Book #2: False Witness, Karin Slaughter

 

About the Book:

He saw what you did.

He knows who you are…

From the New York Times bestselling author of Pieces of Her and The Silent Wife, an electrifying standalone thriller.

AN ORDINARY LIFE…

Leigh Collier has worked hard to build what looks like a normal life.  She’s an up-and-coming defense attorney at a prestigious law firm in Atlanta, would do anything for her sixteen-year-old daughter Maddy, and is managing to successfully co-parent through a pandemic after an amicable separation from her husband Walter.

HIDES A DEVASTATING PAST…

But Leigh’s ordinary life masks a childhood no one should have to endure … a childhood tarnished by secrets, broken by betrayal, and ultimately destroyed by a brutal act of violence.

BUT NOW THE PAST IS CATCHING UP…

On a Sunday night at her daughter’s school play, she gets a call from one of the partners who wants Leigh to come on board to defend a wealthy man accused of multiple counts of rape. Though wary of the case, it becomes apparent she doesn’t have much choice if she wants to keep her job. They go to trial in one week. When she meets the accused face-to-face, she realizes that it’s no coincidence that he’s specifically asked for her to represent him.  She knows him.  And he knows her.  More to the point, he may know what happened over twenty years ago, and why Leigh has spent two decades avoiding her past.

AND TIME IS RUNNING OUT.

Suddenly she has a lot more to lose than this case.  The only person who can help is her younger, estranged sister Callie, the last person Leigh would ever want to drag into this after all they’ve been through.  But with the life-shattering truth in danger of being revealed, she has no choice…

Discussion Questions

Slaughter said, “It [trauma] can lead to heart disease, diabetes, depression. It can make you more susceptible to drug addiction, to alcoholism. We know all of these things can really cause you to continue suffering as an adult. We know trauma can tend to pass down through families. It can, kind of, be hardwired into the DNA. So, that was what I was exploring in the book. 

How do you get past trauma? How do you manage to move on when bad things happen? 

Did the graphic nature make you like the book less or more? 

How did you feel about the rough topics it talked about over all, rape, drug abuse, etc? 

How did you feel about the characters, Callie, Trevor/Andrew, Buddy, Leigh, Walter, Maddie and Phil? 

How did you feel about Leigh and Callie’s relationship? 

How did you feel about Leigh’s relationship with her estranged husband Walter?

How did you feel about both sisters coping mechanisms, throughout the book?

How did you feel about the ending of the book? 

What was your favorite part of the book?

What was your least favorite?

Which scene has stuck with you the most?

Which characters in the book did you like best?

Which characters did you like least?

What feelings did this book evoke for you?

Are there any questions you still have after you’ve finished the book?

What do you think about Callie’s relationship dynamic with Dr. Jerry?

What was Sidney’s motivation in killing ruby ? Do you think there is more to the character than meets the eye?