Faithless [Bargain Price] [Hardcover]

Medical examiner Sara Linton has had an uneasy relationship with her ex-husband, police chief Jeffrey Tolliver, for years. In spite of their differences, Sara and Jeffrey have never stopped loving one another. Now, the two are taking tentative steps towards a reconciliation, but obstacles still remain. Lena Adams is a detective who works under Jeffrey's supervision, and she is one messed up woman. Although Lena is a good cop, much to her secret shame, she is also a human punching bag for her abusive and cruel boyfriend. Lena's personal problems have a way of interfering with her work, and Jeffrey is losing patience with her. Jeffrey, Sara, and Lena do not have the luxury of concentrating on themselves for very long. Much to his shock, Jeffrey literally stumbles on the grave of a young woman named Abby who may have been buried alive. His investigation brings him into contact with a strange family of religious fanatics who are harboring dark secrets.

"Faithless" is an uneven effort by Karin Slaughter. I have been following Jeffrey, Sara, and Lena for some time, and I admire their complexity, sensitivity, and vulnerability. These are flawed people, who are sometimes jealous, insecure, impetuous, and unforgiving. They are also caring individuals who have compassion for others. Their imperfections, as well as their strengths, endear these characters to us, and we hope that someday they will find peace of mind.

The mystery, alas, is the weakest element in the book. It involves a closely knit group of people who attend church, quote the Bible frequently, and run a prosperous soybean farm. They also routinely take in miscreants, hoping that their exposure to religion and good works will inspire them to change their ways. When a second girl disappears without a trace, Jeffrey fears that she may have met the same fate as Abby. He racks his brain for some clue that will break the case. Who killed Abby--a stranger, a member of her family, or perhaps an ex-criminal?

Another subplot involves a battered woman named Terri, whose brutal husband seems likely to kill her someday. Like Lena, Terri refuses to turn her abuser over to the police. Slaughter effectively explores the tragic scenario of women with low self-esteem who think that they "deserve" to be beaten by their lovers and husbands. Unfortunately, as the book progresses, it loses some of its momentum, and the convoluted conclusion is both melodramatic and far-fetched. Still, I applaud Slaughter for not tying up all of the loose ends neatly; she leaves some plot lines unresolved, perhaps in preparation for the next installment in the series. Although "Faithless" is not a first-rate mystery, the lead characters are so charismatic that we are willing to stick with them in order to find out how they resolve their problems.

Over the course of four fine novels, Karin Slaughter has created a mythos involving Grant County, Georgia, a rural area whose soil seems steeped in dark and deadly acts. While the primary character of these books ostensibly has been county medical examiner Sara Linton, it is Jeffrey Tolliver, Linton's ex-husband and occasional lover, who is the prime motivator of FAITHLESS, Slaughter's latest effort.

Tolliver is an extremely interesting character, a not-entirely likable individual who nonetheless is possessed with a self-assuredness that ultimately holds him in good stead during periods of difficulty that are usually of his own making. As the police chief of Grant County, Tolliver and Linton have been thrown together professionally even when at odds personally. So it is ironic that at the beginning of FAITHLESS, when Tolliver is in the process of capsizing another attempted reconciliation, he and Linton should stumble, literally, upon a crime scene involving the body of a young woman who apparently has been buried alive.

The search for the victim's identity leads Tolliver to a family living in isolation on a farm that does charitable work involving ex-convicts and has strongly fundamentalist Christian beliefs. Tolliver and Lena Adams, one of Tolliver's officers, are somewhat put off by the traditional values of the victim's family, but are also professional enough to realize that their philosophical differences with the family cannot be permitted to cloud their investigative judgment.

Yet there are a number of suspects among the family, and their natural reclusiveness and distrust of strangers merely add to the suspicion of the authorities that all is not right. When another disappearance is connected to the family, it becomes clear that plenty is not right. Ultimately it is the motivation of the murderer that uncovers his or her identity, as FAITHLESS moves steadily toward a cataclysmic climax.

FAITHLESS may well be the most ambitious of Slaughter's works to date. While the search for the young woman's identity and her murderer is its primary plot vehicle, this is a work driven as much by its characters as by events. Tolliver, Linton and Adams are tragically, almost fatally, flawed, yet continue to rise above their problems and, if not always triumph, at least battle to a draw. This is particularly true of Adams, who is a roiling mass of contradictions, perhaps the most noteworthy being that she is a police officer in an abusive relationship. Her problems are highlighted when she encounters, in both a professional and personal capacity, another woman in similar straits who she is called upon to help --- even though Adams cannot help herself.

Domestic abuse isn't the only topic that Slaughter explores here. Issues such as abortion, fundamentalist Christianity, and traditionalism dip and swirl throughout the novel. Her treatment of these issues, and others, is extremely evenhanded, with all points of view presented with equal fervor and with the author not taking any particular side, either implicitly or explicitly. As a result, the exploration of these issues adds to, rather than detracts from, the plotline. Slaughter's primary focus is on the characters, all of whom are idiosyncratic in their own way.

A familiarity with the earlier Grant County novels is helpful but ultimately not necessary to the reader's enjoyment of FAITHLESS. Slaughter does an excellent job of bringing new readers into the series. Certainly, however, it will be almost impossible for first-time readers of Slaughter to resist visiting earlier volumes while waiting in anticipation for the next. Highly recommended.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

Dr. Sara Linton is a pediatrician, and part-time medical examiner for Grant County. Her ex-husband/fiancé, depending on the circumstances, is Jeffrey Tolliver the Police Chief for Grant County. Lena Adams valiantly worked her way up the ladder to become a police detective. Each main character is uniquely vulnerable. You feel that candor when they relate to one another whether on the job; with family; or loved ones. Sara and Jeffrey literally stumble upon the buried body of Abby Bennett. The case leads them to her uncle, the Reverend Lev Ward and Abby's extended family. Besides running their own church; the family also runs the Holy Grown farm with the help of ex-convicts. Tensions run high when more people are killed and Jeffrey and Sara discover the culprit is using cyanide as a weapon. Lena tries to help Terri Stanley leave her abusive husband while trying to fight the ghosts of her own past. Pay attention to the different relationships because the multiple storylines are quickly tied together in the end. Great characters make this mystery an enjoyable read.

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