Fractured by Karin Slaughter

I'm getting closer and closer to finishing all of Slaughter's books. It will be a sad day. Luckily she already has a new one (Fallen) in the works. I hope she knows that I will be very sad if Will and Sarah don't get together in it!

But anyways, on to Fractured. This is the second book in the Will Trent series (remember Triptych?). Will is the functional dyslexic who works for the GBI. His boss, the ball busting Amanda Wagner, calls him to a scene at a wealthy Atlanta community. A mother (Abigail Campano) has strangled a man whom she found standing over her daughter's dead body with a knife. It doesn't take long for Trent to realize that the Atlanta PD screwed up. First off, it isn't the Campano's daughter who is lying dead at the top of the stairs. The father Paul, whom Will grew up with in state care, comes home and realizes it is not his daughter. It is then determined that the man at the bottom of the stairs is a younger boy who was also attacked by the killer. But in a mix up the mother murdered him thinking he was the killer. This fits in perfectly with Will assessment that their was another person taken from the home, via the bloody footprint on the stairs. Thus the search for Emma Campano begins. Detective Faith Mitchell is put on the case to work with Trent. With much of nothing to go on, they begin asking questions at both the private school the girl attends and at Georgia Tech where it is determined that the boy attended. Faith does take well to Trent due to his involvement in her mother's forced retirement after she was exposed in a case he was working. Even with this she can't help but respect his ability to read a crime scene. As the case winds on, it is determined that the killer has some sort of reading problem. This keeps Will on edge as he worries about his colleagues realizing he too has this problem. He also misses a few key pieces of evidence due to his lack of reading skills. After digging around and finding out that one of the girls' teachers has a past with young girls, they begin going after him and looking for an accomplice which leads them down a slightly disturbing road.

This is the beginning of Will and Faith's partnership. As with all of Slaughter's books she really brings out a connection with the characters. You see how Faith functions as a single mom as well as getting another look into Will Trent's past. You get a glimpse at the bond that Will and Faith will go on to forge as partners (unless you read out of order like I did, then you already know).  I don't really have any complaints, the story held up great even without a romantic tie that is usually in her books. A good, solid read.