Whenever you open the pages of a Karin Slaughter book you know you are on the verge of a thrill ride. Slaughter writes with raw emotion and talent, creating plots that take you into the underbelly of the crime world. She does not stint on describing these scenes so the reader gets the full impact of each and every crucial moment contained therein. Unseen is full of such moments and is Slaughter's most powerful book to date.
Still any writer can write graphic scenes of violence. That is not what makes Slaughter unique. What she can do is juxtapose those scenes with descriptions of a love affair that is tender and poignant.
In Unseen she continues the love relationship between Will Trent and Sara Linton. Sara is a doctor living in Atlanta who has fallen in love with Trent, a GBI Agent. Sara is familiar with police work. She was married to a man who was sheriff of Grant County. When Jeffery was killed as a result of trying to help one of his deputies, a woman named Lana Adams, Sara swore she was through with this kind of man. But then she found herself involved with Will, a man cut from the same cloth as Jeffery.
Now Will is undercover in Macon, Georgia investigating a drug ring. He has not told Sara where he is or what he is doing. He is afraid the danger of his situation will scare her away. Then Lena's husband Jared is attacked and almost killed. Jared is Sara's stepson and so she comes to Macon to see about him. This exposes her to Lena, the one person in the world she truly hates.
Slaughter manipulates her plot to the fullest extent and has Will, Sara and Lena caught up in a whirlwind of death and destruction. What holds this plot together is the fierce love between Will and Sara and to a lesser degree, though just as intense, the love between Lena and Jared. It is jarring to have such pure emotions on display in the middle of a story focused on crime, hatred and treachery.
No one writes like Slaughter. After reading this book or any of her thirteen novels you will be compelled to gather together the others and pour through them too. Slaughter is a true individual in style and content. Her words fairly growl on paper but yet her descriptions of relationships are tear inducing. This may make her an anomaly but she is the best damn anomaly writing books today.
Make sure you read Unseen. It is a book unlike all others.
Unseen is published by Delacourte Press.
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