Blindsighted [Import] [Hardcover]

Karin Slaughter (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Arrow Bks.; New e. edition (April 20, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0099492679
• ISBN-13: 978-0099492672
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (135 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Karin Slaughter is a New York Times and #1 internationally bestselling author. She is a native of Georgia.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great late-night reading, July 7, 2002

By 

mellion108 (Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Blindsighted: A Novel (Dr. Sara Linton) (Hardcover)

I picked up Blindsighted on a whim. The cover blurbs sounded interesting, and I love to read a good, gory, mystery. This one does not disappoint.

Karin Slaughter--a wonderful name for a crime/mystery writer--sets her novel in a small town in Georgia. Nothing much happens in Heartsdale, and the local pediatrician, Sara Linton, also works as the coroner. Sara meets her younger sister for lunch at the local diner one afternoon and stumbles upon a grisly scene. The twin sister of a local detective has been viciously attacked, mutilated, and raped. It's not long before another victim surfaces, and Sara works along with her ex-husband who also happens to be the Chief of Police to try to track down this sick killer. All the while, Sara has her own tortured past as well as her strained relationship with her ex-husband to deal with. In this small town where everyone knows everyone else, who could possibly be the twisted rapist murderer?

Slaughter seems to have done her research for this novel. The medical information alone is quite interesting, and the dialogue and characters are believable. The plot is a bit easy to figure out early on in the novel, but I think it's probably pretty difficult to write a totally original novel dealing with serial killers in this day and age. Overall, I enjoyed the story. It's well written, and it's a quick read that's perfect for the summer.

59 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Rather upsetting, June 16, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Blindsighted (Grant County) (Mass Market Paperback)

Let me start by stating that (1) I have never felt compelled to write a review on here before or "warn" others about a book, and (2) I ADORE mystery/suspense-type novels, including Patricia Cornwell, James Patterson, Mary Higgins Clark, Tami Hoag, the whole lot.

This book, while a decent mystery/suspense novel, goes much to far with the graphic rape scenes. It terrified me, particularly with its references to the rapist pulling out the women's teeth to "rape their faces," and other such graphic detailings. I had nightmares about it, and for some reason, it's all I can think about when I go to the dentist (I'm not kidding). I feel pretty traumatized just by READING it, and I don't really feel like I can talk to anyone else about it, given how gruesome it is. It's almost as if I've lived the rape and am afraid of my own "dirty little secret"; it was that upsetting for me. My mother and I usually share books, but I can't stand the idea of having her read this, and having her haunted by such awful visions as well. So, I'm throwing it away.

I've never been unable to stomach a book before-- graphic detailings of corpses has never bothered me. But this one crossed the line for me. I just wanted to warn others, so they know about the graphic scenes going in.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Unexpected Treat, December 1, 2001

By 

Marc Ruby™ "The Noh Hare™" (Warren, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Blindsighted: A Novel (Dr. Sara Linton) (Hardcover)

What initially attracted me to "Blindsighted" was the violence of its beginning. Even in a genre noted for the horrific, this tale wastes no time in firing with both barrels as Sara Linton, coroner of a sleepy, conservative Southern town enters a diner's restroom to discover the aftermath of a bloody and brutal attack on a local college professor. The woman dies in Sara's arms, and the subsequent autopsy reveals a crime almost baroque in its complex horror.

Sara's role forces her to deal with her ex-husband, Police Chief Jeffrey Tolliver. This unwilling partnership must confront its own issues while trying to deal with a second murder, even more gruesome than the first. Also part of the hunt is Detective Lena Adams, sister of the first victim. Torn by her own grief and a sense of powerlessness, the crimes seem to eat away at her, stretching her ability to retain control of her personal and professional life. The three find that they are dealing with a deranged serial killer that not only tortures and molests his victims, but then leaves them to be found at the edge of death. For Sara the deaths seem to be an impossible message from the past.

Each of the players, including the invisible killer, has some defect or injury which makes them vulnerable. As the lens shifts back and forth from Sara to Jeffrey, then to Lena, then back again, it is the fine detail of their personalities as much as the complex forensic work that first hides and then finally reveals the roots of the killer's motivation. Much of what makes "Blindsighted" work is the adeptness with which Karin Slaughter combines a complex and fast paced plot with unusually well developed main characters. Sara Linton, Jeffrey Tolliver, and Lena Tolliver are all given loving attention. If you think this means that some of the minor characters are too sketchy, you will be much surprised.

Wherever you look, this is a detail rich story. It lives up to it's billing as a Southern mystery story, not simply by hiding behind stereotypes, but in allowing the reader to experience the conflicts that lie under the surface of a rural South that is only steps away from it's urban counterpart. Nor are these factors peripheral to the tale. It is remarkable to encounter a first novel where the author as conscious of the part each fragment will play in the whole as is Karen Slaughter. While nothing is ever perfect, there is nothing here that is amateurish. This is something fresh and original for those who thought that the serial killer was past its peak.