Fractured: A Novel

By: Karin Slaughter

Narrated by: Kathleen Early

Length: 13 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's Summary

“Breathless tension!” raved the San Francisco Chronicle. “One of [the year’s] most remarkable achievements,” crowed The Philadelphia Inquirer. Karin Slaughter dazzled readers and critics alike with Triptych, her New York Times best-selling suspense novel set in metropolitan Atlanta. Now the number-one internationally best-selling author returns to the damaged landscape she knows so well in a bold new novel - at once a powder keg of suspense, a gritty portrait of a cop’s life, and a searing exploration of a shocking crime and its aftermath....

With its gracious homes and tree-lined streets, Ansley Park is one of Atlanta’s most desirable neighborhoods. But in one gleaming mansion, in a teenager’s lavish bedroom, a girl has been savagely murdered. And in the hallway, her horrified mother stands amid shattered glass, having killed her daughter’s attacker with her bare hands.

Detective Will Trent of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is here only to do a political favor; the murder site belongs to the Atlanta police. But Trent soon sees something the cops are missing, something in the trail of blood, in a matrix of forensic evidence, and in the eyes of the shell-shocked mother. Within minutes, Trent is taking over the case - and adding another one to it. He is sure another teenage girl is missing and that a killer is on the loose.

Armed with only fleeting clues, teamed with a female cop who has her own personal reasons for hating him, Trent has enemies all around him - and a gnawing feeling that this case, which started in the best of homes, is cutting quick and deep through the ruins of perfect lives broken wide open: where human demons emerge with a vengeance.

©2008 Karin Slaughter (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers

Great Re Recorded Version

Great performance from narrator Ms Early. I do listen at 1.25x speed to match the author’s intent. I listened to this story narrated by Phil Gigante, years ago and he did a good job, but this version is so much better. Not sure if it was because this book did not have the horrific terror e.g. Undone and TripTych which kept me up at nights or the fact that Ms Early has all the character voices down spot on. My fave, Amanda when she toughens Will up!
Don’t get me wrong, I like this author as she is GOOD and she has subtle humor not to be missed, but I in a few of her books, named above, I was so scared after listening to the good story, I had to stop buying her books. This book, has none of that sleepless terror! If you read out of order like I do, then go back and buy an earlier book, you will get AH HA moments, which reminds us that this author plots out her stories far in advance, eg #2, 5, 6 which are very much tied together. All 3 are great stories not to be missed. If you want to be entertained by a good author, then these 3 books will do the trick.
Were my comments helpful?

Of Course It Was Great

I am never disappointed by Slaughter and Kathleen early is an absolute treasure. I wish she were the narrator of every book I purchased. I am a Mississippi native who now resides in Georgia so, I appreciate someone who can mimic a Southern accent and its charm without making us all sound like idiots. Slaughter's depiction of southern heat makes it obvious that she has spent a good amount of time in Georgia. Words of wisdom to Kathleen Houston county is pronounced House- ton and Albany is Al-binny, just a heads up I case you ever get thrown one of those curve balls.

little police work

this was NOT my kind of story. This was 85% feelings, emotions, relationships and worrying about what others thought about this character or that character. VERY little in the way of any investigations, police work, chasing suspects or anything that makes a good 'modern detective' novel. I got to where I was skipping while chapters. There was one whole chapter on a detective going on a date where she just worried about what he thought of her... skip... another detective spent a whole chapter worrying about what another detective thought of him.. skip... I skipped at least 6 while chapters and it never even affected the story. I'm SURE the are people who should like this novel but to me it wasn't 'modern detective' it was 'modern relationships' who happened to be detectives...

Long and drawn out

This book was quite drawn out and did not keep my attention very well! Story was decent

I cant stand the narrator

ugh. The absolutely consistent, descending lilt with EVERY sentence is positively grating to my ears. I cant even comment on the book because I couldnt get past the first chapter.

Slow

Struggeld to finish. Slow moving plot, not one character stands out. The performance by the narrator was excellent and probably the only reason I finished listening.

Kathleen Early is amazing

She has to be by far one of the best readers of any books i have listened too. Not only is Karin Slaughter a phenomenal writer combined with Kathleen’s narration is incredible!

Engaging

Good story-kept me listening! Author is very knowledgable and writes well. Will read her other work

Classic Slaughter

Great book with a lot o legal accuracy. I am out to find the underground tunnel!

Driving me crazy with the pronunciation of Dekalb

How do they not know and ensure that real Atlanta places are pronounced properly? The mispronunciation of Dekalb in this book (and a different mispronunciation in Triptych) is maddening.

Tedious characters and poor storyline

I just couldn't get gripped by either the story or the characters. The female detective who goes schoolgirl weak at the knees at the sight of the handsome school principal.....oh dear. Will has to have the expression "milf" explained to him , presumably because police work is so sheltered. I lost interest in the story so much that when Will is finally confronting the bad guy I thought, how did we get here, maybe I was asleep.......I almost did what I very rarely do, returned it for a credit, but since I struggled to the end, I kept it. Excellent performance by Kathleen Early however who does her best to make the implausible plausible.