William Morrow (Hardcover), ISBN 0060567104

The folks in Grant County are at it again. In her latest crime thriller, Karin Slaughter picks up their story on the day the biggest crisis in the history of the town blows up in their faces.

It starts innocently enough. Police Chief Jeffrey Tolliver and his former wife and part-time Medical Examiner Sara Linton talk in his office. After a long absence from the police department, police officer Lena Adams drives nervously to work. Another officer leads a group of school children on a tour of the building. But when two armed gunmen suddenly and violently storm the police station, everybody gets way more than they bargained for.

Chock-full of bloody details, the action moves between the police department scene and flashbacks to the early days of Jeffrey and Sara's relationship. As the shooting rampage fills the pages with the present hostage situation, a parallel story takes us back 12 years, to Jeffrey's boyhood home, alcoholic mother, and the local, long-time police chief, a dubious role model. The flashback turns even grimmer when Jeffrey learns his best friend may or may not have committed a murder -- or two. By the time the novel ends, three unrelated murders merge seamlessly into a skillfully told tale.

A warning should come with Indelible: If you begin this book late in the evening, you'll spend the night wide-awake, furiously turning pages. With this much suspense, truly sympathetic characters, and enough murder and mayhem to hold you till Karin Slaughter's next book, Indelible promises a lot, and it delivers.

Augusta Scattergood

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