Review: Beyond Reach by Karin Slaughter

The latest in the series, Beyond Reach is the best of the Sara Linton/Jeffrey Tolliver series by Karin Slaughter. It starts out with Sara emotionally drained and devastated by a malpractice suit brought on by the parents of a child who died after a long illness. She is not her usual confident, sparky, in-control self and is questioning almost everything. Jeffrey gets a call that Lena, his spiraling downward detective, has been arrested. She was found in the stands at the football field, with her foot on a gas can, watching a car burn with a dead body in it. Since she has closed her practice, Jeffrey takes Sara along to Lena's hometown to figure out what's going on with his detective.

The book jumps back and forth between two weeks of time. Lena gets a call that her uncle has gotten himself into trouble with drugs again and goes to her hometown to find out what's going on. Alternate that week with a week later when Jeffrey and Sara come to town after Lena is arrested.

It was extremely well-written and the time jumping made for a very intense and suspenseful read. I kept trying to figure out how what Lena did affected what Sara and Jefrey were finding. Who is involved with this mess Lena has gotten herself into? Where is her uncle? Is Ethan Green, Lena's abusive ex-boyfriend, calling the shots from prison? Will Sara overcome the depression and the lawsuit and get her confidence back? Will the newly remarried couple be able to weather all these issues they are facing?

I highly recommend this series and especially this latest book. See my earlier review of this series for a listing of the series in order and get started on it.