Blood Lines

"Blood Lines" by Angela Marsons initially grabbed my attention with its suspenseful and gripping story. It certainly is a page-turner, and for a while, I was convinced that this was a solid four-star read. The premise was intriguing, and the pacing kept me engaged, making it easy reading at first. Unfortunately, my enthusiasm waned as the story progressed.

»She was not as surprised as she should have been that Alex had come crashing back into her life.«

The return of Alex Thorne, an old foe, felt contrived, and Alex’ actions seemed almost universally outlandish. Why resurrect old villains when you can create new, compelling antagonists? And let’s be honest, she's unbelievably manipulative and cartoonish. It severely impacted my enjoyment to see such a lazy plot device used. It’s just more of the same, nothing new—and, of course, Kim fell for it almost every time…

If you—like me—didn’t enjoy “Evil Games” (Kim Stone #2) all that much, be prepared for more “blasts from the past”—including a dying scene so utterly clichéd to the extent that it induced secondhand embarrassment.

Then we have the storyline itself: the plot became increasingly contrived, and some connections Kim made were thread-bare. On a more positive note, the dynamics within Kim’s team are as engaging as ever. One of the team members, though, made several mistakes to the point where it became difficult to suspend disbelief; these errors had no real consequences – a "good bollocking" seemed to suffice, rather than any meaningful repercussions.

»Emotion. Because you have none you can’t even begin to understand how they affect people’s actions.«

This gross oversimplification of a sociopath's abilities, especially given that Alex had demonstrably understood emotions, and used them to great success throughout the novel, was grating to say the least. This also reflects badly on Kim’s understanding of her foe.

Overall, "Blood Lines" had the potential to be a brilliant crime thriller. It started promisingly but ultimately failed to deliver on its initial appeal.

Three stars out of five.