Watch the “Blood Dreams” Trailer HERE
Taking a little break from fantasy and science fiction, I decided to give the new Kay Hooper thriller a spin. While I’ve never read anything by the writer, Ms. Hooper is an award-winning author of more than sixty novels including eleven consecutive New York Times bestsellers so I figured I was in pretty good hands :)
What first attracted me to “Blood Dreams” was the serial killer angle. As I’ve already mentioned in my review HERE of Chelsea Cain’s “HeartSick”, I just have a fondness for the genre :) The second thing that attracted me was the promise of a trilogy. I like knowing ahead of time how many volumes are going to be in a series and looking at Kay’s track record, I should be seeing the next two sequels in 2008 & 2009 respectively. The final and deciding factor was the mention of an all-new cast. Apparently there are already ten Noah Bishop or Special Crimes Unit novels out there with “Blood Dreams” numbering eleven. Now normally I never start a series in the middle, but because the author was introducing a new storyline and characters, I thought I could get away with it in this case. Fortunately, I was proven correct ;) While I can’t claim to differentiate between the returning characters and the new with a hundred percent accuracy, I’m pretty sure I could make some strong guesses. As far as having not read the previous SCU novels, I had no problem with that. Sure, there were some references that I probably missed out on and some character development, but I thought Kay did an excellent job of making the book accessible to readers new to the series.
Regarding the story, I have to admit that “Blood Dreams” surprised me a bit. You see, based on what little I had read about the novel, I thought it was going to be a standard suspense thriller—serial killer on the loose, a manhunt, some police procedural thrown into the mix and so on. What I didn’t expect was the Special Crimes Unit to be a team of psychics! I know that psychic abilities in police work is nothing new to literature, film or television, but I just wasn’t expecting it with this particular book, so I was caught off guard, but in a good way :)
Funny enough, despite the book’s supernatural elements, “Blood Dreams” still ended up utilizing a lot of familiar tropes. You have the recurring dream/vision which foreshadows the end of the novel; the varying point-of-views between numerous characters including the killer and his victims; the killer leaving clues for his pursuers; an obligatory romance; dealing with bureaucratic red tape—in this case a powerful Senator who wants revenge for his daughter’s murder and a new FBI Director who doesn’t believe in psychic abilities; and the inevitable red herrings and unexpected revelations.
Of course, Ms. Hooper isn’t a rookie so she throws a few wrinkles into the book to keep the story fresh like the main character Dani and her twin sister who both possess some unique talents—the ability to take other consciousnesses into dreams, discharging static electricity, etc. What I liked personally was the idea of a killer with psychic powers. Not only that, but a killer who can steal other psychics’ abilities. Not that original I know if you’ve been following Heroes, but what I can say—Sylar is a pretty cool villain so I don’t mind a clone or two. Plus, the book hints at a much deeper conspiracy going on with the serial killer, even a Prophecy, and there’s also a nice little twist at the end… Which also happens to be a cliffhanger, but what did you expect in a trilogy ;)
Overall “Blood Dreams” was about what I was expecting it be, even if the paranormal aspects surprised me ;) Being a fan of speculative fiction though only made me like the book more, especially since the supernatural elements added some much needed freshness to the story. It also helped that Kay is such an experienced writer because the superb pacing and excellent tension-building helped me to overlook some of the novel’s more derivative moments. Other than that, I can’t complain. I was looking for a fun diversion from all of the fantasy and science fiction that I had been reading, and “Blood Dreams” delivered. Even better, I’ve discovered another author to enjoy—it was kind of like reading a Dean Koontz thriller—and you can be sure that the next two books in the trilogy (Blood Sins, Blood Ties) are high on my reading list…
What first attracted me to “Blood Dreams” was the serial killer angle. As I’ve already mentioned in my review HERE of Chelsea Cain’s “HeartSick”, I just have a fondness for the genre :) The second thing that attracted me was the promise of a trilogy. I like knowing ahead of time how many volumes are going to be in a series and looking at Kay’s track record, I should be seeing the next two sequels in 2008 & 2009 respectively. The final and deciding factor was the mention of an all-new cast. Apparently there are already ten Noah Bishop or Special Crimes Unit novels out there with “Blood Dreams” numbering eleven. Now normally I never start a series in the middle, but because the author was introducing a new storyline and characters, I thought I could get away with it in this case. Fortunately, I was proven correct ;) While I can’t claim to differentiate between the returning characters and the new with a hundred percent accuracy, I’m pretty sure I could make some strong guesses. As far as having not read the previous SCU novels, I had no problem with that. Sure, there were some references that I probably missed out on and some character development, but I thought Kay did an excellent job of making the book accessible to readers new to the series.
Regarding the story, I have to admit that “Blood Dreams” surprised me a bit. You see, based on what little I had read about the novel, I thought it was going to be a standard suspense thriller—serial killer on the loose, a manhunt, some police procedural thrown into the mix and so on. What I didn’t expect was the Special Crimes Unit to be a team of psychics! I know that psychic abilities in police work is nothing new to literature, film or television, but I just wasn’t expecting it with this particular book, so I was caught off guard, but in a good way :)
Funny enough, despite the book’s supernatural elements, “Blood Dreams” still ended up utilizing a lot of familiar tropes. You have the recurring dream/vision which foreshadows the end of the novel; the varying point-of-views between numerous characters including the killer and his victims; the killer leaving clues for his pursuers; an obligatory romance; dealing with bureaucratic red tape—in this case a powerful Senator who wants revenge for his daughter’s murder and a new FBI Director who doesn’t believe in psychic abilities; and the inevitable red herrings and unexpected revelations.
Of course, Ms. Hooper isn’t a rookie so she throws a few wrinkles into the book to keep the story fresh like the main character Dani and her twin sister who both possess some unique talents—the ability to take other consciousnesses into dreams, discharging static electricity, etc. What I liked personally was the idea of a killer with psychic powers. Not only that, but a killer who can steal other psychics’ abilities. Not that original I know if you’ve been following Heroes, but what I can say—Sylar is a pretty cool villain so I don’t mind a clone or two. Plus, the book hints at a much deeper conspiracy going on with the serial killer, even a Prophecy, and there’s also a nice little twist at the end… Which also happens to be a cliffhanger, but what did you expect in a trilogy ;)
Overall “Blood Dreams” was about what I was expecting it be, even if the paranormal aspects surprised me ;) Being a fan of speculative fiction though only made me like the book more, especially since the supernatural elements added some much needed freshness to the story. It also helped that Kay is such an experienced writer because the superb pacing and excellent tension-building helped me to overlook some of the novel’s more derivative moments. Other than that, I can’t complain. I was looking for a fun diversion from all of the fantasy and science fiction that I had been reading, and “Blood Dreams” delivered. Even better, I’ve discovered another author to enjoy—it was kind of like reading a Dean Koontz thriller—and you can be sure that the next two books in the trilogy (Blood Sins, Blood Ties) are high on my reading list…
8:30 AM | 
Posted by
Robert |
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
.jpg)
0 comments: