It's 1974 and in Atlanta, Georgia, it's still a man's world. Kate Murphy, from the wealthy Buckhead neighborhood, is looking for purpose in her life after her young husband is killed in the military. She hates secretarial work and joins the police force which is recruiting women. The existing force, mainly white men, don't want the women. They look down on women, blacks, gays and all other minorities. White men have the power and they don't intend to share it. They sexually harass the women with no compunction.

But someone is determined to change the force. The Shooter has killed five policemen and its only by a miracle the sixth has escaped. Maggie Lawson, Kate's partner, is from a police family with her uncle and brother both on the force and both determined to get Maggie off of it. Jimmy is the sixth policeman who escaped The Shooter. As a survivor, he's in the best position to give a description but his account of what happened doesn't ring true. What is he hiding?

Most readers will know Karin Slaughter for her series about Grant County and the one featuring Will Trent. This novel is a stand-alone and it depicts a police force that is full of racism and casual violence, of men who drink on the job and have affairs while on duty. Kate Murphy is a young woman trying to find her place, running into walls wherever she turns but determined to make a go of being a police woman. The only quibble I have is that Kate finds herself in an affair with a man who clearly doesn't love her or even value her and she could do much better than that. The mystery of The Shooter is full of twists and the reader will be surprised as much as anyone at the denouement. It was nominated for an Edgar Award. This book is recommended for mystery readers.

I did not read Cop Town by Karin Slaughter as an educator. However, I did read it as an avid crime genre reader. Slaughter is one of my favorite authors, and Cop Town did not disappoint. The 1970's cop/crime was depicted well, and Slaughter did a fantastic job developing Kate Murphy and Maggie Lawson. Karin Slaughter created another great stand alone novel.

I am reading everything I can find by this author now. The book was well paced and I enjoyed the protagonist very much. Will be looking forward to more.

I couldn't finish this book because it had too many ugly images. I like police procedurals but found this book too raw and gritty where it didn't need to be. (I did like the writing, though, just began to feel sickened by some of the descriptions.)

I received a copy of this book in return for an honest review. This author has a very good way of putting words together to tell a great story. Thank you for allowing me the privilege to review your work. I found it very fascinating and would be happy to put it on the shelves at my library.

What a difficult story to read.

It cannot be easy for an author to tackle such heavy topics of the 70s but Slaughter gave it her best. This deals with a rough period in time when racism is rampant and sexism is everywhere. It is also unbelievable grim and violent. Almost too much and I almost stopped reading. There was no need for ALL of that information and detail to be included. It felt like overkill.

This is a story about oppressive new partners, Maggie and Kate, being further beaten down in a time when it is not frown upon to treat women like the lesser sex. These two characters spend the story trying to take control of their lives as the investigate a series of suspect execution style killings. What stood out to me was that these two main characters were often hard to root for. I never connected with them nor could I relate to anything they had going on in their lives. The personal choices they made me like them less and less. I nearly stopped reading. How could I continue when one MC was in such an abusive relationship that it overshadows everything else I know about her?

The violence and gruesome way the murders were described was completely uncalled for. It did not add anything to the overall story. The rest of the characters were not that wonderful either. Except for Gail, the undercover office. I liked Gail but none of the others. This was not a tough mystery to figure out but it was a brutal story to get through.

This is well-crafted and full of details, but was it an enjoyable read? Not really, at least for me. I'm feeling more tired and battered after finishing it than anything else. If you're curious about this author, I'd recommend her other series instead.

Our apologies, this book was never reviewed by the requesting reviewer. If a review is written in the future, we will forward a link.

Hmmm. This one is terribly difficult for me to rate. I thought the manhunt was done well, but everything surrounding it was incredibly tough to hear. There was every kind of discrimination and "ism" you can imagine. Reality of the times (70s Georgia, and maybe even now), but nonetheless, it was tough to hear to over and over and over. Not a pleasant listen for me, but solving the crime kept me from making it a DNF. (yikes)

I know a lot of people liked this book, but I just couldn't get into it.

This novel was a gut punch. It had all the trappings of a Karin Slaughter novel --the things all her readers have come to expect, including excellent writing. I think it was just a powerfully hard read sometimes. I can't even believe I'm saying this but I think that maybe after several other novels, comedic novels, I may come back to this and see what I get from a second reading.