Last Breath

So over the weekend I finished Last Breath by Karin Slaughter. I became a huge fan of hers earlier in the year. I started out with one series and then went into another. So when this book came out, I had to grab it! Her books are well-written and page turners!So Last Breath is a prequel to her upcoming book The Good Daughter. I loved the main character Charlie. She is an attorney who finds herself locked into a situation by a sweet girl scout. The young lady, Flora, is in a tight situation that she needs help getting out of. Once Charlie begins to see what Flora is facing, she quickly dives in and helps this girl, free of charge.Soon, Charlie is hit with evidence she can’t see her way through and is blind sighted. She finds herself in the middle of a drug operation that she has no choice but to see her way through. In the end she is shocked, hurt and betrayed.This story is a short story so you can read it in one day. It prepares you for the standalone, The Good Daughter that is coming out next month. I advise you to jump on this page turner if you like quick reads. You won’t be disappointed.I gave this one five stars.

I'm so thankful that the publishing date for the next Karin Slaughter book has been pushed up in date because, after reading Last Breath, I would not have been able to wait for it any longer.Last Breath is just the next wonderful presentation of fiction from this best contemporary writer I have found in all my reading. From character development to story line, and beyond, Ms. Slaughter is the best across all genre. I can only hope that this review does her work justice as I am clearly not the talented one, and I've just pulled another all-night 'er reading this ebook and am still left a bit off center by the turns in the plot. I might not get any sleep tonight, but it's worth every hour I'm awake.

It's a great short story that provides background information on her new book The Good Daughter (which is outstanding and I highly recommend). Karin is an amazing writer, Last Breath and Good Daughter are stand alone books but I also recommend going back and reading all her books from the beginning (Blindsighted) you will not be disappointed.

Wow. Intense. I love all of Slaughter's books and this one was no exception. This will grip you from the first page. You will be riveted with anxiety because you are so invested in the characters. I read a ton and it has been a while since a book has gripped me like this. Terrific read.

I listened to The Good Daughter first and it was such an amazing book. It was so easy to get invested in the characters and want to root for them. I was hoping that this was a series and found the prequel. I read Last Breath and I still want more. It was a quick and entertaining read. I hope there is more to come soon😁

What a great book! I love the way this story took twists and turns. Just as we feel sorry for the young girl, we begin to wonder why she's doing what she's doing. Throw in a few more twists and turns and we're thinking that we know who the bad guy is. Yes, this was a fun read!

Excellent writing to keep guessing the different scenarios. Totally a surprising outcome with multiple endings being available. My first short story.

Having read all of karen's books,I think this was her fiercest and most engrossing novel yet. She doesn't mess around or lose herself in wasteful narrative. It is dark and disturbing but a well written and intense crime novel.

Usually I wax lyrical about Karin Slaughter and her books, especially the Will Trent series'. I recently read The Good Daughter and I was really looking forward to this book, the prequel, Last Breath.As others have reviewed already, it's s short book; only 136 pages. I was a little disappointed by the length of the book but figured I'd get through it faster and then on to another of Slaughter's that I've got lined up.Compared with other novels of hers I've read, this one doesn't have a particularly strong plot or characters that move me. It's well-written, as typical of Slaughter's narrative style, but the spelling mistakes and typos distracted me and made me wonder if I was actually reading a draft, rather than a published piece?Good for a quick read but probably not the best example of Karin Slaughter's. Don't let this one put you off!

I love Karin Slaughter! I usually miss out on Karin's short stories as I don't have a Kindle, so was really happy to find that this has been released as a paperback. I enjoyed The Good Daughter very much and this story gives some background in to some of the characters from that novel. I hope to read more of the Grant County/Will Trent series and would be disappointed if there are no more in the pipeline, however these new characters are interesting so I would love to read more of them also.

Karen Slaughter has obviously a great deal of experience, writing a number of books many of which have been best sellers. This novel, styled as a novella, shows like signs of excellence but this reader found some difficulty in raising much sympathy for most of the characters. The exception was the principal, Charlie, a girl of great patience and generous with her time and money. She is a lawyer and in America they are kings or, in this instance, queen. Charlie is married to another lawyer and without children although noises are made that suggests that might be changing but she is specifically a defence advocate and, in this story, seems to be going the extra mile to defend a villain. These miscreant naturally attract like minds and the fall out from this case has various felons making trouble that does not help Charlie's case or health. There seems so much that is rotten with the system and bad people trying to take advantage of any opportunity coupled with the squalor of several places which certainly left a bad taste in my mouth. Slaughter writes very persuasively but some readers will have to make allowances for the American slang style which are perplexing to those of us raised on conventional English. A good story then with a covering of warts.

Last Breath is the prequel to The Good Daughter, the 2017 released standalone by Karin Slaughter and introduces the character of twenty-eight-year-old defence attorney Charlie Quinn. Having shunned the big bucks of the Atlanta and New York law firms after gaining a degree from Duke University Charlie Quinn has returned to her hometown of down at heel Pikeville to help the ordinary people who need representation and whose voices often go unheard. Happily married for five years to Ben Bernard, a lawyer at the district attorney’s office, she is trying not to be just like her father, Rusty Quinn, with his reputation for defending the badass felons in a community with a significant meth problem and is still admirably unjaded by her work. Having seen the ramifications of her father’s clientele choice with the murder of her mother and sister at the age of thirteen Charlie has been forced to grow up fast.Career day at the Girl Scouts and a rare bit of downtime from the office brings its own headaches for Charlie when morning sickness and the prospect of an unplanned pregnancy is matched only by the heartbreakingly earnest pleas of fifteen-year-old Florabama (Flora) Faulkner with her desire to be emancipated. Just a month shy of turning sixteen and the legal age to be emancipated in the state of Georgia it seems the girl has done her research, readily offering up evidence of the ability to support herself without additional state support, working shifts at a diner and with a place to stay with her friend Nancy Patterson’s parents. With Flora having witnessed her mother’s death as an eight-year-old in a fatal car accident and with the trucking company having set up a trust fund on her behalf she has been placed in the custody of her grandparents who between alcohol, addiction to pain medication and what appears to be defrauding her trust are maxing out on their meal-ticket granddaughter and sending Flora’s dream of college up in smoke. However with Flora reluctant to disclose everything or implicate her grandparents in the eyes of the law, Charlie is left to come to her own conclusions and feels compelled to act. As she heads to the insalubrious cinder-block apartments that are home to Leroy and Maude Faulkner, and meets the equally questionable Patterson parents Charlie is tasked with the hard part of sussing out the truth behind the claims and with deceit, manipulation and obfuscation in no short supply she has her hands full.At 136 printed pages Last Breath is a satisfying mix of solid character development, insight into Charlie’s complicated family background and her desire to stay true to her mother’s refrain of being useful, making informed choices and striving for her goals. Not only does Last Breath illustrate Charlie’s fierce love for her mother and her social conscience but it also sheds light on her insecurities about possible parenthood and her ability to detect bull from her clients. Whilst I liked the character of Charlie and found her a compassionate, realistic and practical ally for her clients, the character of Flora was far less impressive, being the epitome of a wide eyed innocent babe who had obviously reaped the rewards of her Girl Scout lessons! Nevertheless in a pleasantly complicated novella with the truth hidden under a murky array of allegations and rumour, Charlie needs every bit of her street smart background to see the bigger picture and separate the truth from the lies. Despite Charlie seeming somewhat gullible, Last Breath shows her characters determined work ethic and willingness to put herself on the line and adds colour to not only her origins but the community that she works amongst. Flawed but gutsy and with a realistic expectation of today’s teenagers, I look forward to seeing Charlie over the course of a full length novel and her husband and father both taking greater shape. It certainly looks like Pikeville has a big enough caseload to keep Charlie and Rusty very busy! My dismay, however, is that Last Breath seemed as much concerned with motherhood as mounting a legal defence and given this novella was not marketed as women’s fiction I felt a little let down.Best joke goes to Rusty Quinn with, “what does a thesaurus eat for breakfast?” and Charlie’s quick and humorous retort, “a synonym bun”... well I laughed.Review written by Rachel Hall (@hallrachel)

Love love love Karin Slaughters work! The biggest problem is that she doesn't churn out commercialised crap just for the sake of releasing a quota of books in a certain time frame - so there is a wait for her next book! But every book she writes is worth the wait! Last breath is a stunning prequal to her much awaited new release (July 17) - and whilst it's only a couple of hours read, its enough of a Karin fix to keep me going - :-). Thank you Karin - keep doing what you're doing - you're the best at it by far!