|
'Blindsighted' was one of my favourite reads of last
year, so I was rather nervous when picking up 'Kisscut'
for despite the concerns on how to leap over the 'book two'
hurdle, there was also concerns on the content. 'Blindsighted'
had given me nightmares, and a particularly vicious scene still
lies in my mind and every time I think of it, it makes me shudder.
Before we get into 'Kisscut', I thought I'd re-read 'Blindsighted'
to see if it was any less disturbing than on my first reading. The
answer is a simple 'no'. It is still mighty disturbing, and what's
more - it's out in paperback soon to disturb those who didn't pick
it up in Hard Cover.
'Blindsighted' like 'Kisscut' is set in Grant
County, a rural (imaginary) small town in Georgia. A place where
very little happens…or so Chief of Police Jeffery Tolliver
believes - that is until a College Professor Sibyl Adams is found
brutally raped and murdered. The murder shocks the town, and
enmeshes a diverse ensemble to catch the madman. First off is the
murdered professors sister - Lena Adams, the towns only female
detective, Sara Linton - a town Doctor and part-time Coroner (who
also happens to be Jeffery's ex-wife), then there are the extra's
- Hank, Cathy, and other members of the community. They are all
led by Jeffery (or are they?). But before long another victim is
discovered and so the hunt for the murderer changes into the chase
for a warped serial killer, hiding against the backdrop of rural
America.
Two themes that 'Blindsighted' offers are the contrast
of vicious crime set against rural America as well as how such
atrocities change and warp the people caught in its wake, and what
the wake does to the community. These two themes I found added an
interesting dimension to 'Blindsighted'. The real thrill
was the wonderfully moulded characters, that just breathed life
against such a dark backdrop (when considering the brutal rapes
and murders).
Karin Slaughter continues the themes I mentioned in 'Kisscut'
but ramps up the contrast with a really terrifying story. The
small town of Grant County find that perhaps hidden in their midst
is an unspeakable catalogue of crimes that date well into the
towns past, and that perhaps some of the people within the town
are not all that they appear to be. An additional theme I picked
up is how horrific evil can hide in banality, and camouflage
itself in the small towns of America, where everyone knows
everyone (or do they?). Sara and a recovering Lena Adams find
themselves at the very centre of a mystery-cum-conspiracy after a
shooting goes disastrously wrong for Chief of Police Tolliver. A
teenager is shot dead, and as the Grant County gang start to
investigate, they find themselves trapped in a very surreal and
evil presence, which shifts like a snake. The depravity of the
crimes they uncover is hideous and the contrast against the
backdrop of rural normalcy - stark. It becomes easy to realise why
this particular brand of evil has come to town, for like most
evil, it hides in plain sight.
To say much more would deprive the reader of a masterful tale of
good versus evil, chiselled characters that breathe and bleed, and
cry as they face up to their own personal dilemma's, while all the
while a black cloud circles their small town.
I would add one warning, 'Kisscut' is a hard read for
those of a weaker constitution, and like 'Blindsighted',
it took me to places that sometimes are now hard to erase from my
mind. It also gave me nightmares, because I fell in love with the
concept of this rural idyll sitting on top of an old and sinister
evil, and one that sometimes we forget about, until the media
flash pictures of a smiling child, with the word 'Missing' as a
headline.
Both highly recommended but should be read in order and in
daylight.
|
