There's nothing much more frightening than a hostage situation. Leave it to Karin Slaughter (who has been compared to Patricia Cornwell and Kathy Reichs) to open her latest Grant County crime opus with a wide screen scene of blood and carnage.
Two men with guns ablaze have burst into the Georgia police station and shot one officer to death, wounding others. They've taken hostages, among them is Sara Linton, part-time pediatrician and medical examiner. She's come to the station for a conversation with her ex, Jeffrey Tolliver, who is now the police chief. There's no room for talk among in this bloodbath.
Slaughter then pulls a fast one and does a flashback to when Sara and Jeffrey first met, thus creating two story lines. On one hand you have the death struggle between the hostages and two apparently psychotic captors and the blossoming love affair between our two protagonists. A challenge for any reader, but not Broadway and TV actress Becky Ann Baker who segues beautifully between the young Sara and her physical attraction to Jeffrey despite his reputation, and the older, wiser Sara who finds herself in what might be a fatal countdown.
Suspenseful listening!
- Gail Cooke
