When Atlanta housewife Abigail Campano comes home unexpectedly one afternoon, she walks into a nightmare. A broken window, a bloody footprint on the stairs and, most devastating of all, the horrifying sight of her teenage daughter lying dead on the landing, a man standing over her with a bloody knife. The struggle which follows changes Abigail's life forever. When the local police make a misjudgement which not only threatens the investigation but places a young girl's life in danger, the case is handed over to Special Agent Will Trent of the Criminal Apprehension Team - teamed with detective Faith Mitchell, a woman who resents him from their first meeting. But in the relentless heat of a Georgia summer, Will and Faith realise that they must work together to find the brutal killer who has targeted one of Atlanta's wealthiest, most privileged communities - before it's too late.
After having enjoyed Triptych so much how could I resist picking up Fractured? I really just couldn't wait to find out more about Will and in this story we get to know a lot more about him and his past.
It opens with a mother arriving home to watch her daughter beaten and murdered and her killer on top of her still attacking. At least that is what it seems to Abigail Campano. When Will Trent arrives to help the Atlanta Police Department he soon realises a mistake has been made about both identities and what really happened. As they realise that one girl has been abducted, the story becames a race against time to find her still alive.
I really liked the Faith and Will relationship, the respect they end up having for each other, that grows as the story develops was a nice thing to see. In a way this story is not as surprising as Triptych, but it's also a tough read with many characters dealing with traumas from the violence and abuse suffered in childhood, starting with the victim's father who was once with Will and Angie in the foster care system. And if much is revealed other things remain just hinted at... Most of the relationships in this story are complicated and not very healthy. Sadly that applies even to Will Trent's private life. Regarding Faith, she is the 33 year old mother of an 18 year old boy with no father in sight so we can immediately guess that she may have some issues. I really liked her and I thought she made a great team with Will.
As Will and Faith look at the clues and realise the truth about what happened in the house it becomes even more urgent to find Emma before she dies. As is usual in Slaughter books pretty bad things happen to the characters, she usual deals with torture and abuse which doesn' usual make for confortable reads but she is a master at grabbing your attention and keeping you glued to the pages.
I really want to grab Undone next but Slaughter has such such a powerful writing that I think I am going to let myself breath a bit before picking it up. I love these books but these people go through some pretty horrible things so I feel like I should pace myself...
Grade: 4/5
The premisse ,looks bad enough, so I imagine reading a book like this needs some time to digest and I certainly wouldn't jump to the sequel right away.
ReplyDeleteBut your opinion makes it sound like a good read.