Every Major Difference Between the Will Trent Show & Books
Throughout its run, the series has been extremely faithful to the core storylines of the books written by Slaughter, but there are still a number of changes.
Summary
- Will Trent has been a hit on ABC and Hulu for two seasons now.
- The story stays true to the original books, but the writers have taken creative liberties.
- The deviations lie in the tonal differences between the show and the books, as well as in the portrayal of certain characters.
When Will Trent debuted last year, it immediately secured a Tuesday primetime slot on ABC for years to come, earning solid ratings and an 89% score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. And now, a year later, the second season is on our screens, garnering even more attention (and viewership), and fans are calling it the best police procedural in a long time.
Adapting book stories is a tricky task, and winning the hearts of OG fans is even trickier, so even before Season 1 was released, some social media users were concerned about how faithful the show would be to the source material. Those concerns proved unfounded, as the writers really did their best to stay true to the original story and other book details.
However, any live-action adaptation must take creative liberties to adapt to the particular media format. And so ABC's Will Trent is not without its alterations. So let's take a look at how the Will Trent book series differs from the TV show.
Tonal Differences between Book and Show
The book series about Will Trent (aka Atlanta), written by Karin Slaughter, began in 2006 with the publication of the novel Triptych. A total of 11 novels and 3 novellas have been published to date.
In the show, we see a more familiar flavor for TV procedurals and cop dramas: yes, there is human drama, pain and injustice, yes, there are enough violent moments and murder scenes. And yet, none of this compares to the decadent mood and graphic sequences in the books written by Slaughter.
A good example is the difference between the book and television Ormewood. In the books, he is a truly violent and jealous man with anger issues and shady methods that include corruption and police brutality. In the TV series, however, he is not (at least not yet) revealed as a clear 'bad guy'.
Perhaps the same level of gruesomeness would have characterized the show if it had aired on cable or streaming services, but the standards of classic broadcasting would never have allowed for such a thing.
Differences between Book and Show Characters
But Ormewood is not the only character who has undergone changes in the TV adaptation.
It is worth noting that the show, unlike the novels, has a much more diverse cast. In the books, the vast majority of characters are predominantly white, and Will Trent is a tall, blond man who, despite the traumas of his past, fits easily into society because of his conventional appearance.
In the show, however, Trent is played by Ramon Rodriguez, which adds more tension to the story. Amanda and Faith are also white in the books, but in the show are played by black performers Sonja Sohn and Iantha Richardson, respectively.
But perhaps the most significant change is Will's love interest. As we've seen in the last two episodes, the writers are clearly trying to bring the title character closer to Angie by turning their on-and-off status into a full commitment. In the books, however, Will's long-term girlfriend is coroner Sara Linton. She may still be introduced in Season 3, but until then, the romance narrative has taken a very different path.
As a reminder, there are only two episodes left in Will Trent's second season, but last month ABC renewed the series for a third season. Meanwhile, the upcoming episode will air Tuesday, May 14 at 8:00 p.m. ET on ABC and will be available to stream on Hulu the following day.