The Competition by Marcia Clark (Book Review)

Disclosure of material connection- I received a copy of the book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions stated are 100% my own. 

About the book-

A Columbine-style shooting at a high school in the San Fernando Valley has left a community shaken to its core. Two students are identified as the killers. Both are dead, believed to have committed a mutual suicide.

In the aftermath of the shooting, LA Special Trials prosecutor Rachel Knight teams up with her best girlfriend, LAPD detective Bailey Keller. As Rachel and Bailey interview students at the high school, they realize that the facts don’t add up. Could it be that the students suspected of being the shooters are actually victims? And if so, does that mean that the real killers are still on the loose?

A dramatic leap forward in Marcia Clark’s highly acclaimed Rachel Knight series, The Competition is an unforgettable story that will stay with readers long after the last page has been turned.

My thoughts-

I have read the other 3 books in the Rachel Knight series and they were all good, but The Competition is by far Clark's best effort yet. The other books felt a little long because of tons of unnecessary dialogue that I found myself skimming over, that was not the case at all in this most recent book in the series. Every word on every page, every conversation had between characters was necessary to the story and helped this novel become the page turner that it is. The sad subject matter is all too familiar to anyone living today. We have unfortunately seen news of many school shootings by now. I thought The Competition gave us some good insight into what it might be like to be on a case like this. It is daunting for the public to hear about these shootings, imagine being someone assigned to work on these types of cases! I liked that the cases mentioned were historically accurate. Some people reading this book might learn some things about very notorious cases that they didn't know before. I think Clark is at her best here and I hope she continues to write this way. I could not put this book down. I had to know what happened. Seriously, I stayed up hours after I should have went to bed to finish this one! I recommend The Competition to anyone who enjoys thrillers or action packed books.

Connect with Marcia Clark on Facebook
Connect with Marcia Clark on Twitter
Connect with Marcia Clark on Goodreads
MarciaClarkBooks