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A review by mackenzi
Precious Blood by Jonathan Hayes
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
I can't read digitally during work so I have been scrounging through what paperbacks are accessible, leading me to some mid-2000's pulp. The first "I gotta have something to read or I'll die" paperback was Precious Blood by Jonathan Hayes. One of my clients very kindly gave this to me since she was getting rid of her father's old books. Predictably, the 99 year old war vet with dementia who used to own this book has more interesting, personal, and heartfelt stories to tell than Precious Blood.
I could get through this book because something in my head, while not being terribly impressed with it, will always be able to read a serial killer story. For the same reason I spent most of 2018 watching every single prodecural detective show on Netflix (and from any country, in any language- I covered a lot of bases), I was able to blaze through Precious Blood during work and not be bored. If you're someone who will basically read any serial killer novel, and get some enjoyment even for just comparing it to the dozens of others you've read, you might find this can help you pass the time. But I wouldn't recommend anyone go out of their way to read this.
Pros:
-Decently written, the author is a forensic pathologist so all of the forensic/autopsy stuff seemed legit. I wouldn't have minded more, because the stuff in between was kinda drab.
-The kidnapped gal does get at least a small gesture of revenge against the serial killer, however tiny. She is not a total damsel in distress.
-Having a fun time seeing the killer set up the whole murder around Catholic Saints, which are the Pokemon of the religious world. One can be into saints like one is into baseball cards,
Cons:
-Multiple gorgeous thin white women being terribly murdered and their bodies put on display- it's honestly boring- look, I watched so many detective shows. This book could have been ONE episode of CSI: New York. MAYBE a two-parter because they like to stretch the serial killers out. But when a book takes four or five times as long to get thru but still gives you the exact content of one episode of a detective show, or a decent detective movie, you really start to want more out of your book experiences. And all I got was a bunch of dead college girls- AGAIN!
-If you are sick to death of religious-mania serial killers I got some bad news! This guy has no other personality traits and every journey inside his head is essentially "can't believe these slutty girls, I had better purify them." It's uninspired. We've seen this guy before and we will see him again. This is nothing.
-The 9/11 stuff is also uninspired. Look, I get it- even at age 10 I remember the shock and fear that people felt, and we lived across the entire country. This is a horrific thing to witness, I can't imagine what it must have been like in New York at the time. But Jenner's PTSD is about as impersonal as you can get. Absolutely nothing I couldn't write myself, as someone who experienced 9/11 as a story on the news at age 10 and all of the adults around me being freaked out. There isn't even an event that bothered him, just general 9/11 memories. It is barely part of the story and adds no depth.
- This Jenner dude is boring as heck. Unappealing, uninteresting, bland. Look, I'm not immune to the "young woman in my t-shirt teaches me about tenderness and love and saves me" fantasy. I actually loved it in Lady in the Water. We all want to be cuddled by someone beautiful and we all want to be loved and treated with compassion and I think this fantasy appeals to so many people because so many of us crave that level of acceptance on some level. But Jenner is such a boring-ass blank slate that the only reason it could happen here is poor Ana's trauma with being almost killed by a serial killer, and how is that flirty or fun or any good at all? I guess this character really is just a means for middle aged white men who lead totally unremarkable lives to project onto, because this man has nothing besides his mild interst in aromatherapy, which is only mentioned once.
-It ends as abruptly as a 40's black and white romance movie, which I suppose means he wants us to read the next book, but unless I happen to find book #2 on one of my client's bookshelves that probably won't happen. Sorry bud.
I could get through this book because something in my head, while not being terribly impressed with it, will always be able to read a serial killer story. For the same reason I spent most of 2018 watching every single prodecural detective show on Netflix (and from any country, in any language- I covered a lot of bases), I was able to blaze through Precious Blood during work and not be bored. If you're someone who will basically read any serial killer novel, and get some enjoyment even for just comparing it to the dozens of others you've read, you might find this can help you pass the time. But I wouldn't recommend anyone go out of their way to read this.
Pros:
-Decently written, the author is a forensic pathologist so all of the forensic/autopsy stuff seemed legit. I wouldn't have minded more, because the stuff in between was kinda drab.
-The kidnapped gal does get at least a small gesture of revenge against the serial killer, however tiny. She is not a total damsel in distress.
-Having a fun time seeing the killer set up the whole murder around Catholic Saints, which are the Pokemon of the religious world. One can be into saints like one is into baseball cards,
Cons:
-Multiple gorgeous thin white women being terribly murdered and their bodies put on display- it's honestly boring- look, I watched so many detective shows. This book could have been ONE episode of CSI: New York. MAYBE a two-parter because they like to stretch the serial killers out. But when a book takes four or five times as long to get thru but still gives you the exact content of one episode of a detective show, or a decent detective movie, you really start to want more out of your book experiences. And all I got was a bunch of dead college girls- AGAIN!
-If you are sick to death of religious-mania serial killers I got some bad news! This guy has no other personality traits and every journey inside his head is essentially "can't believe these slutty girls, I had better purify them." It's uninspired. We've seen this guy before and we will see him again. This is nothing.
-The 9/11 stuff is also uninspired. Look, I get it- even at age 10 I remember the shock and fear that people felt, and we lived across the entire country. This is a horrific thing to witness, I can't imagine what it must have been like in New York at the time. But Jenner's PTSD is about as impersonal as you can get. Absolutely nothing I couldn't write myself, as someone who experienced 9/11 as a story on the news at age 10 and all of the adults around me being freaked out. There isn't even an event that bothered him, just general 9/11 memories. It is barely part of the story and adds no depth.
- This Jenner dude is boring as heck. Unappealing, uninteresting, bland. Look, I'm not immune to the "young woman in my t-shirt teaches me about tenderness and love and saves me" fantasy. I actually loved it in Lady in the Water. We all want to be cuddled by someone beautiful and we all want to be loved and treated with compassion and I think this fantasy appeals to so many people because so many of us crave that level of acceptance on some level. But Jenner is such a boring-ass blank slate that the only reason it could happen here is poor Ana's trauma with being almost killed by a serial killer, and how is that flirty or fun or any good at all? I guess this character really is just a means for middle aged white men who lead totally unremarkable lives to project onto, because this man has nothing besides his mild interst in aromatherapy, which is only mentioned once.
-It ends as abruptly as a 40's black and white romance movie, which I suppose means he wants us to read the next book, but unless I happen to find book #2 on one of my client's bookshelves that probably won't happen. Sorry bud.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Murder