Review: Cop Town by Karin Slaughter - Take a deep breath before you read!

Reading a Karin Slaughter crime novel is like getting into a Formula One Racing car with Lewis Hamilton in the driving seat – yeah, you feel safe (he’s a professional after all), yet there’s that persistent tingle in your gut because you know that RISKS will be taken and the UNEXPECTED will happen… and in Cop Town , Slaughter delivers the unexpected and the risks aplenty. 

Slaughter is a genius with dialogue.  I found myself laughing out loud at some of her more gritty exchanges and cringing at the very apt, but by todays standard, completely out there sexist and sexual comments. She paints a very convincing picture of the attitudes of the time.  Her female characters are each very distinctive with diverse strengths and weaknesses.

The storyline is compelling and I read it in two sittings sitting on the edge of my seat

Set in 1974 in Atlanta, where the Civil Rights movement has managed to elect the first ever black mayor, The Vietnam war has ended and things are moving forward.  However the Atlanta Police Force is predominantly white, predominantly old school and…. Yeah, predominantly male.  Women are (grudgingly… very grudgingly) allowed to join the force but are subjected to hell in the process and only the most determined survive.  As the title suggests Atlanta is a ‘COP TOWN’ – ruled by the old school cops to benefit the old school cops.
So, when a serial killer begins to target Cops, shooting them execution style the male cops decide the killer is black and with blinkers on head out to the ghettoes and projects hounding the blacks.

However, inconsistencies in the latest killing make three of the women cops pursue a different, more methodical angle which in turn leads them to the killer.

Release Date : 17th July  Amazon Kindle: £6.84, PB £11.45