Broken: A Novel (Will Trent Book 4)

4.5 | 15,619 ratings

Price: 1.99

Last update: 06-09-2024

About this item

“Karin Slaughter is simply one of the best thriller writers working today.”—GILLIAN FLYNN

“This chilling mystery is just begging to be read in one sitting.”—Cosmopolitan

WATCH WILL TRENT ON ABC • This edition features an introduction on the origins of the New York Times bestselling Will Trent novels

Karin Slaughter’s internationally bestselling novels are as notable for their vivid portraits of lives shadowed by loss and heartbreak as they are for their dramatic criminal investigations. Broken features the return of her most compelling characters and introduces memorable new ones in a tale of corruption, murder, and confrontation that will leave more than one life . . .

When Special Agent Will Trent arrives in Grant County, he finds a police department determined to protect its own and far too many unanswered questions about a prisoner’s death. He doesn’t understand why Officer Lena Adams is hiding secrets from him. He doesn’t understand her role in the death of Grant County’s popular police chief. He doesn’t understand why that man’s widow, Dr. Sara Linton, needs him now more than ever to help her crack this case.

While the police force investigates the murder of a young woman pulled from a frigid lake, Trent investigates the police force, putting pressure on Adams just when she’s already about to crack. Caught between two complicated and determined women, trying to understand Linton’s passionate distrust of Adams, the facts surrounding Chief Tolliver’s death, and the complexities of this insular town, Trent will unleash a case filled with explosive secrets—and encounter a thin blue line that could be murderous if crossed.

Spellbinding and keenly paced, Broken is Karin Slaughter at her best. Here is an unforgettable story of raw emotions, dangerous assumptions, the deadly and layered game of betrayal, and a man’s determination to expose the most painful of human truths—no matter how deeply they’re hidden . . . or how devastating.

Squirrels Like Nuts

Procedural elements with deep emotional insights

Reviewed in the United States on May 25, 2024

Broken, the fourth book in the Will Trent, explores themes of loss, redemption, and the quest for justice. Karin Slaughter deftly examines the impact of trauma on individuals and communities, highlighting how past wounds can shape present actions. The novel also delves into issues of power and corruption within small-town institutions, offering a critique of how justice can be subverted by those meant to uphold it.

Karin Slaughter doesn’t shy away from depicting the brutal realities of crime and its impact on individuals and communities. This raw and unflinching portrayal adds to the authenticity of the story.

Diane Birtwell

Interesting plot twist

Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2024

Loved this book and how it moved resolved Sara’s grieving for Jeffrey and will now allow her to move forward. Will’s character is further softened and I loved the moments between him and Sara. I got confused on some of the murder plot though. Maybe too many twists. But the most unbelievable plot twist came at the end. Spoiler alert!! It feels weird to have Lena and Jared together IMO. Especially if he resembles Jeffrey that much. Jeffrey was always a big brother to Lena. So it’s just weird IMO. Other than that, love this series!

Ronnie

great story

Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2024

Anyone who appreciates a good police story will enjoy this book. The details about how forensics help to solve cases are shared in this book.

Mountain woman

I can’t help but keep reading!

Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2024

I can’t seem to stop reading this series! Karin Slaughter is an incredible writer. It’s hard to reconcile the way her photo looks with the scary things she writes, but she’s definitely keeping me hanging onto the next book in this Will Trent series. This book, as is true with everything else of hers, is both completely believable and yet too horrific to be true. At least, I hope it couldn’t be true. I do know people can be so brutal to each other, but I think I will hang onto my innocence and believe it could only be fiction.

Marissa Tofte

slow start, but I still enjoyed this book.

Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2024

I had a hard time getting into this book for the first 70ish pages, but I still persisted. Once will came into the story, I couldn’t put it down. That’s when the action started. I love the series and all the twists and turns.

AJ Holmes

Another great installment to the series!!!

Reviewed in the United States on December 24, 2023

Having never read the Grant County series, it was nice to get a bit more insight into who Sara is as she's been a huge asset to these last couple of cases. Returning home to where she lost her husband and encountering those she hadn't seen in a while as well as those she never wanted to see again, was quite a daunting ordeal for her, but she handled it quite well for the most part. Then, there's Will, who, despite his masterful ability to keep others at bay from his dyslexia problem, comes to terms with the fact that he may need to open up just a bit more in order to solve this case. Tensions are high, and college students are being murdered, and not by who they think it is.

HRCin2012

Three Stars Because I love Karin Slaughter, but...

Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2010

The title of this review says it all. Karin Slaughter is one of the few authors who can get me to pay for the hardcover.

I've never ever been able to stand Sara Linton. In previous installments, Sara was the sanctimonious, self-righteous, moral authority, but I never thought that had much to do with the quality of the story. Sara's involvement in the plot never seemed contrived. She was just a player in a bigger story.

In Broken, Sara is the story. She muscles her way in, involves Will Trent et al and makes it the Sara Linton show, while everyone walks on eggshells and inexplicably defers to her. I just wanted one person to call her out. Instead the police force, the rest of the county and indeed the whole state of Georgia (if you believe that Sara could summon the GBI without so much as a question from Amanda Wagner) are all in perpetual mourning over The Late Great Jeffrey Tolliver.

But Sara isn't just a professional widow. She can transition seamlessly into a brilliant, heroic doctor who can diagnose Will's disability, recall the IQ of her former patient and lecture about the pros and cons of research all on the fly. She even stops drowning to tend to her archenemy.

Karin Slaughter typically fleshes out her characters a lot better. We knew all there was to know about the victims in the first few pages, the next three hundred pages were spent rehashing Sara's losses ad nauseam and everything was wrapped up with a neat bow in the final pages.

I will commend her restraint in avoiding the obvious and contrived pairing of Will and Sara. Although Will takes up Sara's vendetta easily enough, he doesn't totally degenerate into a lovesick little puppy in her presence. At times, he's irritated by her "help" and perceives her as condescending. Her final "Go home to your wife" made me want to write a much harsher review.

I really like Will Trent and I hope that in the next book, she focuses on resolving the Will and Angie situation. I could also see an interesting story focusing on Angie and Lena as main characters.

Mary N. Parker

Read Book Four, and You Will Want to Read More

Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2024

The novel had a great plot that fit together all of the many clues. I especially liked the disparate qualities encapsulated in the Lena character.

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Broken: A Novel (Will Trent Book 4)

About this item

Top reviews from the United States

Best Sellers in

The War Of The Flowers

The Bullet That Missed: A Thursday Murder Club Mystery

Every Move You Make: THE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER. A new gripping psychological thriller for 2024 from the Sunday Times and mult

The Captured: A True Story of Abduction by Indians on the Texas Frontier

The Last One: A Novel

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