cover image Fallen

Fallen

Karin Slaughter. Delacorte, $26 (400p) ISBN 978-0-345-52820-9

At the start of Slaughter's gripping third novel to combine characters from her two Georgia-based series (after Broken), Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent Faith Mitchell arrives at the Atlanta house of her widowed mother, Evelyn, to find serious trouble: her mother, a retired police captain, is missing; a dead man is lying on the laundry room floor; and an Asian man is holding her mother's pistol to a Hispanic man's head in Evelyn's bedroom. More violence follows. Faith's partner, Will Trent, tries to gather clues without stepping on any jurisdictional toes in the ensuing investigation, but Will fears that Evelyn's kidnapping is tied to a corruption scandal involving Evelyn's past as a narcotics officer, an angle he knows Faith doesn't want to consider. Will's deepening friendship with Dr. Sara Linton, currently working in an Atlanta E.R. and one of the few people able to crack his protective shell, adds depth. Family%E2%80%94biological, professional, and everything in between%E2%80%94plays a key role in a thriller sure to please Slaughter's many fans. (June)