Review: Crime and chaos at the Lil' Dixie
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 28, 2013
In "Busted," Karin Slaughter's new e-novella you'll get to meet Maw-Maw, a bird-like octogenarian, a big time bigot who weighs in at a scant hundred pounds who is described by the main character Will Trent as "the most adorable racist (he) had ever met in his Life." And cagey like you wouldn't believe.The thing is, in "Busted" Maw-Maw and every other character becomes memorable for one quirk or another. The people populating this action packed shoot-em-up may not score high on a plausibility profile but there's no doubt every last one of them jumps off the page with verve.The story starts mid-morning about an hour outside of Atlanta when Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent Trent, who's working undercover, pulls his Indian Chief motorcycle into the Lil' Dixie Gas-n-Go for a frozen Slurpee and ends smack dab in the middle of an armed convenience store robbery in which a number of not-so-pleasant villains end up facing mortality in a variety of ways, including death by run-away motorcycle.Trent, a.k.a. Bill Black, spends the remainder of that hectic day facing a number of outlandish situations, uncovering clues that ultimately are the pieces to the puzzle that reveal who was behind the crime at the Lil' Dixie.Slaughter has a wiseacre sensibility with a new wisecrack in almost every other paragraph. The story is as action-packed as a summer blockbuster. There's lots of noise, mayhem and metal-crunching pandemonium to keep a solid grip on your interest and imagination. The story is soaked through with unpredictability. I thought "Busted" as good as Slaughter's previous e-book short "Thorn in My Side" was disappointing."Busted" is filled with guesswork. It's a fun read and a story that until the very last twist remains at least one step ahead of you.In a word: Unpredictable