Cop Town by Karin Slaughter (Delacorte; $10 paperback)
Acclaimed author Karin Slaughter has seen her 15 books sell more than 30 million copies around the world. Her latest -- Cop Town -- just came out in paperback after being named one of the best books of the year by Amazon and others. Gillian Flynn says Slaughter is "one of the best thriller writers working today." And Michael Connelly says, "If you haven't read her yet, this is the moment."
Though Slaughter is famed for two different crime series set in Georgia (one in Atlanta, the other in a fictional county), Cop Town is a "stand-alone." It's set in the 1970s and features Kate Murphy, a new rookie female cop joining the force and desperate to keep her privileged background a secret. Kate is paired with a tough veteran named Maggie Lawson, a blue blood in the only sense that counts to other cops: a blue-collar worker from a family of policemen.
For readers new to Slaughter, Cop Town is a great place to start. Out in July is Pretty Girls, another "stand-alone" book, this one her first that doesn't revolve around cops, though of course there's crime aplenty.
Slaughter isn't just a brand-name writer; she's also a passionate advocate for the issues raised in her books, as well as for life in the South.
Here's Slaughter talking about the self-sufficiency her dad inculcated into all his daughters and why it was so important to him:
And here's Slaughter speaking forcefully and smartly on rape and why the police are no better than the rest of society about believing women:
To watch the rest of Karin Slaughter's interview about her new book and career, head to BookFilter.com and click on the video on the front page. Part 2 is up now!
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the founder and CEO of BookFilter, a book lover's best friend. It's a website that lets you browse for books online the way you do in a physical bookstore, provides comprehensive info on new releases every week in every category and offers passionate personal recommendations every step of the way. It's like a fall book preview or holiday gift guide -- but every week in every category. He's also the co-host of Showbiz Sandbox, a weekly pop-culture podcast that reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinion makers as guests. It's available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog.
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