A Faint Cold Fear

Written by Karin Slaughter

Narrated by Deborah Hazlett

Sara Linton, medical examiner in the small town of Heartsdale, is called out to an apparent suicide on the local college campus. The mutilated body provides little in the way of clues — and the college authorities are keen to avoid a scandal — but for Sara and police chief Jeffrey Tolliver, things don't add up.

Two more suspicious suicides follow, and a young woman is brutally attacked. For Sara, the violence strikes far too close to home. And as Jeffrey pursues the sadistic killer, he discovers that ex-police detective Lena Adams, now a security guard on campus, may be in possession of crucial information. But, bruised and angered by her expulsion from the force, Lena seems to be barely capable of protecting herself, let alone saving the next victim...

A Random House UK audio production.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House UK Audio
• Release date: Jan 27, 2011
• ISBN: 9781446461235

Karin Slaughter

Karin Slaughter is one of the world’s most popular storytellers. She is the author of more than twenty instant New York Times bestselling novels, including the Edgar-nominated Cop Town and standalone novels The Good Daughter and Pretty Girls. An international bestseller, Slaughter is published in 120 countries with more than 40 million copies sold across the globe. Pieces of Her is a #1 Netflix original series, Will Trent is a television series starring Ramón Rodríguez on ABC, and further projects are in development for television. Karin Slaughter is the founder of the Save the Libraries project—a nonprofit organization established to support libraries and library programming. A native of Georgia, she lives in Atlanta.

Reviews for A Faint Cold Fear

[balthazar0lawson · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I loathed this book and I so wanted to throw it away and not finish it. But I rarely do this with any book I start.

I hated the characters and couldn't care less about what happened to them. In real life I would not have anything to do with them. I loathed this so much that I won't be reading any more in this series.

[barb_h_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Audiobook. This was not my favorite book in the series. It was sad, and very vulgar and graphic in some parts. Might have been better for me to read it to skim over parts I didn't enjoy rather then have to listen to them. But the story was good and I do like the characters so I will check out the next book in the series.

[alan18_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Too much small talk and not enough suspense and movement to plot. I didn't read all of it. The first book I have tried by this author. I will try again with another. When characters talk about things like their ice cream melting or have personal relationship fights I lose interest since the plot is not advanced.

[deltaqueen50 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

With A Faint Cold Fear, Karin Slaughter has taken her Grant County series up a notch. Fastpaced action combined with great character development kept the pages turning, and I am looking forward to the next installation.The main storyline revolves around a series of deaths at the local university. At first glance they appear as suicides, but are they? They must be connected, but Sherrif Jeffrey Tolliver is having difficulty finding the connection. His ex-wife, Medical Examine Sara Linton is involved with a nightmare of her own involving her family. I found the most interesting plotline was of Lena Adams, former Grant County deputy, now working as security at the university campus. Her life has been in a downward spiral since the first book, and she seems to be hitting rock bottom in this, the third book. I am curious to find out what is going to happen to this character. A Faint Cold Fear is a solid thriller, the author doesn't pull any punches, she takes us ona thrilling ride with skillful writing, great imagination and excellent characters.

[tulikangaroo · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very well written and engaging, as usual, though Lena drives me a little nuts. Most of my problem is I've read subsequent books and I know how well things go for her and Ethan. Other than that, Karin Slaughter's usual intelligence and wit are touching and refreshing, and her commitment to speaking out against racism and violence against women are in full force.

[bjmitch_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm gradually becoming a solid fan of Karin Slaughter's mystery novels. In this one the lead characters are Sara Linton, medical examiner, and Jeffrey Tolliver, Chief of Police, of a small college town in Georgia. The college plays a large role in the story; it's supposedly a school for dorky types who don't fit in at the better known large universities in Georgia. Judging from the scene at one dorm party, though, these kids don't seem very nerdy at all.As this gripping story begins, the body of a young man has been found in the dry river bed under a bridge by the college. He has fallen or jumped from the bridge and his legs are shattered. Is it suicide? He has tried to slit his arm before. While Sara, Jeffrey, and others try to figure out what happened, Sara's very pregnant sister leaves Sara's car to go up a hill into the woods to relieve herself. They find her stabbed and bleeding profusely a few minutes later. In other words, the book grabs the reader by the neck and doesn't let go until the end.There is one masterfully drawn character in this book you won't soon forget. Lena is a former cop who now works for the college security department. She hates the job, mostly because of her bigoted, smarmy boss. She was an excellent cop but was the victim of one of the most terrifying violent kidnappings you'll ever read about. Her head still isn't back to normal, and neither is her body for that matter. I was impressed by the depiction of this woman and her struggle to keep it together.The other characters are well drawn too and although the plot kept me turning pages, it was the characters I really loved. Slaughter has been compared to Patricia Cornwall and Kathy Reichs and I can see the truth of that comparison, but I am more impressed with Slaughter's characters than Cornwall's. I highly recommend this book.

[shelleyraec · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A Faint Cold Fear is well paced, with solid plotting that moves the story forward as the investigation twists around the characters. It starts with a suprising crime scene that gives an impression that quickly changes with the arrival of Sara who uses the injuries, described in detail, to determine that not all is as it seems. There is a lot of violence in this book - some overt, some hidden but Karin handles it well - it's never gratuitious but contributes to the story. There are enough victims and enough suspects to keep you off balance in determining who dunnit - personally I didn't see the last little reveal coming.I found Lena almost more intriguing than the murders, such a damaged woman and her behaviour so difficult to reconcile even though I know intellectually that it is not an unusual reaction to the tragedy she experienced.Suprisingly I haven't ever read this author before - as a fan of the genre I am not sure how I missed her - but I'll be hunting up some more of her work

[gmtapublishing · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Karin Slaughter is the absolute best crime/mystery writer I have come across in this day and age. Her novels will simply astound you with their heart-racing moments and intrigue. Every time I pick one of her novels up I cannot stop reading until I'm done and I still find myself begging for more. She's a writer with no fear! She wields her instruments like a knife ready to dig in deep and take you by surprise at every turn!

[mrsbakitch · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Another great read that I couldn't put down.

[debavp · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Wow, this was much better than the last installment. Slaughter kept the pace moving right along. Too easy to give lots of things away here, suffice it to say you probably know won't who the villain is until the end, with a big surprise (but then again, maybe not???). Slaughter doesn't get bogged down with a lot of unnecessary descriptions. As for Sara, Slaughter uses her humanity along with a gentleness that gets the point across perfectly with regards to the forensics without beating the reader about the head with a over-sized medical dictionary.

[permaswooned · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book is one of the series of Karin Slaughter books featuring police chief Jeffrey Tolliver, M.E. Sara Linton and the rest of the series cast of characters. This is one series that you should probably only read in order, and fairly close together, since they depend on the others. To me, that's a detriment.

[emhromp2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Karin Slaughter never disappoints. Again a good, decent thriller, almost Agatha Christie style, with the unexpected turn of events at the end of the novel. I am warming towards the characters more and more.

[riverwillow · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Karin Slaughter writes compelling crime fiction and this book is no exception. I am not sure enjoy is the right word to use as this book is so dark, but her books are engaging reads. I also really like how from each book the relationship between the characters develops.

[wcath · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed her first novel, Blindsighted, much more. Although this is very readable suspense it did not keep me on the edge of my seat like the first in this series. I have not read the second in the series, Kisscut, but I am hoping that it is more like Blindsighted.

[darrol_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A sometimes moving book about the struggles to put a life back together after being a victim of violence. A few too many dead bodies in the course of 3 books to be quite plausible, but still a reasonably good series to read.

[elizajane_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

College students appear to be committing suicide at an alarming rate, and their deaths are not your ordinary suicides. In amongst the suicides a young woman is brutally attacked not far from the scene of a suicide. How are the two related? Grant County just keeps getting better and better! Lots and lots of unexpected events happen in the lives of our main characters. I'm really intrigued as to where they will go in the next book. The case was unusual with just the right amount of gruesomeness as I've come to expect from Slaughter. A thrilling, fast-paced read with intriguing characters. I'm looking forward to the next in the series.

[heidilove_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

not literature by any stretch of the imagination, slaughter manages to put a grisled twist on the mystery genre and hold her own. perfect for plane rides, beach trips, or any bit of escapism.