kisscut

kisscut
karin slaughter
grant county series #2
fiction/suspense/crime
harper
published 2002

From Shelfari:  Saturday night dates at the skating rink have been a tradition in the small southern town of Heartsdale for as long as anyone can remember, but when a teenage quarrel explodes into a deadly shoot-out, Sara Linton -- the town's pediatrician and medical examiner -- finds herself entangled in a terrible tragedy. What seemed at first to be a horrific but individual catastrophe proves to have wider implications. The autopsy reveals evidence of long-term abuse, of ritualistic self -mutilation, but when Sara and police chief Jeffrey Tolliver start to investigate, they are frustrated at every turn. The children surrounding the victim close ranks. The families turn their backs. Then a young girl is abducted, and it becomes clear that the first death is linked to an even more brutal crime, one far more shocking than anyone could have imagined. Meanwhile, detective Lena Adams, still recovering from her sister's death and her own brutal attack, finds herself drawn to a young man who might hold the answers. But unless Lena, Sara, and Jeffrey can uncover the deadly secrets the children hide, it's going to happen again...

This book is not for the faint of heart.  Karin Slaughter returns us to Grant County and it's citizens both troubled and not so much.  Sara Linton is probably the most centered character of the bunch.  She struggles with the choices she's made, the biggest being dating her ex-husband who had cheated on her and who also happens to be the chief of police Jeffrey Tolliver.  And out on a date at the skating rink Jeffrey makes a decision that will haunt him for the rest of his life.

That decision sets into motion an investigation that uncovers things that just should never happen.  Ever.

At the same time Lena is still struggling with her feelings leftover from her abduction and rape.  It's almost a separate story.  What Lena is going through seems set apart from the main plot.  Lena is a hard character to like.  She was even before the events in the first book.

The story is interesting, keeps you reading and on your toes....but in the end you are left feeling dissatisfied.  There is no 'happy ending'.  I wonder if this story will continue someday in another Grant County book.