THE KEPT WOMAN

4 stars out of 5

Overall, my feelings about this book are mixed, quite honestly, but one thing I'll say for sure: It takes codependency to a whole new level. Normally, that would drive me more than a little bit crazy; but the "hero," Will Trent, is so likable that for the most part I just want to hug him (that is, when I'm not wanting to give him a good whack on the head).

Not so, however, for his relationship partner, Angie Polaski, who's worse than despicable and a sorry excuse for a human being. Yes, I know she had a traumatic childhood - as did Will; if you've been following this series (this is the eighth book), you know a good bit of the background. And if you don't, you'll get an eyeful here in almost excruciating detail. But in a nutshell, once Will and Angie hooked up as kids some 30 years ago, they formed a virtually unshakable and extremely unhealthy bond that's been impossible for Will to break (in fact, they once got married and remain legally attached to this day). 

The book begins with the discovery of a dead body - a former cop - in a construction site for a soon-to-be big-money development project. There's plenty of blood, but Sara Linton, medical examiner and Will's love for the past year or so, determines that most of it didn't come from the victim. Apparently, there was a female victim here as well, but she's nowhere to be found. Then comes awareness that the site belongs to a rich, powerful and connected pro basketball player who was exonerated of rape charges a few months earlier despite efforts by Will, an agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

That deep South setting, in fact, served up a delightful quote to which I, a person who turns into a shrew when temperatures climb much beyond 75 degrees, can relate:

"Going outside was like walking straight into the mouth of a yawning dog."

Well yes. Yes it is. But I digress.

The case herein takes still another turn for the worse when evidence links the crime scene to Angie, who for the most part has been staying under the radar ever since Will and Sara got together (a relationship Angie's clearly not happy about). That's about to change, though, forcing Will to deal with memories he's tried to sweep under his rug for years and now threatens to break the bonds that have tied him to the seriously messed-up Angie. Much of the rest of the book, I'll add, focuses on Angie and her background; Will is there, of course, but he almost seems to play second fiddle as her current actions and layers of the horrors of her past are peeled away. 

And I wish I could work up some sympathy, but after all these years of Will Trent books, that's not gonna happen. Throughout the whole thing - which not insignificantly is fast-paced, action filled and hard to put down - I kept the fingers crossed on the hand that wasn't turning pages on my Kindle that Angie would finally get her comeuppance (getting bumped off works for me) and Will would grow a backbone.

If you want to find out whether either of those wishes became reality, though, you'll just have to read the book.

The Kept Woman by Karin Slaughter (William Morrow, September 2016); 485 pp.

COP TOWN

4 stars out of 5

Since I've been keeping track at Goodreads.com, I've read five other books by Karin Slaughter - all Will Trent novels. The most recent, Unseen, was less than great, but I enjoyed the others well enough to try this book, her first stand-alone novel. And by the time I'd reached a quarter of the way through, I was pretty sure I was going to struggle to finish it.

It really wasn't the writing; rather, it was the subject matter and time period. The 1970s was not my favorite decade, although I was rather happily distracted from all the nasty things going on in the world by trying to take care of a husband, two young children and returning to the workforce once our younger child, born in 1968, reached kindergarten age.

And this book is set right in the middle: 1974 in Atlanta, where clear lines are drawn among men and women, blacks and whites, gays and straights, Jews and everyone else; there's no air conditioning, no cell phones and men keep their women in line by beating the crap out of them. All in good fun, eh?

Not. I'm not entirely sure why, except maybe it brought back somewhat uncomfortable memories of my own years in college in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when Jews and blacks (and no, they weren't called "blacks" back then) had separate fraternities and sororities and Women's Lib was just a glimmer in Betty Friedan's eye. At any rate, the story centers on Kate Murphy, a young widow who has joined the Atlanta Police Department just after the brutal murder of one of their own - the latest in a string of similar murders. She's got three strikes against her: She's new, she's female and she's beautiful. The women on the force can't relate to her - they're having enough trouble taking the heat from the men themselves - and the men make it clear they don't want her there.

Forced to wear ill-fitting uniforms and accept insults hurled at her from every angle, Kate isn't sure she'll make it right from the start. Still, she manages to develop a bit of camaraderie, albeit grudgingly given, with the sister of the cop who was with his partner - the most recent officer killed - when it happened. Together, the women form a sort of alliance to investigate on their own, risking the ire of other officers if their behind-the-scenes efforts are discovered (if not outright dismissal from the force). Those efforts take on even more relevance when the evidence takes them to surprising places and revelations that will rock their own belief systems and the police department to the very core.

Obviously, I kept going despite my hesitation early on - and I'm very glad I did. No, I never quite adjusted to all the negative attitudes and scenarios, but at the same time they were crucial to a story that got much more interesting the closer I got to the end - the last quarter I polished off nonstop just because it was that good. Was I happy with the ending? Well, yes and no; but all I'll say is some things take longer to change than others.

Cop Town by Karin Slaughter (Delacorte Press, June 2014); 417 pp.