A Faint Cold Fear (original 2003; udgave 2004)

A FAINT COLD FEAR is the third book in a series by Karin Slaughter. I, however, read it out of order. And I enjoyed it. That is one of my tests of whether an author is a good writer: can their books in a series also be read and enjoyed as standalones? Slaughter passes my test.

Because I had read the first book in this series, I was already familiar with the main characters: the chief of police in a small town in Georgia; his ex-wife, a doctor; and his former employee who is now in Security for the college in this town. Put simply, college Security, headed by a creepy man, and his new employee, Lena, the former police detective, have called the police to come to the scene of a crime at the college. Someone has either committed suicide or was murdered. Soon other murders occur as well, and the police race to solve these and prevent more.

Jeffrey, the Chief of Police, suspects that Lena knows more than she is saying. Unfortunately, Lena has anger issues and is not forthcoming when police question her. Sara, Jeffrey‘s ex-wife and the medical examiner in town, sometimes acts as a buffer between them. She is seeing Jeffrey again but is not ready to remarry him.

Of course, there are many side stories involving others in town. These add mysteries to the main story.

Although I enjoyed this book as a whole, I did not enjoy Lena‘s anger issues and misbehavior. I hope these do not continue to be a problem later in the series. ( )

Love this author. Great series. I can't believe there are only 3 books left in this series. ( )

Op de campus van een universiteit vinden enkele studenten onder mysterieuze omstandigheden de dood. Terwijl kinderarts en lijkschouwer Sara Linton het eerste lichaam onderzoekt, wordt haar zus Tessa aangevallen. Sara's ex-man Jeffrey Tolliver leidt het onderzoek, maar oud-rechercheur Lena Adams verricht haar eigen speurwerk en begeeft zich daarbij op gevaarlijk terrein...

An average book with an average plot. Pretty predictable. ( )

A Faint Cold Fear
3.5 Stars

A suspicious suicide and a vicious attack on a pregnant woman at the local college place Chief Jeffrey Tolliver and his ex-wife, Sara Linton, in pursuit of a brutal killer who will let nothing stand in the way of his ambitions.

Slaughter’s writing style is dark and gritty but never fails to captivate. The crimes in this installment are toned down somewhat as compared to the previous books, but there are still some gruesome depictions. The investigation is interesting with several solid twists and turns although I did manage to guess the villain quite easily prior to the big reveal.

Even though this series is character driven, it cannot be said that any are particularly appealing. Jeffrey and Sara have tremendous potential both as individuals and as a couple, but they never quite manage to pull it off. The biggest problem is their on again/off again relationship, which doesn’t seem to be going anywhere and the time has come for them to either fish or cut bait.

Lena has always been rough around the edges bordering on unstable, but her behavior in this book is simply incomprehensible. I can only hope that Slaughter does something to either rehabilitate or get rid of her once and for all.

All in all, one of the weaker books in the series and I hope the next one will be better. ( )