I am slowly making my way through a stack of borrowed Karin Slaughter books, but goodness gracious almighty, I have to take a break in between them. Her name says it all.
A Faint Cold Fear is the third in Slaughter’s early Grant County Thriller series, which set in a fictional suburb outside of Atlanta. This is a particular detail I love because there is always a reference I recognize – the aquarium in Chattanooga, the Tennessee Volunteers, Grady Hospital, etc. The series focuses on a handful of characters and the crimes they must solve together: Sara Linton, the town pediatrician and coroner, Jeffery Tolliver, the police chief and Sara’s ex-husband, Lena Adams, former police officer and general discontent, and myriad other family members and professionals in Grant County.
The plot of A Faint Cold Fear involves a series of apparent suicides and a stabbing, not to mention plenty of mutilation and other details that make me cringe. Slaughter does not write with a light hand. She just puts it all out there for readers to see and hear and think about as they try to fall asleep at night. She unveils disgusting characters with motives and behaviors from the worst headlines. Yes, these are crime thrillers, but they aren’t about gunshot wounds or hit-and-runs. These crimes are from the underbelly.
If we’re keeping a record, I’d put A Faint Cold Fear last of the four I’ve read. Pretty Girls is first and best, followed by Kisscut (which was honestly too disturbing to write about), and Blindsided.
*If you are easily effected by graphic content, Slaughter’s books aren’t for you.