Indelible, Karin Slaughter

This. Was. Awesome.

It was When Sara Met Jeffery up in here.

I needed a breather from Lena, and Grant County #4 gave it to me. OK, she was in it, but not to the extent she has been. Basically, what you need to know is she's back on the force and she's still seeing that asswipe, Ethan Green. I still think she's gonna end up dead. *sigh* At least we know she didn't kill Chuck now. She's covering for Ethan, but she's not a murderer. Small comfort.

We start out with a bang, literally. Two men walk into the police station and start shooting. Sara is there trying to talk to Jeffery. They're on the outs. Jeffery has asked Sara to marry him several times, and she keeps brushing him off, but she also wants to keep seeing him.

There's really 2 stories here, the one in the present, the hostage situation, and the one in the past, the When Sara Met Jeffery Situation. We keep bouncing between the two.

And of course they tie together.

When Sara and Jeffery first start dating, they took a trip. It had been planned as a trip to the beach in FL, but Jeffery really took Sara to his home. We've briefly seen his hometown in Book 2, Kisscut, but this is a real in depth look at where Jeffery comes from, and who he is because of it.

We find out when he was a teen, he was suspected of the rape of one of his classmates. She recanted, and nothing ever came of it, but then she went missing. Actually, Jeffery wasn't the only one accused. His friend, Robert, was actually accused first. Then , when Jeffery says Robert was with him, so couldn't have raped her, she says they both raped her. The whole story kind of hinges on Robert, actually.

Kisscut, Karin Slaughter

Grant County continues...And everyone needs freakin' therapy.

This one was so sad. It starts with the death of a young girl, at Jeffery's hands. She's pointing a gun at a boy a bit older than her and threatening to shoot him. Jeffery has no other choice. Still it tears him up and he constantly second guesses himself for the rest of the book.

As you meet the kids who knew the girl, Jenny, you start to realize there is something seriously wrong. Especially after meeting her intended victim, Mark.

There's this one part that is so reminiscent of the recent Steubenville horrors, that is gives you chills. Heartbreaking. And this predates Steubenville by a lot.

Sara is still dancing around Jeffery. They're actually planning on having dinner when Jenny threatens Mark. Well, actually, Jeffery leaves Sara to answer a page and she goes into the bathroom where she finds a murdered infant - someone gave birth and immediately killed the baby. Sara had seen Jenny come out of the bathroom and, after seeing if it's possible to save the baby, goes after her. She finds the standoff and sees Jeffery give in to his only choice.

 Jeffery needs to see someone to deal with his actions, and they need couples therapy if they're going to make this second chance work. Sara can't let go of Jeffery's affair/one night stand. She can't let it go and he can't keep apologizing.

Lena is obviously still struggling with her rape and kidnapping. She's back on the job with the caveat that she see a therapist, which she conveniently "hasn't done yet." I really hope she does. These kinds of stories always talk about therapy and how the characters need it, but never actually have their characters do it. Then the character manages to just pull themselves out. It's really annoying. That's not how it works for 98% of the population. People need help! Therapy doesn't make you weak or crazy.