A Faint Cold Fear by Karin Slaughter
I cannot read these books fast enough. I had to take a break this last weekend while I helped some family move and did not have time to read, and man, that was rough. But on Monday, I was finally able to start A Faint Cold Fear and have not put it down since.
When an apparent suicide happens on the local colleges campus, Sara Linton does not think anything of it, which is why she does not have a problem with bringing her sister, Tessa, along. However, when Tessa is stabbed and almost killed at the scene by an unknown person, the original body is looking less like a suicide and more like a murder. Over the next week, more bodies are found, also staged as suicides, and no one is willing to talk. Chief Tolliver finds himself in an even stickier situation when Lena keeps finding her way into the investigation, even though she is no longer a cop. No one wants to believe Lena could be caught up in these possible murders, but her behavior and a new friend are red flags. All anyone knows is that none of it adds up.
Trigger Warning: This book and post discuss themes of suicide, murder, spousal abuse, rape, drugs, and alcoholism.
If you can't tell by the TW, this book delves into some pretty nasty subjects. As much as I love the fact that Slaughter so willingly and openly talks about these subjects, it is a lot of dark to fit into 422 pages. Nonetheless, the battles these characters face are very real and happen every day. While it ends up in the book that no purposely commits suicide, there is an accidental suicide in which one of the characters dies while scarfing. If you don't know what that is, don't look it up; just know it's a sexual activity that is not safe. Really, I cannot stress that enough. I think they made a Criminal Minds episode about it, but can't remember.
Speaking of Criminal Minds, lets talk about the criminal in this book. I was not certain who the murderer was, or really even who was actually murdered and who committed suicide, but I was not surprised when the killer was revealed. While I did not follow the red herring, or I guess herrings, I was not completely certain of the actual murderer and his or her motives. As Sara and Jeffrey keep pointing out, Tessa's attack is the wild card. It could be that Tessa saw something, it is racially motivated (Tessa's boyfriend is black, and two of the other victims are Jewish), or it was just a freak accident. Arguments are made for each of them. I was really leaning towards it being racially motivated, so I think I was a bit disappointed when I learned the actual motive. While the killers motive makes sense, I feel like so much was built up around the other two options that the fact that Tessa saw something and had to be taken care of was a let down.
While on the topic of Tessa, what happens to her in this book will really shape the next books in the series. At the end of Kisscut, Tessa announces she is pregnant and she plans on keeping the baby. By the time A Faint Cold Fear starts, Tessa is eight months pregnant. The attack on her causes her to lose the baby, along with receiving stab wounds to her abdomen and a hit to the head. While her roll in the other novels has been moderate, I would not be surprised if she is even more prevalent, if only just in mentions, in the next novel, Indelible.
I am not going to lie, the characters did begin to annoy me in this book. There is friction between Lena and Jeffrey, as well as Jeffrey and Sara. This causes all of them to say or do stupid things, or in Lena's case, be a bit reckless. While Lena keeps saying that Jeffrey fired her, I did not take it that way. He told her to get help or leave. Any first responder who in Lena's position would be required of the same things. What she went through was traumatic, not just losing her sister brutally, but the attack and rape she received as well. And it is obviously effecting her life as she has picked up drinking to help her forget, a fact that even she admits to. But she sees it as Jeffrey forced her out, leading her to purposely piss off Jeffrey, and in turn, impede the investigation and paint a target on herself. Jeffrey obviously does not like the way he is being treated, and though he does most of what he does out of care and concern, he does not express it in a proper way, and then it is a bunch of chain reactions. His behavior towards Lena, especially after he handcuffs her, brings issues into Jeffrey and Sara's relationship, which is already slightly rocky because Sara has had one foot in and one foot out of the relationship since the beginning. While she has good reasons, she needs to decide if she is going to forgive Jeffrey and move on, or let him go, because she's hurting both of them by stringing him along.
Out of the three books I have read so far, this has been my least favorite character wise because I did not feel like there was a lot of character growth. I feel more like they have all moved backwards. I know, not everything in life is forward projection, and the book mimics life, but I finished the book feeling like nothing was complete. Now plot wise, the book is amazing. It's probably my most favorite of the three I have read so far. With each book, I become more and more amazed with Karin Slaughter's writing.
Rating: 7/10
Author: Karin Slaughter
Series: Grant County (Book 3 of 6)
Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Crime
Dates Read: February 3-6, 2020
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| (Source: Kelsey Darling) |
Trigger Warning: This book and post discuss themes of suicide, murder, spousal abuse, rape, drugs, and alcoholism.
If you can't tell by the TW, this book delves into some pretty nasty subjects. As much as I love the fact that Slaughter so willingly and openly talks about these subjects, it is a lot of dark to fit into 422 pages. Nonetheless, the battles these characters face are very real and happen every day. While it ends up in the book that no purposely commits suicide, there is an accidental suicide in which one of the characters dies while scarfing. If you don't know what that is, don't look it up; just know it's a sexual activity that is not safe. Really, I cannot stress that enough. I think they made a Criminal Minds episode about it, but can't remember.
Speaking of Criminal Minds, lets talk about the criminal in this book. I was not certain who the murderer was, or really even who was actually murdered and who committed suicide, but I was not surprised when the killer was revealed. While I did not follow the red herring, or I guess herrings, I was not completely certain of the actual murderer and his or her motives. As Sara and Jeffrey keep pointing out, Tessa's attack is the wild card. It could be that Tessa saw something, it is racially motivated (Tessa's boyfriend is black, and two of the other victims are Jewish), or it was just a freak accident. Arguments are made for each of them. I was really leaning towards it being racially motivated, so I think I was a bit disappointed when I learned the actual motive. While the killers motive makes sense, I feel like so much was built up around the other two options that the fact that Tessa saw something and had to be taken care of was a let down.
 |
| (Source: Giphy) |
I am not going to lie, the characters did begin to annoy me in this book. There is friction between Lena and Jeffrey, as well as Jeffrey and Sara. This causes all of them to say or do stupid things, or in Lena's case, be a bit reckless. While Lena keeps saying that Jeffrey fired her, I did not take it that way. He told her to get help or leave. Any first responder who in Lena's position would be required of the same things. What she went through was traumatic, not just losing her sister brutally, but the attack and rape she received as well. And it is obviously effecting her life as she has picked up drinking to help her forget, a fact that even she admits to. But she sees it as Jeffrey forced her out, leading her to purposely piss off Jeffrey, and in turn, impede the investigation and paint a target on herself. Jeffrey obviously does not like the way he is being treated, and though he does most of what he does out of care and concern, he does not express it in a proper way, and then it is a bunch of chain reactions. His behavior towards Lena, especially after he handcuffs her, brings issues into Jeffrey and Sara's relationship, which is already slightly rocky because Sara has had one foot in and one foot out of the relationship since the beginning. While she has good reasons, she needs to decide if she is going to forgive Jeffrey and move on, or let him go, because she's hurting both of them by stringing him along.
 |
| (Source: Giphy) |
Rating: 7/10
Author: Karin Slaughter
Series: Grant County (Book 3 of 6)
Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Crime
Dates Read: February 3-6, 2020
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