A review by weaselweader
Blood Work by Michael Connelly
4.0
Did you catch the double meaning of "BLOOD WORK"?
Terry McCaleb, ex-FBI agent and skilled profiler of serial murderers, retired to a quiet peaceful shipboard existence on his boat anchored in Los Angeles harbour after a heart attack and heart transplant surgery forced him off the job. When Graciela Rivers introduces herself to McCaleb and tries to solicit his assistance finding her sister's murderer, his first inclination was to politely beg off and recommend she seek the services of a licensed private detective. But she got his full attention and completely snared him with an overwhelming sense of personal obligation when she revealed that the heart he had received in surgery was her sisters, available as a transplant organ only because of her apparently senseless murder. As McCaleb internalizes that debt and cautiously begins the investigation, he soon discovers that, far from being the apparent robbery-related homicide that the LAPD had given up hope of solving as a now cold trail case, the murderer was by some bizarre coincidence, much more likely to be the type of serial killer with which he was all too familiar.
Connelly's fans, by now thoroughly familiar with his skill at writing sophisticated, engaging police procedural novels, will not be disappointed by BLOOD WORK. Not only does he lead the reader through a complex set of clues, forensic procedures, dead-end investigations, twists and turns, interrogations and the minutiae of a realistic, complex homicide investigation but he adds in the gut-wrenching tension of a first-rate thriller as well. The growth of the relationship between McCaleb, Graciella Rivers and Raymond Torres, the young 9 year old son of Rivers' callously murdered sister, is heartwarming and never drifts into soap opera or melodrama. The very clever double meaning of Connelly's title, BLOOD WORK, will be revealed to readers as the climax approaches.
Already a rabid fan of Connelly's hero, Harry Bosch, I've now added Terry McCaleb to my list of characters to watch for in Connelly's future novels. With some amusement, I also spotted a reference to Michael Haller Jr, a noted LA attorney who I was pleased to read about in one of Connelly's much later novels, THE LINCOLN LAWYER. Connelly has got his finger on the pulse of the LA police and crime scene. No doubt about it ... he's the man!
Highly recommended.
Paul Weiss
Terry McCaleb, ex-FBI agent and skilled profiler of serial murderers, retired to a quiet peaceful shipboard existence on his boat anchored in Los Angeles harbour after a heart attack and heart transplant surgery forced him off the job. When Graciela Rivers introduces herself to McCaleb and tries to solicit his assistance finding her sister's murderer, his first inclination was to politely beg off and recommend she seek the services of a licensed private detective. But she got his full attention and completely snared him with an overwhelming sense of personal obligation when she revealed that the heart he had received in surgery was her sisters, available as a transplant organ only because of her apparently senseless murder. As McCaleb internalizes that debt and cautiously begins the investigation, he soon discovers that, far from being the apparent robbery-related homicide that the LAPD had given up hope of solving as a now cold trail case, the murderer was by some bizarre coincidence, much more likely to be the type of serial killer with which he was all too familiar.
Connelly's fans, by now thoroughly familiar with his skill at writing sophisticated, engaging police procedural novels, will not be disappointed by BLOOD WORK. Not only does he lead the reader through a complex set of clues, forensic procedures, dead-end investigations, twists and turns, interrogations and the minutiae of a realistic, complex homicide investigation but he adds in the gut-wrenching tension of a first-rate thriller as well. The growth of the relationship between McCaleb, Graciella Rivers and Raymond Torres, the young 9 year old son of Rivers' callously murdered sister, is heartwarming and never drifts into soap opera or melodrama. The very clever double meaning of Connelly's title, BLOOD WORK, will be revealed to readers as the climax approaches.
Already a rabid fan of Connelly's hero, Harry Bosch, I've now added Terry McCaleb to my list of characters to watch for in Connelly's future novels. With some amusement, I also spotted a reference to Michael Haller Jr, a noted LA attorney who I was pleased to read about in one of Connelly's much later novels, THE LINCOLN LAWYER. Connelly has got his finger on the pulse of the LA police and crime scene. No doubt about it ... he's the man!
Highly recommended.
Paul Weiss