Book Review: BLOOD RELATIONS by Jonathan Moore

BLOOD RELATIONS by Jonathan Moore  (Mariner Books, June 2019) Paperback, 357 pages.  ISBN # 1328987817 / 9781328987815

 

Summary from the Goodreads website . . . . .

 

“Taut, smart and electrifying." —Liv Constantine

 

A new thriller from a writer who’s been compared to Michael Crichton, Alfred Hitchcock, Raymond Chandler, Blake Crouch, and David Cronenberg takes us to the most menacing core of California’s upper crust, a class of billionaires with more money than they could spend in an eternity.

 

Who is Claire Gravesend? 

 

So wonders PI Lee Crowe when he finds her dead, in a fine cocktail dress, on top of a Rolls Royce, in the most dangerous neighborhood in San Francisco. Claire’s mother, Olivia, is one of the richest people in California. She doesn’t believe the coroner: her daughter did not kill herself. Olivia hires Crowe, who—having just foiled a federal case against a cartel kingpin—is eager for distraction. But the questions about the Gravesend family pile up fast.

 

First, the autopsy reveals round scars running down Claire’s spine, old marks Olivia won’t explain. Then, Crowe visits Claire’s Boston townhouse and has to fend off an armed intruder. Is it the Feds out for revenge? Or is this connected to the Gravesends? 

 

    He leaves Boston afraid, but finds his way to Claire’s secret San Francisco pied-à-terre. It’s there that his questions come to a head. Sleeping in an upstairs bedroom, he finds Claire—her face, her hair, her scars—and as far as he can tell, she’s alive. And Crowe’s back at the start.

 

My review on the Goodreads website:

 

     There are a ton of reviews here on Goodreads and elsewhere for this novel. It seems to be either "love it" or "hate it" with numerous four and five-star reviews plus many two-star or less rejections, and very few calling it average with three-stars. Most of the unsatisfied reviewers call it formulaic and I can understand that - - but what detective and/or crime novel isn't formulaic to a certain degree? 

 

     I think part of the problem may be the promotional hype that compares BLOOD RELATIONS and the writing of Jonathan Moore to Michael Crichton, Alfred Hitchcock, Raymond Chandler, Blake Crouch and David Cronenberg. How could one writer possibly cover all those bases? 

 

     Moore doesn't. It's just that certain passages throughout the novel may remind you of these other creators, but those similarities doesn't carry forward from chapter to chapter. Moore doesn't appear to be deliberately trying to copy one or the other. I happen to like his style. BLOOD RELATIONS is definitely worth a read, and I plan to check out his other novels. 

 

     What you get is a fast paced, suspenseful first person narrative featuring a very interesting hard-boiled private investigator. Lee Crowe is a break-the-rules, independent gumshoe with a clear disregard for the questionable morals and principles of his clients, but a clear sense of both on his own. 

 

     BLOOD RELATIONS has a nourish feel in parts and some passages that recall the best of Phillip Marlowe's judgmental observations, but Lee Crowe is still unique. 

 

      BLOOD RELATIONS also take things in a different direction about mid-way through the novel, from a straight-forward crime story into the realm of the techno thriller, but Moore pulls it off and raises the suspense level even more. 

     Along with the writers/creators mentioned above, I would add the early James Bond novels of Ian Fleming to the mix. There's a huge conflict/escape sequence in the latter part of the story that recalls Fleming's DR. NO to mind. 

 

     If you like the works of Michael Connelly, Lee Child, John Sandford and those others cited in the blurbs, then you should give this book a chance to convince you. I'm hoping this is just the first of Moore's novels featuring Lee Crowe. I would love to see more.