Frank H. (perryfran) reviewed on 8/20/2023 + 1181 more book reviews

Another thrill ride from Ms. Slaughter! I've only read a couple of her other books but they have all been page-turners delving into the darker aspects of the human psyche. The other books I have read were both stand alone novels, Pretty Girls and The Good Daughter, while Triptych is the first in a series of books featuring Will Trent, an investigator for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI).

The novel starts with the brutal killing of a black prostitute in the low-income housing projects of Atlanta. This is being investigated by a veteran police detective named Michael Ormewood, whose marriage is on the outs and who has a mentally disabled young son. Will Trent is called upon to assist in the investigation. Trent is a very complex character who is dyslexic and must use a tape recorder to assist him in his interviews. A beautiful vice cop, Angie Polaski, also gets involved in the investigation. Angie had once worked with Ormewood but she also grew up with Trent in foster homes and witnessed some of the abuses that happened through that system. Trent has the scars that show this. As Trent gets involved in the case, he comes up with some similar recent cases where some young girls were sexually assaulted and abused. There is one thing that ties these cases to the murder in the projects. . .the victims tongues were bitten off. Then into the mix comes John Shelley who was recently paroled from prison for the murder and mutilation of a young girl back in the 1980s. John was a teenager when this occurred but was tried and incarcerated as an adult. Prison was not kind to him. So is John the current rapist and killer? Did he actually commit the crime from 20 years ago?

There were some good twists to this story and all was not as it first seemed. I was engrossed and am really looking forward to reading more in the series at some point. I should also note that Will Trent has been made into a TV series on ABC. I have seen the first season of this and while I enjoyed it for the most part, it was really quite watered down from the book I just read. In it, Ormewood is Angie's partner in the police department and although he seems to be somewhat of a jerk, he is not the very disturbed person as portrayed in the novel.

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