Review of Bad Blood

[Sam Ibeh]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Bad Blood" by Robert Joseph.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Bad Blood is a fictional crime thriller about a police detective-turned-priest, Officer Rafferty, and his quest to solve the complex homicidal case of a Hollywood star, Marc Palmer. Raff quickly identifies and interviews a range of suspects, which were Marc's ex-wives, Debra Drabkin, Suzanne Vanderkirk, and Jane Lundquist, a Las Vegas acrobat, Yvo Loret, his apprentice, Antonio Moreno, a sex-symbol actress, Gloria Gatson, a macho Western hero, Shep McKenzie, and a Gypsy psychic/medium, Ileana. Where does the investigation lead? Will the killer be found?

Robert Joseph did a fantastic job with the storyline. I was quickly immersed in this book from the beginning, as the plot twists led to built-up tension and suspense. This book was written so that the slightest details or facts would not be missed, as it could result in confusion or reduce the reader's comprehension level. I believed the author designed this book to be highly unpredictable, as my suspicions or personal conclusions were proved wrong on several occasions across this book. After reading this book, I clearly understood the writer's choice of the book title and agreed that it was befitting, as the meaning suited the whole book figuratively and literally. It was a book worthy of being addressed as an excellent crime thriller.

This story has a great plot, and the creativity employed was superb. With a simple and intelligent storyline, the writer threw in many dramatic incidents and plot twists that bolstered the natural suspenseful settings of the book. While doing that, the author's storytelling skill shined forth as he had interviews with individual suspects in the book to paint an overall picture or tell the overall story of the murdered victim progressively.

The story's pace and progression were quite okay. However, I found the interviews of the suspects a bit long and boring but not enough to lose the reader's interest. The author excelled in the descriptive aspect of the book, writing meaningful and summarized details of the book's settings and characters. Bulky and unnecessary descriptions of characters were avoided, and the author expressed more of his writing creativity in character development. A wide array of characters were introduced, and most of them were rich enough to incite interest from readers. The characterization also gave the book additional quality. Although an optimistic conclusion was expected in this book, it still managed to be unpredictable even in the last few chapters.

The one vivid blemish in this fine piece of art was the editing that was not meticulously done. I spotted many errors, and some of the characters' names were misspelled, which may spark confusion during reading. All in all, I would rate Bad Blood 3 out of 4 stars. I'd recommend it to adult readers enthralled with crime, detectives, mystery, and thrilling books. It could also pass as a good time killer for curious readers.

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Bad Blood
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[Amy Luman]

There are so many suspects in this murder. Was he a really bad man? I’m sorry that the interview were boring, but I’ve read a lot of detective novels and they want to be very thorough. That being said, it doesn’t translate well to print.

[Sopulu Ezidimma]

Complex murder case, but will the killer be found? Thanks for the review.

[Austin Debby]

I hope that the author takes this book through another round of editing like you said. Amazing review.