46. Bloodprint by Kitty Sewell

Bloodprint by Kitty Sewell

Pages: 351
Finished: Feb. 27, 2009
First Published: Feb. 3, 2009
Genre: psychological suspense
Rating: 4.5/5

Reason for Reading: I received a Review Copy from Simon & Schuster Canada.

First sentence:

Angelina was her name.

Comments: An American now living in Bath, England, Madeleine Frank works as a psychotherapist and paints ants part-time. Madeline has a shaky background including a mother who practises santeria and will do anything to protect her daughter. One day a patient comes to Madeline's office seeking help in ridding herself of an abusive boyfriend whom she is obsessed with. Madeline soon finds herself facing her secret past as she tries to help this patient. A very intricate plot that sends the reader into the world of santeria, an imprisoned serial killer, the Russian mob, prostitution and murder.

The book is written in two progressive story lines. One, Madeline's present and two, Madeline's past until the two join together. This is one of those books that is very hard to summarize as there are several story arcs ongoing and they become intertwined with each other making it impossible to summarize the threads without giving away what happens.

I really enjoyed this book and it is one of those that gets better and better the further along you get into it. Though I was hooked from Chapter One. An intriguing mystery with many surprising and unexpected reveals. An interesting, strong female character with whom one can identify. A very fast-paced and unique thriller.

Not often does it happen, but this is one of those books where the last 50 pages are agonizing to read. One simply wants to get to the end and find out what happens and I found myself wishing I could read faster and putting the book down during this period to catch my breath and to refrain myself from peeking at the final pages.

The only thing that bothered me was the supernatural aspect. Now, it's not that I don't mind supernatural aspects in a story,I even expect it in a horror story. However, I do like my mysteries to be logical and real. I was fully aware the plot involved santeria and black magic as topics but wasn't prepared for the supernatural elements to be portrayed as "real". Of course, that might not bother you at all and even so, I highly recommend this book with that one caveat and will be searching out Ms Sewell's first book along with awaiting her next release.