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From Atlanta's wealthiest suburbs to its stark inner-city housing projects, a killer has crossed the boundaries of wealth and race. And the people who are chasing him must cross those boundaries, too. Among them is Michael Ormewood, a veteran detective whose marriage is hanging by a thread and whose arrogance and explosive temper are threatening his career. And Angie Polaski, a beautiful vice cop who was once Michael's lover before she became his enemy.
A small Georgia town erupts in panic when a young college professor is found brutally mutilated in the local diner. But it's only when town pediatrician and coroner Sara Linton does the autopsy that the full extent of the killer's twisted work becomes clear. Sara's ex-husband, police chief Jeffrey Tolliver, leads the investigation - a trail of terror that grows increasingly macabre when another local woman is found crucified a few days later.
Atlanta, 1974: It's Kate Murphy's first day on the job, and the Atlanta Police Department is seething after the murder of an officer. Before the day has barely begun, she already suspects she's not cut out to be a cop. Her male uniform is too big, she can't handle a gun, and she's rapidly learning that the APD is hardly a place that welcomes women. Worse still, in the ensuing manhunt she'll be partnered with Maggie Lawson, a cop with her own ax to grind.
Sisters. Strangers. Survivors. More than twenty years ago, Claire and Lydia's teenaged sister Julia vanished without a trace. The two women have not spoken since, and now their lives could not be more different. Claire is the glamorous trophy wife of an Atlanta millionaire. Lydia, a single mother, dates an ex-con and struggles to make ends meet. But neither has recovered from the horror and heartbreak of their shared loss—a devastating wound that's cruelly ripped open when Claire's husband is killed.
At the age of 13, Charlie Quinn's childhood came to an abrupt and devastating end. Two men, with a grudge against her lawyer father, broke into Charlie's home - and after that shocking night, her world was never the same. Now a lawyer herself, Charlie has made it her mission to defend those with no one else to turn to.
A beautiful young girl was walking down the street - when suddenly …Julia Carroll knows that too many stories start that way. A beautiful and intelligent nineteen-year-old college freshman, she should be carefree. But instead she is frightened - because girls are disappearing without a trace. Fellow student Beatrice Oliver and a homeless woman called Mona-No-Name are missing, both gone after being snatched off the street. Julia is determined to discover the reason behind their disappearances - before she's next.
From Atlanta's wealthiest suburbs to its stark inner-city housing projects, a killer has crossed the boundaries of wealth and race. And the people who are chasing him must cross those boundaries, too. Among them is Michael Ormewood, a veteran detective whose marriage is hanging by a thread and whose arrogance and explosive temper are threatening his career. And Angie Polaski, a beautiful vice cop who was once Michael's lover before she became his enemy.
A small Georgia town erupts in panic when a young college professor is found brutally mutilated in the local diner. But it's only when town pediatrician and coroner Sara Linton does the autopsy that the full extent of the killer's twisted work becomes clear. Sara's ex-husband, police chief Jeffrey Tolliver, leads the investigation - a trail of terror that grows increasingly macabre when another local woman is found crucified a few days later.
Atlanta, 1974: It's Kate Murphy's first day on the job, and the Atlanta Police Department is seething after the murder of an officer. Before the day has barely begun, she already suspects she's not cut out to be a cop. Her male uniform is too big, she can't handle a gun, and she's rapidly learning that the APD is hardly a place that welcomes women. Worse still, in the ensuing manhunt she'll be partnered with Maggie Lawson, a cop with her own ax to grind.
Sisters. Strangers. Survivors. More than twenty years ago, Claire and Lydia's teenaged sister Julia vanished without a trace. The two women have not spoken since, and now their lives could not be more different. Claire is the glamorous trophy wife of an Atlanta millionaire. Lydia, a single mother, dates an ex-con and struggles to make ends meet. But neither has recovered from the horror and heartbreak of their shared loss—a devastating wound that's cruelly ripped open when Claire's husband is killed.
At the age of 13, Charlie Quinn's childhood came to an abrupt and devastating end. Two men, with a grudge against her lawyer father, broke into Charlie's home - and after that shocking night, her world was never the same. Now a lawyer herself, Charlie has made it her mission to defend those with no one else to turn to.
A beautiful young girl was walking down the street - when suddenly …Julia Carroll knows that too many stories start that way. A beautiful and intelligent nineteen-year-old college freshman, she should be carefree. But instead she is frightened - because girls are disappearing without a trace. Fellow student Beatrice Oliver and a homeless woman called Mona-No-Name are missing, both gone after being snatched off the street. Julia is determined to discover the reason behind their disappearances - before she's next.
From the hallucinatory noir novella Go Deep to the twisted short stories "Necessary Women" and "Remmy Rothstein Toes the Line", this collection showcases the New York Times best-selling author's dark humor, limitless imagination, and masterly command of voice and character.
With her ex now in prison, Gwen has finally found refuge in a new home on remote Stillhouse Lake. Though still the target of stalkers and Internet trolls who think she had something to do with her husband's crimes, Gwen dares to think her kids can finally grow up in peace. But just when she's starting to feel at ease in her new identity, a body turns up in the lake - and threatening letters start arriving from an all-too-familiar address.
As a sniper with the elite Massachusetts State Police SWAT Team, Bobby Dodge saved a woman and her young son by shooting her armed husband. But vicious rumors begin to circulate the next morning when Bobby loses his gun and his privileges. It turns out the dead man was the son of a prominent Boston judge and had accused his wife of poisoning their son.
Nicole Cutty and Megan McDonald are both high school seniors in the small town of Emerson Bay, North Carolina. When they disappear from a beach party one warm summer night, police launch a massive search. No clues are found, and hope is almost lost until Megan miraculously surfaces after escaping from a bunker deep in the woods. A year later the best-selling account of her ordeal has turned Megan from local hero to national celebrity.
When you listen to this audiobook, you will make many assumptions. You will assume you are listening to a story about a jealous ex-wife. You will assume she is obsessed with her replacement - a beautiful, younger woman who is about to marry the man they both love. You will assume you know the anatomy of this tangled love triangle. Assume nothing. Twisted and deliciously chilling, The Wife Between Us exposes the secret complexities of an enviable marriage - and the dangerous truths we ignore in the name of love.
Detective Angie Pallorino hasn't forgotten the violent rapist who left a distinctive calling card - crosses etched into the flesh of his victim's foreheads. When a comatose Jane Doe is found in a local cemetery, sexually assaulted, mutilated, and nearly drowned, Angie is struck by the eerie similarities to her earlier unsolved rapes. Could he be back?
She was 14 when she watched mother die. With her mother gone, her father told her she had to be the woman of the house. And then he went away for six months. Now she's got a surprise for him.
One question, a split-second decision, and Brian Darby lies dead on the kitchen floor. His wife, state police trooper Tessa Leoni, claims to have shot him in self-defense, and bears the bruises to back up her tale. For veteran detective D. D. Warren it should be an open-and-shut case. But where is their six-year-old daughter? As the homicide investigation ratchets into a frantic statewide search for a missing child, D. D. Warren must partner with former lover Bobby Dodge to break through the blue wall of police brotherhood, seeking to understand the inner workings of a trooper’s mind while also unearthing family secrets.
Collected in one volume-and on audio-for the first time, The Unremarkable Heart and Other Stories features bestselling author Karin Slaughter at her best: dark, provocative explorations of love, death, and the secrets we keep. This exclusive audiobook contains the previously published tales The Unremarkable Heart, The Blessing of Brokenness, Necessary Women, The Mean Time, Cold Cold Heart, and the never-before-seen story The Truth About Pretty Girls.
Evelyn Talbot, a psychiatrist at a maximum-security prison in Alaska, studies some of the world's worst serial killers. But she's about to meet her most elusive patient at Hanover House yet: Dr. Lyman Bishop, aka the Zombie Maker, given his fondness for performing icepick lobotomies on his victims. A brilliant cancer researcher, Bishop is either the most cunning psychopath Evelyn has ever encountered - or he is wrongly convicted.
Psychiatrist Evelyn Talbot has dedicated her life to solving the mysteries of the psychopathic mind. Why do psychopaths act as they do? How do they come to be? Why don't they feel any remorse for the suffering they cause? And are there better ways of spotting and stopping them? After having been kidnapped, tortured, and left for dead when she was just a teenager - by her high school boyfriend - she's determined to understand how someone she trusted so much could turn on her.
When a young boy discovers the body of a woman beneath a thick sheet of ice in a South London park, Detective Erika Foster is called in to lead the murder investigation. The victim, a beautiful young socialite, appeared to have the perfect life. Yet when Erika begins to dig deeper, she starts to connect the dots between the murder and the killings of three prostitutes, all found strangled, hands bound, and dumped in water around London.
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. 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.
Karin Slaughter's most exhilarating novel yet is a thrilling journey through the heart and soul, where the personal and the criminal collide, and conflicted loyalties threaten to destroy reputations and ruin lives. It is the work of a master of the thriller at the top of her game, and a whirlwind of unrelenting suspense.
Several months ago I wrote a review of "Criminal," the 6th book in the Will Trent series, calling it the best of the series so far. It turns out that I may have made a slight misstatement. You see, I had read "Criminal" out of order. I had not at that time listened to "Fallen." Now I have to amend my statement to say that "Criminal" is ONE of the best of the series. "Fallen" is the other best book of the series.
In "Fallen," Slaughter began the process of revealing the history of the generation of women who were the first female detectives on the Atlanta police force, a process which was continued in "Criminal." The plot centers on the kidnapping and torture of Faith Mitchell's mother, a retired high-ranking detective. As things develop, the reader, along with Faith, Will, and others, learn more about the history of Faith and her mother, and her mother's contemporaries in the Atlanta PD and the State Police. And this development of back story provides an excellent background for a reading of "Criminal," the next book of the series.
Like all of Karin Slaughter's Will Trent books, the story is taut, gripping, and sometimes gutwrenching. She makes you really care and worry about the characters. And she keeps many of the plot developments well hidden until they burst into sight. These books make for a tense, sometimes bloody, but enjoyable read.
Shannon Chochran does an excellent job of narration.
12 of 12 people found this review helpful
There's much that's good in this book. The characters are interesting and beautifully drawn. The plot chugs along at a steady pace.
Why didn't I like it more?
I'm not sure. I found that midway through this story that my interest was flagging. With police procedurals I often find this is where my interest is keenest.
The story seems to lose its way a little, buried under flashbacks and subplots that serve to create just enough confusion to make me a little bored. What I'm saying is that the focus doesn't sharpen as the story continues. On the contrary.
There are many better crime novels...but this one isn't BAD. It's just...meh.
14 of 15 people found this review helpful
I absolutely love both of Karin Slaughter's series and this book merges the two! This is the best audiobook I've listened to yet. The story was amazing, and the narration was perfect. The narrator's southern accent is just right, not over the top like some books I've listened to. The subtle differences when she does the older female characters was so dead-on!
The author is so compassionate with her characters that I am able to relate to every single one. The mystery in this book is not the most plausible one yet, but defintely entertaining, tense, and unpredictable.
If you haven't read (or listened to) Karen Slaughter before, I would recommend starting from the beginning. This book can stand alone, but it gives away a lot about the previous books and is even better if you already know the characters from her previous work.
11 of 12 people found this review helpful
I had been a Karin Slaughter fan, but this was a real disappointment. It's hard to explain in detail without giving away any spoilers, but we are led down various rabbit holes of police corruption and drug dealer wars to a forced, contrived ending. I was startled to realize, toward the end, that the events in the book all happened in a 48 hour period - it felt much longer. I was tired of everybody in this book by the time it ended.
It didn't help that the reader was horrible, but of course, she was following the way the characters were written - why did Faith's nearly 20 year old college student son suddenly sound (and act) like a whiny 10 year old? Why did another character, also 20, sound like an old man with a hint of an utterly inexplicable Mexican movie villain accent? Between the muddled plot and the awful reader, this was very disappointing - I've read all of Karin Slaughter's previous books, but after the oddly disappointing Broken and now this weirdness, I think she's lost me.
23 of 26 people found this review helpful
Okay, Triptych, Unseen and Criminal were all home runs. Undone was good, a double, good for 4 stars. Fallen is a sacrifice fly, though not a strikeout.
The characters are engaging, Slaughter's writing is so charismatic that I feel like I live in Grant County Georgia. Once again, Will Trent is the understated, underestimated and thoughtful detective I appreciate. This story focuses on his partner, Faith Mitchell, feisty and relationally irresponsible, but still a good cop. Her mother is Evelyn Mitchell, a retired cop is kidnapped. (She was easily my favorite character in the blockbuster "Criminal." In my opinion the best in the series)
The mystery is not only by whom but why? Was her mom a dirty cop? Does she have a stash tucked away? It kept me listening.
Disappointment set in regarding believability and in the motives of the involved parties. Nevertheless there is no way I could've guessed the ending.
A solid 3 star from a reviewer who is liberal with his praise.
11 of 13 people found this review helpful
I really, really enjoyed this book. I was just sick when Jeffery was killed off the story line and have been skeptical since, but Karin Slaughter has done a great job building the relationships and explaining the loyalty between the characters. There are so many tangents in this story but it is very easy to follow and the build up of the relationship between Sara & Will was heartwarming. I couldn't stop listening, and sad when the book ended, I didn't want to let go. I can't wait for the next book....I wish it was out yesterday! Great read / listen. Enjoy
27 of 33 people found this review helpful
I stopped listening to this book after about three hours because I could not take it anymore. I love crime books, and they don't always have to be "deep" to draw me in, but this - my first Karen Slaughter - was beyond what I was willing to spend my time on. Maybe, if I had been on a really long, intercontinental flight I would have stayed with it, because Slaughter knows how to create some suspense. But the writing is so shallow and the characters are so bland that I did not want to stay with this story. Besides, the author has taken a lot of logical shortcuts that simply don't make sense and are not being explained which to me just smells of laziness. As a reader I don't mind following you to unlikely places, but you have to guide me there, rather than just saying "there was an alarm and when they turned around X was dead" (I condensed this a little) without further explaining what just happened. I will return this book.
As for the reader and the production: I felt that this was sub-par as well. You can basically hear the cuts where the reader had a break, returned to the recording but wasn't able to get the voice quite right.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
As the series progresses you learn more about the history of Amanda Wagner.
I've found my friends either love or hate, no middle ground. I enjoy the series despite the overall depressing feel.
This book is as melancholy as the rest with the same over dramatic tone at times. However, I found it a little annoying with respect to the handling of Faith's diabetes. I found it a little disrespectful, but can't really articulate why.
The story was good though, character development moved nicely and though I read it out of order I wouldn't have felt lost had as a new reader to the series.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
I did not like Shannon Cochran's performance in this book. She was so off when it came to capturing Will Trent's tones and mannerisms. She made him playful and cute in a comedian sort of way which I didn't like one bit. Her read ruined the book for me. Thank god for Criminal because I would have been negative about the whole series which I really enjoyed. Too bad they made such an awful choice...if it ever gets re-recorded I would have a man read it, reverting back to the sex of the first two books narrators.
5 of 6 people found this review helpful
What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?
Not much ... I'm just not a fan of the romance genre.
What could Karin Slaughter have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?
She writes well. The mystery was intriguing, but the "romance" in the scene between Sara and Trent seemed forced. Characters' traits seemed to be inconsistent.
Would you be willing to try another one of Shannon Cochran’s performances?
Probably --- depending on the author and genre
What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?
Disappointment -- from the storyline I didn't expect it to read like a second-rate romance.
Any additional comments?
I'll try another Slaughter story -- but will borrow one from the library before first spending any more money on this author.
5 of 6 people found this review helpful