Posted to The Literary Lawyer.ca Beautiful Body that is Missing a Soul - 3.5 Stars This was my first foray into the world of Karin Slaughter. Her world is filled with interesting characters, personal drama and a fair share of deranged individuals. I did enjoy the book. The writing was very good, the characters were interesting and the plot was good. That said, it seemed to be missing something. Something I am having a hard time putting my finger on. For all the positives, the story still lacks. Plot summary The story shifts through three major points of view. Sara, the town's coroner and a pediatrician. Jeffery, the ex-husband of Sara and the town's chief of police and Lena, a deputy on the force and sister of the first victim. The story opens with the murder of Lena's sister. Sara finds her body in restaurant washroom where she has been killed and brutalized. Unfortunately, this is not last body as others go missing and crimes contain similar ritualistic elements. As the story progresses as the crimes become personal for all parties involved and secrets from the past may hold the key to unlocking the mysteries of the murders. The Good Well Crafted This was one well crafted novel. This was nominated the Barry Award for Best First Novel and it was certainly good enough to have won it. Karin Slaughter wrote a book that was taunt, thrilling and as polished as those with much more experience. There was an interesting storyline with red herrings, misdirection and slight of hand. While the beginning of the novel lagged, the pace picked up significantly in the middle of the bookThere was significant drama amongst the characters. While I despise excessive romance in my novels and roll my eyes when the story becomes overly emotional, the author deftly walked the line on this point. There are complex relationships each with their own histories and developments. The Bad But Its Missing Something... Despite all of the positive elements, the novel did not feel complete. Despite a good storyline, good character development and thrills and chills, the story may have been a victim of its own slick execution. While I enjoyed the story and was interested in the outcome, I did not connect with the characters. By the end, I was interested to see if my theories were correct but I did not care about the characters. While the body of the novel was solid and looked good, the lacked some soul Final Thoughts A slow first half and a lack of soul and emotion hurt my rating on this one. That said, it is an excellent and well crafted first novel. Karin Slaughter has had a long and successful career and I am confident that her skill improved as she gained experience. Overall, a worthwhile read but not one that I will list amongst my favorites. Content Advisories It is difficult to find commentary on the sex/violence/language content of book if you are interested. I make an effort to give you the information so you can make an informed decision before reading. *Disclaimer* I do not take note or count the occurrences of adult language as I read. I am simply giving approximations.Scale 1 - Lowest 5 - Highest Sex - 3.5 Much of the sexual content is related to a series of sex crimes. There is one moderately graphic scene of a sexual assault. There are several more far more disturbing elements are revealed in the investigation of sexual assaults. There is some disturbing sodomy involved and other elements that are violent. Language - 3 There is moderate use of mild obscenities and low usage of the f-word. There is also some low use of sexual derived adult language. Violence - 4 There are some disturbing elements of violence in the novel (see sexual content). There are some moderately high graphic description of the violence. There are some ritualistic elements in the violence amongst multiple murders. Readers who are moderately sensitive to sexual violence should avoid this book.
The many ERRORS in the medical issues of the book made it hard for me to enjoy what otherwise would have been a decent thriller. It's hard to excuse such glaring errors in a book in which a main character is supposed to be a physician and also a coroner. As an example, despite the dramatic pronouncement of the supposed expert on the drug ("There's no known antidote."), atropine (belladonna) DOES have an antidote (and the science of these types of nerve agents are well known, like Physiology 101 stuff) and person hospitalized for atropine intoxication would certainly be given the antidote (scopalomine). I'm not even a doctor, but even I remember this from a physiology class I took 20 years ago! Likewise, "partial hysterectomies" are NOT the treatment for the issue that Sara faced. That's just dumb. And so on. Those are just the immediate examples that come to mind.... Ugh! LATER: Well, I finished the book. Found it to be a decent, if fairly typical, female doctor-cop-or-lawyer-in-peril sort of plot. The characters were well-fleshed out and each had convincing backstories. But, in the end, as a reader I am left thinking, WHY should all of these things have occurred? Or, perhaps, why NOW? A very odd collection of crimes, clues and possible motives, etc., that seem convincing enough as you are reading them. But now, mulling over the book in its entirety, it seems like there are quite a few holes in the story. The medical and forensic mistakes being just the smallest of these. These holes are why I downgraded what would have been a solid three-star rating to two stars instead. A promising writer, this author, but she's GOT to either do her research better OR at least get a smarter editor to catch these things. Perhaps I'm being harsh, but in this day and age, practically anyone with a tv has learned at least some basic criminology from one "procedural" show or other. So, if an author is going to involve forensics in a book, he or she had BETTER get their facts straight! That's just basic competency in the genre and not too much to expect, I think. Apparently this book is now the first of a series. Perhaps I'll give it one more try with book 2 at some point in the future. But not right away.
Do You like book Blindsighted (2002)?
4.5 Stars - 2nd Reading Summer 2014Sibyl Adams is found in the Filling Station Diner's bathroom bleeding by Sara Linton. The blind professor has been raped and has a large Cross carved into her torso. She is also the twin of Detective Lena Adams. Why would anyone harm the quiet, popular professor? Is it a hate crime? Is it a ritualistic rape/murder?Then another girl from the GIT goes missing. Has she become the victim of the same freak? Or has her junkie boyfriend done something to her? If it is the killer, Julia only has days before she is dead like Sibby.Linton has received another postcard. She gets them every year around this time and Sibyl's rape/murder hits to close for comfort. Jeffrey doesn't even know this part of Sara's past. How can she ever tell him and that this case has her in turmoil? Is this the case that finally causes Linton to get closer to her ex-husband or to resign as Grant County Medical Examiner?Not a single person on Grant County police force will ever be the same after this case.This book is the one in which I took an instant and intense disliking to Lena Adams 4 years ago. And I still dislike this character today. She has a chip the size of Texas on her shoulder. She is embarrassed unnecessarily of her twin's sexuality. She can't forgive or even be civil to the uncle who brought the twins up. She is always so angry - I find her exhausting and exasperating. My daughter in law loves this character - I can't understand why?Sara is slightly out of character and that bothered me. But Slaughter can write! She knows how to tell a helluva good story with backbreaking fast pacing and breathless suspense. Placing it on my permanent shelves of books.
—Anne (Booklady) Molinarolo
This book was voted as our June Book Read by our group " A Good Thriller"Happy this book was voted as have enjoyed quite a few of Karin Slaughter books, although good to read this book as her debut book and the introduction of her character Sara Linton.Karin Slaughter--a wonderful name for a crime/mystery writer--sets her novel in a small town in Georgia. Nothing much happens in Heartsdale, and the local pediatrician, Sara Linton, also works as the coroner. Sara meets her younger sister for lunch at the local diner one afternoon and stumbles upon a grisly scene. The twin sister of a local detective has been viciously attacked, mutilated, and raped. It's not long before another victim surfaces, and Sara works along with her ex-husband who also happens to be the Chief of Police to try to track down this sick killer. All the while, Sara has her own tortured past as well as her strained relationship with her ex-husband to deal with. In this small town where everyone knows everyone else, who could possibly be the twisted rapist murderer?Slaughter seems to have done her research for this novel. The medical information alone is quite interesting, and the dialogue and characters are believable, a tough subject dealing with serial killers in this day and age. It's well written, keeps you guessing and keeps to a fast pace with a chilling build up to the end in this powerful story.Now reading my BOOK PAL book for June , The Bone House by Brian Freeman, my first book by this author, who is joining us for a Q & A in August.
—Sean Peters
It was a good book. The ending was unexpected. However, I like a big shocking twist at the end. For me, this just didn't have that extra punch I look for. Still, it was definitely worth the read, and I would recommend this book to anyone looking to be introduced to Karin Slaughter's work. She is a great storyteller and I will read the next in the series, being that this is her debut. Normally I would give her five stars. I gave four solely for the ending. Too bad you can't give four and a half, that would be more appropriate. Keep in mind this business is very subjective. Someone else might feel very differently. For that reason, I urge anyone thinking about reading this book to give it a go. You won't be disappointed, because the premise is good one.
—Sue Coletta
