Indelible - Softcover

Slaughter, Karin

4.16

49,772 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0062021907 ISBN 13: 9780062021908

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2011

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Sometimes a past comes back to kill . . .

Two armed men enter the police station in tiny Heartsdale, Georgia, and open fire. When the shooting stops, an officer is dead, Police Chief Jeffrey Tolliver is seriously wounded, and the survivors--including a class of grade-school children and medical examiner Sara Linton--are held hostage. In a tense standoff that could erupt at any moment into more bloodletting--with her ex-husband on the threshold of death--Sara must search for answers and an escape in the memories of a time at the start of their relationship when another brutal, shocking crime shattered their small-town world. Because the sins of the past have caught up with Sara and Jeffrey . . . with a vengeance.

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Review:

Karin Slaughter’s reputation grows apace, and Indelible sports all the customary fingerprints. Over the space of a handful of novels, the author has built a reputation as one of the key crime novelists at work today. What's her secret? In some ways, Slaughter’s work is a refining of the Southern Gothic idiom that has been the bedrock of so much atmospheric work in the past, but Slaughter’s way with the form is entirely her own, and despite the lashings of atmosphere, she never forgets that a crime novelist has to be rigorous in the arena of plotting--and that’s her strongest suit.

Medical examiner Sara Linton and police chief Jeffrey Tolliver take a trip from the pressures of Heartsdale (in the hope of straightening out their relationship), but a detour to Jeffrey’s hometown lands them in the most difficult case of their career.

Readers are probably growing weary of the inevitable comparison novels like Slaughter’s draw with those of Thomas Harris--and rightly so. But the trouble is, such comparisons are right on the nail for Slaughter. She may not quite have the older writer's authority, but she is undoubtedly skilled at creating a delicious, unsettling tension in the reader--as is very much the case in Indelible. And she’s careful, too, to ensure that the relationship between Sara Linton and Jeffrey Tolliver isn’t sidelined by the accelerating tension--that relationship is moved on considerably here. The fulsome praise on the jacket from such fellow scribes as John Connolly and Michael Connelly is more than professional courtesy here--they’re fully justified by the work on offer.--Barry Forshaw

Review:

"Amazingly, Slaughter manages between past and present stories while maintaining suspense in both."--Kirkus Reviews

"Lauded on two continents as the most significant new voice in American crime fiction."--Daily Telegraph (Sydney, Australia)

"Skillfully told in both the then and the now, and quite scary on both fronts."--New York Daily News

"Harrowing...Compelling...Solidly and uniquely plotted...Realistic and believable...Indelible again proves the superb indelible mark Slaughte is making on mystery fiction."--Florida Sun-Sentinel

"Well-crafted...Slaughter skillfully maintains the tension in the parallel stories."--Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"[Slaughter] has a bighearted way...and a knack for grisly detail."--Entertainment Weekly

"Gripping...complex characters with credible relationships...keep[s] readers hooked right up to the end."--Publishers Weekly

"Simply one of the best thriller writers working today."--Gillian Flynn, bestselling author of "Gone Girl"

"A fearless writer. One of the boldest thriller writers working today."--Tess Gerritsen

"Her characters, plot, and pacing are unrivaled among thriller writers."--Michael Connelly

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