Grabs you Hook, Line and Skinner....... (Skin Privilege - Karin Slaughter)

Member Name: rune_tune

Product:	Skin Privilege - Karin Slaughter
Date:	03/08/08 (241 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A great piece of crime writing

Disadvantages: Might be too dark for some readers.

Skin Privilege by Karin Slaughter.

~ About the Author ~

Karin Slaughter is fast becoming one of the best writers in her genre. She lives in the United States, and is a native of Georgia, so it's no surprise that many of her works are based in this area.

Her writing is also something that doesn't shy away from violence in all its forms, and she herself has said its because she wants to write about social aspects that are important to her, as well as trying to keep it real.

Skin Privilege is the 6th novel in a series featuring three main characters - Lena Adams, Jeffrey Tolliver and Sara Linton. In the US, this book has a different title of Beyond Reach. However, the text of the books is identical.

The 7th book in this series (Genesis) is due out in 2009.
The previous books in this series are:

Blindsighted
Kisscut
A Faint Cold Fear
Indelible
Faithless

~ Synopsis ~

This book begins with a fire - and to start with we don't know who has been caught up in the flames.

Then Jeffrey Tolliver gets a phone call - To tell him one of his detectives, Lena Adams, has been arrested in her hometown of Reece.
He decides to go down there, taking with him his wife Sara Linton. Sara is a qualified doctor, as well as medical examiner for the town Heartsdale, but she is currently in the middle of her own crisis, as the parents of a former 10-year-old boy patient she had been treating are suing her for malpractice.

Once Jeffrey and Sara arrive in Reece, they find Lena in the hospital, and under suspicion of being involved in the torching of a car that they then found the remains of someone else inside. While Jeffrey and Sara are there, Lena then manages to make her escape from custody in the hospital.

Jeffrey, Sara and Lena all then begin their own exploration into what is happening in this small town. Lena is desperate to work out why her Uncle Hank has suddenly begun using Meth again after staying clean for years - and what that has to do with not only the death of someone in a car fire, but also the death of her mother.
Lena is being made to revisit old wounds, and her fight to try and find out the truth seems to only be generating more questions with few answers.

Jeffrey and Sara, as they begin to not only find Lena, but also what has been happening, soon begin to realize that the town holds horrifying underground connections to gangs, with Swastika tattoos signifying different gangs and territory.
These gangs have infiltrated the area well, having spent years building up a meth network and because of this, the town begins to close ranks with no answers forthcoming.

Danger begins to lurk in every corner, and before long, Jeffrey, Sara and Lena all find their lives are in jeopardy.

~ Thoughts on the book ~

The first thing that struck me as I read this book is unlike other Karin Slaughter books, this one seems to focus more on the emotions of a character. It takes us away from the acts of crimes and pushes more towards solving of them, with the criminals more in the background than usual.

It meant the pace of this book took a little longer to get going than previous books I have read in this series, but once it did - it was well worth the wait! You then get thrust into what Karin does seem to do so well, and that is give you a page turner of the highest crime/thriller quality.

We see far more of Lena in this book, and while I know some fans have complained about this, I for one found it interesting and it meant I was able to get a much better understanding of her. Jeffrey and Sara's relationship is also finely scrutinized in this book, again far more than is usual in the series.
To begin with, I did wonder what had caused this change of pace in Karin's writings, but once the ending was revealed in the last few pages of the book - it began to make much more sense and I suspect it will help set up the book following this one, Genesis.

This book (like the others) can be read as a stand-alone novel, but I would say its preferable to have read the others simply because it will help just give more insight into the characters - but as I've said, not essential.

As with all good writer, sub-plots and secondary characters are done well, sometimes throwing you off the scent, other times making you realize how something pieces together, but never quite wrapping it up until Karin is ready to do that.

The book is split into more than just "chapters" with each character, or main group of characters, having different segments devoted entirely to events as they happen from their perspective. I personally enjoy this style of writing when done well (as Karin does) because it allows you to see things from a different standpoint than you might otherwise get if written into the story just into chapters.

The overall effect of the book though is still the mainstay of what Karin Slaughter does. We have a mix of underground gangs and crime, characters whose motives you can't be entirely sure about - who is the bad guy and who isn't? Violence is shown without sensationalism, both physical and sexual. This shows in the writing, which is moody, dark but with a distinct edge to it. We get shown the less amorous side of small town America and it done with aplomb.

Not least, we get an ending as unexpected as I could have imagined, and its one that is both controversial and brave.

~ Final Thoughts ~

I do know the ending of this book has caused huge controversy with regular readers of these novels. However, I actually applaud Karin Slaughter for taking what is essentially a very brave step, and one not often taken by writers. It makes up for her slight departure in her style of writing that occurs in this book, and as I've said, it actually helps make more sense of it.

It's a truly gripping read from Karin Slaughter and all that you would expect from a good crime novel. You get presented with more than one possibility of events, as you read, all as plausible as the other. Your usual instincts or theories as to what is happening aren't much use to you as you read the book. You get a great shift of view and time frame as you read from each character is also exceptionally well done and it all helps nicely bring the book together.

Some might say Karin Slaughter writes in a style that is too dark, with little or no humour to break it up like some writers do. However, I actually think this is strength of her writing because she manages it without you either feeling as if you've lost the plot, or that it is so dark it becomes depressing and so impossible to read. It just brings it into sharp focus when needed, without becoming sensationalised.

Despite this book being "softer" than her previous novels, it's still very much a Karin Slaughter book, which means its much darker than some of the writing you might get from Reichs, Cornwall and other female crime writers. Because she is different, its one reason I enjoy reading her books so much because I get a completely different edge with her books.
This is another excellent effort by her, and one I would thoroughly recommend if you like crime/thriller style books.

5 out of 5 stars from me.

Availability is widespread and I picked up my copy from Asda as a paperback for £3-49.

Summary: A brave ending and a great novel overall.