Rating: 
Summary: ...not an easy read...
Review: I have read Karin Slaughter's novels since they first came into print and there is no denying that she is one of the most talented writers out there today. Her writing is such that the reader becomes hooked into the story so completely, it's easier finishing the book than it is turning out the light. This second novel in the Grant County series is no exception.Centering around the death of a troubled teenager, town coroner Sara Linton and police chief Jeffrey Tolliver begin an investigation into the events that ended a young girl's life. With the help of a very troubled Lena Adams, a detective fighting her own demons, the trio uncover more than they ever thought possible in a town they once thought of as idyllic. It quickly becomes a race against time to uncover the truth before anyone else is hurt. Despite the fact that the time frame of the story encompasses only a week, this is not an easy or quick read. The subject matter is not one that lends itself to going down easy with the average reader. That said, Slaughter has done a very good job of handling a sensitive issue despite the uneasiness the reader is ultimately left with. As an avid reader, I can now say that I've added another author to my very short list of "must reads".
Rating: 
Summary: Escapist fiction, it's not
Review: My librarian recommended this author to me. I was prepared for the subject of self-injury that seems to be prevalent among teens today. What I was not prepared for was the sick and twisted tale of child pornography and incest. Having served on several grand juries and on our local child protective services board, I've heard more than a fair share of horrific sexual abuse stories. I've never heard one quite like this. I cannot recommend this book for light reading...and I think it should come with warnings regarding the explicit sexual content. I agree with other reviewers about Lena and her long battle to recovery. It just didn't mesh with the story line and seemed to be placed in the book as filler. I won't read this author again. Reading is pleasant escapism for me. I see enough of this side of the world on the evening news. I'm not a Pollyanna, but this subject matter is just too raw and cruel for my reading tastes.
Rating: 
Summary: A Suspense-Filled Story That Sickens as It Enthralls
Review: Sara Linton and her ex-husband (AKA her current boyfriend), Jeffrey, are about to encounter something neither one of them has ever experienced...not in his years as chief of police or her combined work at the morgue and as a pediatrician. It's something that the people of Grant County would never have imagined could be happening in their neighborhood. But it is. Thirteen-year-old Jenny Weaver and sixteen-year-old Mark Patterson seem to be the center of it all. When Jenny holds a gun to Mark while, at the same time, almost begging Jeffrey to kill her instead, the first piece of the puzzle is put into place. But so many more questions are opened up by it. The evidence of molestation, abuse and self-mutilation lead to a child pornography ring that seems to include more Grant County children than anyone will ever be sure of. But who is the head of it? And what can be done to stop them? Suspenseful, devastating, morbidly fascinating - these are just a few of the adjectives that can be used to describe Karin Slaughter's latest release. She sucks the readers in from the very first chapter and holds their attention steady until the final page is turned. This is a difficult book to put down as each page just brings more questions that desperately need answers. The subject matter may affect some readers in an adverse way, so this may not be a book for everyone. However, those who can handle its graphic nature will not be disappointed in any way. Even while Slaughter successfully holds the level of tension at a steadily rising pace, she builds the characters (secondary as well as primary) into more than just one-dimensional names on paper. There is depth to their emotions and even the abusers (in some instances) can illicit sympathy from their fellow characters and the readers alike.
Rating:
Summary: Graphic but a "can't put down" read
Review: I can not wait for this authors new book in September. Her books cause me to hold my breath while reading!!
Rating: 
Summary: Cry for ME: I just wasted $18 on this book.
Review: This is another one of those "child abuse is bad" books written by people who think that watching CSI and Law & Order qualifies them as authorities. It's all recycled emotions and plot here, there's nothing new, even the faux insights are canned. The graphic details are used gratuitously and add nothing to the book. Can't believe anyone would fall for this as a valid message on any serious social issue. If an author is not contributing anything meaningful to the undersandng or prevention of a problem, they're only trying to piggyback the salacious details to fame. I don't want to be too hard on this author. She's just one of about 25 who wrote similiar books last year. But I do wish someone somewhere would be more original, insightful and true to life on this topic when used in a crime book. I'm sick of all this fake stuff that demeans and distracts from the real problem.
Rating:
Summary: Cry for the Children
Review: Kisscut Cry for the Children Stories of child abuse and pedophia are notoriously difficult to write. The author must find a balance between the need for justice and the horrible fact that there is no such thing as justice for these crimes. For there is no real undoing, the victims will pay the price for the rest of their lives, always trying to build on the ruins of what should have been their formative years. There is no punishment for the predator that can bring real release or healing. Andrew Vachss is a past master at taking the reader into this world, but he is only one voice. Now Karin Slaughter has ventured into the same bleak territory. The story begins when Jeffrey Tolliver, Chief of Police in the little town of Heartsdale is forced to kill 13-year-old Jenny Deaver to prevent her from shooting Mark Patterson, whom she once loved. As horrible as this was to contemplate for Tolliver and his ex-wife Sara Linton (Heartsdale's pediatrician and medical examiner) further investigation slowly gives up a twisted nightmare of injury and abuse. Masked by the evasions of the children, Sara, Jeffrey, and detective Lena Adams feel helpless and confused. The evidence of a series of crimes gradually surfaces, another child disappears, but the source of the evil remains impossible to decipher. Already badly scarred by the events in 'Blindsighted,' Slaughter's first story, Lena is desperately seeking a way to regain her life. The case has strange resonances within her, only recently a victim of rape herself. Sara and Jeffrey are trying to redefine their relationship in the face of newly rediscovered feels. Gradually these three play out their own themes of love and anger against a malign tapestry of malicious acts of misplaced and bent sensuality. Given the difficulty of getting this kind of novel right, Karin Slaughter does an admirable job of writing. I think she errs a bit in trying too much to ameliorate the after shock of what, in a very real sense, is a horror story. I feel that during the unfolding of the novel, she should have been even more brutally honest, and allow the reader little or no escape. Instead she provides distractions to provide uncomfortable but effective shelter from the worst effect. On the other hand I congratulate her on having to nerve to end the story as it does too often in real life, leaving the reader in touch with the true nature of the crime.
Rating:
Summary: Mesmerizing
Review: After reading the first series "Blindsighted", I knew I had to come back for more. Karin is a great writer who captures your attention from beginning to end. I would avoid lunch with coworkers just to get reading time in. "Kisscut" is one of the best thrillers I've read in some time. When I read the first two chapters, I had no idea that this book would delve into something so sinister yet it held my interest the entire time. I must have read at least six chapters within an hour. My sister in law and I share the same interest in the type of books we read and yes I will be passing this on to her. I look forward to the next series this fall.
Rating:
Summary: Terrific Thriller
Review: Karin Slaughter's second effort is even better than the first. Kisscut isn't an easy book to read and not one I'd recommend to my cozy reading friends, but is is more than worth the effort to us thriller fans. When I looked up from the pages, I found I'd read the entire book while barely breathing, and I'm fairly sure the book cover has the imprints of my finger nails. Great thriller!
Rating:
Summary: What's all the fuss?
Review: I picked up this book at the recommendation of a friend whose taste I normally trust. However, just one chapter into this book I knew I was wasting my time. The writing is unremarkable, the characters patently unbelievable and unsympathetic and the plot unfocused. I was not put off by the violent subject so much as the writer's inability to make me care about the three protagonists. (And splitting the reader's attention among three main characters is another of this book's weaknesses.) I understand this is the second in a series. I have no desire to go back and read the first, let alone will I waste time with these three losers in the future.
Rating: 
Summary: Two and a half stars
Review: In this, Slaughter's second effort, it would appear the author is somewhat fixated on bathrooms as places where horrors occur--using the bathroom, yet again, to kick off a book that is every bit as grim as the first one. While I give the author points for writing and narrative skills, her characters remain flat and unsympathetic; none of them comes to life in believable fashion--including the young victims of horrific sexual abuse. Slaughter has taken a serious issue and attempted to treat it with the gravity it deserves. Unfortunately, no genuine insight into the issue is on display here; the effects depicted are only somewhat better than superficial--which doesn't help to enlighten readers as to the extent of the problem or the true motives behind the multi-billion dollar business in child pornography, or the mind-sets of people who abuse their own children for profit, and, finally, the psychopathology of pedophiles. Overall, the author comes across as misogynous, evidencing what comes perilously close to contempt for females--of every age. When the heroine's ex, Jeffery, is musing angrily on his unsuccessful bedroom encounter with her, he actually takes mental issue with Sara for not shaving her legs: "And her legs had felt hairier than his." This is arrant silliness--female awareness foisted on a male character--and it doesn't fly at all. In all, it's hard not to come away from this second of Slaughter's books, feeling that she's pursuing hot-button issues and sensationalizing them. The descriptions of abuse, in particular, are way over the top without actually contributing anything to a reader's comprehension either of the issues or to remedying the lack of likability of the characters--particularly Lena, a detective with such an appalling attitude that it's simply not believable that any police force, no matter how small, would keep her in its employ. Just because the author is on the rise, it doesn't mean her books have special merit. So unless you're ready to wallow in some seriously gory stuff, don't go there.
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