Books special The Karin Slaughter interview
Karin Slaughter’s vivid crime fictions are rooted in real issues and beliefs close to her heart. Donal O’Donoghue meets the best-selling author
Like many female crime writers, Karin Slaughter (real name) has been dubbed the ‘Queen of Crime’. More than most, the American has earned the right to the crown. The Last Widow, her 19th novel and the latest in the Will Trent series, is an explosive cocktail set in the very near future. In the opening machine-gun chapters, Slaughter lights the fuse and over the following 400 pages, it’s a countdown to Armageddon as well as a commentary on America. racism, abortion, the right to bear arms and white supremacists – all thrown into a gripping yarn in which Donald Trump is never named but his presence hovers over all. No wonder Slaughter sells by the bucket-load and three of her standalone novels have been optioned for film and TV adaptation, with Pieces of Her poised to debut on Netflix next year.
You once cited one your favourite writer Flannery O’Connor’s line: “I want to be a writer because I want to say something.” What did you want to say with The Last Widow? Karin Slaughter:
The Last Widow is set in August 2019 and that is very deliberate because I believe the story is a snapshot of what it is like in America right now. I had the idea for this book five years ago. Under the Obama administration people were saying people are going to take away your guns so we need to stockpile weapons and prepare for Armageddon. Weirdly when Trump came into power, we’re seeing a lot of gun companies go bankrupt because people feel secure that Trump is not going to change the gun laws. So what I really was seeing and what a lot of police officers were pointing out to me, were their grave concerns about a far-right group called The Oath Keepers.
There’s quite a bit of politics in this book but one line stands out about the rise of white supremacists: ‘After Charlottesville they got validation from the top down.’ What are you saying there?
The fact that the President of the United States said that there were good people on both sides in Charlottesville. That’s validation. I thought that was reprehensible. I’m an extremely patriotic person but this kind of talk is shocking to me. When I was growing up in Georgia, I remember we had a Klan parade in the middle of our town. The men were wearing hoods and I was really afraid. I asked my Dad about them and he said: ‘They’re cowards because they won’t show their faces.’ And then you see something like Charlottesville where they were doing something like the Klan but they are showing their faces and look like everyone else. If they had been black or brown men the National Guard would have been called out, people would have been terrified.”
Do you believe in the right to bear arms?
I believe what is happening is a failure of government. We had an opportunity for greater regulation following Columbine and also Sandy Hook because Democratic presidents were in charge at that time but there was a lot of intransigence because of the NRA (National Rifle Association) and the gun lobby. It’s really annoying to me that my uterus is more regulated by the US government than gun rights. There are some people who believe that gun rights should be unfettered. As a gun owner, I don’t believe that. I own two guns because where I go to write is a very rural area, a log cabin in North Georgia.
The rape of Sara Linton, as well as its legacy, is described in vivid detail in The Last Widow. Why is that important to you?
Sara is a strong character and a strong woman and this book presented an opportunity for me to write about her strength in a different way. I was very influenced by Christine Blasey Ford, the accuser of Brett Kavanaugh. The Republican line was we believe her but we also believe him. That makes absolutely no sense and she was credible and yet she is still getting death threats. I know a very close friend who had something similar happen to her in high school. She was attacked, almost raped but someone stopped it. But she still lives with it. (Rape) has never happened to me but I’ve been sexually harassed and flashed and grabbed and all that kind of stuff.
You have?
Oh God yes. The first time it happened I was at the dentist when he grabbed my breast. I was 13 years old. I didn’t say anything because I was thinking ‘Was that wrong?’ When Trump got elected I was very upset. My Dad called me and was trying to make me feel better by making jokes. I was saying how Trump had made this comment about grabbing women and Dad said that such things would never happen to me. And I said, ‘Dad, let me tell you what happened to me!’ So I told him about when I was asleep on a plane when a man put his hand between my legs and the time I was flashed by a guy on the street when I was 11 years old. I went through some of those things and he said, ‘I had no idea!’ I never told him because every woman has stories like that. He was shocked and speechless.
Do you have anything to say about Linda Fairstein and what has happened in the wake of the Central Park Five drama When They See Us?
I believe it opens up a greater question about the justice system in America. Is it a fair system? The answer is no. It’s not fair if you’re poor and poor people are abused again and again by the system. I feel strongly about this because my sister was a drug addict for many years until she was finally arrested. Coming from my world I was shocked how difficult life was made for her because of this. It was just a vicious circle and I had no idea what it was like until it happened to my own family. Once you’re in the system it’s almost impossible to get out.
It’s really annoying that my uterus is more regulated by the US government than gun rights