Karin Slaughter could slap me in the face and I would thank her. My love for this woman and her writing knows no bounds. Once again I was not disappointed. Also how am I just now finding out she founded a nonprofit organization called Save the Libraries that supports libraries and library programs? While also writing books that help shed light on crimes against women? Karin Slaughter, my world is a better place because of you. 🖤

This book was classic Karin Slaughter and I loved every minute of it. It was bone chilling, thrilling, and full of twists and turns that I never saw coming!

We Are All Guilty Here takes place is North Falls, where everyone in town is connected in some way. Two teens go missing during a firework show, and it’s up to Emmy to piece together what happened. Flash forward to twelve years, and another teen goes missing in a similar way. Emmy must dig up the past and solve the case once and for all.

What I enjoyed most about this book was how Emmy and Jude slowly, but surely, peeled back all the layers in the case. Every time a new theory arose, they were able to discover more and more shady crimes around town. I loved how Emmy and Jude played off of each other. I hope we see more of the two of them solving cases together. The way Slaughter balanced the characters emotions in this book was fantastic. I feel like the representation of grief, shock, trauma, and perseverance made the characters feel relatable even while they were dealing with a horrible situation.

I really was immersed in this book. The details Slaughter gave had me feeling like I was sitting right there in the room. Watching the interrogations, listening to the different theories being tossed around, and even feeling weary along with the characters. I never saw any of the twists coming, and I found myself constantly thinking about the book when I put it down.

Ultimately, this book was a great read. I enjoyed every minute of it and I can’t wait to see where Slaughter takes the North Falls series! Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow books for this eARC in exchange for my honest review!

This was everything I want in a small-town thriller—tight pacing, layered characters, and that simmering sense that everyone is hiding something. Karin Slaughter kicks off the North Falls series with a bang (literally—fireworks and all), and I was all in from the first chapter.

The disappearance of two teen girls shakes the whole town, but it’s Emmy’s personal connection that really pulled me in. Her guilt, her determination, the unraveling of her own blind spots—it all added such a human layer to the mystery. The plot keeps twisting, and just when I thought I had it figured out, nope. Another curveball.

I docked a star only because some of the secondary characters blurred together a bit, and a couple moments felt slightly too neat for the gritty tone. But overall? This was sharp, suspenseful, and totally addictive. Emmy Clifton is a character I want more of—and I’ll be grabbing the next in the series the second it drops.

If you love your thrillers with emotional stakes, messy relationships, and a town full of buried secrets, this one’s worth your time.

Karin Slaughter is a hit-or-miss author for me but this one was a HUGE hit!

Two young girls go missing in the small town of North Falls on Fourth of July. Emmy and her father Gerald are not only leading the police force in the search for the girls, but one of the girls is Emmy’s best friend’s 15 year old daughter. What happens to the girls and the investigation will have consequences for years to come.

This story had me engaged from start to finish. The characters were developed and relatable. The crime details were raw and shocking - Karin Slaughter doesn’t shy away from the cruel reality of violent crime.

And the twists - oh there are twists. And I’m always so pleasantly surprised when I do NOT see them coming.

I’m excited for this to be a series and will definitely be keeping my eyes peeled for the next installment!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

I love Karin Slaughter books and this stand alone was great. Delvinginto sociopaths and their motives, family trauma, and buried secrets- this thriller kept me guessing until the end.

Karin Slaughter has done it again with her newest novel, We Are All Guilty Here! Being a Georgia native, the setting is always my favorite part of the Slaughter books and my hometown was even mentioned in this one which was very exciting! The new characters were refreshing and I enjoyed getting to know them and the Clifton family history and secrets. And there are many many secrets! The family dynamics are a major part of what drew me in to the story. The novel was captivating and the ending was very satisfying. I hope she continues this series with these characters. A page-turner for sure. Five stars! Highly recommend! Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced readers copy of this novel.

Karin Slaughter has done it again. She has given us the beginning of a new series filled with a cast of characters who you will not be able to forget. Trauma and tragedy have damaged them, but they fight so others can hopefully find peace. This dark and gritty story of family, friends, and depravity will not soon be forgotten.

Karin Slaughter always delivers a great read and her newest book We are All Guilty Here is no exception. This novel tells the story of two girls missing from a small town. The main characters are both policemen, Emmy and her dad and he guides Emmy through the investigation. A great and I highly recommend it.

It’s bizarre to say you loved a book that deals in such dark subject matter, but….I did. I couldn’t put it down, was completely engrossed in the dual storylines, and sad when the story was done. I think the central characters - Emmy and Jude, will be excellent anchors for future thrillers set in this world, and although I worry these new characters means we’re soon to say goodbye to the Will Trent series, I can already see I’ll be just as invested in this one.

Friends, KS isn’t for the feint of heart. Her novels are full of some of the foulest and most vile villains you can (or can’t) imagine. They hurt women, children, men and…well, their methods and actions are so disturbing I often have to look away from the pages of the story to compose myself and carry on. WE ARE ALL GUILTY HERE is similarly ugly, but as per usual, Slaughter never over embellishes; she plants the seeds of what happened to her victims in vicious passages, and then lets the reader do the heavy work of imagining what else our villains might have done. Prepare yourself for the worst this time out.

Great start to this new series.

I've only ever read one of Karin Slaughter's books before (All the Pretty Girls), which I thought was well written but still difficult to read because of the authors unflinching descriptions of sexual violence. I was chose to read this book hoping it would be well written, quickly paced and interesting enough to keep my attention. The first 50% of this book dragged. It has to set up a mystery from previous years to impact the case handled 13 years later, but it meanders. I kept plugging away, not out of open interest but in hoping the book would pick up. I do think the book picks up a bit in the future time line when the character Jude is introduced but similarly slogs its way through police procedural work. Like a very long Law & Order SVU episode watching the cops track down their leads. Some of the jumps in police work didn't necessarily make sense to me. I liked the characters of Emmy and Jude but agree with other commenters that they are not as well fleshed out as they should be as main characters. Skippable.

Another strong crime drama by one of my favorite authors! This novel took place in Georgia and referenced assistance from the GBI, but otherwise was a one-off from the Will Trent books. I did not expect the twists and turns that were revealed at the ending and I was burning through the last two thirds of the book. Great female characters! Highly recommend. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

One of my favorite (yet) disturbing thrillers by Karin is All the pretty girls. I was hoping the first couple chapters would draw me in but that wasn’t the case.

Set in the quiet, close-knit town of North Falls, We Are All Guilty Here unravels a tense and haunting tale of secrets, loss, and the shadows lurking beneath small-town life. When two teenage girls vanish during the fireworks, the community is thrown into chaos, and Officer Emmy Clifton finds herself confronting her past mistakes as she searches for answers. Her pursuit reveals startling truths about the girls—and herself—shattering the illusions of trust she once held.
Slaughter expertly captures the complexity of her characters and the dark undercurrents of a town hiding its own secrets. As Emmy digs deeper into the mystery, she uncovers a web of lies that makes her question everything—and everyone—around her. The story builds to an intense crescendo, highlighting how dangerous secrets can be and the devastating consequences they carry.

We Are All Guilty Here is a gripping, emotionally charged novel that explores the fragility of innocence and the harsh realities beneath the façade of small-town life. It’s a compelling reminder that no place is perfect, and everyone has something to hide.

I read Pretty Girls a few years back and couldn’t stop thinking about it. As disturbing as that book was, Karin Slaughter has a way of writing a book that you can’t help but get sucked into. We Are All Guilty Here has solidified the fact that Karin Slaughter is a truly, gifted storyteller.

As I was thinking about the best way to describe the book, two television shows kept popping into my head. This book is a cross between Mare of Easttown and Law and Order SVU. This book takes place in a small town where everyone knows everyone with a kidnapping/murder thrown into the mix. The town has its secrets and you can’t help but want to know how it’s all going to turn out.

In addition to the kidnapping/murder plot, there’s lots of family drama with lots of layers to it. The main characters (Jude and Emmy) were so well written. I found them to be relatable. I felt like I was right there with them at every turn. Actually, all the characters were so well written, even the despicable ones.

It was well paced. I didn’t feel it drug on too long. It had me on my edge of my seat at times. I look forward to reading more books about the North Fall folks.

The only negative I have is there were a few times that a character would show up and I couldn’t quite figure out who they were. There were quite a few people introduced throughout the book so I had to go back to jog my memory on a couple people. This is such a minor thing, but I wanted to mention it.

If I could give this book more than five stars, I would. I HIGHLY recommend it. Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the Arc. I will be purchasing a hard copy once it’s released because I loved it that much!

Karin Slaughter is such a good storyteller. I’m so excited for another series from her as the Will Trent series was exceptional. This book had great character development, tied up every single loose end, and like every single one of Karin’s books I was sad when it was over. I can’t wait for another! Thank you for the ARC.

This was such a disappointment. I have loved Slaughter’s other books but this one was too long and slow. I really don’t care about police procedural and there was so much of it. The ending was creepy and I definitely didn’t guess it so I did appreciate that.

i am honestly in shock at how much i loved this?? i knew karin slaughter was a fantastic writer & that i enjoy her work, but oh my god this blew me away.

when i tell you i was absolutely sucked in from the first page…. i could not stop reading this!!! i stayed up late reading, work up early to read, read this walking across campus, like i was glued to the pages!!!!

i knew very little going into this book and i’m glad that was the case. i was shocked & gasping out loud so many times i lost count. the mystery/plot were fantastic and gripping. the plot twists truly had me gasping out loud and clutching my pearls.

the characters in this are so very complex and well written, reading like real people with human problems. the relationships were excecuted amazingly and brought more layers of tension to this already agonizingly tense novel.

this book is very very heavy and i could feel it like lead weighing down my chest the entire time. i was terrified and genuinely sick to my stomach throughout the story. the topics that are dealt with in this book are disgusting and, unfortunately, all too real.

i honestly am at a loss for words and feel like this review is hardly coherent - the book impacted me that much. i will be thinking about this one for a long, long while.

fair warning: this is a dark book that deals with very heavy topics. please look into the trigger warnings before picking this one up.

Wow. I’m nearly at a loss for words. This is a tour de force creation for an author, who in my opinion, already defines the crime fiction sub-genre. This is a masterpiece.

This story is so intricately told. Every detail is carefully crafted and vividly depicted. I felt like I was in some magical, vicarious voyeur machine that catapulted me into every scene in this book and allowed me to observe with my own eyes. And because I watched each scene firsthand, I also experienced every resulting emotion on a very personal, profound level.

I love that we only got one side of the story, and we were just as in the dark as our protagonist was. It amplified the tension and ratcheted up the suspense significantly as a storytelling mechanism.

The characters were flawed and believable. Their motivations and actions all made perfect sense. Emmy and Jude amazing and I hope they become the centerpiece of many more novels. I will be reading every single one.

I feel very lucky to have been gifted this advanced copy, and I appreciate being able to be part of the hype machine leading up to its release. Thank you to William Morrow Books for the ARC!

Very excited for another series by Karin Slaughter. I have loved all her others and this one did not disappoint! Welcome to North Falls. A small town that has many secrets. In true Karin Slaughter fashion this book is very character driven. You fall in love with them and become so invested with everyone and their every move. I will say this book did seem a little less graphic and some of her others and that surprised me. But the longer you read the more twists that come. Can’t wait to see what the next book brings with North Falls and these characters.

Solid and thoughtful, but a little too developed in the places that don't matter. I'm all for tertiary characters with fully involved backstories, but did I need to know about the intrusive thoughts of a character who shows up on scene for less than a minute exactly two times? It's a fine detail but added to the bloat a bit.