The most well-written book series are those that do not require the books be read in order. I’ve been reading Karin Slaughter’s Grant County series and Will Trent series out of order. And I still love both of them.

FALLEN is a continuation of the Will Trent series, which grew out of the Grant County series. Sara has left Grant County (and the Grant County series) after her husband’s murder there and is now a doctor in Atlanta. She met Will Trent earlier in the Will Trent series. But FALLEN is more about Will’s partner, Faith, and her mother, Evelyn, a former captain in the Atlanta Police Department.

Evelyn has been kidnapped. No one knows where she is, who took her, or even why they took her. Most of this book is about finding the answers to those questions. Will is in most of the scenes, be they working on this case or being a conundrum for Sara to figure out. But Faith and her mother are the story, with Will’s and Sara’s slow-but-sure romance being an ongoing side story.

Yes, it probably would have been more fun to read both series in order. But Slaughter
ensures that the reader always knows what is going on so that each book, including FALLEN, can be read as a standalone.