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Kisscut: A Grant County Thriller
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Saturday night dates at the skating rink have been a tradition in the small southern town of Heartsdale for as long as anyone can remember, but when a teenage quarrel explodes into a deadly shoot-out, Sara Linton—the town's pediatrician and medical examiner—finds herself entangled in a terrible tragedy.
What seemed at first to be a horrific but individual catastrophe proves to have wider implications. The autopsy reveals evidence of long-term abuse, of ritualistic self-mutilation, but when Sara and police chief Jeffrey Tolliver start to investigate, they are frustrated at every turn.
The children surrounding the victim close ranks. The families turn their backs. Then a young girl is abducted, and it becomes clear that the first death is linked to an even more brutal crime, one far more shocking than anyone could have imagined. Meanwhile, detective Lena Adams, still recovering from her sister's death and her own brutal attack, finds herself drawn to a young man who might hold the answers. But unless Lena, Sara, and Jeffrey can uncover the deadly secrets the children hide, it's going to happen again …
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Kisscut: A Grant County Thriller
Description
Saturday night dates at the skating rink have been a tradition in the small southern town of Heartsdale for as long as anyone can remember, but when a teenage quarrel explodes into a deadly shoot-out, Sara Linton—the town's pediatrician and medical examiner—finds herself entangled in a terrible tragedy.
What seemed at first to be a horrific but individual catastrophe proves to have wider implications. The autopsy reveals evidence of long-term abuse, of ritualistic self-mutilation, but when Sara and police chief Jeffrey Tolliver start to investigate, they are frustrated at every turn.
The children surrounding the victim close ranks. The families turn their backs. Then a young girl is abducted, and it becomes clear that the first death is linked to an even more brutal crime, one far more shocking than anyone could have imagined. Meanwhile, detective Lena Adams, still recovering from her sister's death and her own brutal attack, finds herself drawn to a young man who might hold the answers. But unless Lena, Sara, and Jeffrey can uncover the deadly secrets the children hide, it's going to happen again …
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Soon after the chief of police, Jeffrey Tolliver, arrives at the local roller skating rink to meet his ex-wife Sara Linton, he discovers some teenagers in a dispute. It seems relatively harmless until he sees a gun in the girl's hand and it's pointing at the boy who's standing only several yards away.This was just as graphic and brutal as the first one, except the subject matter in this one was more disturbing and offensive. The characters were all working through their own personal garbage, so it was a bit on the gloomy side, too. And, the language was very vulgar. Sounds like a great book, huh? Believe it or not, I like the characters - even the ones with rough edges. I think they are what keep me interested in the series. Kisscut is the second in the Grant Count Series. (4/5)Originally posted on: Thoughts of Joy
Rating: 4Kisscut is the second book in Karen Slaughter's Grant County series. Sara Linton, pediatrician and local medical examiner, is meeting her sister at the local skating rink one Saturday night. She sees a distraught teenager entering the ladies room and goes to check on her. The girl, Jenny Weaver, has apparently just tried to flush a newborn baby down the toilet. Jenny rushes out to the parking lot where she threatens a boy named Mark Patterson then pulls a gun to shoot him. Sara's ex-husband, police chief Jeffrey Tolliver, is forced to kill Jenny before she can kill Mark. Sara's autopsy reveals evidence of ritualistic self-mutilation and long-term abuse....and the evidence that Jenny had never given birth.
I'm currently rereading this series in audio. While very compelling, it is also difficult to hear some of the more graphic portions of the book and not be able to fast forward. I eventually traded my audio in for the actual book. That was a good choice because the plot is very intense and much of it disturbing.. Karin Slaughter does an excellent job of creating realistic characters that are most often not truly good or truly bad, but a combination of both. That's why I can't wait to pick up the next book in the series, A Faint Cold Fear.
Rating: 4I'm currently rereading this series in audio. While very compelling, it is also difficult to hear some of the more graphic portions of the book and not be able to fast forward. I eventually traded my audio in for the actual book. That was a good choice because the plot is very intense and much of it disturbing.. Karin Slaughter does an excellent job of creating realistic characters that are most often not truly good or truly bad, but a combination of both. That's why I can't wait to pick up the next book in the series, A Faint Cold Fear.
Wow! What a disparity of opinions on this book. I have enjoyed other books by Ms Slaughter, but I thoroughly disliked this one. I think it's possible to write a book about child pornography, sex rings, incest and more in an informative and interesting way, but this definitely was not it. I found the story completely unbelievable. Also, the characters of Jeffrey/Sara/Lena are interesting, but I think the author has gone to the well a few too many times. There are only so many horrible things that can happen to the same characters in a small town.
Rating: 1The first Karin Slaughter thriller I picked up featured FBI agent Will Trent. Trent talked about how he dealt with having dyslexia and having to do so much reading and paperwork as an agent. The book was [Triptych] and I was hooked on Slaughter. The books take place in Georgia where I used to live so I very much enjoy the location and spending a little time there. I also like the characters Slaughter has drawn in her books especially because both strengths and weaknesses are shown and drive the action.I did not see the end of Kisscut coming. It was complicated with several twists and possibilities for my mind to go with. I was never sure who the good guys or bad guys were, just like in real life. They were not cut and dried, nor were they stereotyped. Warning for some readers, this plot involves child sexual abuse which I usually don't read. I have to say tho that Slaughter does an excellent and I think helpful job of illustrating the psychological plight of man victims as they attempt to heal. Specifically, it can be difficult for victims to reconcile the fact that their bodies may naturally respond to sex while their minds are screaming no and this results in much shame. This is what Slaughter does a good job with. Anyone struggling with Stockholm Syndrome may find this helpful if not too traumatic, depending on where they are in their recovery. Four stars
Rating: 4I don't like the characters in this series nearly as much as I do those in the Will Trent books, and when the characters aren't as good, the plot holes are more of a problem.
I think, mostly, that I don't like Lena. And I prefer Will to Jeffrey.
And I would like Karin Slaughter to reevaluate her "women are worse to women than men are," thing because it's untrue, and the only women I've ever met who say that shit are those who are awful to other women.
Rating: 3I think, mostly, that I don't like Lena. And I prefer Will to Jeffrey.
And I would like Karin Slaughter to reevaluate her "women are worse to women than men are," thing because it's untrue, and the only women I've ever met who say that shit are those who are awful to other women.
I liked the book even though I think it was a bit dragged out in some areas. A bit too much back story from the previous book about the characters. The ending was a little bit of a disappointment too. I prefer solid endings, with nothing left hanging. Lots of profanity too. Glad it wasn't an audiobook since I can skim over them when I physically read a book.
Rating: 4In this second installment of the Grant County mystery series by Karin Slaughter we discover a disturbing story. A shoot-out at the local skating rink initially seems to be an emotionally charged lovers’ spat between two teenagers. However, the autopsy reveals evidence of long-term abuse and self-mutilation, leading pediatrition/ME Sara Linton and Police Chief Jeffrey Tolliver down a long, twisted path of perversion.While definitely not for the faint of heart as the storyline is very high on the “ick” factor, this was a very good story and kept me interested to the end. Although one of the perpetrators was pretty obvious, others were revealed only as their heinous crimes were uncovered. I will definitely continue with the Grant County series.Rating: 4 Stars
Rating: 4When a young girl is shot and killed, when the body of an unborn infant is discovered, when all around close ranks and no one knows who is to blame or why...... the story is just beginning! The slow revelation of the truth is shadowed by deceit, self mutilation, child abuse and a denial of basic concepts of trust and love.
Karin Slaughter provides readers with a graphic thriller that combines elements of a police procedural with that of a medical examiner tale. The story line catches the audience from the start, but fans should not dive in with a full stomach as "Kisscut" tears into boundaries rarely seen in a thriller. The author eases some of the tension by the use of puns and other humorous devices that at times can be missed due to the high level of excitement. For those who can stomach the actual story, "Kisscut" is a worthwhile read and an above average mystery.
Rating: 4Karin Slaughter provides readers with a graphic thriller that combines elements of a police procedural with that of a medical examiner tale. The story line catches the audience from the start, but fans should not dive in with a full stomach as "Kisscut" tears into boundaries rarely seen in a thriller. The author eases some of the tension by the use of puns and other humorous devices that at times can be missed due to the high level of excitement. For those who can stomach the actual story, "Kisscut" is a worthwhile read and an above average mystery.
Karin Slaughter is the absolute best crime/mystery writer I have come across in this day and age. Her novels will simply astound you with their heart-racing moments and intrigue. Every time I pick one of her novels up I cannot stop reading until I'm done and I still find myself begging for more. She's a writer with no fear! She wields her instruments like a knife ready to dig in deep and take you by surprise at every turn!
Rating: 5A series of books based on coroner Sara Linton and ex husband chief of Police Jeffrey Tolliver.Book 2 in the series, Blindsighted was Book 1
Rating: 5This is a chilling thriller that follows a case of self-mutilation, child abuse and child pornography. The book is riveting, it was one that I could not put down but was also an incredibly dark and gloomy read. I was hooked from the first page. This book is definitely a sequel to Blindisghted and I wouldn't recommend this without having read the first. The characters are very well developed with their stories from the first book being continued in this one. I'm really looking forward to reading the next book in this series.
Rating: 5The human relationships were good in this book. The premise of child trafficking, incest and pedophilia were disturbing. It is a little hard to believe that two such horrible crimes, this book and the previous, could happen one relatively small community.
Rating: 3A very good book. It makes you depressed, knowing that we do live in a world where people take advantage of children. It was not as thrilling as Slaughter's previous book, but just as good.
Rating: 3Couldn't put this down!
Rating: 4This might be my favorite novel by her to date. So much action and drama you can hardly stand it. Kisscut really attaches you to the characters introduced in Blindsighted and has such a great story line that will really make you think!
Rating: 5The second Grant County thriller, featuring pediatrician Sara Linton and her ex-husband, Police Chief Jeffrey Toliver. I read the first book a few years ago and only gave it 2 stars; but I felt I might have been extra harsh because one of the characters targeted by the serial killer in that book shares my first name and that freaked me out a bit. So I decided to give Slaughter another chance.This book starts with a Saturday night at the local skating rink where Sara is waiting for her ex-husband to show up. They’re “dating” again, though Sara says she wants to take it slow because she’s not sure she forgives him yet for the cheating that resulted in their divorce. But an altercation in the parking lot between two young teens interrupts this date, and results in Chief Toliver’s shooting one of them. Sara, who is also the medical examiner, is tasked with performing the autopsy; what she finds shocks her, the police and the victim’s mother.Sounds promising, doesn’t it? It isn’t. Slaughter throws in everything but the kitchen sink … a newborn found in the toilet, child abuse, a fragile female officer not yet over her own trauma (see book one), Sara and Jeffery’s budding re-romance, a young rookie cop’s efforts to overcome embarrassment and inexperience, etc. Some of these threads stretch credulity too far. A therapist volunteers to provide his case notes to the police when a suspect is not talking openly. One young person vacillates between crying vulnerability, predatory sexuality, and a near catatonic trance … all within one interview.It’s a fast read, but you would still be better off spending that time reading something else.
Rating: 1This may be my last in the series. With the exception of my growing fondness for Lena, I don't care for any of the other characters and a few I would like to see horrible things happen to them.
This story was much harder for me to read than the first. The subject matter is one that I have a particularly tough time reading about but I don't think it was any more or less graphic than the first in the series, Blindsighted. It was probably less graphic but more emotionally painful.
Rating: 3This story was much harder for me to read than the first. The subject matter is one that I have a particularly tough time reading about but I don't think it was any more or less graphic than the first in the series, Blindsighted. It was probably less graphic but more emotionally painful.
Another riveting, taut mystery, and a welcome break from the medieval sagas I've been reading! I prefer the Will Trent novels, though - he is her most interesting character.
Rating: 3This is the 2nd book by this author that I have read and I enjoyed it just as much as the first, Blindsighted. Very fast paced, with lots of twists and surprises. It's a really good thriller and can't wait to read the third one.Back Cover Blurb:When a teenage quarrel in the small town of Heartsdale explodes into a deadly shoot-out, Sara Linton - paediatrician and medical examiner - finds herself entangled in a horrific tragedy. And what seems at first to be a terrible but individual catastrophe proves to have wider implications when the autopsy reveals evidence of long-term abuse and ritualistic self-mutilation.Sara and police chief Jeffrey Tolliver start to investigate, but the children surrounding the victim close ranks. The families turn their backs. Then a young girl is abducted, and it becomes clear that the first death is linked to an even more brutal crime. And unless Sara and Jeffrey can uncover the deadly secrets the children hide, it's going to happen again....
Rating: 3I like reading thrillers by Karin Slaughter. She writes well and the characters she writes about take up space in their world and temporarily in ours. Their innermost thoughts and feelings allow us to get to know them pretty well, along with their strengths and human frailties.[Kisscut] is my least favorite novel thus far, written by Ms. Slaughter.What was repellent for me, but central to the tale, was the criminal activity directed at young people. It was creepy stuff, IMHO. It was similar to watching a horror movie or thriller and not being able to walk out (or at least fast forward the DVD) when things got too bad, because you do want to see the good guys win in the end. Here's where I want to say ... I stopped reading and hurled the book across the room, but I did not. Twists and turns abound, and very few *predictable* villains and *one-can-see-that-coming-a-mile-away* situations are presented within this suspenseful story.Hesitantly recommended for people who are more able than this reviewer to let horrific things roll off their consciousness like water off a ducks back.
Rating: 4Horrific things are going on in Heartsdale, GA that begin when police Chief Jeffrey Tolliver has to kill a thirteen year-old girl in order to save the boy she’s threatening to shoot. Finding out how they’d reached that point isn’t easy as no one wants to talk, made more disturbing by the things Dr Sara Linton uncovers during the autopsy. Yes, there are some very sick people in this world and rumors are swirling.Once again the author provides chilling scenarios and gritty details while addressing more than one topic that can make the reader feel uncomfortable. In this case we’re talking child pornography, self mutilation and suicide. We not only find out what’s going on and how many people are affected by it, but we follow the thoughts and actions of Jeff, Sara and Detective Lena Adams who is still recovering from what took place in the last book.Jeff and Sara are slowly trying to build a relationship again. Both are united in finding out what’s going on. He’s wracked with guilt over killing a little girl, wondering if there had been another option. The girl had been Sara’s patient and she wonders if she missed some clues, fearing other kids also need to be helped.Lena isn’t doing as well as she’d like others to believe. But she hits rock bottom and with some tough love, we start to see a difference. Lena is not an easy person to like with her gruff, aggressive approach and chip on her shoulder. We do see a different side of her and even if you can’t like her, you can appreciate why she makes a good police officer. Have some tissues handy.One of the things this author does really well is give realistic characters that are most often not truly good or truly bad, but a combination of both; although some do such horrific things that it’s sometimes difficult to remember that there were aspects we liked before finding out what they were doing. Some have no redeeming qualities at all and with others you can only hope.There are times when the story seems to drag a little, although the story is well-written between discovering what's going on as well as building on the personal lives of 3 main characters.
Rating: 4As much as I liked the first book in this series, I'm starting to think that Slaughter has created one of those towns were everything that possibly could go wrong will and all her characters will have horrible things happen to them over and over. It might seduce some readers into thinking she is a wonderful suspense writer but those of us who appreciate realism to a degree will grow tired of the improbability of a small group of people going through these horrendous events month after month. Don't move to Grant County, GA. You're bound to get killed.
Rating: 3Kisscut is the second book in Slaughter's Grant Count series and is another excellent book by Karin Slaughter. I am so glad I chose to go back and read the first three of the Grant County series. I highly recommend the entire series.
Rating: 4This was not as exciting as the first installment. But the scene where the Auburn vs Alabama rivalry is depicted is absolutely priceless.
Rating: 4I enjoyed Kisscut and the book before it, Blindsighted and would recommend them both with some reservations. They are both well-plotted with believable characters and lots of suspense-filled twists and turns. The characters are complex, flawed and, therefore, more interesting. My reservations revolve around the amount of violence and graphic description of violence. It does not dominate the book and is nowhere near the worst I have read, but I think it is enough to warn prospective readers ahead of time.
Rating: 4This is 3.5 stars out of 5. I tend to round up rather than down.
I promised a review and here it is, months after reading it! Oops!
Well this book was a lot like the first one. It was harsh, graphic, sadistic, in-depth, smart, long, emotional, spine-chilling and did I mention graphic?
The post mortem results will stay with me forever. It was just... eugh! The author's mind is so creative in a dark way I'm not sure whether to admire her for it or be frightened by it. How does she sleep at night?
The characters again are complex and intriguing. Lena is my favourite and the character I found most irritating too. I just wanted her to snap out of her self-loathing and wallowing and be that bad ass cop she was before. She's so traumatized from her ordeal of the previous book she cannot think straight. She's suicidal and emotionally/psychologically destroyed. Her guardian, whose name escapes me, is there for her when before as she'd been growing up, he'd been an addict she couldn't rely on. She blames him for her late sister becoming blind. Those years of anger towards him, Lena in this book, starts to let him back in again and through her grief and pain he is her rock and the kick up the backside she needs. It's a beautiful and haunting moment when she is about to kill herself and he stands there and says, if you're gonna do it just do it and get it over with, or man up and start to take life by the horns again. Basically, stop wallowing in self-pity and snap out of it. I was on the edge of my seat wondering if she would do it or not.
Sara and Jeffrey are romantic in this novel after a shaky start in the first book. They're rekindling their romance after a horrible divorce due to Jeffrey's infidelity. I like their relationship but at the same time I find it unlikeable. It isn't like the romance you read in a lot of books. The passion and desire. It is there, but it is there in a very realistic form and that to me, can sometimes be unpleasant to read. The embarrassments, the moments where you feel they aren't as passionate or in love with each other as you'd like, and then the misunderstandings/misinterpretations of their actions or words. It was all real and it worked with the genre, considering all the horrific deaths going on, but don't expect mushy or hellfire passion. It's not there.
The criminals are cold and calculating and you won't expect the killers to be who they are. When you do discover more and more what the real dark secret is behind a supposedly unwanted pregnancy, (as if the image of a newborn baby getting flushed down the toilet isn't bad enough) you really feel a sickening coldness in your gut.
But the author doesn't disappoint with her deep, concise and detailed knowledge of forensics, of the police, investigations and the criminal mind. She's very intelligent and knows what she's talking about and it shows in her writing.
The author's titles to her books are true to her story and have a more direct meaning than we would like, so when I discovered the reason behind the title as I was reading I nearly threw up in my mouth. And this book does have a few of these moments where you wince, swallow back bile and take a minute to digest it before you can read on.
Nevertheless I did like it. I didn't like it as much as the first one, I think because I liked Lena's character more then, than now. I wish she'd stop crashing and pick herself back up. She was supposed to be a strong character and in this book, despite all the horrors she has been through, I imagined she'd recover in a more healthier way.
I wanted to give it 4 stars but I'm not sure I can when I think I gave the first book 4. It's still great. No major complaints. So this is 3.5 stars from me.
In the future I'll be onto the next one. It's sat there on my shelf, waiting for me to dive into the dark world that is Karin Slaughter's mind.
Rating: 4I promised a review and here it is, months after reading it! Oops!
Well this book was a lot like the first one. It was harsh, graphic, sadistic, in-depth, smart, long, emotional, spine-chilling and did I mention graphic?
The post mortem results will stay with me forever. It was just... eugh! The author's mind is so creative in a dark way I'm not sure whether to admire her for it or be frightened by it. How does she sleep at night?
The characters again are complex and intriguing. Lena is my favourite and the character I found most irritating too. I just wanted her to snap out of her self-loathing and wallowing and be that bad ass cop she was before. She's so traumatized from her ordeal of the previous book she cannot think straight. She's suicidal and emotionally/psychologically destroyed. Her guardian, whose name escapes me, is there for her when before as she'd been growing up, he'd been an addict she couldn't rely on. She blames him for her late sister becoming blind. Those years of anger towards him, Lena in this book, starts to let him back in again and through her grief and pain he is her rock and the kick up the backside she needs. It's a beautiful and haunting moment when she is about to kill herself and he stands there and says, if you're gonna do it just do it and get it over with, or man up and start to take life by the horns again. Basically, stop wallowing in self-pity and snap out of it. I was on the edge of my seat wondering if she would do it or not.
Sara and Jeffrey are romantic in this novel after a shaky start in the first book. They're rekindling their romance after a horrible divorce due to Jeffrey's infidelity. I like their relationship but at the same time I find it unlikeable. It isn't like the romance you read in a lot of books. The passion and desire. It is there, but it is there in a very realistic form and that to me, can sometimes be unpleasant to read. The embarrassments, the moments where you feel they aren't as passionate or in love with each other as you'd like, and then the misunderstandings/misinterpretations of their actions or words. It was all real and it worked with the genre, considering all the horrific deaths going on, but don't expect mushy or hellfire passion. It's not there.
The criminals are cold and calculating and you won't expect the killers to be who they are. When you do discover more and more what the real dark secret is behind a supposedly unwanted pregnancy, (as if the image of a newborn baby getting flushed down the toilet isn't bad enough) you really feel a sickening coldness in your gut.
But the author doesn't disappoint with her deep, concise and detailed knowledge of forensics, of the police, investigations and the criminal mind. She's very intelligent and knows what she's talking about and it shows in her writing.
The author's titles to her books are true to her story and have a more direct meaning than we would like, so when I discovered the reason behind the title as I was reading I nearly threw up in my mouth. And this book does have a few of these moments where you wince, swallow back bile and take a minute to digest it before you can read on.
Nevertheless I did like it. I didn't like it as much as the first one, I think because I liked Lena's character more then, than now. I wish she'd stop crashing and pick herself back up. She was supposed to be a strong character and in this book, despite all the horrors she has been through, I imagined she'd recover in a more healthier way.
I wanted to give it 4 stars but I'm not sure I can when I think I gave the first book 4. It's still great. No major complaints. So this is 3.5 stars from me.
In the future I'll be onto the next one. It's sat there on my shelf, waiting for me to dive into the dark world that is Karin Slaughter's mind.
It was an emotional ride, to say the least. I actually loved how Karin Slaughter connected the characters back to the first book. We get to know the characters' innermost thoughts that we previously did not see. It was not the ending I expected because I had wished that children had more closure, clarity, and understanding. But perhaps it reflects on reality. Perhaps there is no clear understanding on why evil things happen.
Rating: 4
To dark, even for me. And I absolutely hate Lena.
Rating: 3Although the mystery of the book was rather simple, I think the characterizations and the portrayal of childhood sexual trauma was spot on. There were so many fully formed characters, and the way that they brought out sides of our main characters Jeffrey, Sara, and Lena, that we hadn't seen before was masterfully done. We got so much more information on our main characters, motivations, their strengths, and their weaknesses from merely seeing them react to the events of the case. For that reason alone, this book deserves five stars, but the creative way that she tackled a relatively straightforward type of crime was the icing on the cake.
Rating: 5Karin Slaughter never disappoints! A definite page turner, I couldn't put I down till the end.
Rating: 5