The Curator: let's bond over murder
a mini guide to the unhinged world of Karin Slaughter and why we should meet more people IRL.
Last week I entered my own version of Three Pines (see: Here).
The place is called the Norma Hertzog Community Center located in Costa Mesa, California. The ceilings are tall, it’s airy and full of light. It’s in a lovely neighborhood with plenty of free parking. And on that day, a Wednesday evening in August, me and a crowd full of geriatrics entered into Slaughter Land.
Slaughter Land is a land of mystery, crime, mutilation, men who listen, women who swear, abuse, assault, deceit, intrigue, and, of course, murder. So you can imagine my surprise when I showed up to this free event in one of the wealthiest areas in Southern California and found myself surrounded by senior discount citizens eager to meet the inimitable Karin.
Color me shocked.
In line before door open, I chatted with a group of women about the last page-turner we read, swapping book recs and general cheer. Once inside, I met a lovely lady who gave me even more recs, bonding over our alma mater (Long Beach ya heard). Then Karin came out on stage and we clapped and cheered and the room became a shrine to community goodwill. Look at us all, bonding over sexual assault! I was on a high of connection and nothing was going to tear me down (except maybe my debilitating hunger, having come straight from work with only a meat stick on hand).
The irony is not lost on me that I had the most soul-lifting experience in a room full of people willing to read about the very darkest parts of humanity. In excruciating detail. Like child rape and sadism dark. DARK.
Despite the irony, crime stories do bring us together, united against evil and ignorance. Especially women. We know we have the most to lose and live in the stories as a coping mechanism. It’s also frankly entertaining - you can’t look away from staring into the depths of human pain and suffering. But at least it’s fictional pain and suffering, right? (right??).
The evening with Karin was a wild success. Her conversation with Samantha Dunn was brilliant (see link below). She talked about writing realistic relationships, honoring the reality of living in Atlanta, and how she’s always been a little weird. In today’s newsletter, I’m reviewing one of her very first books which is really a great review of all her books, no matter where you start. Make sure to let me know what you think if you take a trip to Slaughter Land.
FURTHER READING 💻→
Samantha Dunn interviews Karin for the OC Register in advance of the event about murder with a message.
Karin discusses light-hearted topics with the NYT, including her ideal reading experience, her favorite book of all time, and more.
Now, enjoy this picture of me and Karin pretending to be besties!!!
BOOK REVIEWS 📚→
Triptych by Karin Slaughter (2006)
OK so yes I’m reviewing Triptych, the first novel in the Will Trent series, but really I’m reviewing the entire Slaughter canon. Her ingenious plotting and writing consistently give - show me a dark disturbing crime, characters that are real human beans, sentence-level writing that belongs in a literary novel, and a plot that glues your eyeballs to the page and I’m there. Do it again fifty ‘leven times and you’ve got my undying eternal love.
Triptych is “so old” that it only comes in mass-market paperback, but not the cute airplane paperbacks of yore, the weird tall thick types that are impossible to read unless you crack the spine like a glow stick. In an effort to avoid this, I headed over to thriftbooks.com and accidentally ordered myself a giant hardback-sized paperback with mold in the spine instead. Maybe it was the plot or maybe it was the fear of respiratory failure, but I sailed through it in two days flat.
The story: A veteran detective is called out to investigate a brutal murder in the projects of Atlanta. When the killings are linked to past murders, Special Agent Will Trent of the Georgia Bureau jumps on the case with his tall weird blonde self like a scene right outta Criminal Minds. A hot lady vice cop and a loser ex-con join in the mix to help solve the case in the most suspenseful way possible.
I do not want to spoil the story for you so all I’ll say is that I LOVE when the author lets you in on the whodunnit before the end - that converging timeline race to when the good guys will figure it out as coincidences are artfully exposed and you realize the answer was in the text all along. Triptych had me literally gasping at multiple reveals. When was the last time a book took your breath away hmm?
Look. Karin’s books are not for the faint-hearted. I recommend for seasoned crime-thriller-police procedural veterans only. But if you’ve got the chops, Karin’s got the sauce. Just whatever you do, DON’T watch the show first.
Moodometer: For when you want something so compelling you black out and suddenly it’s 3 a.m. and you never fed anyone dinner.
Rating: I give this a Do Not Disturb Me I’m Reading 5 Stars
♥♥♥♥
The Karin Slaughter Mini-Guide
The Standalone Novels - Just wanna dip a toe? A big toe or a pinky toe? No no full body you say?? Pretty Girls (2015) is one of the most unhinged things I have ever read and if you can handle this one, you can handle anything. If you need something easier, go Pieces of Her (2018) or The Good Daughter (2017). Both are riveting stories but with less assault than the others.
The Will Trent Series - Special Agent Will Trent and his partner Faith Mitchell solve some gruesome ass cases in this 14-book series. I’ve read both the first (Triptych, 2006) and the last (The Silent Wife, 2020, although now her new book steals that spot) book in this series, and this is where I would start if you want to get deep.
The Grant County Series - Starts with Blindsighted (2001) and continues on for six more books. The series follows coroner Sara Linton and her cop ex-husband as they also solve some gruesome ass cases. I haven’t read any of these yet BUT the reviews are just as good for this series as any of the others!
READING 📖→
Picking back up Penance by Eliza Clark after taking a little Karin Slaughter detour.
Also feeling like I really need to get moving on my spooky reads TBR, so looking at Mister Magic by Kiersten White, but Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver is also calling to me from the shelf with FOMO in its eyes.
BUYING💰→
Numi Drinking Chocolate as a substitute for afternoon coffee that is also not tea. Us readers sure do love our fancy drinks, especially when sitting down with a book, but my sensi brain can’t take too much caffeine after 2 pm or I go haywire in bed. It has very little sugar, no weird ingredients, and doesn't taste like dirt. Convinced you yet?
Zebra Midliner pens & highlighters are in their renaissance era because I am seeing these all over social media. I have some in the very that girl shades of neutral but regardless they bring me joy when annotating a book.
WATCHING 📽️→
The Godfather Part I. After finally reading the ancient SOB, I was ready to tackle this 3-hour ordeal in movie form. Verdict? Excellent, but I prefer Hitchcock. Dudes, don’t all come after me at once! I understand its artistic virtues, but the social dynamics are dated no matter how you spin it. Or as one confused guy on IMBD put it, “The Godfather is like a disease once you see it you fall in love with it.” Yep, just like that man!
NEW BOOKS 📚→
Good Bad Girl by Alice Feeney - “Sometimes bad things happen to good people, so good people have to do bad things”. Say What? Alice Feeney books are like biting into an apple, finding a half-bitten worm, and then after you’ve almost lost your lunch, learning that the worm was actually candy put there to fuck with you - you don’t know if you should be mad or impressed. Her stories are really polarizing so this is a risky rec but if you like twisted psych thrillers maybe this is a new book for you to check out.
Happiness Falls by Angie Kim - I’ve seen this one everywhere lately from the ARC club so there’s a part of me that’s already moved on, which is not fair because the description sounds impeccable: “When a father goes missing, his family's desperate search leads them to question everything they know about him and one another in this thrilling page-turner, a deeply moving portrait of a family in crisis”.
California Golden by Melanie Benjamin - Even with my ongoing preoccupation with LA books, I somehow missed this release in early August: “Two sisters navigate the thrilling, euphoric early days of California surf culture in this dazzling saga of ambition, sacrifice, and the tangled ties between mothers and daughters”. It sounds like a less wholesome Gidget which I am here for.
BOOK NEWS 📰→
Since I will never get to all the books, I like to read vicariously through good reviews, like this one of The Bee Sting by Paul Murray, out now and on the Booker longlist.
The only article on writing and ChatGPT I’ve enjoyed reading.
Mona Awad talks feminist perfection and her new book Rouge.
Lily Gladstone shares what led her to Killers of the Flower Moon.
RESTACK OF THE WEEK ♻️→
Samantha Irby may have a best-selling book out right now but forget all that. THIS is where it’s at. Not only does Irby reference the single greatest video to ever come out of New York public access TV (re: Penis Power), she highlights the very real ways in which a good-looking man can make a woman lose her damn mind. Fine journalism!
LET’S CHAT ☺
This week: Leave a comment with the most messed-up, shocking, scandalous book you’ve ever read. Even though Triptych and Pretty Girls were both wild, Glamorama by Bret Easton Ellis takes the cake for me.
Or per ush, let me know what you’ve been reading in the comments. I’m always game for a good rec (or warning, grievances, etc. ). If you tell me your favorite TV show or movie lately, I’ll give you a book recommendation.
In Case You Missed It 🖤
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See you around the bookshelf!
Natalie
DAMN YOU. You have me adding more books to my way too big TBR pile. Adding Pretty Girls because I’m a toe-dipper. DAMN YOU *shakes fist
Probably the most twisted thing I’ve read is Devil in the White City. So damn good. Also, Waco: A Survivor’s Story by David Thibodeau. Such a messed up scene.
As an atheist, I also find kind of a sick pleasure in stories of people who left cult religions. Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s Infidel and Megan Phelps-Roper’s Unfollow were two of the better ones.
Oh man, I was OBSESSED with Karin Slaughter a good few years ago and read all her books one after the other. I’m so excited you met her irl!