Fallen by Karin Slaughter (Georgia, #3) [A+]
Genre: Mystery
Borrowed: from library
Read: 7/30/2011 — 7/31/2011
In Six Words: Tangled mysteries and interesting personal developments.
Links
Karin Slaughter — Website | Facebook
Amazon — Hardcover | Paperback (Jan. 2012) | Kindle
Book Depository — Hardcover
Add it to Goodreads
Book Order
1. Undone [B+]
2. Broken [A]
3. Fallen [A+]
See my Karin Slaughter series list for the other series that feed into the Georgia series
Why I Started This Series and General Thoughts
Although Fallen is the third book in the Georgia series (and yes it belongs in the Georgia series and NOT the Will Trent series), my dedication to reading about characters Will Trent and Sara Linton extends back through the eight other books that make up the Will Trent and Grant County series. The vast majority of my recent reviews won’t tell you this fact, but I am a huge mystery fan, and Karin Slaughter knows how to weave a mystery and bring her characters to life. After finishing Broken in May, I was anxious to get my hands on Fallen. Anxious enough to request it from the library even though I fully intend to purchase the paperback when it’s released in January of 2012. Fallen didn’t disappoint, and is probably my favorite book of this series yet.
You Might Enjoy This Series If…
Fans of Kathy Reich’s Temperance Brennan series will enjoy Slaughter’s Dr. Sara Linton (though it’s best to start with the Grant County series). Mystery fans who are looking for gritty mysteries that don’t shy away from violence or strong characters with realistic demons and hang-ups will enjoy any one of Karin Slaughter’s three series. If that sounds like your kind of book, don’t read any further (there are spoilers for the series), but do go to check out my series list and suggested reading order.
Summary
There’s no police training stronger than a cop’s instinct. Faith Mitchell’s mother isn’t answering her phone. Her front door is open. There’s a bloodstain above the knob. Her infant daughter is hidden in a shed behind the house. All that the Georgia Bureau of Investigations taught Faith Mitchell goes out the window when she charges into her mother’s house, gun drawn. She sees a man dead in the laundry room. She sees a hostage situation in the bedroom. What she doesn’t see is her mother. . . .
“You know what we’re here for. Hand it over, and we’ll let her go.”
When the hostage situation turns deadly, Faith is left with too many questions, not enough answers. To find her mother, she’ll need the help of her partner, Will Trent, and they’ll both need the help of trauma doctor Sara Linton. But Faith isn’t just a cop anymore—she’s a witness. She’s also a suspect.
The thin blue line hides police corruption, bribery, even murder. Faith will have to go up against the people she respects the most in order to find her mother and bring the truth to light—or bury it forever.
-from Goodreads
A More In-Depth Look
Have I mentioned before how much I love Karin Slaughter’s characters? No one would ever mistake them for perfect, but they are real in a way that is rare to see in most books. Every character has something terrible lurking in their past that affects who they are now, and they all have flaws that affect their daily lives. If these characters were to walk off the pages and into real life, they could easily be anyone you know.
I have been pulling for a Will/Sara romance since Undone. I liked Jeffrey, Sara’s first (and second, heh) husband, but I love Will. No seriously, I love him. Will is the opposite of Jeffrey, but Will is the same in every way that counts. The scenes that play out between Will and Sara are comical in their awkwardness around each other. But then again, their awkwardness is another reason why I love Karin Slaughter’s characters the way I do. The awkwardness is realistic and perfect the way it fits their relationship. The ending damn near made me cry, and I can’t wait to see how this aspect is carried into the next book. I would also really like to see Sara get back into being a medical examiner, and I think that Karin Slaughter has set the stage for this switch to happen. I hope, anyway.
The mystery in Fallen is explosive. Threads that had been left hanging in previous books (not just in this series, but in the Will Trent series as well) were tied up in Fallen but there were also more threads left hanging in Fallen. The mystery plot revolved mainly around Faith and her mother, Evelyn. Sometimes I got lost trying to keep track of all the players, but I was also so engaged in reading that I probably rushed through parts where I should not have. Can you blame me? Fallen was one of those rare books that made me panic at the thought of the book ending, and yet I couldn’t bring myself to put the book down. And the way it ended? I would have never guessed it.
Other Reviews
And the plot thickens…
4 Responses to “Review: Fallen by Karin Slaughter”
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Looks like I’m really missing out. #insixwords
Yes, you are definitely missing out. #insixwords
I love stories with really well-executed characters who are all the more interesting for their imperfections and flaws:) Sounds like this series has just that, I’ll have to check the first book out!
Do! I would suggest starting with the Grant County series since that’s where Dr. Sara Linton is first introduced. If you started with Undone I don’t know that the characters would be quite as compelling.