Most Atlantans ignored or were repelled by the sadistic killing of the young black prostitute, but for detective Michael Ormewood, the investigation of this sordid crime offers a respite from his unhappy home life. His cathartic search becomes complicated when state officials join the probe. The hunt quickly fixes on John Shelley, a recently released sex convict, but Georgia agent Will Trent doubts that they have the right man. Karin Slaughter's Triptych combines plausible forensics with characters that won't let you off the hook.
Publishers Weekly
Bestseller Slaughter departs from her Grant County crime series (Faithless, etc.) with a stand-alone thriller notable mainly for a jolting mid-book twist similar to one Ira Levin used with more subtlety in A Kiss Before Dying. The case of a prostitute's brutal murder provides a welcome break for Michael Ormewood, a cynical, world-weary Atlanta cop weighed down by dealing with the city's underclass and the heartbreak of a mentally impaired son. Since the victim's tongue was severed, linking the crime to several other recent outrages, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation intervenes. Suspicions focus on a recently paroled sex offender, John Shelley, who viciously butchered a neighbor more than a decade earlier. Slaughter unexpectedly switches the narrative's perspective, but the shock value garnered by the plot twist isn't matched by the predictable denouement. (Aug.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
Atlanta detective Michael Ormewood squares off against an ex-con with nothing left to lose. Let the Slaughter begin! Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Taking a break from her well-regarded series about Grant County Medical Examiner Dr. Sara Linton (Faithless, 2005, etc.), Slaughter turns to a stand-alone in which horrific physical violence grows out of the psychological kind. Nobody would care about Aleesha Monroe, the prostitute slain in an Atlanta housing project, if her killer hadn't bitten off her tongue. But because Aleesha's the fourth such victim in recent months, Det. Michael Ormewood is under intense pressure from his lieutenant to close the case-even though Michael's already got his hands full juggling a mentally challenged son and a seductive next-door neighbor. The pressure is only intensified when Will Trent, of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's Special Criminal Apprehension Team, is assigned to the case, and when Will starts to lean on his childhood friend, Vice cop Angie Polaski, for help. Across town, saintlike John Shelley, just released from prison after serving 20 years for rape and murder, has troubles of his own: a dead-end job, a roach-infested apartment, a hard-nosed parole officer and the certainty that everyone who sees him knows he did time for killing a 15-year-old girl. When John, after rescuing a hooker from assault, walks her home and pays her colleague Robin to tell him about her first kiss, the story takes wing, and Slaughter, whose hallmark in her first five novels had been grueling forensics, shows a rare and generous capacity for compassion. Though there are mysteries along the way-how did John manage to compile a stratospheric credit rating while he was in stir, and what's the connection between the violence past and present?-Slaughter has the courage to detonate her biggest bombshells early on,keeping even the wariest readers off-balance and leaving the last act for a settling of accounts. The volcanic heroes and villains, who act both surprisingly and logically, are a welcome sign that Slaughter's trademark franchise only hints at the range of her gifts.
From the Publisher
"Slaughter's gift for building multi-layered tension while deconstructing damaged personalities gives this thriller a nerve-wracking finish."—USA Today
"Excellent.... Karin Slaughter is not afraid to show the absolute worst in people, as well as the best."—Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
"[Karin Slaughter] writes with a razor...Triptych elevates her to the top of my list of favorite crime writers."—Cleveland Plain Dealer
"Volcanic heroes and villians, who act both surprisingly and logically.... Slaughter has the courage to detonate her biggest bombshells early on, keeping even the wariest readers off-balance."—Kirkus Reviews
FEB/MAR 07 - AudioFile
Slaughter, who is also the author of the Grant County series, entices us into entering the secret world of a vicious killer who bites the tongues off his victims. The main characters, a down-on-his-luck detective, a female vice cop who was once his lover, an agent from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and a sex offender con man, are, for the most part, abused, flawed, and difficult to like. But Brian Keith Lewis's solid, workmanlike narration pulls us inside their minds so that we can fathom their motives. To his great credit, Lewis doesn't tip off listeners before the shocking plot twist that exposes the killer. A grisly thriller for those who love stories with gore. M.T.B. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine
