In her novel, Undone, Karin Slaughter brings together three of her previous stars, uniting Dr. Sara Linton with Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Will Trent and Faith Mitchell, in a frantic hunt for a serial killer who is kidnapping women, torturing them, and leaving them maimed. Now releasing in mass market form (thanks to the publisher for my copy!), the book is a dizzying spin through the lives of our three heroes, and a gripping manhunt for a sadistic villain.

Linton is still reeling from the death of another Slaughter character and her husband, police officer Jeffrey Tolliver, and adapting to the shift to a big time hospital. Trent continues to have a wild on again-off again relationship with his ex-wife, who’s life intersects with the case they’re pursuing, and Mitchell finds out that she is both diabetic and pregnant, complicating her life and adding some personal drama to the case.

But the main focus here is the pursuit of a man who kept two women chained to a makeshift bed underground in a pit, who blinded them and forced them to drink industrial cleaner. This is a villain the likes of Criminal Minds or sweeps-week CSI might pursue, and it will take everything our three characters have to bring the madness to an end.

I read the book in a sitting– it was compelling, scary, and, a bit, sickening. But the dogged pursuit by our detectives, and Slaughter’s easy-to-read prose, made for an entertaining ride. It’s just one of those stories that makes you want to hug your loved ones a little tighter, and maybe after a scalding shower.