Fallen (Will Trent, #5) in Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge

Jul 29, 2011 Jaime rated it really liked it

Shelves: mystery-thriller, read-2011, disability-rep, procedural

This book is the third of Karin Slaughter’s to combine her Grant County and Atlanta series characters. These combined books are my only exposure so far to Sara Linton, so I am not as familiar with her history as I am with Will, Faith, and Amanda.

This book focuses mainly on Faith, whose mother has been tortured and kidnapped for reasons she is not sure of. Both a witness and a victim, Faith is unable to officially participate in the investigation and it’s driving her crazy… almost literally, as s ...more

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Jan 09, 2011 Kristin rated it really liked it

Though I'm still partial to Slaughter's Grant County series featuring Sara Linton and Jeffrey Tolliver, this Georgia series which adds in investigators Will Trent and Faith Mitchell is quite enjoyable. 'Fallen' puts a lot more focus on Mitchell, who often played a minor role to Trent in the other books in the series, after her 2nd child is born and she finds her mother, Evelyn, missing when she comes over to pick up the baby after work. Instead, the baby is locked in the hot shed and there are 3 Though I'm still partial to Slaughter's Grant County series featuring Sara Linton and Jeffrey Tolliver, this Georgia series which adds in investigators Will Trent and Faith Mitchell is quite enjoyable. 'Fallen' puts a lot more focus on Mitchell, who often played a minor role to Trent in the other books in the series, after her 2nd child is born and she finds her mother, Evelyn, missing when she comes over to pick up the baby after work. Instead, the baby is locked in the hot shed and there are 3 strange men in the house, one of whom is dead on the floor, with evidence of a struggle involving Faith's mother. After Faith shoots the other two men in self-defense, it falls to Trent and their boss, Amanda, to figure out who the men were, what happened to Evelyn, and how it all fits together, ideally as quickly as possible in case Evelyn is still alive. A wrinkle is thrown in the whole situation, as Evelyn is a retired cop who is lifelong friends with Amanda, and Trent led an investigation that revealed corruption in the narcotics team led by Evelyn, an investigation that may end up re-opened as the search for Evelyn begins.
Slaughter's choice to elaborate on the threads of the narcotics investigation and Faith Mitchell's overall role as a character, both of which were hinted about in earlier books but not detailed, was an excellent choice for this book, as she'd left those questions unanswered, but couldn't continue to just hint at without readers asking for more. That said, it diminished the roles of the characters from the Grant County series, especially that of cop Lena Adams, who wasn't even mentioned, though admittedly there wasn't a place for her here.
Ideally, I'd recommend reading the books of the series in order, as there have been some major plot shifts in earlier books that Slaughter puts out in the open here, so reading this one first might spoil some of the others. Overall though, I liked this book, and can't wait for the next, though I'm hoping it's more geared towards the Grant County characters, especially Sara, who has always been my favorite. ...more

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May 13, 2024 Sacred rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: by-the-book-reading-club-picks

Very torn about whether I will finish this series. It’s good. The mystery and suspense are there. The breadth of characters are there. I am definitely invested in the love story between Will and Sara. I dislike Angie more and more with each book. But the crimes are so disturbing. It’s not great food for my spirit.

If you have a tougher disposition and you love the nitty gritty of crime novels, then this would be a great series for you.

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