through their lives, and those of Tenant's victims, the author provides a damning indictment of male behaviour when it comes to young girls and women, the sense of entitlement, the daily sexual harrassment, stalking, the paedophiles, child abuse, the brutal sexual assaults, domestic violence, and the murders. Men acting with impunity, all too aware they are unlikely to be made to pay, in a society and justice system where women are disbelieved, or presumed to be asking for it, and deserving of what happens to them. This is a dark, riveting and intelligent novel, one of the highlights for me was the understanding and compassionate vet Dr Jerry that Callie works for. This is so much more than a crime read, and is likely to appeal to existing Slaughter fans and other crime and mystery readers. Highly recommended. Many thanks to HarperCollins for an ARC.