“Blood Work” starts with a compelling premise. Forced to retire from the Bureau, FBI profiler Terry McCaleb needed a heart transplant to survive. Five weeks after receiving his transplant, McCaleb is recuperating when Graciela Rivers seeks him out to ask a favor. Find the killer of her murdered sister. McCaleb knows that he should not help Graciela, but he finds he can not refuse her. The catch — McCaleb’s new heart was Gabriella’s sister’s. She was the one who saved his life.
At first, the murder seemed to be a random act of a convience store robber until McCaleb uncovers a deeper, more sinister connection between himself and the killer — a connection that makes McCaleb the prime suspect in the murder and threatens his relation with Gabriella.
“Blood Work” is excellently plotted and moves along at a break-neck pace. But, what really does it for me is his rich interaction of the characters in this book. Connelly is understated but so accurate in his depiction of human nature.
This is my favorite book by Michael Connelly, and, for anyone who has not read him, “Blood Work” is an excellent place to start. It’s close to perfect.
P. K. Abbot writes character-rich thrillers. His Jersey Murder Series are exciting crime novels with very twisty endings.
Before writing full time, he had a fascinating occupation. For twenty-five years he worked as a professional buyer in two different industries. In his career, he met hundreds of remarkable people and traveled to Europe and throughout the United States.
On February 21, 2011, he experienced a life-changing event. On that day he went into V-fib — ventricular fibrillation. He would have died that afternoon, but his implanted defibrillator discharged seven times within two minutes that day. After the fourth intensive shock to his heart, he questioned if he would have the stamina to survive the ordeal, but survive he did. He spent the next thirteen days in cardiac intensive care in the hospital and the following four months in recovery at home.
After that experience, he decided to devote himself to writing, and he has been writing full time ever since.
He grew up around Trenton, New Jersey and attended high school and college in Philadelphia, where he studied writing, languages, and history. He also served for six years as a military policeman in the United States Army National Guard.
Today he is the proud father of two talented young women, and he lives in a small town in southern New Jersey with his wife and dozens of imaginary characters.
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