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BLINDSIGHTED
by Karin Slaughter
William Morrow & Co., September 2001
320 pages
$25.00
ISBN: 0688174574


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Medical examiner Sara Linton finds a young college professor dead in

the local diner, horribly raped and viciously murdered. A second

victim is later found crucified and police chief Jeffrey Tolliver,

Sara's ex-husband, realises that he has got a serial killer on his

hands.

'Blindsighted' is Slaughter's first novel and has been heavily hyped

by authors and readers alike. One of the main points of the novel on

which it would be wise to dwell is the large amount of graphic, visual

violence against women through a series of rapes and murders. Some

people have lambasted Slaughter, killing the violence gratuitous and

much too explicit. However, in my opinion, this is not the case. The

violence is necessary for the story and many other authors have

written stuff that is more violent. True, it is shocking, but this is

Slaughter's aim and underlines the sheer evil of her killer.

The novel has a fast pace and Slaughter does not leave a lot of time

for thinking. She has created some very interesting characters and the

relationship between Tolliver and Linton works especially well. She

also succeeds in creating the idea that these characters are human and

will be changed by the events in 'Blindsighted', in readiness for the

sequel, 'Kisscut', which I will be reading without any qualms at all.

The motive for the killer is intriguing and Slaughter does not give

any real clues as to his identity until the very end of the novel,

throwing in a few more surprises along the way. Overall,

'Blindsighted' is a taut, exciting and enjoyable thriller, which is

even more surprising since this is the author's first work. It is one

that I recommend, but with the proviso that it is a gory book. Only

one question remains for me - Century chose to market it in England by

linking it to Patricia Cornwell. Why on earth did they do that?

Slaughter beats Cornwell's mark by a mile.

Reviewed by Luke Croll, November 2001

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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