fredag den 21. maj 2010

Karin Slaughter, Fractured (2008)


This American police procedural is the second in the Will Trent series.

Abigail Campano, wife and mother, returns home to the family´s mansion only to realize someone has broken into it. She rushes upstairs and sees a young man, knife in hand, bent over her lifeless daughter. She attacks him, and in an adrenaline kick of fear and rage she kills him.

The Atlanta police force arrive but make several mistakes and wrong assumptions so there is no progress in the case until special agent Will Trent and his powerful boss take over the case. Trent is not exactly popular among the police officers as he investigated a case of corruption recently with the result that several of them were fired. So in the beginning his new partner, Faith Mitchell, is resentful and antagonistic.

For some reason my expectations to this writer were not very high so Fractured was a very pleasant surprise. Lots of excitement and engaging characters, especially Will Trent, who struggles desperately to hide his dyslexia, and the single mother Faith Mitchell.

I read this library book in Danish.

Karin Slaughter, Bortført (2008).

Denne amerikanske politikrimi er den anden om Will Trent.

Overklassefruen Abigail Campano vender hjem til familiens luksusvilla og opdager, at nogen er brudt ind. Hun styrter ovenpå, hvor hun ser en ung mand bøjet over hendes livløse datter med en kniv i hånden. Hun angriber ham, og i en adrenalinrus af frygt og raseri dræber hun ham.

Politiet i Atlanta begår adskillige fejl fra starten, så der sker ingen fremskridt i sagen før specialagent Will Trent og hans dominerende boss tager over. Trent er langt fra populær blandt politiet, da han for nylig har undersøgt en sag om korruption med det resultat, at adskillige politifolk blev fyret. Så fra starten er hans nye makker, Faith Mitchell, fuld af vrede og modvilje.

Af en eller anden grund var mine forventninger til Karin Slaughter ikke særlig høje, så Bortført var en positiv overraskelse. Masser af spænding og nuancerede personer, især Will Trent, som kæmper hårdt for at skjule sin ordblindhed, og den enlige teenagemor Faith Mitchell.

Jeg lånte bogen på biblioteket.

5 kommentarer:

Bernadette sagde ...

I really liked the first book in the Will Trent series Dorte (at the time I thought it was going to be a standalone) but I'm afraid Slaughter annoyed me so much with her last couple of books in her other series that reading anything else of hers is not a high priority for me.

Felicity Grace Terry sagde ...

Was much made of this character's dyslexia and if so was it handled well?

Anonym sagde ...

Dorte - Thanks for thie review. Isn't it interesting how important a role our expectations play in whether or not we like book? It's almost as though the less we expect to like a book, the more pleased we are in the end if we did like it. I'm glad you liked this one.

Unknown sagde ...

Sikke et navn til en krimiforfatter !

Dorte H sagde ...

Bernadette: I knew I had seen reviews in FriendFeed which indicated that her standard was slipping so I just tried her out of curiosity. Perhaps she has been lucky with the Trent series.

Tracy: I think I can say that dyslexia is an important theme of the novel without spoiling it for people who have not read it. And it seems to me that Slaughter takes it very seriously, but the protagonist clearly feels that as he is not a good reader he must be stupid somehow.

Margot: yes, it is quite funny. But I think low expectations can also make you overlook some of the good sides of a book.

Ole: måske skulle man overveje navneforandring?