Everyone is just so damn lonely.
This is the first book of the Will Trent series. Now, I mentioned in my review for Beyond Reach we were leaving the Grant County series for a bit. This is why. See, Slaughter merged Grant County into Will Trent, but not until the 3rd book of the Trent series. So, I have a bit of catching up to do before we get more news about the Grant County folk. I'm not sure if there will be any more Grant County only books, to be honest. But we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.
So, a triptych is one of those art pieces that's in 3 panels. Likewise, this book is written in three parts, from 3 points of view. We don't get into Will's head until the 3rd part actually.
The first part is that of a cop who seems perilously close to burnout. He doesn't seem to care much about the job - and a police work is not the kind of thing people do for the money. And his home life is pretty much a shambles. He and his wife can't stand each other and their son is stressing them and their bank accounts out due to his special needs.
Then there's John - he gets part 2. Man, his loneliness seriously kills you. He was arrested and convicted of rape and murder when he was 15. Sentenced as an adult. At 16 he was thrown into a prison where he was fresh meat. He's out on parole now and his life is pretty shitty. He got his college degree in prison, but the best job he can get is a car wash. His sister can't stand the sight of him. And he lives in constant fear of being sent back. That's not even taking into account what a bastard his father is.
