Review: Fractured by Karin Slaughter

Picture it. You are on the phone with your spouse, arguing. You come home to what is supposed to be an empty house to find the door partially open and window glass all around. You look around and then go upstairs where you see your teenage daughter lying there with blood all around. And standing over here is a man with a knife in his hand! He stand up. You scream and take a step back, falling down the stairs. As he runs down the stairs, knife still in hand, you kick him where it counts. After he falls you jump on him and in an attempt to subdue him, end up strangling him.

Detectives Faith Mitchell and Leo Donnelly of the Atlanta Police Department are assigned the case. Agent Will Trent of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) is called in to check it out - the girl's grandfather is friends with the governor.

Is everything as it seems?

You'll have to read Fractured to find out! I thoroughly enjoyed the latest book by Karin Slaughter. I don't read the summaries before requesting books of favorite authors and assumed this was the next book in the Sara Linton/Jeffrey Tolliver series. But I quickly figured out that this book had other characters - great ones, as it turns out.

Agent Trent is quite unique - I love these type of books so it's hard to find detective types that are not familiar, but Karin Slaughter created a detective that is all his own. He has his own struggles that impede, or maybe enhance, his work as a GBI agent. Partnering him with APD Detective Mitchell brings out his unique-ness even more.

I truly loved this book and am putting it as the top read for 2008! As I am linking to Amazon, I read that this is the second in a series! The only book of Karin Slaughter that I haven't read, Triptych, is the first in the series. Ack! I am having breathing issues just thinking about reading a series out of order! But! I never knew it! It was a complete novel all it's own. There was a bit of a back story that wasn't mentioned, but as most of these detectives are not on their first case there's always something that happened in the past. So I didn't even miss it. However, I'm sure you know I will be requesting Triptych just as soon as I finish typing this review.

Rating: 5/5 stars

Shoo Fly Pie by Tim Downs

I just love what I would call 'Forensic mysteries' - authors like Patricia Cornwall (at least her early ones) or Kathy Reichs (and CSI!). I found another one - Tim Downs! The first of his 'Bug Man' series, Shoo Fly Pie is a very fun, action-filled mystery thriller.

Description:
Forensic entomologist Nick Polchak (a.k.a. the Bug Man) is hired by thirty-year-old Kathryn Guilford, who is terrified of bugs, to solve her friend's death. When Polchak stumbles into the mystery of how Kathryn's husband was killed years earlier, the action kicks into high gear -- and Polchak finds himself on the run with his client from someone who will do anything to keep a secret.

I kept chuckling at the descriptions of Nick, the Bug Man. He's got glasses as thick as two coke bottles, his eyes never are going the same direction, and he has so disconnected with human beings that he considers himself a different species. While he's a little abrupt and tactless at times, the fact that he cares about people even when he really doesn't want to comes shining through the story.

An aside: when looking up the Shoo Fly Pie on LT and Amazon, I see that it's classified as Christian fiction. I have no idea why it's classified that other than it is a pretty 'clean' murder mystery - by that I mean, there's not any sex or wildly strange parts of it. But nowhere does it even mention church or Christ or anything. I realize that the real lives of Christians don't mention church or Christ in every aspect, but it struck me as odd to label this book as such. Why not just label it as a mystery and be done with it? Anyway! Now back to the review...

I thoroughly enjoyed Shoo Fly Pie and am excited to read the second in the series, Chop Shop, soon. I don't remember where I saw the recommendation for this book, but I did just read a good review on J.Kaye's blog about the third book in the series, First the Dead. So we'll give them credit! LOL

Rating: 4/5 stars

Review: Say Goodbye by Lisa Gardner

I love author Lisa Gardner and have read all her books over the years. I was very excited to finally get a copy of her newest book, Say Goodbye, and I was not disappointed.

Say Goodbye is Lisa Gardner's sixth novel that involves members of the Quincy FBI family. This one focuses on Quincy's daughter Kimberly, an FBI lead investigator, and her husband Mac, a GBI Georgia Bureau of Investigation) detective.

Kimberly is pregnant and she and Mac are having "discussions" about her work: amount, level, dangerous-ness. Mac wants her to take a step back to protect herself and their child but Kimberly does not think she is putting herself in any danger and resents the implication.

Kimberly is contacted by a pregnant hooker who claims one of her customers has gotten rid of one of her friends. She calls her customer Mr. Dinchara, which is arachnid backwards, because of his love and ownership of many spiders.

Mac's friend and co-worker Sal has been working on a potential case involving missing hookers. Sal thinks his case is related to Kimberly's hooker and this Mr. Dinchara. Kimberly does not get an official 'okay' to work on the missing girl but continues to investigate on her own (and the discussions with Mac continue because she's adding MORE to her plate).

As you can guess, this turns into more than anyone could see at the beginning. Lisa Gardner has the unique ability to write a mystery/thriller that has you turning pages wanting to know more of what happens while developing her characters in real and significant ways. I'm always impressed (and maybe a little scared - lol) with how well I can understand and relate to her characters - both the good and bad. I would argue with Kimberly and Mac, seeing both sides of their discussions. But then I also thought "don't do it!!!" when Kimberly ... well, you can find out for yourself.

Say Goodbye, as with all of her novels, can stand alone and you will thoroughly enjoy the book. However, if you want to understand the characters even more deeply and appreciate the story even more, I recommend you read the series in order. The books in this series are (from the author's website):
— THE PERFECT HUSBAND (introduces Quincy)
— THE THIRD VICTIM (Quincy and Rainie meet)
— THE NEXT ACCIDENT
— THE KILLING HOUR (focuses on Quincy's daughter, Kimberly)
— GONE
— SAY GOODBYE (focuses on Kimberly, Mac, Rainie and Quincy)

If you are a mystery/thriller lover and have not read any of Lisa Gardner's books, you are missing out on one of the best. She has other books that are not related to the Quincy family that I also love. I highly recommmend you get these on your list!