A tough read indeed!

Kisscut – Karin Slaughter

Kisscut is the second in Slaughter’s Grant County series. It starts with chief of police Jeffrey Tolliver shooting a troubled teenager. Her death leads to a twisted plot that will turn even some of the stronger stomachs. The plot thickens even more when secondary characters come into play with an intricate tale to tell!

Sara Linton, is our beloved main character once again as she investigates the death of the teenager shot and how this leads to further issues and plot twists. She is a strong woman character that is highly independent. She has accepted Jeffrey’s advances to an extent and you see a more personal side of Sara.

Jeffrey Tolliver, Tolliver is the chief of police in Grant is struggling in this book as he is riddled with guilt. He desperately investigates what was wrong with the victim and how he could have helped or even saved her. He is intuitive and leads a strong investigation; he also has a strong personality to match. 

Lena Adams, after the first book Lena struggles with her inner demons, after having lost her sister and becoming a victim she is seen to be tormented. Despite this, Slaughter still does not incur any sympathy for the character, she is hard-headed and strong that’s for sure but extremely unlikeable that despite what happened to her previously, no feelings are wasted on her. Her chapters are the dullest moments of the book. This is then made worse when she meets Mark a young, troubled boy, with Mark a strange, weird feeling is put on you while reading the sections with the interaction of these two characters, despite all the killing etc. it is these moments that make you feel uncomfortable.   

Once again Slaughter writes a mean crime novel. She sticks to what she knows and embraces the brutality of the self-mutilation and abuse that occurs in the small town. Once more it is difficult to realise the bad guys until towards the end she throws in many twists and turn which make it difficult to pick up which makes you think about the story and the characters which is refreshing the crime genre.

Kisscut is the second in Slaughters Grant County series and leads on very well from the first. The relationship between Sara and Jeffrey develops from the first book and the story is extremely intricate compared with the first.

Slaughter does it again with her story and this book is worth the read just for that. If gore and hard times are what you are looking for this book should make your list.

My verdict for this book is average but definitely better than the first; the story is once again the best part of the book which I admit is the most important but for the book to be good the characters also need to be interesting which once again Lena Adams ruins. The story is more intricate and hard-hitting than the first with the involvement of the abuse so if you have a weak stomach this is not a book you want to read. Slaughter has progressed from the first book and I hope this progression continues as she is going in the right direction!

5/10