Review of "Fractured" by Karin Slaughter

Karin Slaughter's latest mystery featuring FBI Agent Will Trent is a delicious thriller set in a wealthy Atlanta neighborhood. Abigail Campano comes home to discover signs that someone has broken into her house. Seeing blood on the floor, she rushes upstairs to discover the ravaged body of her teenaged daughter and a man standing over her with a knife. The intruder sees and immediately attacks Abigail. The two struggle, sending Abigail falling down the stairs. In the ensuing fight, Abigail gets the upper hand (or knee), and in her rage strangles the intruder to death. A simple case of self-defense turns upside down when the police arrive and discover the young girl is now missing and apparently kidnapped.

Slaughter's writing is deliciously filled with the internal imagery and emotions of the characters. Few modern mystery writers can take you so vividly into the feelings of people in such extraordinary circumstances as well as she does, with dialog that has a natural cadence while still being so well-crafted. Best of all, you won't out-guess her as the plot of Fractured unwinds. It's the kind of book mystery lovers line up for at the bookstore.