Book Review: Blood

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Blood     Amazon US HC Amazon UK HC Amazon Canada HC
Joseph Glass
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Police Procedural   Psychic   Psychological Suspense   Woman Main Character
Series: Dr. Susan Shader # 2
Simon & Schuster, Jul 2000, $24.00, 399 pp.

Chicago police Detective David Gold turns to psychiatrist Susan Shader for help with his latest case. Susan used her psychic gifts to assist the police in solving a previous homicide (see EYES), but worries about her elementary school age child.

David describes the MO of the Undertaker as that of an avenging devil. Apparently the serial killer targets abortion patients. He cuts their extremities in the same way at the same spot. He guts their stomachs carving a reversed crucifix. Finally, he adds blood to his patterns. Unable to resist the case, Susan leads the police down one blind alley after another while the killer does one murder after another with no end in sight.

BLOOD is an exciting psychological thriller filled with plenty of gore. The story line is very exciting, fast-paced, and loaded with an allegorical glimpse at abortion without preaching either position. When Susan is on the investigation or even with her son, she is the complete package who along with the murderer propels the thriller into a chilling climax. However, when she discusses her self-doubt, her soliloquies slow down the plot. Still, the BLOOD drenched novel lives up to its name as a taut thriller overflowing with hemoglobin.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner