9 Aug 2013

BROKEN.

BROKEN by KARIN SLAUGHTER.

SOURCE: Borrowed from Ava, a fellow Readers Group member.

When the body of a young woman is discovered deep beneath the icy waters of Lake Grant, a note left under a rock by the shore points to suicide. But within minutes, it becomes clear that this is no suicide. It's a brutal, cold-blooded murder.

All too soon, former Grant County medical examiner Sara Linton - home for Thanksgiving after a long absence - finds herself unwittingly drawn into the case. The chief suspect is desperate to see her, but when she arrives at the local police station she is met with a horrifying sight - he lies dead in his cell, the words 'Not me' scrawled across the walls.


Something about his confession doesn't add up and, deeply suspicious of Lena Adams, the detective in charge, Sara immediately calls in the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Shortly afterwards, Special Agent Will Trent is brought in from his vacation to investigate. But he is immediately confronted with a wall of silence. Grant County is a close-knit community with loyalties and ties that run deep. And the only person who can tell the truth about what really happened is dead...

...... Outer back cover.

FIRST SENTENCE (Prologue): Allison Spooner wanted to leave town for the holiday, but there was nowhere to go.

MEMORABLE MOMENT (Page 275): Incongruously, there was a hair dryer and a pink makeup kit opened on top of the cotton box. Pots of foundation and various shades of eyeshadows and lip glosses were inside. The logo for 'Pearson's Mortuary makeup' was embossed on the inside of the lid.

MY THOUGHTS: Part two in the Georgia series. Broken reads perfectly well as a standalone novel but I do feel I would have benefited from reading part one if only because I was intrigued by exactly what the history between main characters Sara and Lena was.   

An average enough 'forensic' read. Broken had all of the elements that I would have expected of the genre - a murder (or two), a killer on the loose, a touch of romance and a heroine who for the most part acts before she thinks  - with the exception of special Agent Will Trent, a cop with dyslexia.

Yes, forensic content aside, it wasn't so much the murder investigation that made this book for me as it was Will Trent. A very real character, I thought the authors dealing with his dyslexia sensitively done and very informative.  

Not as good as Kathy Reichs in my opinion but still worth a look for those who are fans of this kind of crime novel.



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14 comments:

Brian Joseph said...

I tend to be obsessive about reading series in order so I would want to read the first book first.


It is unusual for a book like this to deal with dyslexia. It sounds as if that aspect makes this one a little distinctive.

Lindsay said...

An author I'd definitely like to try one day, and I like the sound of how she handled the character with dyslexia.

Barbara said...

I don’t read many crime novels, but your review has sparked my interest. I like the sound of Will Trent, and the dyslexia aspect is also interesting. I think I will give this one a go. Thanks for the review.

Kelly said...

This looks very good, but I don't need to start another series! Still....I'll keep it in mind.

Arti said...

Looks like a good enough read but I am intruiged that a murder book deals with something as serious as dyslexia! I love the cover page of the book though, its fantastically designed! Have a lovely day Tracy :)

Shooting Stars Mag said...

I do like some good mystery/crime novels. Never read a book by this author, so I might need too.

Melissa (Books and Things) said...

Sounds good and I like the way you say they dealt with dyslexia. I might have to give this one a go.

Kimberly @ Midnight Book Girl said...

I feel like I've read this before but I checked GoodReads and it's not marked so I don't know. Too many books ;)

Stephanie@Fairday's Blog said...

This sounds good and I like that it worked as a stand alone book. I would probably want to read the series in order- but it is says a lot that you were able to read it by itself. Thanks for sharing!

Kalyan Panja said...

nice reading the review...looks a good book!

Yvonne @ Fiction Books Reviews said...

Hi Tracy,

I have most of the 'Will Trent' series ('Broken' is book 4 of 8, to date), on my shelves, as my Dad likes to read them and then passes them on to me.

I haven't actually read any of them myself yet, but I would really want to read them in order, to get to know the characters, especially as Will Trent sounds such a complex person.

Karin also has one of those annoying publishers who releases the same book with two different titles, depending on whether it is a US or UK publication, so my poor Dad has bought some of them twice over, without realising until he has started reading!

Your informative review as always, has whetted my appetite to make a start on the series.

Hope that you are having a good weekend.

Yvonne

The Bookworm said...

I read Undone a while back, and enjoyed it. This one sounds good too.

Betty Manousos said...

it looks like an intesting book.

thanks for your great review, tracy!:)

Gina said...

Use to read these types of novels ALL the time. Been out of the loop for a bit, but good to hear about a new-to-me author to check out should I decide to dip back into that reading pond. Thanks for the rec!