Product 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...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #27079 in Books
• Published on: 2003-10-01
• Released on: 2003-09-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 448 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780060534042
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
When police chief Jeffrey Tolliver responds to a disturbance at a local skating rink, the last thing he expects is to have to shoot a 13-year-old girl who's holding a gun on a fellow student. Then Jenny Deaver's autopsy reveals two stunning facts: she did not bear the murdered newborn discovered in the rink's restroom, and she had recently been genitally mutilated. With his ex-wife, pediatrician Sara Linton, Jeffrey uncovers a child sex and pornography ring involving Jenny, her classmates, and their mothers--a horrific enterprise that culminated in the killing that Tolliver will never be able to forget. This taut, chilling thriller showcases Karin Slaughter's skill at plotting, pace, and narrative, and will linger in the reader's mind long after the stunning denouement. This is a terrific sequel to her debut, Blindsighted, with two protagonists whose complex relationship will no doubt be a featured subplot in her next offering. --Jane Adams

From Publishers Weekly
Aptly named novelist Slaughter (Blindsighted) brings back her horribly scarred cast of Grant County, Ga., cops and coroners for more murder, mayhem and horrific sexual violence. Pathologist Sara Linton, who has been dating her ex-husband, police chief Jeffrey Tolliver, is witness to Tolliver's fatal shooting of a teenage girl when the girl threatens to shoot a 16-year-old boy in a standoff outside the local skating rink. A search of the rink turns up a dismembered fetus in a toilet; Sara's postmortem reveals the girl had a long history of abuse most gruesomely, her vagina is sewn shut. Working the case alongside Jeffrey is Det. Lena Adams, herself the victim of a recent abduction and rape, who is also trying, with difficulty, to come to terms with the death of her gay sister. Questioning Mark, the boy who was almost shot, Lena gradually uncovers a true horror show of pedophilia, incest and kiddie porn, an inverted world where parents rape their children before peddling them to strangers for money and blackmail. Slaughter adheres to the traditional mystery format, but turns up the shock factor tenfold, demonstrating that the deepest depravity can be business as usual in small towns as well as big cities. The undertone of violence is pervasive, even at quiet moments ("Lena was able to pull her hand away, but not before she felt Grace's thumb brush across the scar.... The touch was tender, almost sexual, and Lena could see the charge Grace got out of it"), amplifying Slaughter's equation of intimacy with menace and placing her squarely in the ranks of Cornwell and Reichs. (Sept.) Forecast: Slaughter's much-praised first novel, Blindsighted, put her on the thriller map. Kisscut, a featured alternate selection of the Literary Guild, Doubleday Book Club, Mystery Guild and BOMC, could make her a bestseller. 10-city author tour.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Blindsided was a runner-up for several major awards given for first crime novel, so you'd be blind not to get this follow-up, which involves the death of a child.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Slaughter has written another intense story...
Karin Slaughter has said in interviews that she wants to be a better writer with each book. She has clearly done that with Kisscut. I think it has tighter plotting, characters that are more human (even the evil parts), and a stronger narrative than in Blindsighted, her first book. While I don't think the plot is better in this book, the development of the story is. Just when I 'knew' the story was cruising to a certain place (and who and what and how), some unexpected turn of events jumped off the page -- more than once.

We get to see more of small town life in Grant County. Sara, doctor and part-time medical examiner, and Jeffery, the police chief, are still central characters in Kisscut, but Lena, one of Jeffrey's detectives, is brought to the fore in this book and has her inner self laid bare. There are enough references to the first book's story to give a good idea of what happened without giving everything away. Without being Lena, I'd say that her thoughts and perceptions are congruous with how a person could behave and react to her experiences.

The rest of this gives away just about everything except names, with each paragraph telling more. If you do not want to know about the plot and 'who done it', skip to the last paragraph.

Kisscut has child pornographers who think it is appropriate to physically and sexually abuse children -- and they have no guilt or remorse about it. I'm not sure there is a way to write about that and have it seem comprehensible, because in my mind there is no understanding intentionally hurting children. I know it happens, though, because I know adults to whom this was 'normal' while they were growing up. The author has made her perpetrators believable, sympathetic characters at the beginning of the book.

Ms. Slaughter took the bold step of making women (yes, plural) the primary 'evil doers'. Of course, after the warped attentions that her Blindsighted tormentor inflicted on his victims, we shouldn't be surprised at the ugliness springing from the human mind that this author conjures to put on paper -- although in person she appears to be an engaging young woman who couldn't possibly think of, let alone know, anything about the dark side of humanity.

While I'm sure Kisscut was plotted out before this last year's revelations about the molestations by priests of the Roman Catholic Church, having a minister who is involved in this mayhem on children is certainly a timely addition -- and another reminder that you can't trust someone just because of his or her position or profession.

There is some brightness to report. It looks like Sara and Jeffery could be getting back together.

Ms. Slaughter has once again written a book that is not easy on the emotions, but is highly readable. Get Kisscut and settle in for a fine, intense story on the printed page.

graphic thriller
In the parking lot of the popular Heartsdale, Georgia teen hangout skating rink Jenny Weaver threatens to shoot Mark Patterson. Police chief Jeffrey Tolliver is forced to kill the teenage girl. His former wife pediatrician and Grant County coroner Sara Linton witnesses the fatal shooting. Inside a toilet of the rink resides a dismembered fetus.

Sara's autopsy of Jenny provides several strange clues that do not add up. The deceased was a long time abuse victim, Her battered vagina had been sewn shut and there is no evidence of any recent sexual activity to produce a fetus. Detective Lena Adams, a victim of rape and grieving the death of her sister interrogates Mark. Soon she learns the horrifying perverted secrets of a town with quite a sideshow of pediophile, incest, and child pornography and prostitution.

Living up to her surname, 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. Those who enjoy Patricia Cornwall will relish this novel and Ms. Slaughter's previous book (see BLINDSIGHTED), but this writer adds more red meat in her recipe.

Harriet Klausner

Classic Slaughter..........shocking and graphic
Kisscut is a shocking and graphic story that is classic Karin Slaughter. Slaughter pulls no punches and spares no emotion!
When 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.
The final chapters will leave you horrified and stunned, and in light of the recent kidnappings and murders of young girls in Florida, you will realize that Karin Slaughter's message is real and has deadly consequences.