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In Karin Slaughterís first novel, Blindsighted, the reader is introduced to Dr. Sara Linton, a pediatrician/medical examiner in a small town in Georgia. Her former husband, Jeffrey Tolliver is the town sheriff. They were forced to work together after a serial killer obsessed with Sara murdered Sibyl Adams, the identical twin sister of Deputy Lena Adams. By the end of the novel, the killer has been stopped but the physical and emotional wounds have yet to heal. It is now four months later. Lena Adams is losing it and about to have a nervous breakdown. Jeffrey and Sara are now closer than ever and have started dating again. One Saturday night, Sara is out on a date with Jeffrey at the local skating rink. Before the night is over Sara will find a dead baby in the ladies bathroom and Jeffrey will be forced to shoot the alleged mother of the child before she shoots a boy in the parking lot. When the dust finally settles, the police have to deal with two dead bodies and no one is willing to talk to the police. No friends, no families, no witnesses. Throughout the course of the investigation, the main characters will discover a secret known by most people in town with the sole exception of Dr. Linton and the police. Go figure. Ms. Slaughter is apparently more interested in grossing out and shocking her reading public than creating an outline structuring the plot. The crimes in this book are so disgusting that even the characters from Law & Order: Special Victims Unit would be repulsed. There are a lot of characters thrown into the mix but apart from the lead characters they are poorly developed. There are several implausibilities at the start of the novel that are never fully explained, i.e. a sharp shooting incident. The author relies heavily on coincidence and serendipity for the characters to figure out what is going on until the novelís conclusion. After everything that happened in Blindsighted the author should have focused more on Lena in this book. Sara was showcased in the first book and now it should be the deputyís turn. She has lost her only sister in a brutal manner and have still has not come to terms with her sisterís death or lifestyle. Lena starts a resolution by the end of the book, but it is hardly convincing. Perhaps with these two books out of the way the author might concentrate on working on a stronger plot and make up her mind on which character she wants to showcase in her next book. It will certainly help.
Reviewed by Angel L. Soto, November 2002
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