Natural yogurt.

fractured by Karin Slaughter .

When Atlanta housewife Abigail Campano comes home unexpectedly one afternoon, she walks into a nightmare. A broken window, a bloody footprint on the stairs and, most devastating of all, the horrifying sight of her teenage daughter lying dead on the landing, a man standing over her with a bloody knife. The struggle which follows changes Abigail's life forever.

This is a 388 page crime thriller novel that follows the usual police and forensic procedures in a regular police investigation. It is a good book that is written in the style of a wise old grandmother. The reader is drawn into this story because of all the other issues and details that are thrown into this tale, so that you feel as though you are living within this book. To illustrate this, look at page 112...

Abigail often wondered what it would have been like to have a son. Granted, she was an outsider, but mothers and sons seemed to have such uncomplicated relationships. Boys were easy to read. With one glance, you could tell whether they were angry or sad or happy. They appreciated simple things, like pizza and video games, and when they fought with their friends, it was never for blood, or worse, for sport. You never heard about boys writing slam notes or spreading rumors about each other at school. A boy never came home crying because someone called him fat. Well, maybe he did, but his mother could make everything better by stroking his head, baking some cookies. He would not sulk for weeks over the slightest perceived insult.

...There are lots of other issues that are integral to this story. Karin weaves into this novel the problems of loneliness, children who are orphans who never become part of a family, failure and getting things wrong. Again her wise old grandmother writing style comes out on page 195...

Will gave her one of Amanda's more solid pieces of advice. "You can only make decisions with the information you have at the time."

...There are 4 characters in this story who suffer from Dyslexia. This book will raise the reader's disability awareness of Dyslexia. It is rather strange enjoying reading this book when suddenly you are plunged into the problems encountered every day by Dsylexics. Until reading this novel I had taken my reading for granted. I enjoy reading books, newspapers and internet content. My working life involves reading lots of tickets and signs. I take in a terrific amount of signage and advertising copy. I simply scan the text and read the message, there is no thought in this, it just seems as natural as scratching your nose.

The Dyslexia suffered by these 4 characters is integral to the plot of this story. You will read how these 4 characters cope with their Dyslexia and how they employ many work-arounds to get on with their lives. I simply take words as a collection of text and read the message. Dyslexics are very aware of colours and shapes as their way of navigating their way through life.

Everything works out in the end and the reader can bring closure to the 3 deaths that happen along the way. It is a good story and what I bring away from this book is a policy to NEVER ask somebody "can't you read!". There is a big problem in our country with adult literacy, a problem that is generally ignored because the adults who are illiterate are very good at disguising their disability. The adults who have had a poor education experience can be helped and they can learn to read just like you and me. However, the problem for Dyslexics is very different as their brains are wired very different to ours. Dyslexics have to develop fully their other mental skills to navigate through our information rich society. It is no longer a mystery for me why so many passengers on my coach press the button marked "Alarm" in the toilet when they want to wash their hands or flush the toilet. The signage is good but to a Dyslexic they are just coloured buttons, press any button and see what happens!