No word yet on what transpires in this stand-alone from the hugely best-selling founder of the Save the Libraries project. With a 250,000-copy first printing.

Slaughter's latest stand-alone thriller (following The Silent Wife) tells the story of Leigh and Callie Collier, two sisters trying to run away from their childhood filled with uncertainty and abuse that culminated in murder. When they were in their teens, the sisters babysat a young boy whose father abused them both. They killed their abuser, cleaned up the crime scene, and hid the body. Leigh escaped and went to college, then built a family and a successful career as a criminal defense attorney. Callie, after a gymnastics injury, became addicted to drugs, living only for the next high with no hope or will for anything better. When the son of the man they murdered so many years ago hires Leigh as his defense counsel after being charged with a brutal rape, the sisters know they have to stop running and confront their past, no matter the cost. VERDICT Slaughter skillfully and assuredly relates the violence of a sociopath, while creating an emotional connection to lives touched by tragedy and addressing current events. Her latest will be a favorite for thriller lovers, as well as fans of Jennifer Hillier, Michael Koryta, and Alafair Burke.—George Lichman, Rocky River, OH

In 1998, teen sisters Callie and Leigh, the heroines of this superb thriller from bestseller Slaughter (The Silent Wife), murder Buddy Waleski, who sexually abused them for years while they babysat his son, Trevor, in Chicago. They leave the Waleski kitchen spotless after cleaning up any evidence of the murder and hide Buddy's body. In 2021, Callie, who became addicted to heroin after a gymnastics accident left her in constant pain, and Leigh, a defense attorney, unexpectedly confront the past after Leigh's boss assigns the case of an alleged serial killer to her. During their first meeting, Andrew Tenant tells Leigh he's actually the little boy she once babysat—Trevor Waleski—and implies that he knows the sisters killed his father. Callie and Leigh work urgently to determine how and what he knows. Breaking into the abandoned former Waleski house, Callie finds a crawl space with cameras aimed both at the kitchen where Buddy's murder occurred and the living room couch where Callie was repeatedly raped as a 12-year-old by Buddy. If Leigh doesn't secure a not guilty verdict, the pathological Andrew threatens to retaliate by releasing his father's videos to the media and murdering her 16-year-old daughter. A shocking tragedy at the end will keep readers transfixed. Slaughter is writing at the top of her game. Agent: Victoria Sanders, Victoria Sanders & Assoc. (July)