This was my first book by this author (and will be the last, as well). As a fan of authors like Tami Hoag and Lisa Gardner, I know there has to be a certain amount of suspension of disbelief. But the amount of disbelief you will need in order to enjoy this book is absurd. I could blather on all day about small inconsistencies, but let me just lay down the two biggest issues up front (includes spoilers):
1. The main character's dyslexia is so severe he is functionally illiterate. He can't read street signs, doesn't recognize even the simplest of words, and literally can't tell his left from his right (I'm not exaggerating -- the fact that he can't tell left from right is brought up multiple times). And yet we're supposed to believe he somehow became an agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Maybe reading the first book in the series would have convinced me, but given the amount of rigorous testing required to enter these types of programs... no. Not possible. Maybe somebody with a milder case of dyslexia, but not somebody who can't even figure out which button to push in an elevator.
2. A high school teacher is arrested and charged with statutory rape for having sex with a minor. He's not only had sex with multiple students, he's also abused them, beaten them, left bite marks all over them, and forced them to do awful things. He also has a house full of "barely legal" child pornography. And yet he miraculously settles out of court with nobody in the media ever catching on). Somehow, his name is "accidentally" added to the sex offender database. And yet afterwards, he still gets a job teaching at an upscale, very expensive private school because NOBODY KNEW about the previous charges. Seriously? We're supposed to believe that not a single reporter latched onto the story of a high school teacher seducing and abusing his students? That in a background check, there was no mention of this legal battle? That through multiple years, not one parent in this rich, upper-class community checked the sex offenders in their area and noticed their kid's teacher there? While all of this is going on, he takes a second job tutoring at the local college (despite being listed as a sex offender) and does the same thing to a student there. He's fired (again, without the student or her parents ever reporting this to the press or to his other employer). He files a suit against the college for firing him, using up every penny he has to fight them. (Why? He knows he's guilty. If he's trying to keep from being caught, it's far more likely he would have slunk quietly away). And yet again, not one reporter catches wind of this and blows the whole thing wide open? Not one victim or friend or parent of a victim talks to the press OR to his current employer? We're supposed to believe the college involved is so afraid of this ridiculous lawsuit that they don't tell the press about a predator teaching at a local high school. One of his former victims even ends up teaching at the same school as him, and yet not even she alerts authorities to the danger? Give me a break. There are WAY too many people involved at this point for it to all stay a secret. This whole thing is a reporter's wet dream. There is absolutely no way it all stays quiet and out of the media for this many years, just like there is also no way nobody in the community spots his name in the sex offender database for this many years.
On top of all that, the dialogue is weak, often making little sense. (Example: A person being questioned says of his coworker, "He can't spell." Trent then asks, "What do you mean by that?" Seriously? Are there multiple meanings to a statement like that?) The characters do absurd things. (At one point, Trent gathers the teachers of the victims to question them, but instead of asking pertinent questions, he asks questions about his own dyslexia, then leaves the room without explanation AND without having asked a single question about the victims.)
I said I wasn't going to blather on, and yet here I am. This turned into such a hate read for me, I can't help it. After reading Gardner's books (which may not be perfect, but are well researched and don't rely on the reader accepting the most ridiculous of premises), this book was a huge disappointment.
Wealthy housewife Abigail Campano returns home to find her daughter dead on her upstairs landing and a man with a knife standing over her. Fighting for her life, Abby kills the attacker with her bare hands. When GBI Investigator Will Trent looks over the scene, he sees some things that the Atlanta Police Department missed. Will is soon paired with Detective Faith Mitchell as they try to uncover what really happened to Emma Campano.
Wow! I was glued to this book right from the prologue. There are a couple of twists at the beginning of the book that I certainly didn't expect. I was also surprised by who the villain was. This is the second book featuring Will Trent and I find him a very interesting character. I also enjoyed the addition of Faith Williams and hope to see more of her in the future. My rating: 5 Stars.
Solid plot with believable and sympathetic characters.
Affluent attorney Abigail Campano returns to her mansion in Atlanta's upscale Ansley Park section only to see a dead girl lying on the upstairs hallway. Without getting a close look, a stunned Abigail assumes the victim is her teenage daughter Emma. The apparent killer had not yet left the premise and the outraged Abby kills him. Georgia Bureau of Investigation Agent Will Trent investigates along with Atlanta police Detective Faith Mitchell. The father Paul arrives filled with belligerence and bluster. Paul looks at the body and notices the lack of a birthmark; he insists the corpse of the teen is not his daughter; he and Abigail feel guilt and relief as Emma's friend Kayla Alexander lies dead on the floor.
Will concludes that besides the obvious murder, someone kidnapped Emma. His fear is that they are too late to save the life of the seventeen year old girl but he and Faith remain determined to try; while the case is already confusing with the homicide and the death of the alleged killer by the lioness in her home, neither expected the twists that the investigation takes. Still both cops fear they are too late.
Police procedural fans need to set aside time for this one sitting 400-page thriller as the audience will keep on adding one more exciting chapter after another to read. The two cops Will and Faith are a wonderful pairing as both are dedicated, but flawed; those personal defects augment a strong thriller. Filled with twists, FRACTURED will leave Karin Slaughter fans clamoring for the next GBI installment (see TRIPTYCH for the previous one).
