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Blindsighted by Karin Slaughter

 

Genre: Adrenaline, Thriller

Publication Date: May 1, 2001

Number of pages: 311

Setting: Heartsdale, Georgia

Time Period: 2001

Series: Grant County #1

Subject Headings: Women physicians fiction, Georgia fiction, Sex crimes fiction

3 Descriptive Terms: Fast-paced, Gritty, Crime investigation

Plot Summary: 

Sarah Linton is a small-town pediatrician who serves as the Grant County coroner on the side.  She's still recovering from her divorce two years ago from the local chief of police, Jeffrey Tolliver with whom she works closely. Sarah discovers the first victim barely alive in the restroom of the local diner. Sarah does her best to save her, but is unsuccessful. The victim is the twin sister of a member of Jeffery's police force, Lena Adams. With no immediate leads, the investigation gets off to a slow start. Meanwhile we learn more about the victim and her sister's history. It's not too long before Sarah finds the next victim splayed across her car. Through extreme and gory measures, Sarah is able to save this one, a student at the local college. Lena is able to interview her, just before the victim commits suicide in her hospital room. Lena is given time off and Sarah once again must perform an autopsy on a brutally damaged body.  She slowly realizes these crimes may be related to her personally. This connection ramps up tension between her and Jeffrey, intensifies the danger and suspense, and ultimately leads them to the killer/rapist.

Thriller Appeal Factors:

Pacing - Blindsighted is fast-paced. The whole story takes place within just a few days and cuts between points of view faster and faster as the action escalates.

Tone - the story is suspenseful, gritty, and violent. The physical trauma done to the female victims in this story is told is great detail as our main character performs autopsies.

Character - The main characters fit the thriller prototype as described by Wyatt and Saricks (2019).  They are professionals, a doctor and a police chief, who are committed to the case despite hardships and fear.  But they are also sympathetic and imperfect. Some backstory is provided so that we slowly understand the personal nature of the crimes.

Setting - We know early on that the attacker is a part of their small-town community in Georgia, which adds to the creeping sense of danger.  We get both the medical and law enforcement points of view from our main characters.  

Thriller Read-Alikes:

Waking Nightmare by Kylie Brant is another thriller set in Georgia with a female investigator.  The crimes are similarly brutal and the stories are both fast-paced.

The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen features a female doctor with southern origins.  The story is disturbing and violent as in Blindsighted.

Author, Mo Hayder, writes thrillers with characters similar to Karin Slaughter in that they are imperfect yet honorable, working on violent, brutal crimes.  Both write fast-paced, complex plots.

Other Genre Read-Alikes:

Joshilyn Jackson writes stand alone domestic suspense stories set in the south.  Karin Slaughter readers might enjoy the similar southern setting and dark, suspenseful tone, but without the gritty violence.

J. D. Robb (aka Nora Roberts) romantic suspense series, In Death, features a female cop solving brutal crimes. Grizzly details are similar to Slaughter's works, but the setting is slightly futuristic and romance is added to the story.

Sources

Novelist. (n.d.). https://www.ebsco.com/novelist

Wyatt, N, & Saricks, J. G. (2019). The readers’ advisory guide to genre fiction. Chicago: ALA.



Comments

  1. AnonymousJanuary 23, 2024 at 1:47 PM

    I like that this book takes place in the span of a few days. Those kinds of stories always blow my mind a little bit because I'm always left with a feeling of wonder and bewilderment. For my own thriller, The Coworker by Frieda McFadden, the timeline jumps back and forth from 9 months prior to the events throughout the book. Sometimes, I lost track of how quickly things were moving. I know Wyatt & Saricks say that female protagonists are common, but it still baffles me a little bit that that's the case.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Erin CataldiJanuary 29, 2024 at 1:24 PM

    Like Katie said, I love books that span only a few days or a few hours, they make it harder to put down! Excellent job on your first annotation! The appeals and summary are fantastic!

    ReplyDelete

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