At the same time Georgia Bureau of Investigation officers Faith Mitchell and Will Trent, characters in Slaughter’s Fractured are faced with a case that looks remarkably like the work of a serial killer. Mitchell, pregnant but not telling anyone, is having health issues associated with the pregnancy. She ends up in the emergency room  and is examined by Linton who informs her that she is diabetic and needs to monitor her blood sugar as well as consult an obstetrician to insure she has a healthy baby. Faith is concerned about her baby, her job, and the current case she is handling, not necessarily in that order.

Trent has his own set of personal problems. Abandoned as an infant he has grown up in an assortment of foster homes and state institutions. In addition he has a learning disability and cannot read, a condition he is so adept at hiding only his partner Faith and precious few others have ascertained.

The case in which Mitchell and Trent are involved concerns a young woman who was hit on the highway by an elderly couple. The young woman is severely injured, but most of the injuries were sustained prior to the car accident. She has been beaten, one of her ribs surgically removed, suffered severe eye trauma, is starved and dehydrated. That she is even alive is a minor miracle. They don’t even know her name as she is in a coma. To make matters worse there are jurisdictional issues and the local county law officers are not pleased that the Georgia Bureau officials have been brought in.

Linton is involved through her examination and treatment of the victim in the emergency room. That she is needed by others is helping Sara deal with the catastrophic loss she has felt from her husband’s death.

Examination of the area adjacent to the accident  reveals a second victim who unfortunately has already died. Since Will discovers the victim’s body and assumes she is very recently dead, he blames himself for not finding her in time. As the investigation continues, there is escalation in the dispute between the local and state agencies  resulting in lack of sharing of vital information.

The concept of a serial killer who selects his victims because of some predetermined criteria known only to himself has gained quite a following of mystery readers. Author Karin Slaughter covers little if any new ground in Undone. What sets her book apart is her characterization.

This book brings together characters from two different series and it is interesting to see how their personalities mesh. Linton is well educated, successful in her career with a somewhat supportive family. Mitchell and Trent present a very different background. Mitchell had a family but was a mother at age fourteen and basically built a career in law enforcement through grit and determination. Trent, with no family background at all and minimal education in addition to having some form of dyslexia, is a walking wonder. Why the world hasn’t chewed him up and spit him out is beyond comprehension.

Yet as we meet these characters in this tale, they are not to be pitied or held up as examples of doing good against all odds. They simply have made decisions to deal with their problems as best they can and get on with their lives.

The author is a master at creating a mood for her readers. As Will is investigating the accident scene, digging underground in the dark  in the company of rats, the fear developed by the author is almost palpable. With such vivid description, it is easy to imagine oneself crawling along with Will as the rats scurry back and forth. The scene in the woods where Will discovers the second victim will remain in my mind for quite some time.

Slaughter also expands her reader’s knowledge by having them travel along with Faith as she “investigoogles” type 2 diabetes or explains the difference between a car battery and a marine one. One could argue those bits of information are not really that important but one can never tell…

Another clever item that appears sporadically throughout the book is a letter. The  reader knows little about the letter other than Sara is carrying it around in her pocket throughout the story. We know it is important to her because it has been well worn, but its significance is unknown. A hint is indicated at the end of the novel, but I am betting readers can’t wait to see what Sara is up to in her next outing.

--Andy Plonka