Indelible

// Indelible: making marks that cannot easily be removed.

This entry was just okay.

The book begins with a hostage situation at the police station. Jeff is hurt and needs medical attention in a hurry. To make matters worse, a group of children were touring the station and got caught up in the fray. Sara is on the scene as well and must do her best to take care of Jeff while negotiators try to figure out what to do. This is timeline one.

Timeline two flashes back to the past, when Sara and Jeff first became an item. Jeff is quick to take her on a road trip to see how the relationship will progress. They make a quick detour to his hometown and are caught up in a murder investigation. Sara has the opportunity to tour the town, learn about Jeff's questionable past, and offer her medical (and emotional) services to help identify the killer.

The dueling timelines did not work for me. I like how we essentially get two murder mysteries wrapped up in one, but I thought the pacing suffered a bit in the process. Karin Slaughter has pulled this same process off in many other books; it just did not have the same impact on me.

I'll say one thing about Sara: She sure is an understanding partner. It's kind of endearing how in love she is with Jeff, especially after the red flags start to mount into a heap. Most other characters would have probably left Jeff in the dust the moment they met his friends, learned about his reputation, or met his charming mother.

In typical fashion, the ending shines, and the conversations are thrilling. I just wish the in-between sections would have been a bit better. I'm curious to see how the next one shapes up.

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