Fallen by Karin Slaughter

Avalable June 21, 2011. Order from B&N or Amazon (Hardcover/Kindle)


Synopsis from GoodReads: 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.
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.

Review: Wow, where do I even begin with this series? Like I've said before, Karin Slaughter is probably my #1 favorite author and any true fan of the Grant County series can tell you these characters are seriously amazing. They feel like old friends now, so every time I read a new installment in the series it's like reuniting with them all over again. In this book, Faith's mother, Evelyn, is kidnapped and everyone is at a loss as to why. The crime scene is bloody and everyone knows if Evelyn isn't already dead she will be soon. Faith is shocked and terrified for her mother and she has to rely on her partner Will and Dr. Sara Linton to help her find Evelyn before it's too late.
The characters in this series are absolutely amazing. I guess before I go too much further, this review might have some spoilers. There is a MAJOR event that takes place in Beyond Reach that changes everything, so if you haven't read that one yet and plan to in the future, I suggest you don't read this whole review. I guess you take that risk with any sequel to a book though. We see Faith sort of fall apart in this one and not without good reason. She's worried about her mother, but she's also worried about something happening to her kids. She's still a very strong, smart woman though and does anything and everything she can to figure out where her mother is. I'll admit, when both Faith and Will arrived on the scene several books ago, I wasn't too pleased. Not that they weren't well written, just that when I'm used to certain characters, change can be difficult. Now I really love them though. Will is very instrumental in trying to solve this case, since Faith is mostly at home protecting her kids. I love how successful he is despite his battle with dyslexia; he's developed ways of organizing his notes and things so that he's very efficient. He still seems to be embarrassed by his handicap, but not as much so as in previous books (probably because pretty much everyone knows about it now). Amanda Wagner (Will and Faith's supervisor, Faith's sort-of Aunt, and one of Evelyn's closest friends) takes charge of most of the investigation, with Will at her side. I wanted to slap her quite a few times in this book, and I know Will did too, for not being forthcoming with information pertinent to the case. She was trying to protect Evelyn and her secrets, but it seemed like every time Will would find out an important piece of information, Amanda already knew about it and so it wasted a lot of time. Even though she's extremely tough, and even that may be an understatement, we see a much softer side of Amanda in this book. Sara gets dragged into the investigation as well, examining the dead bodies that pop up and giving her two cents on the situation. I love Sara and I hate seeing her working in the hospital environment where I'm pretty sure she's unhappy; she needs to go back to having her own practice. Basically I just want to see her happy again. It's been almost 5 years since the "event that shall not be named" and she's still trying to find some normalcy in her life.
I loved the twists and turns that are present in all of Karin Slaughter's books. Towards the end I had things figured out, but the ending was still explosive and amazing. Unlike some books, I think this one ended on a very good note so maybe I can rest easy until the next one comes out.
Now on to the romance. There's a lot of chemistry and sexual tension between Will and Sara and I just couldn't wait for them to kiss. Sara's been understandably broken and Will has been with Angie for a very long time and doesn't know what a healthy relationship should be. Of course who should decide to make her appearance in this book at the worst possible time? Angie! I know both Will and Angie had extremely tough times in foster care, with abuse being part of their normal routine. I just can't seem to find any compassion for Angie anymore. She's mean, manipulative, and just plain evil; she likes to tell Will he can't survive without her, and he's been so emotionally damaged that for the most part he believes her. Let's just say I wouldn't be sad if she disappeared from the face of the earth. You'll know what I mean and probably agree with me when you read this one.
I absolutely loved this book, Karin Slaughter is at the top of her game like always. Her books are so suspenseful my heart races the entire time I'm reading and the characters are so real that I hate to remind myself when the book is finished that they are fictional. I didn't want to say too much in my review because I didn't want to give too much away. If you haven't read any of her books yet, please do; you won't be disappointed! If you're already a huge fan of her books, make sure you get this book as soon as it's released (6/21/11) because it's amazing. But her fans wouldn't expect anything less!

My rating: 5/5 stars

If you'd like to read more about Karin Slaughter and her other works, check out her webpage!