Cop Town Author:Karen Slaughter ISBN 978-345-54750-7 A prequel to the Will Trent series, but can be read as a stand alone novel. In Atlanta in 1974, Kate Murphy shows up for her first day of work at the Atlanta Police Department. Brought up in the genteel section of town, the daughter of a wealthy psychiatrist, Kate is wholly unprepared for the rough-and-tumble atmosphere of ... more »a department that is openly hostile to women. Sporting a uniform three sizes too big, she is a ready target for her fellow cops’ emotional and physical hazing. She partners with Maggie Lawson, who has a brother and an uncle on the force, and the two are thrown headlong into a day that sees them dealing with the murder of a fellow police officer. They begin to suspect that the dead cop was the victim of the Shooter, an expert marksman who has already taken out four other officers. Frantically looking for the thread that connects the murders, conducting a harrowing interrogation of a transsexual pimp that erupts in violence, and emotionally bruised from the vitriol directed her way, Kate begins to wonder if she is cut out to be a cop. Slaughter graphically exposes the rampant racism, homophobia, and misogyny of cop culture in the 1970s, made all the more jarring by its contrast with Kate’s cultured upbringing. Winning leads, the retro setting, and a riveting plot make this one of Slaughter’s best.« less