When a beautiful college student from Atlanta is reported missing, Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent Will Trent can't understand why his supervisor, Amanda Wagner, does not want him investigating the case. That is until he eventually learns that his father, a convicted kidnapper and murderer, was recently released from prison and is living in Atlanta. Has Will's father taken up where he left off before incarceration? Has the case that launched Amanda's career coming back to haunt her, bringing to light events that took place that long-ago summer of Will's birth? Is Will finally going to have answers about why Amanda has always taken such an interest in his life?

Going back almost 40 years to the summer Will was born, it's the beginning of female officers serving in the Atlanta Police Department, as well as black officers. Amanda and her good friend Evelyn are only given simple tasks that aren't important or interesting enough for the men to handle. The atmosphere in the station house and from fellow officers on the street is degrading and downright nasty, at times. When the victim of a simple rape case they were assigned turns up dead the day after they interviewed her, the women want to investigate further, feeling it's still their case. Of course, the male officers take over, but they miss a lot of clues the women feel are important. Going behind their backs, Amanda and Evelyn start probing the brutal crime, uncovering an ever-increasing amount of facts about missing girls and unsolved murders. Eventually solving this major case, in spite of their fellow male officers, launches both women's careers. It also placed them in the middle of the mystery concerning Will's birth, parentage, and his life growing up in an orphanage.

I have always enjoyed reading Karin Slaughter's thrillers from the very first book. However, CRIMINAL is the absolute, hands down very best one. So many questions are answered in this book about most of the main characters and how they got to be where, and what, they are today. The myriad of compelling characters and the complex plotline will grab your attention and keep you reading long into the night. And the ending is a bombshell. This highly talented author is a master at writing crime thrillers, and I can't wait to see what she has in store for readers in the future. Do not miss reading this fantastic thriller!!