INDELIBLE by Karin Slaughter
Karin Slaughter has placed most of her novels in Grant County, Georgia and particularly the small town of Heartsdale. Here reside Sara Linton and Jeffrey Tolliver, the on again off again lovers who are respectively the coroner and sheriff of this locale. Slaughter began their story in mid stride and now goes back to the early stages of their friendship/romance to fill in the blanks.
Writing a prequel can be tricky, as readers of the earlier books know who has survived and who has not. Slaughter recognizes this quandary and wisely creates a suspenseful situation in the present, while she flashes back to the past for the early story. In INDELIBLE the present day Jeffrey and Sara are caught in a hostage situation and both their lives are in jeopardy.
In the "prequel" portion Jeffrey and Sara go on a trip to Jeffrey's hometown of Sylacauga, Alabama. He wants Sara to meet his two boyhood friends, Robert and Possum as well as their wives. While they are there Robert is involved in a killing and Jeffrey sticks around to investigate the circumstances.
The stories Slaughter tells on both the future and past levels are so intricate and interwoven that it takes a genius to have created them. They twist and they turn, and then they turn some more. The reader has to give his confidence over to Slaughter and let her do her thing. If she isn't in control then no one is, but Slaughter is totally in control of everything and everyone involved in the plots that run on parallel lines in different years and settings.
The situations are so richly intriguing and so devastatingly suspenseful that you can't stop reading. It would be unthinkable to leave these people in these situations and make the outcome wait for a later time. Once you start INDELIBLE you are on a committed course to finish it, no matter how long it takes or what the circumstances have to be to free up your time.
INDELIBLE is Karin Slaughter at her best and believe me she is one of the best writers of suspense around today. She knows the community of her novel like the back of her hand and she knows these characters like members of her own family. This is what gives her the assurance she has to have to make the plot work.
Block off some time for reading and then give yourself the gift of INDELIBLE. It is a novel worth waiting for and a reading experience worth savoring. Yum-yum but it's good.
INDELIBLE is published by William Morrow and Company. It contains 358 pages and sells for $24.95.