n o t e b o o k s

Amazon.co.uk

Karin Slaughter?s new book, Fallen, begins shockingly, with Special Agent Faith Mitchell of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation finding her life abruptly plunged into chaos. Her mother has been charged with looking after Faith?s child, Emma, but Faith comes home to discover her baby locked in a shed. In the house, a safe is open, a gun missing, and Faith encounters a grim blood-covered scene, with a man lying dead. And there are two intruders: more death swiftly follows. Questions are plentiful: what were the killers seeking? What does the carnage have to do with the investigation of Ex-Atlanta Police chief Evelyn Mitchell, being undertaken by Faith?s partner Will Trent? And where is her missing mother?

Karen Slaughter is a bestselling American author with a dedicated following. She is the celebrated creator of such kinetic crime fiction novels as Blindsighted and Kisscut, and is streets ahead of her rivals in the fine art of chilling the blood. What's more, she is clearly determined that each successive book should build upon the innovations of its predecessor, as her latest once again demonstrates. No doubt the fast-moving Fallen will not be appreciated by those who like their crime fiction more sedate and comforting. But those of us not sharing those views (and with a taste for stronger fare) are in for the usual pulse-increasing ride in the company of up-against-it Special Agent Faith Mitchell. Given that Slaughter is a prolific writer, it is a mark of her skill that there is no sign of her narrative skills showing the slightest sign of exhaustion. --Barry Forshaw