Fractured by Karin Slaughter

Title: Fractured 

Series: Will Trent #2

Author: Karin Slaughter

Publisher: Random House

With its gracious homes and tree-lined streets, Ansley Park is one of Atlanta's most desirable neighborhoods. But in one gleaming mansion, in a teenager's lavish bedroom, a girl has been savagely murdered. And in the hallway, her horrified mother stands amid shattered glass, having killed her daughter's attacker with her bare hands. 

Detective Will Trent of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is here only to do a political favor; the murder site belongs to the Atlanta police. But Trent soon sees something that the cops are missing, something in the trail of blood, in a matrix of forensic evidence, and in the eyes of the shell-shocked mother. Within minutes, Trent is taking over the case -- and adding another one to it. He is sure that another teenage girl is missing, and that a killer is on the loose.

Armed with only fleeting clues, teamed with a female cop who has her own personal reasons for hating him, Trent has enemies all around him -- and a gnawing feeling that this case, which started in the best of homes, is cutting quick and deep through the ruins of perfect lives broken wide-open: where human demons emerge with a vengeance.

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“You see cases as puzzles and whatever it is that’s so different in your brain makes it possible for you to solve them the way no one else can.”

Fractured is my favorite book by Karin Slaughter so far and it all has to do with the amazing Will Trent. As a character, he's definitely someone unforgettable. 

In this new book, Will Trent and Amanda Wagner, his boss are called into a murder scene. At first, Will thinks this is going to stay under the jurisdiction of the police department but when a girl is found missing and the clock is ticking, Trent will do anything to find her. 

Will is not going to be able to do everything by himself. Amanda assigns Faith Mitchell, a detective with the Georgia Police Department to help him out. Due to a past conflict with Amanda's mom, Amanda isn't thrilled to work with Will but she wants to find the lost teenager as much as Will does.

Fractured had all the best components to make it a success. It's told from a dual POV which shines a light into what the main characters are feeling. From it, we learn more about Will's issues. Despite being a very smart man, he still feels threatened by his past and his shortcomings. He tries to disguise them as much as he can.  He's used to working alone and when Amanda tells him he has to work with Faith, he doesn't know how to react at the beginning. He makes assumptions and mistakes but not on purpose. 

His private life is still a mess. He's engaged to Angie Polanski but from what I read, I think he deserves much better. Thankfully, Angie doesn't have a lot of page time. 

“Talk about sloppy seconds. Was there such a thing as sloppy thousandths?” 

I like to see Will's vulnerable side and nothing is clearer for me than the love for his dog Betty. He was forced to take her in but now she has become his companion. Will takes better care of her than of himself.

Faith was a great addition to the story. She got pregnant way too young. Her son is in college. She doesn't have a college education but she's a good detective and like Will, she only wants to find Emma Campano before is too late. 

 I just bought Undone.  I'm excited to see what is coming next for Will and Faith.

Cliffhanger: No

5/5 Fangs 

The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian

Title: The Flight Attendant

Author: Chris Bohjalian 

Publisher: Doubleday

Release Date: March 13, 2018

Cassandra Bowden is no stranger to hungover mornings. She's a binge drinker, her job with the airline making it easy to find adventure, and the occasional blackouts seem to be inevitable. She lives with them, and the accompanying self-loathing. When she awakes in a Dubai hotel room, she tries to piece the previous night back together, already counting the minutes until she has to catch her crew shuttle to the airport. She quietly slides out of bed, careful not to aggravate her already pounding head, and looks at the man she spent the night with. She sees his dark hair. His utter stillness. And blood, a slick, still wet pool on the crisp white sheets. Afraid to call the police--she's a single woman alone in a hotel room far from home--Cassie begins to lie. She lies as she joins the other flight attendants and pilots in the van. She lies on the way to Paris as she works the first class cabin. She lies to the FBI agents in New York who meet her at the gate. Soon it's too late to come clean-or face the truth about what really happened back in Dubai. Could she have killed him? If not, who did?

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Gosh, I went into The Flight Attendant hoping to enjoy this suspense novel. Sadly, the main character made it impossible for me to like it.

I'm going to be giving spoilers, so if you don't want to know, stop reading now...

*****SPOILERS*****

*****SPOILERS*****

*****SPOILERS*****

Cassandra Bowden is an alcoholic. She's also a flight attendant. She likes to get drunk and sleep with different men in whichever city or country she's visiting. She has had many blackouts and there are times where she's not sure she has consented to have sexual intercourse. 

During Cassandra's recent flight to Dubai, she meets a man in first class, Alex and they decide to meet at his hotel. Cassandra proceeds to have sex with him while they are drinking heavily. In the morning, when she wakes up, he's dead. Someone has slashed Alex's neck. Instead of staying and trying to figure out what's going on, she runs away and boards the next flight with her crew, taking her away from the crime.  But, when she lands in the USA, the FBI is waiting for her. What follows are Cassandra's failed attempts at lying and avoiding the FBI questions. 

Cassandra was a very difficult character to like. She kept on getting drunk, sleeping with strangers and lying to everyone. I found her annoying, immature and irresponsible. You will think that by waking up with a dead man next to her, she would have learned her lesson but nope, she didn't. She keeps on repeating her mistakes over and over. Almost every scene, she was drunk. How she was able to escape the people interested in silencing her, is beyond me. Not only that, she enjoyed stealing from hotels and giving the stolen items as gifts for her family. In my opinion, there was nothing redeemable about her. 

Of course, the epilogue was just too cookie cutter perfect and completely unbelievable to me. 

Cliffhanger: No

2/5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Beautiful Maids All in a Row by Jennifer Harlow

Title: Beautiful Maids All in a Row 
Series: Iris Ballard #1
Author: Jennifer Harlow
Publisher: Random House
Release Date: October 11, 2016

Dr. Iris Ballard’s glory days are behind her, so when Luke Hudson, her former FBI partner and onetime lover, asks for help constructing a psychological profile of an elusive serial killer who murders single mothers and dumps their bodies in the woods, Iris turns him away. She just wants to be left alone with her infomercials, her German Shepherd, and her vodka. That is, until she gets a peek at the case files.

The media has dubbed him “the Woodsman.” But after Iris learns the sickening details held back from the press, and as she sets foot onto the scene of his latest crime, she assembles a portrait of a more complicated, enigmatic, meticulous man. Control is his motivation. He thrives on it. Soon he even tries to manipulate the investigation by contacting Iris, hoping to rattle the woman he considers an intellectual equal.

The game is on. Iris thinks she has a read on her target, enough to push his buttons, to make him lose control. But when the Woodsman gains the upper hand, Iris faces the most painful reckoning of all—with her own violent past.

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Wow! This is the way an FBI thriller is supposed to be written. 

There are so many things I liked about Beautiful Maids in a Row. The main character Iris Ballard is a mess at the beginning of the story. She was a profiler for the FBI and has helped captured many high profile cases until one monster got too close. Two years ago, she lost her husband and herself. She has not been living. Instead, she spends her time on a job she couldn't care less, popping pills, drinking vodka and smoking cigarettes. She's suffering from guilt, survivor's guilt plus PTSD. She lives away from everyone, with a high-tech alarm system and a German Shepherd for the company. It's not until her ex-partner Luke Hudson comes asking for help with a case that Iris begins to live again.

Luke is in charge of an FBI investigation. A serial killer is on the loose. The victims are all light-eyed, brown hair, single mothers. They are abducted in the open and then their bodies are found in the water in the woods. Luke needs help and he knows no one is better at this than Iris. He also has some personal reasons for wanting Iris back. They had been friends and once they were more than that. 

Of course, I can't forget the monster who is raping and murdering these women. He has a voice and it's twisted and depraved. I was at 27% when I realized who it was. To my surprise, it was revealed not too long after, who he was. It made this suspense even more interesting. Iris has to battle with a very intelligent man. Someone who thinks involving her in his game elevates the stakes. 

I'm very pleased with the turn of events. I liked Iris from the very beginning. She was damaged but who wouldn't be after what she has gone through? She was smart and cocky at times but she could also feel shame and was immersed in guilt. She was self-destructing slowly until Luke came knocking. 

Luke was easy on the eyes but I wasn't sure about him until I got to know him better. Then, I jumped on the Luke bandwagon. There is a point when I almost backtracked in my opinion of him but he proved himself quite deserving of Iris. 

I would recommend this book to any suspense lover. It was a thrilling ride!

Cliffhanger: No

4.5 Fangs