Kisscut

August 5, 2002
Aptly named novelist Slaughter (Blindsighted) brings back her horribly scarred cast of Grant County, Ga., cops and coroners for more murder, mayhem and horrific sexual violence. Pathologist Sara Linton, who has been dating her ex-husband, police chief Jeffrey Tolliver, is witness to Tolliver's fatal shooting of a teenage girl when the girl threatens to shoot a 16-year-old boy in a standoff outside the local skating rink. A search of the rink turns up a dismembered fetus in a toilet; Sara's postmortem reveals the girl had a long history of abuse—most gruesomely, her vagina is sewn shut. Working the case alongside Jeffrey is Det. Lena Adams, herself the victim of a recent abduction and rape, who is also trying, with difficulty, to come to terms with the death of her gay sister. Questioning Mark, the boy who was almost shot, Lena gradually uncovers a true horror show of pedophilia, incest and kiddie porn, an inverted world where parents rape their children before peddling them to strangers for money and blackmail. Slaughter adheres to the traditional mystery format, but turns up the shock factor tenfold, demonstrating that the deepest depravity can be business as usual in small towns as well as big cities. The undertone of violence is pervasive, even at quiet moments ("Lena was able to pull her hand away, but not before she felt Grace's thumb brush across the scar.... The touch was tender, almost sexual, and Lena could see the charge Grace got out of it"), amplifying Slaughter's equation of intimacy with menace and placing her squarely in the ranks of Cornwell and Reichs. (Sept.)Forecast:Slaughter's much-praised first novel,
Blindsighted, put her on the thriller map.
Kisscut, a featured alternate selection of the Literary Guild, Doubleday Book Club, Mystery Guild and BOMC, could make her a bestseller. 10-city author tour.

Sara Linton, local doctor and coroner, and Jeffrey Tolliver, local sheriff, team up to investigate the murder of a victim who practiced self-mutilation. The trail leads them to a kidnapping, child pornography, and incest. Horrific crimes and graphic descriptions of sexual acts fill this mystery. Although Patricia Kalember uses a credible Southern accent, all the characters sound the same. Kalember reads the narration and dialogue in a straightforward manner, distancing herself emotionally from the subject matter. This effect buffers the listener from the descriptions but also downplays the tension of the plot. Not for the faint of heart. M.B.K. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine

June 15, 2002
Blindsided was a runner-up for several major awards given for first crime novel, so you'd be blind not to get this follow-up, which involves the death of a child.

Copyright 2002 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.