Kisscut

Rating:
Summary: An explosive, MUST READ thriller.
Review: Jenny Weaver was a smart, pretty, high school student with everything to live for...then why did she go crazy threatening to shoot her sometime boyfriend after she attempted to flush her twenty-eight week old baby down the toilet? This is the question that puzzles Dr. Sara Linton as she examines the body of the teenager after being shot by Chief Jeffery Tolliver.

As Sara examines the body she finds shocking evidence that proves Jenny could not have given birth to the child, and further still is more shocking evidence that leads to many un-answered questions.

Jeffery Tolliver, riddled with guilt over killing the young girl, is determined to get answers, so he begins his investigation with detective Lena Adams, a scarred woman trying to cope with the nightmares of her rape, and the death of her sister, but as the case unfolds the two will need Sara's help and what they uncover is more shocking than anything they could have imagined.

'Kisscut' is an excellent, MUST-READ thriller that needs all it's secrets kept intact so I can't go further into the plot. The book grabs you by the throat on page one, and holds you captive until the explosive finale. There has been much hype surrounding this book, and for once it's warranted; it's a fast-paced, well written, page-turner that readers will devour in one sitting.

Karin Slaughter has been compared to Patricia Cornwell but it's not a fare comparison because she's better, much better than Cornwell. 'Kisscut', being Slaughter's second novel, is a brilliant thriller that should land on all the bestseller list's, and prove her to be a master storyteller.

A MUST read!

Nick Gonnella

Rating:
Summary: Better than it deserves to be.
Review: I was uneasy after I read Slaughter's first novel, Blindsighted. As much as I found it very strong, I also felt like it leaned too much on some particularly shocking and sensational elements of the crimes to provide its bite.

Unfortunately, instead of making me feel better about Slaughter, Kisscut seems to me a step in the wrong direction.

Be aware before you read this book-- it deals in an explicit way with incest, child pornography, genital mutilation, and violence towards children. It's not for the faint of heart, nor for young readers.

I found the plot points stretched rather thin here, and again I felt like the book strayed rather too close to exploitation of its subjects rather than exploration.

This said, Slaughter is a really strong writer. The characters are very well written, the details of their emotional responses are well-conceived and usually felt to me right on. Lena may be a bit tiresome as a character, but she also makes real sense, particularly coming off the events in Blindsighted.

I'd like to see what happens if Slaughter takes her obvious talents and applies them to less sensationalist material.

Rating:
Summary: Kisscut Extremes
Review: This past week, I finished Kisscut, the second book by Karin Slaughter. I'd read the first novel by this author a few months ago, and while I wasn't blown away by her writing, I was curious enough to consider the next book in the series. After all, this author received a three-book, six-figure contract based on the first book, so why not study her efforts to see what publishers are buying?

Returning to the Georgia-based setting are pediatrician and part-time coroner, Sara Linton, her ex-husband and police chief, Jeff Tolliver, and police detective, Lena Adams, who is still recovering from a brutal rape and attack depicted in the previous book. Sara interested me a great deal because of her relationship with her mother, but Lena, whose sister was murdered in the first book, wasn't as appealing. In fact, she's downright unpleasant at times. Maybe that's the point, as the second book explores.

Anyway, Kisscut starts off with the police shooting of Jenny, a 13-year old who threatened to kill boy outside a roller rink. Clearly distraught, the girl was last seen exiting the restroom... where the tattered remains of a pre-term fetus are found, flushed in the toilet. Are the two connected? Did Jenny intend to kill the father of her baby?

The story isn't just about Jenny, the baby (which actually isn't hers) and her attempted murder of the boy. In fact, it's a far more sordid, brutal tale of extensive child abuse, self-mutilation, incest and pornography. Slaughter thankfully doesn't go into explicit detail, though she still manages to sicken and horrify through alluded passages. It's a twisted, frustrating journey that layers trauma upon trauma, discovery upon discovery. The ultimate culprits aren't the usual suspects, and that makes the story even more difficult to handle.

For the most part, the text was engaging with a good balance between the A story (the mystery) and the B stories (Lena's struggle to accept what happened to her and move on, Sara/Jeff's rekindled relationship) with strong description and dialogue. Slaughter did improve from the first book, though Lena is still very much an angry, unlikable woman, and I haven't decided yet if I want to read the third book in the series.

For those who can stomach the actual story, Kisscut is a worthwhile read for an above average mystery... but it's not one I'd ever want to read or think about again.

Rating:
Summary: Real Characters, Believable Plot
Review: Slaughter follow up to Blindsighted is a tighter novel. She doesn't bother to set the tone for the book or catch up readers who may have forgotten or not read her first no vel. Within a few paragraphs a confrontation occurs between teenagers that sets the plot for the entire book. What was suppose to be a quiet night at the skating rink turns deadly as one teenager says to another you will pay for what you did. The aftermath is a shoot out with the chief of police, a dead child and a dead baby. This all occurs in the first twenty pages, the other three hundred and some pages is the telling of a complex tale of evil. Jeff is looking at this case as teenagers who think the only solution to their problems is a gun. With so much of this in the news, that is how the readers are led to believe. But quickly events and evidence and even a few weird comments prove that he is not looking at a teenager scorn but a teenager looking for vengeance. Slaughter pulls no punches as she delivers a story that is hard to read but captivating at the same time. Her plot still has a few weak moments as she forced a scene to happen to give Jeff another avenue to explore in this case. I think she could of have this evidence present itself in a different light. I cannot say more about the case without spoiling the read. I will say the heart of the case will have you shuddering at times and the ending is the right ending. Others may disagree with me, but considering how long the criminals have been pulling this off and the set up they have they were too smart for the cops in this investigation. One other strong point is the character development she ropes around this plot. Lena is recovering from the last novel and how she copes with it, is true but painful to read.

Rating:
Summary: graphic thriller
Review: In the parking lot of the popular Heartsdale, Georgia teen hangout skating rink Jenny Weaver threatens to shoot Mark Patterson. Police chief Jeffrey Tolliver is forced to kill the teenage girl. His former wife pediatrician and Grant County coroner Sara Linton witnesses the fatal shooting. Inside a toilet of the rink resides a dismembered fetus.

Sara's autopsy of Jenny provides several strange clues that do not add up. The deceased was a long time abuse victim, Her battered vagina had been sewn shut and there is no evidence of any recent sexual activity to produce a fetus. Detective Lena Adams, a victim of rape and grieving the death of her sister interrogates Mark. Soon she learns the horrifying perverted secrets of a town with quite a sideshow of pediophile, incest, and child pornography and prostitution.

Living up to her surname, Karin Slaughter provides readers with a graphic thriller that combines elements of a police procedural with that of a medical examiner tale. The story line catches the audience from the start, but fans should not dive in with a full stomach as KISSCUT tears into boundaries rarely seen in a thriller. The author eases some of the tension by the use of puns and other humorous devices that at times can be missed due to the high level of excitement. Those who enjoy Patricia Cornwall will relish this novel and Ms. Slaughter's previous book (see BLINDSIGHTED), but this writer adds more red meat in her recipe.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Loved it!!
Review: This book is quite a page-turner. I enjoyed her last one (Blindsighted) too, but this was even better! It has a very sad & disturbing plot to it that makes you angry that this could happen to children. This author is a wonderful story-teller. I can't wait to read her next book!! And, by the way, I am not a friend or agent of this author as a previous reviewer suggested about people who give this book a 5-star rating.

Rating:
Summary: No Sophmore Jinx here
Review: A skating date between Dr. Sara Linton and her ex-husband Chief Jeffrey Tolliver is interupted gruesomely when Sara heads to ladies room and discovers a dead baby. She barely has time to register her shock before she discovers one of her young patients Jenny a 13 year old girl has a gun trained on 16 year old Mark Patterson. Jeffrey shoots Jenny.
So begins the second novel set in Grant county written by Ms. Slaughter. Now admittedly I loved loved Blindsighted and bought this second title with very little information. I skimmed the editorial reviews and customer reviews on Amazon but the main motive was how much I enjoyed her first novel.
Having said that I found this one a little harder to stomach. It wasn't that her grisly details turned my stomach as much as I felt in parts Slaughter was trying so hard to shock and repulse reader in her graphicness that other aspects such as characterization suffered. But I continued to read like a witness to a train wreck unable to avert my gaze from the wreckage as her writing got stronger as the plot went along twisting and turning like any thriller's plot ideally does. The people of Grant County have witnessed their share of horror and mourning yet the central characters in her first two novels have come out stronger I think Ms. Slaughter has as well. Finishing this novel I upped my stars for two reasons first I think this is a story Slaughter had to tell and secondly I think it is a story you have to read:).

Rating:
Summary: Different, Excellent
Review: I read a lot of this kind of novel and when I saw this one, I read the plot line and added it to the pile. I'm delighted to say that this one is very different. Although I clearly missed a LOT in not reading her first novel, I found that I was unable to figure out even slightly where this one was going. I can usually figure out where and who most novels are going for miles in advance (don't even mention T.V). I just wanted to say that this writer, although the writing is a little choppy(Not always an authors fault, by the way), it's a book to be proud of and I really enjoyed it. If you're bored with the usual, this has the definite quality of something different.

Rating:
Summary: Intriguing
Review: In Grant County, a girl threatens to shoot a boy and ends up being shot herself instead. But what drove Jenny Weaver to such an extent has Sara Linton, Jeffrey Tolliver and Lena Adams on the trail. Like in Blindsighted, Lena was the most believable, likeable character. Jeffrey was too "woe is me", and Sara was bitchy towards her sister Tessa and Lena. A highly disturbing read but well worth your time. (A+)

Rating:
Summary: Mesmerizing, terrific, "Cant-put-down"!
Review: This book is set four months later than the first book "Blindsighted".

The story starts out at the local skating ring, where Sara has a date with her ex-husband and local chief of police, Jeffrey Tolliver. Both of them seem to be looking forward to a nice evening together when Jeffrey has to shoot a 13-year-old girl, who threatens to shoot a 16-year-old boy. Part-time Medical Examiner Sarah finds out shocking details during her autopsy of the 13-year-old and also during the autopsy of a stillborn child that SEEMS to have been born by the 13-year-old.

The central characters of this story are more human, better developed in this book (even the evil ones).Lena Adams, one of Jeffrey's detectives is still suffering from what happened to her during the chase of the killer of her twin sister in the first book. There are quite a few references to give the reader an idea of what the first book was about.

When I thought I had an idea of what the book was all about, there were enough twists and turns to keep my nailed in my chair, and eyes glued to the book.

I certainly did not expect child molesters/child pornopraphers to be the main focus in this book when i read the back flap, but I must admit that Karin Slaughter has chosen a great way to show that they may be the seemingly nice next-door neighbor or the seemingly nice priest/colleague/buddy/acquaintance.

She even set out to let the evil characters be female. Women are hardly ever suspected of child molestation. Read this book and you will be surprised on how evil some people can really be. Even though some of the perpetrators are portrayed in a favorable way (thats before you know it is them of course), don't seem to feel any remorse and even believe that they molested the kids out of love (how can anybody ever be that sick and perverted?).

Some parts of the book made me really furious (especially the lack of remorse), but that's a good way to keep the reader hooked, isn't it?

However, I admire her for having the courage to write about such difficult topics as pedophilia and child abuse.

A nice and welcome distraction from the horrible things that were done to the kids is the attempt of Sara and Jeffrey to get back together and working on their relationship. However, Karin Slaughter does not get lost in detailed, in my opinion unwanted, descriptions of Sara's and Jeffrey's sexual encounters.

Lena, one of Jeffrey's detectives, bares her soul in the progress of this book. She, who seemed so hard-boiled, (nearly) breaks down and leaves you wondering what will happen to her in the follow-up.

Anyway, Karin Slaughter surely got me waiting for the third book in this series. I can't wait for it to be published !