The Last Widow

In bestseller Slaughter’s harrowing ninth novel featuring Sara Linton and her boyfriend, Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent Will Trent (after 2016’s The Kept Woman), Sara and Will are visiting her family in the Atlanta suburbs when explosions rock nearby Emory University. As the couple heads toward campus, they encounter a multiple-car accident. Sara stops to offer medical assistance and discovers that one vehicle contains several armed men—two with gunshot wounds—and a traumatized woman she recognizes as missing CDC epidemiologist Michelle Spivey. After a brutal fight that injures Will, the men take Sara and flee. Will is certain that Sara’s kidnappers bombed Emory, and intelligence suggests the men are part of a paramilitary group that’s planning something catastrophic. With the clock ticking, Will and his partner, Faith Mitchell, scramble to follow bread crumbs left by a terrified but determined Sara. Vivid characters and rapidly escalating stakes complement the riveting, adrenaline-fueled plot. Along the way, Slaughter examines such topics as misogyny, white nationalism, and the politicization of law enforcement. Thriller fans will devour this visceral, gratifying entry. [em]Author tour. Agent: Victoria Sanders, Victoria Sanders & Assoc. (Aug.) [/em]

Correction: An earlier version of this review incorrectly stated this book was the seventh in its series.