Triptych

A STRONG 4 maybe even 4.25 stars for me!

Having enjoyed the Will Trent series, I was curious about Triptych, the first book. Karin Slaughter immediately throws you into the dark and gritty world of Atlanta, where the lives of three complex and damaged individuals become intertwined through a series of horrifying murders. This novel marks the beginning of the Will Trent series.

I listened to the audiobook, and while I usually prefer multiple narrators, I found the single narrator to be excellent. His voice perfectly captured the gritty and intense nature of the story.

The narrative unfolds through the perspectives of Detective Michael Ormewood, a jaded and volatile cop battling personal demons; Special Agent Will Trent of the Georgia Bureau show more of Investigation, a brilliant but dyslexic investigator haunted by his past; and John Shelley, an ex-convict recently released after twenty years, possibly for a crime he didn't commit.

Slaughter masterfully constructs a multi-layered plot that initially appears to be a straightforward serial killer investigation. However, as the story progresses, she skillfully reveals the characters' histories and secrets, uncovering unexpected connections and blurring the lines between victim and perpetrator. Initially, the frequent shifts in time felt a bit jarring, but as the story unfolded, it became clear how crucial they were to the overall narrative and the significance of the title, Triptych. Just like a triptych painting with its three panels forming a complete image, the seemingly separate storylines weave together unexpectedly.

Overall, Triptych has definitely piqued my interest, and I look forward to exploring more of the Will Trent series. show less

Whoa--what a book! The subject matter is beyond brutal, some of the scenes absolutely horrifying (even for a seasoned crime reader like me), and yet I couldn't stop reading. Slaughter's greatest gift is her ability to plant clues in plain sight. I can't remember ever flipping back so much in any other book, just to re-read entire pages to figure out how she masterfully set up the scenarios throughout the novel.

I'm still not altogether sure I like Will, but I will continue with the series just to see if Slaughter's incredible skill takes me along for the ride like it did in Triptych. Ultimately, despite the dark, horrifying themes depicted in this book, I just couldn't put it down. But sensitive readers beware--give this one a hard pass show more if hardcore brutality and sexual violence are triggering for you. show less

A vastly different experience from Will Trent the television series, some of the character traits are similar, the tone here though is dark and mostly stays dark, if you’re a fan of the cozier, humorous elements of the TV show as I am, know that you’re not going to get that here and also know that one of the characters is jarringly different. The difference in that character works for this novel, just as who that person is on the television series works for it, you just kind of need to accept that the book and the TV show are two separate entities, each absorbing in their own way.

My preference as far as violence goes is more in line with network television. If you look at an all-time classic TV series like Homicide: Life On The show more Street, they managed to have the gritty tone this book aims for without actually showing that much, it was more about conveying the brutality of a crime through emotional responses or deceptive glimpses of it like the shark in Jaws, capture that well, and it isn’t necessary to take us through every single gory detail of a rape or murder or a child having her tongue bitten off. To me, just saying the words, a child had her tongue bitten off conjures up a brutal enough image (entirely too brutal), without any need to take the description further.

I’ve hardly read anything in this genre, so maybe the level of violence here is commonplace in these books, but to me, the depiction of violence here was excessive. It would have been altogether too much had this author not also shown such an adept hand with characterization and story structure, the twists and turns. Where the violence tempted me to DNF, the quality of the rest of the storytelling kept me turning the pages.

I didn’t love that this had one of those moments where the perp has a confessional monologue, I guess I get that a person like this might want to brag about their crimes, that probably does happen, but in fiction it almost always feels Scooby Doo when someone does that, and in this instance, it seemed like maybe this person would have had more urgency to just kill the person they were talking to and get on with trying to cover up their crimes.

Other than that though, and even though this was on the long side, it rarely lulled, I found things to like in Will and Angie, and the tiny bit of Betty we see here is enough to make me want to come back for more of that little sweetheart of dog, so I’m intending to continue on with this series. show less

"When Atlanta police detective Michael Ormewood is called out to a murder scene at the notorious Grady Homes, he finds himself faced with one of the most brutal killings of his career: Aleesha Moore is found in the stairwell in a pool of her own blood, her body horribly mutilated. As a one-off killing it's shocking, but when it becomes clear that it's just the latest in a series of similar attacks, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is called in."
Karin Slaughter writes a spectacular story intricately filled with fine subplots and horrific murders. As the reader follows the plot, she slowly peels apart the layers of each story to keep you turning the pages as she unveils an evil that makes you believe that the person standing next to show more you with a kind smile could, in fact, be a cold-blooded killer. Good luck sleeping at night after reading this. I found this author to be deliciously addicting. show less

"L'ombra della verità" non è il primo romanzo che leggo di Karin Slaughter, ho infatti apprezzato molto anche gli altri libri della serie di Will Trent ma trovo che questo, piu dei racconti a venire, faccia emergere i tratti distintivi di questa autrice: la sua bravura nel creare personaggi così complessi da sfuggire a qualsiasi schema o classificazione e la sua capacità nello stimolare il lettore a non dare mai nulla per scontato.

La prima metà del libro è una sfida continua per capire con chi si ha a che fare e per cercare di far combiaciare tutte le tessere del mosaico: a volte si deve tornare indietro e raddrizzare il tiro, a volte si rimane così spiazzati da doversi fermare un attimo a pensare "ma è possibile? come ho fatto show more a perdermi un dettaglio del genere??".
Dopo il colpo di scena -impossibile perderselo- il libro si trasforma e, contrariamente a quanto si possa pensare, diventa ancora piu coinvolgente. Se pensate che conoscere chi sia il killer a metà racconto possa rendere noioso il resto, dovrete ricredervi! show less

I am thoroughly impressed with the first installment of the Will Trent series. Slaughter knows exactly how to write a suspenseful thriller. Considering how she started the story, I never expected it to take those turns. I was immersed in the lives of the characters and on the edge of my seat.

Americans seem to require/expect/need/like perverted sex and horrific mutilation in their crime mysteries. Karin Slaughter doesn’t deviate from this pattern, but nevertheless manages to inject much more intelligence into her stories than the average American mystery writer. In particular, her chapters don’t read as if they are designed for television segments interrupted by commercial breaks. Her twists and turns are clever and thrilling. Best of all, none of her characters are perfect: no “strong yet gentle” hero, no gorgeous, sexy, well-adjusted love interest.

In Atlanta, someone is preying mostly on young teenaged girls, and mutilating them in a characteristic and bizarre manner. A group of flawed investigators is trying to show more catch the killer before he strikes again: Detective Michael Ormewood, former vice cop and former Gulf War veteran; Angie Polaski, vice cop who works undercover (albeit barely covered) as a prostitute; and Special Agent Will Trent from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation who records everything on tape to hide his dyslexia. An ex-con, John Shelley, gets involved as well. We also meet Michael’s wife Gina, his neighbor Cynthia, John’s sister Joyce, some of John’s ex-prison mates, and Will’s dog Betty.

Slaughter’s sympathy for the poor, the abused, and the victimized is a consistent theme in her books. In this passage, for example, Angie is thinking about the prostitutes with whom she works everyday:

“No one was interested in getting to the root of the problem. Angie had spent the last six years getting to know these women. They all had the same stories of sexual abuse and neglect in their pasts; they all had run away from something. It didn’t take a Harvard economist to figure out that it’d be a hell of a lot cheaper spending money on helping keep kids safe when they were younger than it was to put them in jail when they were older. That was the American way, though. Spend a million dollars rescuing some kid who’s fallen down a well, but God forbid you spend a hundred bucks up front to cap the well so the kid never falls down it in the first place.”

Slaughter’s stimulating book will keep you both scared and entertained. show less