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    Undone: A Story of Making Peace With an Unexpected Life
    Undone: A Story of Making Peace With an Unexpected Life
    Undone: A Story of Making Peace With an Unexpected Life
    Audiobook6 hours

    Undone: A Story of Making Peace With an Unexpected Life

    Written by Michele Cushatt

    Narrated by Michele Cushatt

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    About this audiobook

    Become empowered to face your own messy, complicated life with fresh courage and bravery.

    Undone is author Michele Cushatt's quest to make peace with a complicated life. It is an honest confession of a diagnosis of cancer and the joys and disappointments of motherhood and marriage, ripe with regret over what is and, yet, still hopeful for what could be.

    With enough humor to ease the rawness of the story, Undone takes you on a roller-coaster two-year journey through the unexpectedness of life. A look back makes Michele long for a do-over, the chance to make fewer mistakes and leave less of a mess to clean up. A look forward makes Michele wonder if all her attempts to control life have robbed her of the vibrancy of it. And, in the middle of this internal chaos, she finds her once-pristine house filled with the sights and sounds of three small, uncontainable children who just want to be loved.

    In the end, Undone turns complication into a beautiful canvas, angst into joy, and the unknown into an adventure, revealing that sometimes life's most colorful and courageous stories are written right in the middle of the mess.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherZondervan
    Release dateMay 26, 2015
    ISBN9780310344674
    Author

    Michele Cushatt

    As an experienced communicator, Michele Cushatt speaks internationally to a wide variety of audiences and has published three previous books, including Undone and I Am. A three-time head and neck cancer survivor and parent of “children from hard places,” Michele is a (reluctant) expert of trauma, pain, and the deep human need for authentic connection and enduring faith. She and her husband, Troy, share a blended family of six children, including biological children, stepchildren, and foster-adopt children. They live on eight acres outside of Denver, Colorado. For more information, visit www.MicheleCushatt.com.

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    Reviews for Undone

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    62 ratings50 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Suuuch a tough read, but as always, incredible.
    • 5/5
      Catching up with Sara Linton and introducing her to Will and Faith has restored my optimism in the Grant County series. I'll continue to read anyone that can fiddle with my heart strings like Karin does.
    • 4/5
      Good detective books but some of the violence is hard to read. I hope all this is based on a sick imagination
    • 4/5
      Early on in Undone, I wasn't sure I would want—or be able—to finish the book. Some of the horrific things that are described as being done to the woman discovered at the beginning seemed just too much, and I worried that the book was an exercise in torture porn.Once past that obstacle, however, I found myself liking the novel very much. It's a familiar plot, as the police hurry to find a serial killer before he can claim his next victim, but it never feels by the numbers.Most of that is due to the main characters. They have apparently come from two separate series by the author, but Slaughter provides everything you need to know to understand what's going on, so that should not deter readers. The single most interesting character is Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent Will Trent, who is (slight spoiler) extremely dyslexic, thinks he's stupid, and lets the women in his life run it. Readers will also meet the most unsympathetic set of victims ever.There's an undertone of misogyny to much of the book, and some very controlling women characters, which did disturb me. On the positive side we have Dr. Sara Linton, who has a powerful story in her own right.The book is suspenseful, with plenty of twists to destroy the theories readers might come up with. The way internal police politics can interfere with an investigation was emphasized to a degree I've never seen in a procedural novel, and it is quite believable. The novel scares and thrills, and even the ultimate triumph seems equivocal. I'm inclined to go back and read the author's prior novels now.
    • 5/5
      So enjoyable. Forgot about these characters, all of whom are interesting.Weirdo kidnaps and tortures women (sos). The women are all anorexic bitches. Great cops, doctors, etc. All interesting characters.
    • 4/5
      GBI Special Agents Will Trent and Faith Mitchell finally meet up with Dr Sara Linton, combining the two series together for the first time. And what the perp is doing this time is utterly gruesome. It may be difficult for some to read about what the victims have been through. The story starts when an elderly couple hit a woman who suddenly appears before their car on a dark road. She’s naked and she’d been tortured – and she’s not the only victim they end up scrambling to find. The author shakes things up by giving us victims that we don’t necessarily like, Faith is facing some medical changes in her life and Will is, as always, putting himself down as not being good enough due to his dyslexia. It doesn’t help that Faith is helping him too much on that end. But now that he’s met Sara, perhaps he’ll stop being so hard on himself. We do finally see him lose control.It takes the team awhile to find a common thread between the victims, other than physical appearance. And even though, when learning about the personality of the victims, we’re still caught up in finding them and reuniting them with their children.Other than the early gruesome aspects, I found the book to be an easy and interesting read. A number of the characters will surprise you.
    • 5/5
      Last night I finished Undone by Karin Slaughter.This is an ER book for me, and was published in July of 2009.Once again, her writing did not disappoint. In fact, her skills are top notch.This is a book that I would recommend to any reader who likes reading about crime fiction, and enjoys characters and dialogue that are interesting and genuine. You may like some of them with great affection and be completely repelled by others.The plot moves along quickly with surprising and interesting twists and turns. The sense of place is excellent. Not for any reader who is too squeamish reading about violence, torture and some brief sexual episodes that are integral to revealing deeper character development of the principal players.WH Five Stars
    • 3/5
      Interesting concept and a pretty good effort for the genre. I think I could have done without the cliche metaphors and while the two protagonists, Faith & Will, were interesting characters (both of whom I liked), it seemed as though their motivations and background were not fully fleshed out. While the book was suspensful the solutions and the intersections of characters was a little too easy and "neat." Overall, good summer reading for the the thriller genre.
    • 4/5
      This book introduced me to the author, Karin Slaughter, and it was quite the introduction! From the opening pages, this book was absolutely riveting. I have not read any of the prior books leading into this series, but that was not a deterrent. Now it will be a personal challenge to read the other works that this author has to offer!This story begins with a horrifying series of crimes committed against women and what unfolds is quite the hunt for the perpetrator. It was peppered with some true crime references (which as a true crime buff, I appreciated) and explored the competing agencies in a high profile crime. The story demonstrated how those different police agencies interact with one another and how those relationships may even hinder parts of an investigation . It delved into the victims' personalities and how they were not always sympathetic, which added an interesting layer to the plot. I really enjoyed this book and would heartily recommend it-- although with the caveat that it can be quite graphic and the visuals it conjures up may not leave you for quite some time!
    • 4/5
      Well I've had this book for quite a while now and just couldn't bring myself to read it. I'm a huge fan of Karin Slaughter and would wait anxiously every year for the next great book in the Grant County series and devour it quickly. But then our lovely writer Ms. Slaughter pulled the unexpected and did what she did. And although I completely understand why at the time I was shocked and even though I bought the new books when they came out I just didn't have the desire to read them. But as time heals all wounds I decided to jump back in and I'm glad that I did. This is by far one of her most violent and grisly books to date but I liked it and I liked where it seems she is taking the characters. The three main characters parts are well done and I agree with some of the other reviews the remaining characters are kinda one sided and not much to them. It reads very quick not my favorite in her lineup but I'm glad I read it and I'm glad that these characters are where they are at this moment.
    • 4/5
      Well. It's just a regular cop mystery, with two very sympathetic and interesting cops (male, female partners), but the most horrific multiple murder, torture story ever. Jeez. I may read another in this series, but, well, may not. Advice?
    • 4/5
      I am still trying to figure out why the publishers keep changing books names.... In this case the same book got published as "Undone" in USA and "Genesis" everywhere else. Both names kinda work but "Genesis" is the one that suits better in some ways. Getting both her series together, Karin Slaughter had moved Sara Linton in Atlanta, where she is trying to survive after the disaster that happened in Grant County. The story is dark and ugly so if you do not like seeing what people can do to other people, just find another book. But in the same book the author managed to add friendship, love and enough feelings to make you believe in good. The first 2/3rd of the book are really good - fast-paced, logical and highly readable. The last 1/3rd is weird - in places it feels rushed, in places it just feels like someone either forgot to write a piece or an editor deleted a piece of an earlier part of the book so the whole thing just comes unexpectedly. But even like this, it's an interesting book. It probably helps if you had read the previous books but all the needed back story is in the book, in the proper places to make sense so it is not mandatory. Which makes the book even better - before it I had read only one book (from the Grant County series) so I was worried a bit before this one. Turned out not to be a problem. However - if you are planning on reading all the Grant County books and you do not like spoilers, do not read this one first. It's a crime story - women get killed, women get abducted, the GBI (Georgia Bureau of Investigation) is there. But under the surface it is a story for the bad and good in people, for the choices someone makes, for the bad things that can happen and for the lives of people which seem to have lost almost everything. I am not sure which part was better - the actual story that was running or the background with all the strange relationships and fears. The characters are interesting - Will and Faith make such a partnership that made me smile even in this ugly story; Amanda is just hilarious in most places and effective in the rest; Sara is ... interesting (and I will probably be tracing down more books about her - she seems like a ghost in the better part of the book and the for the rest, she seems to try to make a full appearance). And then there is Angie. I kinda understand the back story and all but I still do not understand her at all. And while Will at least makes a strange but likable character, Angie is just... weird (and I will probably pick up the first two books from the Atlanta series also - hopefully they will give me some idea why everything happens in the way it does with her...)I will be interested to see where this story goes after this. 3 and a half stars out of 5 for this one and I definitely found a new author to keep an eye on.
    • 4/5
      Wow, that is a really good story.

      A very injured girl falls under the car. It turns out that she and another woman were held in a hole in the ground, tortured and raped for days. Agent Will Trent and his partner Faith lead the case. They have to deal not only with a complicated case in which everyone lies or conceal information and there are no traces, but also with personal problems - Faith is pregnant again and it turns out that she has diabetes and Will has to face the demons of the past.

      Will Trent is one of the most interesting heroes in thrillers I have recently encountered. His complicated past that so strongly affects his behavior and character makes the whole story even better. I also like his partner Faith who is not just an addition to Will and is itself a complicated multidimensional woman. I really hoped that Will and Sara would come together at the end of this volume and I'm disappointed that it did not happen. But I read the blurbs of the next books and it turns out that they will eventually be together, which makes me very happy. They both deserve this bond.

      I think I will also read the next books and the previous ones that I omitted.
    • 4/5
      I received an ARC copy of Undone by Karin Slaughter - but it turns out that this novel is to be published under the name of Genesis outside of the United States. A little confusing perhaps, but there you go. I don't know why one name wasn't chosen, and I do think that Genesis is more evocative name. Maybe the religious connotations are too much for the U.S.?Karin Slaughter is one of the leading lights in the crime thriller genre and she has had a hugely successful career to date. She is the author of two series - the Grant County series featuring doctor Sara Linton and the Atlanta series featuring policeman Will Trent. Apparently this novel is the 7th in the Grant County series, the 3rd in the Atlanta series and the first in a new series, the Georgia series, which will feature both main characters. This merging of two stories will surely please dedicated fans, while cutting down on the amount of writing that Slaughter has to do.Someone is taking kidnapping successful women and holding them prisoner in a foul, underground, cave which has been dug from the earth itself. When a car collides with one of the women, who has escapted from her captor, but is tortured and starving, Trent, and his partner Faith Mitchell, find themselves on the trail of a horrific and sadistic mind. When the woman is taken to hospital, Sara Linton is the attending physician and she is horrified by the pain and condition of the woman, who calls herself Anna. Her suffering and pain is beyond belief. When reports filter through of a similar woman being kidnapped, Trent and Mitchell know that they are in a race against time.It's easy to read this book without needing to read the previous novels. While you will be aware of past history, Slaughter does a good job of providing enough information to get you involved. The crimes described in this book are dark and ugly but Slaughter gives her lead characters more than enough human frailty and honesty to compensate for the dark nature. They are genuinely likeable people. Additionally, I felt that the author did a great job of taking the reader through the internal thoughts of a detective who is working to solve a case, as well as showing us how inter-departmental politics can jeopardise an investigation.The novel did feel a little rushed towards the end - and somehow, the ends came together a little too neatly. But Slaughter isn't the first author to fall into this trap and she won't be the last. Overall, this is a good, personable crime thriller. Fans of the genre are bound to enjoy it, and new readers will surely be encouraged to pick up another Slaughter novel.
    • 4/5
      I wanted to finish reading Undone with the ability to say that I completely enjoyed the experience. I honestly can't say that I did.While I very much enjoyed the story with its intrigue, twists, turns, and action I found more than one of the characters to be completely unlikable. Of the main protagonists in this novel, I thoroughly enjoyed Will and Faith's chemistry together. I loved their humanism and their quirks. Sara, on the other hand, seemed to be such a cliched "brooding-dark-character-with-a-troubled-past" for my liking. It is very possible, of course, that since this is the first Slaughter book that I've read that I simply don't understand Sara's construct. Regardless, I found her to be more of an annoyance than anything else.Otherwise I found this book to be a really delightful read. I can completely understand how fans of Ms. Slaughter can't resist coming back to her writing over and over again.If you're generally new to this genre or just aren't a fan, like me, then Ms. Slaughter might be a very good author to begin your journey.
    • 4/5
      Georgia Bureau of Investigation agents, Will Trent and Faith Mitchel just happen to be in a hospital’s emergency room when a badly injured woman is brought in. She's been hit by a car, but after an examination it looks like she may have been escaping from an unknown captor. Will heads out to the scene of the crime where he discovers an underground torture chamber. Soon he discovers the body of another woman who has also been tortured. When a third woman goes missing, Will and faith try to find out what might be connecting these woman and why they are being abducted.

      Undone brings back some familiar characters from previous books. We meet Sara Linton, a main character from another series by this author, who brings her own struggles. Faith is suffering some health issues and Will has a troubled past that he is attempting to keep a secret. One of the things that make these victims different from other suspense thrillers is that each of them is really unlikable. I read a lot of thrillers and I was completely shocked and surprised at the way this story played out.

      I enjoyed this series a number of years ago and recently have picked them all up on audio. Some of the detail is especially horrifying because you can't just skim through it like you can in a book. I really enjoy Will, Faith and Sara and am looking forward to Book 4 of the Will Trent series, Broken.
    • 5/5
      Karin Slaughter's newest book, "Undone", lives up to its name. I think we can all relate to that feeling of coming unglued or coming apart at the seams. If you are just discovering Karin Slaughter as an author, you are in for a treat ... but you also have a decision to make. If you read "Undone" first, you will discover some plot secrets that will make reading her previous books not quite as interesting. I recommend reading "Fractured" first to understand the nuances of Will Trent and Faith Mitchell. Then go back a read Sara Linton's stories in the Grant County series. As in all of Karin Slaughter's book, she does a wonderful job of developing her characters. Her heroes are human -- but also complex and flawed ... they act as we expect but there are also surprises. Her victims are interesting and as people we don't quite like them. Her villiam is creepy.
    • 4/5
      As much as I cursed Karin Slaughter for her ending of "Beyond Reach", I really enjoyed this book. She brings together her characters from "Triptych" and "Fractured" with the crazy Grant County folk and it was quite enjoyable. Considering how many "murder mysteries" are now on TV weekly, there really is no original story anymore so the other stuff has to be pretty good to keep my interest. Slaughter is not in the league of an Elizabeth George but entertaining none-the-less.
    • 3/5
      In rural Atlanta, a badly injured woman is hit by a passing car. She is alive but in critical shape. We learn that the woman was tortured and didn't know what she was doing when she walked into the path of the vehicle.Will Trent, a detective with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation goes to the accident scene and finds a cave where at least two victims were tortured. The local police fear that he is there to take their case away. They order him to leave but before he goes, Will finds the second victim, dead.As I was reading this story, I was surprised by the number of plot similarities between this 2009 novel and Lisa Gardner's "Hide" which was published by Bantam, January 30, 2007.Both novels have an underground facility where the villain keeps his victims. In "Hide" it is an underground chamber, in "Undone" it is an underground cave. Both novels have the antagonist with a family connection to one of the other characters. In both stories, the antagonist was in need of mental care and both stories have a compassionate male protagonist with a no nonsense law enforcement female associate.I enjoyed both stories and they both contained a surprise but the similarities in plot were distracting.
    • 4/5
      I've never read anything by this author before, but apparently she has pulled together characters from a couple of her previous books. Perhaps that's why there are three characters with the richness of personality that one expects from a protagonist. I finally realize that in crime thrillers and mysteries like this, the goal is not simply to confound and frighten the reader, but is to explore a multitude of aspects of human character: emotion, motivation, rationalization, etc. This story is made up of quirks and case studies, and is very enjoyable for that. And yes, I did get scared, though not until near the end. Occasionally I felt that some behaviors or turns of event strained credibility. Some of those moments were redeemed; others I have just conveniently forgotten.The three major characters are a woman who is a doctor and a tough pair of investigators, one male, one female. Their goal is to identify and stop a sicko who seems to be capturing and torturing women in pairs. I enjoyed the mystery aspect and found the results satisfying and unexpected.
    • 3/5
      This is book #3 in Karin Slaughter's series about GBI (Georgia Bureau of Investigation) Agent Will Trent. As some others have already mentioned, it's certainly not necessary to have read the first two, but it would be helpful. I wanted to read these books in order, though I don't always do that. In my opinion, the first book in the series, Triptych was THE best one. I know that as of this writing there are a total of 5 in the Will Trent series. I'm not sure if I can do two more installments. I enjoyed this book; it wasn't bad, but it just wasn't AS good as the previous two. If this had been my first exposure to Karin, I would totally have given it five stars. But much of her appeal that hooked me in the first 2 books has started to wear me down.

      This topic of this book is a bit gruesome and very descriptive as we were introduced to the brutal torture of several women who went missing. At first we're not certain if they abductions are related. Not only that, much of what they do know wasn't helpful and they kept going round and round in circles with the same clues. What made this a hard case was the fact that the women, though successful and well-off financially, didn't have many friends or family who cared if they were missing, Agent Trent is joined by his partner, Faith Mitchell (who became his partner in the previous book). In this book, Faith is dealing with some health issues, which not only affect her personally, they also threaten to ruin her working relationship with Will. Will, unfortunately, has dyslexia and is functionally illiterate on top of the fact that he's a bit strange/weird, but in a really nice way. He definitely doesn't fit the cop/agent stereotype. Ms. Slaughter made his issues much more pronounced in this book, compared to the first two. I'm honestly a bit tired of this particular issue and I'm beginning to wonder why he hasn't lost his job. He is also in a very, very dysfunctional relationship/marriage that continues to be a major weakness for him. I don't even want to spend any time on that subject. Not only that, he's a product of the state system, having been an abused orphan in a children's home his entire childhood. Those issues continue to haunt him, pretty much daily.

      Add all of this to his very tenuous relationship with his boss (who berates him for being an 'idiot', but praises him at the same time because his instincts are so good) and we realize that the book is really more about everyone's personal issues. This book is the opposite of Triptych...where the first book focused almost 90% on the crime and the criminal, this one focuses more on the agents and their issues, not the solving of the crime. It made for a slow moving book towards the middle because you just wanted her to get on with it already! Also in this book is an ER doc named Sara who is a character from Ms. Slaughter's Grant county series. Sara became involved because one of the tortured women was brought into the ER while Sara was on duty. Sara's issues stem from having lost her cop husband in a really awful death...she hasn't completely healed or gotten over it. She left her life that she shared with him in Grant County (as a coroner and a pediatrician) so she could get a fresh start and forget about the grief. she interjects herself into the case and ends up being helpful providing little clues along the way. BUT, again. way too many personal issues. so very distracting.

      The one thing I really like about Ms. Slaughter, is her ability to dissect an issue, causing you to get caught up in every detail, not realizing that she's taking you down a different path than the one you started on. She is so good at misdirection! In some cases, that would be an awesome attribute when it's about the crime. but not with this book. That attribute is what made Triptych a fast-moving and interesting read. But in Undone, I actually skipped a few pages because at one point Sara went on and on for several pages about what she liked about her deceased husband and how he made her feel and how perfect he was and how her life has changed and how she did this and that and this and that. Meanwhile, we've got two women tied up somewhere in a dark basement and it took Ms. Slaughter FOREVER to get back to them!

      This book didn't need to be over 400 pages. But because she veered off and gave us way too much meandering, unnecessary text, we had to wade through pages and pages of fluff that didn't affect the outcome of the book at all. All it did was make me a bit reluctant to read books 4 and 5 in this series. Does Will every take care of his reading issues? Will Faith stop being so bossy and bitchy and finally get her life together?? Will Sara MOVE on with her life? Does Will finally kick his sleezy, slutty, user of a wife to the curb? WAY too much soap opera stuff and I'm scared to get caught up in the next two books if that's all it's going to be about. I'm not sure why this book was rated higher than Triptych. I think I'll take a break from Ms. Slaughter for a while. If you want to read a good one, get Triptych, #1 in the Will Trent series. Everything she writes after that just becomes bland.
    • 4/5
      As Georgia Bureau of Investigation agents Faith Mitchell and Will Trent try to connect two murders to a hit-and-run victim, Atlanta physician Sara Linton becomes more involved in the investigation—an investigation which soon culminates in the hunt for a sadistic serial killer. Summary BPLBorderline Mo Hayder creepiness here I did not expect from my favourite crime thriller detective novels. Again, Ms Slaughter writes pitch perfect dialogue for our main characters, gradually drawing the reader into their lives, their histories, their rationales. She paces her unveiling exquisitely slowly throughout the series with the result that the reader reaches for the next book, wondering not only what the crime will be but also what insights it will offer into the psyches of its investigators.7 out 10 Had to deduct marks for nastiness. Recommended for fans of Ms Slaughter and realistically flawed investigators.
    • 3/5
      Slaughter has created a jewel with her Will Trent character, but the other characters in her books are hard to care about. Likewise, plots not containing Will Trent are predictable. Slaughter's stories have the raw violence that may attract many readers-the warped minds of her antagonists are unique-but if one depends on the development of characters to carry the book, Undone, like previous novels, is sorely lacking.
    • 4/5
      Undone brings together, for the first time, the small-town residents of Grant County, Georgia, and the hard-bitten cops of Georgia’s Bureau of Investigation in a relentlessly gripping novel.Sarah Linton has fled to Atlanta seeking refuge from the terrible act that ripped her life apart in Grant County. But when a tortured young woman becomes a patient in her ER, she’ll find herself deeply ensnared in a case that rips the lid off secrets as dark and complex as they are disturbing. When special agents Will Trent and Faith Mitchell join forces to probe into the life of the victim, these three embark on an investigation that will change all of them forever.Wonderfully crafted, filled with superbly created characters and the forensic and police procedural details that are her trademark, Undone is the most thrilling Slaughter novel yet. (taken from the back cover of the book)This is the first time I read any of the Grant County/Georgia’s Bureau of Investigation series books... and although it can be read as a stand alone book, I will forewarn that there is a lot of information you don’t find here (especially background information on the characters).Undone commences about three years after the last book in the series. Dr. Sarah Linton is now living in Atlanta trying to escape the trauma she suffered a few years back. She is working at an ER and trying to make the most of her life, when she unexpectedly finds herself involved with Will Trent and his partner Faith Mitchell, and drawn back into a homicide investigation.I will say that the book starts off with a bang and you are irrevocably drawn into this story that will not let you go until you are done with it. The plot was intense and the characters were very well-written. I enjoy fast-paced, edge of your seat, don’t stop until you get through just one more chapter, types of crime thriller... and this was definitely one of them. I feel like I need to back track and read more from this author. Ms. Slaughter's characters are so multi-dimensional and so real that I just feel the need to get to know them more and read everything on how they got to the point where they are in this book. This was great and highly recommended to anyone who enjoys a fast-paced thriller.
    • 4/5
      This was great, but it's the second of three books in the series to hinge the mystery on an unreliable third person perspective. Unreliable narrators are a pet peeve of mine because they're easy to spot and that destroys the mystery. Oh well. Still good.
    • 5/5
      “Undone” by Karin Slaughter is a fine addition to the library of crime drama readers. For readers of her previous books it brings together 3 characters they already know, Sara Linton, Will Trent, and Faith Mitchell while readers new to Slaughter will enjoy getting to know them for the first time. Suspenseful and engrossing the book brings them together and entangles them in a case that finds them racing against time to save women taken, held captive and tortured by an unknown person. From the moment a naked woman stumbles onto a highway and is hit by a car until the final scene this book will keep your attention and have you wanting to keep reading long past when you should have already put it down and gone to bed. Similar in some ways to Patricia Cornwall's Scarpetta books it doesn't have the gloominess that some of the later Scarpetta novels have and that is a welcome difference. This is a must read for Slaughter fans and highly recommended to everyone else.
    • 4/5
      Before winning this book, I had never read a book by Karin Slaughter. I'm glad I've now had the opportunity to read work by this amazing author. The book is fast paced and hard to put down. Her main characters are real and compelling, you want to know what happens to them. However, I felt that her supporting characters were missing something. I found myself wanting a different ending, something that wasn't so neatly tied up, or better yet, more than just hints at what was compelling the bad guy to be so gruesome. I'll definately be reading future books, if for no other reason than to see if Will and Sara actually end up overcoming their own challenges.
    • 5/5
      Reason for Reading: Karin Slaughter had a new book out! Comments: A victim of unspeakable torture is found on the highway as she is hit by a car. Convinced she must have escaped from somewhere close by Special Agent Will Trent relentlessly searches until a second, dead, victim is found. An all available manpower hunt continues looking for the crime scene when Will unearths a hidden cellar dugout in the forest floor, a horror room of unimaginable violence. Agent Will Trent and his partner Faith Mitchell plow ahead through local police territory looking for information to make this a case for the GBI. It is in the hospital that they first meet the attending ER physician, Dr. Sara Linton, who works on the first woman who was hit by the car. Soon enough, two more woman are reported missing and time is running out.Karin Slaughter is back in top splendid form. This is an incredibly crafted novel. What an amazing crime, one of the most unique crimes I've ever read in a thriller. She combines a lot of typical serial killer elements with some very unusual aspects and themes that create a downright creepy case. Karin gives her fans everything they've come to expect from her: a gruesome intriguing crime, a difficult to solve mystery (I had my eye on the wrong person the whole way through!), a page-turner, read late into the night book that you wish you could just inhale. Splendid. The only thing I didn't like is the direction the main characters' personal lives are taking. Reading the series in order, you find the personal lives of Will and Faith are a little soap opera going on in the background and I'm just not pleased with the direction each of them seems to be headed. Guess, I'll have to wait for the next book! Sara's character is nicely wrapped up from the dangling ending of her last appearance in Beyond Reach and I'm pleased with the author's resolution with this character although I'm rather annoyed with some of her Grant County opinions, which also leads me into my last statement. I still want more Grant County, Ms. Slaughter! I like Lena Adams (better than Sara to tell you the truth) and want to know what's happened with her and the rest of the folks at the Grant County Police Station.Karin Slaughter is at her best with Undone. No fan is going to be disappointed with this one.If you haven't read Karin Slaughter. Please do read her books in order. This one book is both a sequel to Will Trent Book 2, Fractured and Grant County Book 6, Beyond Reach. Plus Sara, introduced as a character in this book, was one of the major characters in all the Grant County books to date. Also both Will Trent and his boss Amanda (can't find the last name right now) both first made appearances in Grant County books before moving onto their own series. You will get much more enjoyment if you read her books in the order in which they were written.
    • 4/5
      With this thriller, Karin Slaughter begins a new series which she calls the Georgia series. Sara Linton (the Grant County series) has left Grant County and is working as a doctor in the trauma center of a large public hospital in Atlanta. Will Trent and Faith Mitchell (the Will Trent/Atlanta series) are still partners in the Atlanta GBI office. A woman who has been horribly tortured and mutilated brings the three together to find the torturer. Soon another victim is discovered (this one dead), and two more women go missing.Karin Slaughter's books offer the best of the two worlds of police procedural mysteries and forensic medicine mysteries. As the days go on and no break in the case appears, the characters' frustrations and fears build toward a scary and unpredictable climax.The three main characters are complex and interesting. I've loved Sara Linton from her first appearance so many books ago. Her present life, a reaction to the events in the previous Grant County novel, seems empty and sad, so she jumps at the chance to help the GBI with this case, hoping to recapture some excitement in her life.Will Trent has an unstable wife who moves in and out of his life on her whims. He has dyslexia, so he depends heavily on his partner Faith Mitchell, who has her own issues that may affect her career. The minor characters are drawn carefully also. An older couple introduced early on are creepy enough for three books. I particularly like Amanda, Will's and Faith's boss, who is so tough that she's funny.The action is intense, the mystery is intriguing, and the descriptions are graphic. The issues presented are extremely unsettling. There is rarely a sense of unadulterated redemption at the end of a Karin Slaughter novel, and this one is no different.I'm a huge Karin Slaughter fan, and have been waiting for this book to see the result of certain issues from former books as much as to enjoy the mystery. This one did not disappoint. I hope Karin Slaughter continues the story of these three very sympathetic characters working together on cases.
    • 5/5
      Top-notch suspense, with well-drawn characters and almost non-stop action. Although the story brings together characters from two separate series by the author, this can easily be picked up by someone unfamiliar with the previous books.