Will Trent Author Karin Slaughter Had No Choice But To Approve ABC’s Book Changes, And I’m Glad She Did

Although Will Trent diverges pretty considerably from the book series of the same name that the show is adapted from, I am glad author Karin Slaughter approved of these alterations. American crime author Karin Slaughter’s novels have sold more than 40 million copies since her 2001 debut Blindsighted, proving she is a phenomenally popular writer in the thriller genre.

However, Will Trent’s season 4 renewal proves that one adaptation of Slaughter’s work is arguably even more famous than her books themselves. Based on Slaughter’s novel series of the same name, Will Trent is an ABC procedural about the eponymous quirky GBI special agent and his investigations, which are alternately helped and hindered by the Atlanta Police Department.

As proven by Will Trent season 3’s darkest moment, the procedural is uniquely unafraid of tackling potentially triggering content and disturbing subject matter. That said, the series still tones down the content of Slaughter’s original novels considerably. The main characters also don’t necessarily fit the physical descriptions of their book counterparts, but there is a good reason for that.

Why Karin Slaughter Approved The Many Changes Of ABC’s Adaptation To Her Will Trent Books

Karin Slaughter Felt Will Trent’s Book Changes Gave The Adaptation An Identity

As noted by TVGuide, the ABC procedural series Will Trent diverges significantly from Slaughter’s source novels. However, not only was Slaughter comfortable with the show making these changes, but she actively encouraged the series to pursue an independent identity of its own. As Slaughter noted, the book that provided Will Trent season 1’s story features a plot that pans out completely differently.

Per Slaughter, “The book is the book, and the show is the show,” and Will Trent’s primary concern should be with telling a good story well rather than sticking to the author’s work diligently. This is a smart approach since it means that even viewers who have read the novels can be certain they will end up surprised numerous times during a given season’s story.

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More faithful book-to-screen adaptations often run the risk of feeling redundant for viewers who are familiar with the source material, while some of the most acclaimed are notable primarily for their divergences from the source material. AMC’s Interview with a Vampire changes huge elements of Anne Rice’s famous Gothic novel, but the show has been lauded as a modern masterpiece as a result.

Without The Changes, Will Trent Would Have Unlikely Been Made For Network

Slaughter’s Books Are Darker And More Disturbing Than The Series

If Karin Slaughter’s most famous book Pretty Girls proves anything, it is that the author never pulls her punches. Like Stephen King, who also crops up alongside Slaughter in many lists of the most disturbing bestsellers ever, Slaughter’s novels feature scenes that would never make it to network TV without significant censorship. Fortunately, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

The source novels that Will Trent is based on feature a lot more graphic content, but the show doesn’t falter thanks to its more restrained approach. Instead, the series feels like Slaughter’s work as adapted to the format of a network TV procedural, complete with the creative restrictions and opportunities inherent in that style.

Not every book is suited to network TV adaptation, but cutting Will Trent’s more shocking content does nothing to ruin the character or his story in the series. Instead, the ABC version offers a more accessible introduction to Slaughter’s imperfect protagonist, and readers with strong constitutions can look forward to reading about his more intense misadventures in the source books.

Considering the fact that ABC has historically been a more family-friendly network than FOX and some of its other competitors, it makes perfect sense that the show’s creators changed Slaughter’s novels. Their shared tone is way too dark for ABC, and a book-accurate version of Will Trent could have resulted in a show that feels like True Detective airing alongside High Potential.

If Slaughter hadn’t approved of the biggest major change to the show, namely its new, lighter tone, it’s highly unlikely that the adaptation would have been made at ABC at all. This is why Will Trent season 4 is likely to keep making these changes, maintaining the successful lighter tone while still borrowing its storylines and characters from the author’s darker novels.

ABC’s Will Trent Will Never Be An Accurate Book Adaptation But That’s Okay

Diverging From Slaughter’s Descriptions Was Worth It For Great Performances

Will Trent’s casting also didn’t stick to Slaughter’s description, with the blonde title character of the book series being played by Ramon Rodriguez. Luckily, Will Trent’s casting had something more important going for it than mere book accuracy, as noted by Slaughter herself in a CinemaBlend interview. The author said that the performance was what really mattered.

Slaughter noted that casting an actor who understood Will and what made the unique character tick was more important than any specific physical characteristics, and Rodriguez’s popular performance proves her point. The actor is a huge part of the show’s success, and he has captured the essence of Will in a way that transcends the book’s brief physical description.

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It also doesn’t hurt that, by casting more diverse leads than the book series boasts, Will Trent is able to comment on sociopolitical issues in the process. While Will Trent’s biggest star isn’t even human, as even Slaughter herself said that Betty the dog was the show’s true MVP, Will’s ethnicity complicates his character in a way that compliments the source material.

At every pivotal point from its storytelling to its casting, Will Trent’s ABC adaptation changed details from the books that share its name. Usually, this results in an adaptation that is too faithful to stand as its own original work, but too different to function as a satisfying screen version of the original text. However, Will Trent mercifully avoided this fate.

The procedural series may not share Slaughter’s penchant for horrifying detail, but it is appropriately devastating at times. Its hero might not look like his description, but he undeniably feels like the Will Trent readers have come to love over the years. While many of Will Trent’s season 3 book changes are pretty major, these alternations are just more proof that the show can stand on its own while still simultaneously doing Slaughter’s novels justice. In this regard, Will Trent has managed a rare feat in the world of book-to-TV adaptations.

Source: TVGuide

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Will Trent

Release Date

January 3, 2023

Directors

Howard Deutch, Eric Dean Seaton, Holly Dale, Lea Thompson, Patricia Cardoso, Sheree Folkson, Bille Woodruff, Erika Christensen, Gail Mancuso, Geary McLeod, Jason Ensler, Mark Tonderai, Paul McGuigan

Writers

Inda Craig-Galván, Henry ‘Hank’ Jones, Karine Rosenthal, Adam Toltzis, Antoine Perry

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  Ramón Rodríguez

  Will Trent

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  Erika Christensen

  Angie Polaski