Although author Karin Slaughter’s best book is also inarguably her darkest effort, the novel could still receive a TV adaptation thanks to the impressive success of ABC’s Will Trent series. Set in Atlanta, Georgia, Will Trent follows the eponymous GBI special agent as he investigates cases with the help of PD Detective Angie Polaski.
Will Trent’s season 3 finale was a typically dramatic outing that earned an impressive 4.15 million viewers, more than season 2 and season 1’s finales managed in earlier years.
This will be exciting news for anyone who enjoys author Karin Slaughter’s work. Although Slaughter’s novels have sold more than 40 million copies since her 2001 debut Blindsighted, Will Trent marks only the second high-profile screen adaptation of her work. Will Trent’s season 4 renewal proves there is an appetite for more of Atlanta’s favorite GBI special agent, but the rest of Slaughter’s back catalog might not be as easy to bring to life onscreen.
Will Trent Has Been A Massive Success For ABC
Will Trent has become a huge hit for ABC as the crime procedural has managed the rare feat of earning more viewers, rather than less, with each passing season. Although not unheard of, this is a pretty rare achievement in an era when even the most seemingly reliable TV franchises are losing viewers to streaming services and online offerings. As such, ABC will most likely want to cash in on Will Trent’s success with further Slaughter adaptations in the near future.
The most obvious candidate for the author’s next adaptation is Karin Slaughter’s most famous book, Pretty Girls. With over 600,000 ratings on Goodreads, where the rest of her books have less than 200,00o, this standalone psychological thriller from 2015 is Slaughter’s most famous book to date by far. Pretty Girls follows Claire, a protagonist whose life is forever altered by her older sister Julia’s disappearance decades before the book’s story begins.
A Lighter Will Trent Working Increases The Chances Of Slaughter’s Pretty Girls Also Getting Adapted
The unsolved mystery of Julia’s disappearance continues to haunt Claire, with the heroine eventually ending up estranged from her family as a result. Thus, when another girl’s disappearance displays eerie similarities to Julia’s fate, Claire sees a chance to save this girl and learn the truth behind this tragedy. Pretty Girls is far darker than Slaughter’s Will Trent novels, with a grisly, twisted plot that even hardened horror readers have called disturbing in reviews.
It is conceivable, albeit unlikely, that ABC might be able to clean up Pretty Girls for the small screen.
However, it is worth noting that the Will Trend series sanitized the novels, offering a less gory, more palatable version of Slaughter’s story for network TV viewers. As such, it is conceivable, albeit unlikely, that ABC might be able to clean up Pretty Girls for the small screen. This does run the risk of ruining the book’s appeal, as the unvarnished horror of its subject matter is central to the novel’s focus on gender-based violence.
How Can A TV Adaptation Can Best Honor Slaughter’s Pretty Girls
Toning down the intense content of Pretty Girls isn’t the only difficulty with bringing the book to life onscreen, despite its outsized popularity.
Unlike the Will Trent books, Pretty Girls is a standalone novel as opposed to a series. As a one-off book, Pretty Girls will make no sense as a procedural and will only work as a limited series. As a result, the novel’s adaptation will be better suited to a streaming service than network TV.
While Will Trent season 4 will likely have millions of viewers tuning in to ABC weekly, the largely family-friendly network is a less fitting home for Pretty Girls than Netflix or Prime. These streaming services, with their more relaxed approach to censorship, could do justice to Slaughter’s unsparing novel in a way that Will Trent’s creators may find impossible thanks to the restrictions of network TV.
