Fallen

Written by Karin Slaughter

Narrated by Jennifer Woodward

On an ordinary spring day, Special Agent Faith Mitchell of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation returns home to a nightmare. Expecting to find her mother minding Faith's new baby daughter Emma, she is horrified to discover Emma locked in the shed, her mother's safe open, her gun missing and a trail of blood to the front door.

Without waiting for back-up, Faith enters the house to a scene of carnage. It has been torn apart and a man lies dead in a pool of blood. She stumbles across two more intruders, and within minutes they too are shot dead. And when the Atlanta police force turns up, Faith has some difficult questions to answer. But she has some desperate questions of her own. What were the killers searching for? Ex-Atlanta police chief Evelyn Mitchell was once under investigation by Faith's partner Will Trent. Is her mother directly involved this time, and where is she now?

With Faith suspended from duty, Will, together with the help of Dr Sara Linton, must piece together the fragments of a brutal and complicated case — and catch a deeply troubled and vicious murderer with only one thing on his mind. To keep on killing until the truth is finally revealed...

A Random House UK audio production.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House UK Audio
• Release date: Jul 21, 2011
• ISBN: 9781446494547

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 Fallen

[angelajmaher · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Really good, unpredictable plot. Great assortment of characters. There was maybe a tad too much explanation of terms in places, but it makes it more accessible to readers who don't read many books in this genre.

[shazjhb · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Interesting detective. Another series for me to read

[amkee-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love this series and the characters. The spins and twists to the plots and how each development changes the characters as well as the reiteration of human frailty and how we all are a product of our environment. Great book!

[tysonadams · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Unbelievably this is the first Karin Slaughter novel I have read. I have read one of her short stories before, which made me pick up this novel, so it wasn't like I didn't know that Slaughter had the goods in crime thrillers.

I quite enjoyed the slightly different take that Karin has on the crime thriller. Front and centre are a mix of slightly dysfunctional characters that somehow manage to not only work with one another, but are actually interesting to read about. You know how crime novels often have that self-loathing, alcoholic, dark and depressing lead character? Well this novel doesn't have that - thank his noodliness.

You can see why Karin is a bestselling author, so the only question is which of her novels I'll read next.

[carol420 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Couldn't put it down. Sad when it ended! Would not have expected the ending! Love when you can't predict the end!

[jrthebutler · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Cop goes to her mothers house only to find her missing and a hostage situation in progress.

[olegalca · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Plot A was a bit convoluted and involved too many characters but I continue to enjoy Will Trent as a unique law enforcement officer.

[ravenswoodpublishi-1 · 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!

[kimmr_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I started and finished this latest offering in Slaughter's Georgia series within 36 hours, all the while telling myself that I really should slow down a bit as there won't be another book in the series for quite some time. (I'm hoping there will be more, as I've grown quite attached to Will, Sara and Faith, and even to Amanda!). Slaughter is one of those crime novelists (Elizabeth George is another) whose writing, in my view, has improved with time. Sure, it's not great literature, but it doesn't set out to be. However, Slaughter creates sympathetic and believable characters, a good sense of place and plots that hang together well with just the right amount of suspense and not too many totally implausible twists. She is definitely one of my favourite modern crime writers. This novel will appeal much more to readers who have already come to know its central characters than to those wanting a jumping off point for exploring a new author.

Postscript: I'm adding to this review two days after originally writing it, because I find myself still thinking about the characters from time to time. I find lots of modern crime fiction disposable: something to read once and (hopefully) enjoy. I don't tend to re-read modern crime fiction novels because (a) something new always comes along and (b)the writing is very often not good enough to bother, even if the story was compelling at the time. To realise that Karin Slaughter's characters have stayed with me after I've finished reading the novel indicates to me that she really is a good writer, not just a good story-teller. At some point, this will definitely be worth a re-read.

[lois2ann2sovey · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Latest in the Will Trent series focusing on his partner Faith. Subtext continues his relationship with Dr. Sara Linton. Involves kidnapping, and long kept family secrets.

[gatorhater · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a great thriller about a retired captain in the narcotics department, Evelyn Mitchell, that was forced to retire because of hints corruption and of skimming money of the top on drug busts. Then one day her daughter Faith, a special agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigations, was trying to get ahold of her mom since she was taking care of her daughter, Emma, but got no answner after repeated calls to her house and on her cell phone, Faith went to her mom's residence. When she arrives at her mom's house, she notices things aren't quit right, spots a blood stain on the entrance door. She immediately calls for backup informing them that a officier needs assistance, she tolded to wait for backup, but she enters before they arrive. She's involved in a shootout killing one of the intruders in the house the other excapes out the back door only too be killed after he takes a shot at the neighbors children, but their is no sign of Evelyn in the house, the arriving officiers find Faith's daughter safely wrapped in a blanket in the laundry room. What ever happened to Evelyn, the intruders were of mixed background, was her past coming back to haunt her?

[jarratt_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Based on the high reviews, my thoughts on the book must be an anomaly. I got about 3/4 of the way through the book and didn't give a whit about any of the characters so I quit reading. The characters were either awful people (Amanda and Angie), spineless (Will), or we just didn't know enough about them (Faith, her neighbor). Something would happen to a character, then you'd have to go 100 or more pages before returning back to that character to find out what happened. The pacing was slow with too much exposition.I'm not sure what others see in "Fallen," but it wasn't for me.

[bohemiangirl35 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Not Karin Slaughter's best. She's one of my favorite authors and I have loved loved loved these characters from the beginning, but they were not themselves in this novel. They did stupid things that they never would have done in previous books, and generally got on my nerves because they were acting like people I didn't recognize even though this is the 11th book for Sarah Linton and 5th for Will Trent. However, Slaughter still told a suspenseful story and I'm ready for the next one. I will probably go back to the beginning and read the others over again.

[ceh0017 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm still not quite sure how I feel about this one. It was true Karin Slaughter in the fact that it was very suspenseful and kept you on the edge of your seat, but it seemed to have too many story lines going on at the same time. I miss focusing on the main characters more and hope that in her next novel she will go back to original pattern. Overall a great read if you're a fan of KS.

[nwadel · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Riveting, suspenseful, mysterious, action packed. I love her books! Its the 3rd of the WIll Trent series but if you haven't read them in order, don't worry about it. The story starts out with a bang as Faith learns her mother is missing along with her baby daughter and the action starts, the story never slows down. If you like a good action packed mystery thriller, highly recommend Karin Slaughter books!

[mahallett · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

really dumb. don't understand the rave reviews. she writes well and that does carry you along. her characters will pass inspection even though there's way too much info about them but the plot! the plot is ridiculous!somebody should shoot amanda.

[groundedforlife · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm a huge Karin Slaughter fan but was put off reading her books for a few years following the death (I won't go into details if you haven't read it yet) of Sara's husband Jeffery. So after letting a couple of books stack up I decided to jump back in and I'm not dissapointed that I did. Fallen is a good story just on it's own but if you read the previous "Will Trent" books in the series you will really enjoy this book even more. It explains alot of little story/plot lines and we get even more detail into Will's past with Angie. (Although I'm ready for Angie to be gone from the picture). Read Fallen you won't be dissapointed.

[auntmarge64 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

One of the best in the series. Thankfully, Slaughter keeps the characters' self-loathing and -doubt to a minimum here, as the romance between Will Trent and Sara Linton ratchets up during a massive kidnapping and murder case.

[beecharmer_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Karin Slaughter is my favorite author. Her Characters are very realistic. This book centers around Faith, her mom and Will. Sarah and Will finally get together romantically. Loved this book. Can't wait for KS's next one!

[carolee888 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When I picked this book out, I didn't realize that it was the third in the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Series. But it worked very well as a stand alone book.I am not going to cover what happened since you can probably get that from other reviews. I just want to give you my impressions after finishing this book. I thought that the characters were very well developed, even the villians! I love getting background information and there was plenty of it. I didn't stay up all night with this book like other readers did. The pace for me was like a fast walk and then towards the end, the book was furiously racing. I found myself wanting less time with Faith Trent's partner Will Trent and more with Faith. But after reading the end of the book, I would like to know more about Will Trent. I found him very intriguing. I adored Will Trent's sense of humor and was amazed that he survived what seems to have been a very brutal childhood.His relationship problems had to be expected with his background. There is something engaging about a male character who doesn't know that he is fascinating! I also wanted more time with Faith's mother, Evelyn while I was reading the book. I imagine the experience of being kidnapped would be such an emotional harrowing experience that it would have been great to focus more on it in the book. I did enjoy this book. There were scenes of violence but not they were limited and not enough to scare me off. Twists were great, I did not except the secrets that were revealed at the end. I would recommend this book to any mystery fan who likes a great story without too much blood and gore. This book was received from GoodReads and in that fact in no way influenced the content of my review.

[princesspeaches_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this book, it was a suspenseful read, but it really wasn't anything that I found out of the ordinary. When the mother of a Georgia Police Officer comes up missing in a bloody scene at her own home, Faith is relieved at finding her baby still there but determined to find her mother. Her mother's own police officer past may play a part in her disappearance which seems to have something to do with Mexican and Asian gangs. Faith is dealing with keeping herself healthy through the whole ordeal (shes diabetic) and taking care of her children. A group of friends in the right jobs (Amanda, detective; Will, Amanda's partner; Sara, a doctor) help Faith get to the bottom of the situation. Nothing really made me care about the characters, except for the vulnerable Sara and Will, I wanted to find out what happened, but wasn't really rooting for either side.

[mybookcloset · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is the first Karin Slaughter novel I have read, but it won't be the last if this is any indication of the pace she sets for her characters... off and running right from the first page. A true suspense thriller!The story and characters held my interest all the way through to the surprising end. I felt the relationships were believable and I did care about what happened. I can't wait to read more about Will Trent, well really about all of them really. I NEED to see how they got to this point. The only parts that did not ring true to me were the actions surrounding Faith medical condition, how she and others handled her diabetes. I too am a diabetic and said 'Huh?' and 'No!' to most of those parts.Overall... Karin Slaughter has a new devotee!

[mawshimp · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent addition to the series!!!

[dara85 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

**S P O I L E R **I enjoyed this book. It held my interest the majority of the time, but a couple times I had a hard time getting into it. I really liked the romance between Will Trent and Sara Linton. I am glad Angie is history, as far as a relationship goes. The book had an unexpected ending, that I did not see coming.

[elizajane_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Reason for Reading: Next in the series.A refreshingly, page-turning, exiting thriller that this long time Slaughter fan has finally found worthy of five stars again. Slaughter's last several books have been in the 3 or 4 star range for me, good but just not up to Blindsighted and Kisscut, those first two explosive books. With Fallen, Slaughter is back in the seat with an exhilarating new thriller. Faith, Will's partner, is a major character in this book as her mother is kidnapped and she sets off to track down the merciless person or persons who have done so, along the way she even becomes a suspect. She realizes she can't go it alone and comes to Will for help and even former coroner, Sara Linton. The case is fantastic and an exciting read. Possibly the plot is a little over the top, but who cares! Slaughter is in top form here.I've said it before in my reviews that I've never liked Sara Linton, but Slaughter takes her character through some major development in this book, as she does Will Trent. Giving them both a much needed update in their current situations and taking them forward in a direction that I amazingly am very satisfied with. An all around top-notch thriller with great character development for the series as a whole.

[jbrubacher_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Faith Mitchell gets home late to find blood through her mother's house, her baby daughter hidden and her mother vanished. Two men remaining in the house are looking for something, but by one thing or another she's shot them both before they explain. And she still doesn't know where they took her mother. By the end of the investigation she's learning about her mother's career as a cop, and also her life as a women defined by the sixties.You could read this as a standalone crime novel with excellent, multi-faceted characters and a terrific convoluted plot, but if you read the other books first you've got something even better: another segment of these characters' lives that the author propels forward without apology. This is a landmark book for Will Trent particularly. If you're a fan of his, you can't miss it.

[cal8769 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

GBI agent Faith Mitchell is running late to pick up her baby after a training session and is worried that her mother isn't answering her phones. Her mother is a retired police captain who is always in touch with her family and friends and Faith's instincts are on edge. When she gets to her mother's house she is met with loud music and a figure watching out from behind a curtain. Worried for her mother and baby, Faith charges into the ransacked house and a hostage situation turns violent. This is such a great thriller with all of the twists and turns that I love. This is the 9th book in the Sara Linton series and it doesn't disappoint.

[sweetreaderma · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another winner from Karin Slaughter. She always knows how to make you like her characters and has the plots that keep you begging for more.

[jillstone · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Another winner from Slaughter. Her series continues with this latest entry which is an absolute page turner. If you've enjoyed any of her previous books, pick up Fallen right away. Well written characters that you can't help but care about and a wonderful plot. If you enjoy thrillers this won't disappoint. No need to read the previous books, but after you finish this one you will want to read them all. (kindle edition)

[kellyreeder · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed reading Fallen from the moment it arrived in my mailbox. Slaughter knows how to write suspense which kept me on my toes waiting for the next shoe to drop. I found the book interesting and loved getting to know another side of Faith Mitchell and the criminal life of Faith's mother. I would like to see Slaughter further develop Will Trent's character, and feel that the author is leading us into the further revolution of Trent. Overall, like all of her books, Karin Slaughter delivers again.