Fractured
by Karin Slaughter
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Book Reviews of Fractured
Book Review: Fractured
Summary: 4 Stars
Karin Slaughter returns to the location and brings back characters from her earlier novel, "Triptych," the location being Atlanta, Georgia. Will Trent, 6'3 and thirty-six years old, of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, is called to the scene in an upscale enclave where two dead bodies are found. A 19-year-old boy and 17-year-old girl are found murdered, the young woman having been savagely stabbed and beaten and the boy stabbed and strangled to death, the latter apparently strangled at the hands of Abigail Campano, the woman in whose home---mansion, really---the bodies have been found. In addition to the two deaths, it appears that another young girl has been kidnapped. Surprisingly, Will's boss, Amanda Wagner, deputy director of the special criminal apprehension team, has assigned a young city cop, Faith Mitchell, to work the case with him. [Faith, at 33 and with an 18-year-old son, knows something about teenage angst [both her son's and her own at 14 when she became pregnant with him while in high school.] Another character to whom we are introduced is Angie, a former vice cop with a rep for promiscuity, to whom, against all odds, Will is now engaged.
Faith's working with Will is fraught with complications: Six months earlier Will had been asked to investigate the APD narcotics squad, which "had resulted in the firing of six Atlanta police detectives and forced the early retirement of one of the city's highest-ranking officers. The cases were good --- the cops were skimming cash off of narcotics busts --- but nobody liked a stranger cleaning their house, and Will had not exactly made friends during the course of the investigation." And now Faith is asked to work with the man who had helped force her mother off the job.
Will and Paul Campano, Abigail's husband, have a history going back nearly three decades, when they were both in the Atlanta Children's Home [as was Angie]. Paul was adopted at the age of 12, while Will remained in his soul-stifling environs until eighteen, when the law mandated he leave, however ill-prepared he may have been for that eventuality. The circumstances of their childhood have had a profound effect on all of them, as has Will's learning disability, which he takes great pains to hide. He and Faith are well-drawn protagonists, and this reader looks forward to reading the next book in what is hoped will be a continuing series.
The book is much more than a police procedural. One thing it is not, as one might expect it might be, is uniformly somber, the author's humor often evident. A high level of suspense is maintained throughout as the detectives work the clues, hoping that they are in time to prevent the loss of yet another young life. Well written and fast-paced, the book is highly recommended.
Book Review: ) Amazing Storyline, Heart Pounding Action, Superb Character Development and Intensity Spread Across the Pages
Summary: 5 Stars
Karin Slaughter's latest release, Fractured is completely deserving of the acclaim and high praises it has received. Abigail Campano arrives home to discover her door unlocked and shattered glass around her feet. Her first response is fear for the well being of her daughter, Emma. As she rushes upstairs, she comes face to face with the battered and bloody body of her daughter and a man kneeling over her body with a knife in his hand. Pure adrenaline and rage consumes Abigail and she strangles the man to death. Enter Will Trent, member of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Will struggles with the crime scene and determines that the brutalized body upstairs does not belong to Emma Campano, but to her best friend Kayla, and the murdered man Abigail strangled with her bare hands was actually Emma's boyfriend, whose attempt to save Emma and Kayla got him killed. The shift from the murder to the reality of the kidnapping of Emma, forces Will to pair up with Atlanta officer Faith Mitchell. Running against the clock and without any suspects or leads, Will and Faith must work together to find Emma and catch a killer. Fractured is filled with plot twists and heart pounding intensity. Beyond Karin Slaughter's ability to provide her readers with an excellent storyline and superb mystery, she is able to delve into the characters emotions and backgrounds so deeply that readers feel they know these men and women. The return of our favorites like Will and his boss Amanda paired with new intriguing characters like Faith, Abigail and the monstrous villains will surly please its audience. Fractured is by far one of Slaughter's best works, she gives her readers everything and them some more. Valerie Jones mrsvaljones@netzero.netBook Review: A police procedural filled with great characters
Summary: 5 Stars
After reading Triptych, featuring dislexic Georgia Bureau of Investigations agent Will Trent, I moved on to Fractured. In this book, Will Trent is called to the scene of a brutal murder of a young girl. The girl's parents are the rich and powerful Camponos. Will Trent quickly discovers that the crime scene was analyzed incorrecty by the Atlanta PD and that another girl may have been kidnapped and taken from the scene.
After a fast paced, thrilling opening, the book transitions into a standard police procedural that spans three days. Will Trent is forced to work with Faith Mitchell, a 33 year old detective with an 18 year old son. Faith hates Will because, six months ago, Will forced Faith's mom to retire from the police because of possible corruption. After slowing the pace down, Slaughter brings the characters to the forefront. Will is constantly battling his low self esteem and his inability to read correctly. Faith is battling her anger towards Will and her anger at being forced to do the dirty work. Also, Abby Campano, the mother of one of the possible victims, struggles to make it to the next hour while wondering if her daughter is still alive, and if she is, what kind of shape she his in. Action goes from the Georgia Tech campus to the campus of a private high school full of rich kids.
Slaughter kept the pages turning as she filled each page with incredible detail and each character with realistic hopes, flaws and fears. This is much more than a standard police procedural. Slaughter creates a vivid world in which the main character, Will Trent, is far from perfect. I hope to read more novels featuring Trent in the future.
Book Review: Excellent police procedural
Summary: 5 Stars
Affluent attorney Abigail Campano returns to her mansion in Atlanta's upscale Ansley Park section only to see a dead girl lying on the upstairs hallway. Without getting a close look, a stunned Abigail assumes the victim is her teenage daughter Emma. The apparent killer had not yet left the premise and the outraged Abby kills him. Georgia Bureau of Investigation Agent Will Trent investigates along with Atlanta police Detective Faith Mitchell. The father Paul arrives filled with belligerence and bluster. Paul looks at the body and notices the lack of a birthmark; he insists the corpse of the teen is not his daughter; he and Abigail feel guilt and relief as Emma's friend Kayla Alexander lies dead on the floor.
Will concludes that besides the obvious murder, someone kidnapped Emma. His fear is that they are too late to save the life of the seventeen year old girl but he and Faith remain determined to try; while the case is already confusing with the homicide and the death of the alleged killer by the lioness in her home, neither expected the twists that the investigation takes. Still both cops fear they are too late.
Police procedural fans need to set aside time for this one sitting 400-page thriller as the audience will keep on adding one more exciting chapter after another to read. The two cops Will and Faith are a wonderful pairing as both are dedicated, but flawed; those personal defects augment a strong thriller. Filled with twists, FRACTURED will leave Karin Slaughter fans clamoring for the next GBI installment (see TRIPTYCH for the previous one).
Harriet Klausner
Book Review: Not Much of a Mystery
Summary: 1 Stars
A girl is found murdered, beaten and stabbed. A man comes toward the (supposed) mother of the girl with a knife in his hand, struggles with her, grabs her ankles, never identifies himself in any way - but he CAN and is talking. Taking this to mean that he's the killer, she kills him. It's discovered fairly quickly that he isn't the killer, but one of the victims, who acts very inappropriately in a crucial situation.
The very first character I cared about and was interested in, was the mother, Abigail - unfortunately she disappeared after that, and it was all about a GBI detective, Will, who somehow obtained an advanced degree without being able to read, fill out applications, etc, and Faith, a police officer who had an illegitimate child at age 15 and is now very concerned with her love life. If you are interested in dyslexia,unwed motherhood, and/or police officer's personal relationships this could be the book for you. As for the victim and the main offender, well, not much was told. The other offender was just a stupid orphan (also with dyslexia - but not intelligent - he was not in the majority of dyslexics!), so, what can you expect but that he would be easily led into doing wrong?
Oh, I also liked the dog, Betty.