What’s it all about?:
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
Karin Slaughter, author of the bestselling Will Trent novels, is widely acclaimed as “one of the best crime novelists in America” (The Washington Post). Now she delivers her first stand-alone novel: an epic story of a city in the midst of seismic upheaval, a serial killer targeting cops, and a divided police force tasked with bringing a madman to justice.
Atlanta, 1974: As a brutal murder and a furious manhunt rock the city’s police department, Kate Murphy wonders if her first day on the job will also be her last. She’s determined to defy her privileged background by making her own way—wearing a badge and carrying a gun. But for a beautiful young woman, life will be anything but easy in the macho world of the Atlanta PD, where even the female cops have little mercy for rookies. It’s also the worst day possible to start given that a beloved cop has been gunned down, his brothers in blue are out for blood, and the city is on the edge of war.
Kate isn’t the only woman on the force who’s feeling the heat. Maggie Lawson followed her uncle and brother into the ranks to prove her worth in their cynical eyes. When she and Kate, her new partner, are pushed out of the citywide search for a cop killer, their fury, pain, and pride finally reach the boiling point. With a killer poised to strike again, they will pursue their own line of investigation, risking everything as they venture into the city’s darkest heart.
Relentlessly paced, acutely observed, wickedly funny, and often heartbreaking, Cop Town is Karin Slaughter’s most powerful novel yet—a tour de force of storytelling from our foremost master of character, atmosphere, and suspense.
What did I think?:
I had been eagerly anticipating Karin Slaughter’s stand-alone novel, Cop Town for a while now and had been putting it off in favour of the new, shiny books jumping out at me from bookshops or tempting me from afar in my fellow bloggers reviews. Luckily for me, Mr B my long-suffering partner took control and chose my TBR in September this year as it was when he decided I finally need to get round to the book I had been banging on about all year! Now I say this as a huge Slaughter fan and mean no respect to an author I ardently admire but I have to be honest – I don’t think Cop Town is her best stand-alone. You may not realize how devastating it is to have to say that as I adore her Grant County/Will Trent series with every fiber of my being but for some reason, this novel just didn’t work for me. It’s not a bad story, not by any stretch of the imagination. There’s some absolutely wonderful moments and kick-ass female leads (ALWAYS a good thing) but I feel that there was something about the plot that just didn’t draw me in personally as a reader.
Karin Slaughter, author of the stand-alone novel, Cop Town.
This novel has an unbelievably exciting premise, set in 1970’s Atlanta and focusing on the lives of two specific policewomen – Kate Murphy and Maggie Lawson. Kate is a newbie on the force and quickly learns through her partner Maggie that being a woman in the police in 1970’s America is not an easy task. Misogyny, favouritism of male police officers and belittling of women is rampant and completely uncontrolled. Unfortunately, at this point in time, it was something women put up with and just attempted to do their jobs to the best of their ability, almost accepting the abuse and prejudice was just “the way things were.”
As Kate worries if joining the force was one of the biggest mistakes of her life, we also learn about a mysterious ongoing case which involves an unknown assailant deliberately targeting and killing police officers. This turns into a race war with the perpetrator reported to be black and with racial tensions already high in Atlanta, it’s about to reach boiling point and spill over into very dangerous violence between the police, their community and of course, their fellow officers, black and white. Kate and Maggie must work together (without being rumbled by the boys) to try and crack the case and unmask the serial cop killer before the whole city finds itself in a deadly war.
Atlanta, USA in the 1970’s where the novel is set.
Sounds fantastic, right? Of course, there were some brilliant parts to this novel, particularly in the way Slaughter creates an atmosphere of tension and mistrust between the white and black community. She’s so fantastic at setting a scene that feels so authentic you could almost imagine yourself directly within the time frame, cognisant of everything that’s going on around you, including the knowledge of each character’s individual personality. That’s another thing that this author is so great at – creating memorable and believable characters that all feel remarkably life-like. I was a particular fan of the two female leads, Kate and Maggie who both had their own skeletons in the closet or insecurities which are gradually revealed as the narrative continues.
However, what I really loved about them was how they grew as individuals as events in Atlanta unfolded but more importantly, through the harrowing events that they go through together as partners on the police force. In the very early days of their relationship the mistrust between the two is blindingly obvious but then slowly and gradually develops into a mutual respect and appreciation. It felt as if this is the crucial bond that two police officers on any force across the world must develop with each other in a relatively short amount of time if they are to do their jobs safely and efficiently.
Saying all this – what was my problem with Cop Town? It’s difficult to say with any certainty. So, premise and characters = great stuff, intriguing and instantly captivating for sure and I was completely hooked (and at times horrified) by the sexism/racism element. I just wasn’t sold on the plot of the cop killer to be honest. At times, it felt overly complicated and slightly unnecessary. I wonder if it would have worked better for me if had been a different case for Maggie and Kate to investigate? Possibly. One thing is for definite, it won’t put me off Slaughter as an author and I’m already lining up the next of her stand-alone novels, Pretty Girls to read soon. If you’ve read Cop Town, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Were you of a similar opinion to me or did you love it? Let’s talk down below in the comments!
Would I recommend it?:
Probably!
Star rating (out of 5):
