This was quite a dark and graphic story! The characters are well written, they are raw and flawed and we hate some of them as the author intended. I think writing a novel with covid makes it relevant for today.

This gritty novel was very in depth so it took me a long while to finish.

There hasn’t been one Karin slaughter novel that has let me down. She’s an auto-buy author for a reason. .

She makes fantastic thrillers that I have the hardest time putting down and THIS IS NO EXCEPTION.

Do you like thrillers?
Do you like a book you can’t put down till you finish?
Do you like dark reads?
Then look no further because this IS the read for you.

Wow. This book was brutal, heartbreaking, disturbing, but so, so good. The writing was incredible, which I wasn’t expecting for a thriller. I was kind of upset that Slaughter wrote COVID into the story, but I understand now why she did it, and it works. Don’t let that deter you. The narrator was great as well.

As gripping as it is chilling...

Leigh's is forced to confront her past when a rape case shows up on her desk, and the defendant is linked to an incredibly traumatic experience from her teens. Can she defend this client while also defending her husband, daughter and sister, let alone her morals? False Witness is full of edge-of-your seat moments, twists and turns, and some graphic content that is hard to read in the best way possible.

This was my first Karin Slaughter (even though The Silent Wife has been sitting in my TBR pile for ages...) and I was not disappointed. Slaughter easily hooked me in and caught me off guard a few times - which is not an easy feat! Slaughter has a wonderful perspective and works to let the reader in on life as a female, and as someone experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, this often pulled me from the story's flow and felt as though I was being lectured - it felt more clunky than seamless or inherent in the writing.

Kathleen Early's narration was easy to listen to and she really captured the characters, even in some very intense moments.

Thanks to Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC listen!

This was my first Karin Slaughter book and my goodness it did not disappoint, I really enjoyed the book and I liked how she weaved in COVID-19 into the narrative. I think we will be seeing more of this as we read going forward.

It touched on themes of child abuse, grooming, undiagnosed psychopath and a bit of gore but my sense if regular Karin Slaughter readers will not be surprised by the amount of detail she goes into.
There was a delightful twist and I loved the ending. Definitely recommend!

I have yet to read a Karin Slaughter book I didn't enjoy, and False Witness is no different. This book broke my heart. Calli and Leigh's story was just so incredibly intense. I felt myself rooting for them to overcome their hardships throughout the entire book. In addition, the audiobook was beautifully done, and just made the story that much more real to me, in the eyes of the reader.

This book was fine but nothing special. It felt extremely similar to Pretty Girls; long-lost sisters reuniting, creepy murderous men taking after their relatives, and, of course, extremely graphic rapes. The plot felt all over the place to me. There was so much jumping back and forth in the timeline and the focus of the novel kept changing. It started off being about a court case and then by the end it was mostly focused on the relationship between the sisters. The crime aspect was disappointing and the twists were very easy to predict. I also really didn't like that the story took place during the pandemic. Considering that we're still living through it, it felt like too much too soon. My favorite part was the relationship between the sisters and seeing that develop. Overall, it was fine but it doesn't make me want to read more books by this author.

This was captivating! I couldn't stop listening. I do think her books tend to be on the longer side, and could probably be shortened a little bit, but this was a great story. The narration was fantastic. I am not sure how I feel about covid being a part of storylines, but I really appreciated the author's note that explained the intentions around including it.

Karin Slaughter does NOT disappoint!! She is truly one of my favorite authors.

Calli was a 14 year old babysitting Buddy's 9 year old, Trevor. Buddy was a disgusting adult who had been abusing Callie since she was 12. Callie felt she was in love because no one had ever cared for her and Buddy took advantage of that. One day, something happens and Buddy tries to kill Callie, who in turn kills him in self defense. Desperate, she calls her sister Leigh. They take care of the situation.

Twenty years later, Callie is a drug addict and Leigh is a successful criminal lawyer. She is ordered to take on the case of a young man accused of several violent sexual assaults against women. After the first meeting, she realizes the young man is Trevor, who apparently knows a thing or two about what happened that night.

This was such an emotional book for me! There were many twists, and so many stresful scenes. Karin sure knows how to create tension. Of course, as with every book with this author, there a lots of trigger warnings: child abuse, drugs, suicide attempts, child neglect, violent crime, sexual assault, murders, abduction, etc.

However, this book also has lots and lots of love. It didn't feel like it when reading it, but afterwards you cannot deny how much love there is throughout this story. I can't get into more details without spoiling anything, so I'm just going to say I loved listening to this book and I give it 5 stars!

I thought the narrator and this book were both fantastic. This one is gripping and GRAPHIC (like all Karin Slaughter books), and it went at a little bit of a slower pace than her others I've read. This book doesn't necessarily focus on the *who* but on the *why* and the *how* - still, I really enjoyed it, all 18 hours of this audiobook!

Wow, this was dark and twisty. I wasn't expecting it to be so disturbing. Liked it but lots of content warnings.

This is a first for me. I am giving my review before finishing the book. I will amend if I see the need. Let me start by saying that I think Karin Slaughter does great with plot development, usually. I was tearing my hair out listening to her reference COVID-19 ad nauseaum! I am already Covid weary and to have her build it into the plot where she talks about anti-maskers every other page and one of the characters having difficulty breathing because she had had Covid was just downright tedious. And then she was extremely repetitious with the drug addicted character who had neck injuries, feeling the constant need to refer to the neck injury. this is not a book that I will not finish but I can tell you this, the book could’ve been shorter by 100 pages without all of the repetitious matters which I have referenced. Her characters are very one dimensional in this standalone book. I love her series and will now be more leery of her standalones. And maybe she needs to get a change of pace or move to a different locale as she seems to be suffering from Covid brain right now. Thanks to NetGalley for a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

This wasn't my favorite book by this author, but still a great, engaging read. I love how in every book, the characters come to life and I always have a picture of them in my mind while reading. This one didn't grab me at the beginning but once it hit it's stride, it was a good read.

Karin Slaughter fans know exactly what I mean when I say that this book is not for the faint at heart. It starts with a very intense and difficult to read scene that will have readers sweating and reeling with anger.

Leigh and her sister Callie are no strangers to a life of abuse, crime, and injustice. Fast forward a few decades though, that part of their lives seems to have been put in the past. Until…Andrew makes an appearance in Leigh’s office as a man who needs to be defended in the court of law. He was accused of rape.

But what is it about Andrew that causes a niggle in Leigh’s brain?

When Leigh makes the connection between Andrew’s sudden appearance in her life and her troubled past…the unraveling of this intense plot will no doubt have you turning pages furiously!

Karin Slaughter is a master writer who holds back nothing. Readers should be prepared for many jaw dropping, white knuckle, red faced moments

Loved the narrator she did a great job of reading the story and making it atmospheric.
I really found it interesting how Slaughter chose to include and write about covid while living in it when writing the story. It was an interesting aspect and interesting to hear her thoughts about why in the author's note.

In true Slaughter form this book was dark, twistu, distrubing, and gritty, definitely not for the faint of heart.

False Witness is a very dark thriller about two sisters living separate lives with one childhood secret that will tie them together for the rest of their lives.

Leigh lives an ordinary life. She is a defense attorney living in Atlanta with one daughter and a husband. When a case comes across her desk, she is quickly realizes that it is no coincidence why this client has hired her.

Leigh then has to turn to Calli, her estranged sister, as she is the only person who can help.

Told from two very different sister’s point of view, False Witness is a DARK read. Slaughter hooks you in from page one and keeps you engrossed in how the characters are reacting to the position they are now put in.

This was also the first book I have read that has COVID-19’s effects and restrictions embedded into the story as well. Slaughter has a phenomenal afterword that talks about why she decided to incorporate this into the book.

Soooo long but it was really good!! Though I could have used far less reference of Covid life. Books are my escape from reality

I was approved for this audiobook at 8:44 am and it was archived before I had a chance to download it at the end of the day so I will not get to review this book. :(

𝑭𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒆 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 by Karin Slaughter ★★★★★ One thing I love about Karin Slaughter's writing is that she's pretty much the only author I read who consistently writes things darker/more effed up than what my brain could imagine. That was certainly true in this one. As much as moments made me shocked or cringe, I also cried for a solid hour of the book yesterday (which I listened to on my commute) because it took a really emotional turn there. You'll feel all the feels. [Thank you to the publisher for the audio version of this book!]
CW: Covid, childhood sexual abuse, adult rape/murder, drug addiction

I received an ARC audiobook version of this book from NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.

False Witness by Karin Slaughter was an utterly fantastic read. I don't normally read thrillers, so for me to enjoy this book as much as I did is a testament to the quality of the story and writing. The characters had such depth and intrigue, and I loved the multiple perspectives throughout, which gave different sides to each character. It was quite gritty and gruesome at times so I would recommend researching the trigger warnings before reading this as it does cover some extremely dark topics. This is also the first book I have read that discusses the sociological and economical impacts of the pandemic, which I found fascinating. Overall, False Witness was seriously gripping and full of suspense and mystery. I would highly recommend this book.