We Are All Guilty Here is the first book in Karin Slaughter’s new series, North Falls. When I heard the queen of thrillers was starting a new series, I immediately added it to my tbr. No questions asked. I have read the first books in both her Will Trent & Grant County series but I cannot commit to either of them-its like a million books. To this day though, Pretty Girls is one of my favorite reads, ever. I just had to get in on this new series from the start and We Are All Guilty Here did not disappoint.

Missing: Two Teenage Girls

We Are All Guilty Here centers around Officer Emmy Cliffton, her family and the small community of North Falls. It’s the kind of town where everyone knows everyone and everyone is all up in everyone’s business. It’s the fourth of July, and they are all out for the town’s firework show. By the end of the display, two teenage girls have gone missing. One of those girls? The step-daughter of Emmy’s best friend. The kicker? Moments before the girls go missing, the step-daughter looks to confide in Emmy-but Emmy is distracted and distraught over her shitty husband and brushes her off.

Emmy and her father, the Sheriff, rush against time to find the two girls. Instead of the girls, they find dark secrets. Not just about the girls, but members of the community as well. Slaughter’s writing is always top tier. It pulls you in and twist after twist, it refuses to let you go. We Are All Guilty Here is no exception. If you have read Slaughter before this will come as no surprise but they do not find those poor girls alive.

A killer is caught and convicted.

Twelve years later, the killer is released on a technicality and another young girl goes missing. We Are All Guilty Here is quickly paced and I loved how the two timelines worked together. The weight of the original crime can still be felt in the present day. Emmy is still haunted by the guilt of not bringing her now ex-best friend’s daughter home. All exacerbated by the fact that history seems to be repeating itself. Now Sheriff, Emmy must fight against time once more and hunt down the perpetrator and bring home a young girl.

Personally, although We Are All Guilty Here does deal with dark themes, I didn’t find it as gruesome as some of Slaughter’s previous books. There were less on-page graphic descriptions in my opinion. While I can’t speak on how the series will progress-if the graphicness of Slaughter’s writing has been a deterrent for you, We Are All Guilty Here is a good entry point. Weaving thrilling stories with amazing plot twists, Slaughter is a master storyteller. Her flawed characters and familiar yet unassuming settings will leave you questioning your own surroundings. What happens in North Falls could very well happen in your own backyard.

I will one thousand percent continue to read the North Falls series.