Customer Reviews

Blood Memory: A Novel

5 star:		(74)
4 star:		(41)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Blood Memory ranks right up there with the best of Greg Iles' novels to date, such as The Quiet Game and Mortal Fear. He is really talented at weaving complicated suspense with interesting characters, and in this book he returns to the Mississippi setting he knows so well. There are even appearances from characters and a storyline from two of his previous books, so that's a little extra fun for readers familiar with his work. What makes Iles' books even more appealing is the range of topics that he explores. Each book is a well-written suspense tale, and Blood Memory is no exception. I think it's his best book by far since The Quiet Game. The topical subject matter of Blood Memory is a troubling reality. While the basic plot idea of vengeance in this arena has been tried by other authors, Iles tells a more powerful story across the spectrum of predator and prey. This book really has a lot going for it: classic Iles suspense, detailed forensics, strong female characters, and vivid storytelling. Not only is it a hard book to put down, it's also one that will be hard to forget.

This reviewer is not one who like a child in class tells you the plot of a novel - you are mature enough to read the plot line when you are contemplating the book to buy.
What I want to tell you is why you should choose this book, or any Greg Iles books.
He not only chooses diverse subjects for each books, but almost all of his books have a lyric quality in his writing, that makes layers upon layers as you read - there is beauty in his style that is magic. I can quote passages from his earlier works, and not many can say they do that with other authors. I sent a 'fan letter' to Iles and he was gracious and I was impressed.
I call him our generation's Faulkner, because he not only knows the South, but knows how to portray it not in black and white, but how it weaves its spell into the plot of the novel.
If you have not read Mortal Fear and The Quiet Game, they are definite must haves. The others are excellent, but have varying impact on the reader. Blood Memory stands out among his excellent works - and is worth the wait we fans had to endure.
Usually his works come out in September, and we had some time to wait this time, but it is worth it.
This is a man who has a gift. Read the plot above, or others' reviews that read like a book review in school, although the book's subject is serious. What I am here to tell you is WHY to buy a book. It hits you on many levels and makes you think as well as experience. And that makes the difference between a good writer and a great one.

At age 31, Cat Ferry has it all going for her: brains, beauty, family wealth, and an accomplished career in a branch of the dental sciences that puts her into frequent contact with police officers solving intriguing crimes. But Cat Ferry is a mess: dental school was a refuge from the medical school she was asked to leave, she has a string of broken relationships with older men, alcoholism is a likely diagnosis, and her current relationship with a married police officer is quickly reaching its crisis point. The good and the bad converge as Cat is drawn into the solution of two mysteries. One involves a series of bizarre related homicides in her adopted city of New Orleans. The other involves the unsolved murder of her own father decades earlier in her home city of Natchez. Is there a relationship between these two series of events so removed in time? It begins to seem so as Cat becomes the Clarice Starling to a (fortunately) non-cannibalistic psychiatrist who both figures obscurely in her own past and emerges as a link among the New Orleans homicide victims. Cat's journey toward the solution of these mysteries has as many twists and turns as the river that connects the two central points in the story, and it takes place against a menacing background of power, passion, violence and repressed memory that is just as raw and threatening as the bayous that predominate the landscape between her two homes, then and now.

This book is very good reading for several reasons. First, it is very different from much popular mystery fiction today, which tends to be formulaic and abbreviated. So many of today's mystery novels, with their one-dimensional characters, trite plots, and brief chapters seem to be slightly pumped-up versions of screenplays that their popular authors hope to option to the movies as soon as the books ascend to their inevitable places on the best-seller lists (or perhaps even before). Indeed, many of the characters appear to be modeled to attract the A-list stars most likely to turn the story into big box office. As literature, these books are produced for people on the go, and are designed to be read between subway stops or umbrella drinks on the beach. They are breezy, they use short sentences and small words, and the sexual deviancy that seems always to be an inextricable element of the plot is inevitably crude and salacious. I confess to having indulged in the guilty pleasure of spending time with these novels.

Blood Memory is a different "read". The only formula it follows is having a beginning, a middle, and an end. While the characters have their various virtues and vices that are important to the context of the story and the flow of its plot, they also tend to be multidimensional and interesting. While it partakes of elements of both, this book is far less a police procedural than it is an exploration of psychopathology. The story goes in some unexpected places, and the author is skilled in foreshadowing his plot developments in a subtle way that lets the reader anticipate the turning points just slightly ahead of the characters. This is both difficult to accomplish and very satisfying for the reader.

Another bright attribute is the use of language. The author is skilled both in description and in the development of the interior monologue that contributes to the reader's appreciation of the conflicts and complexity of its central character.

I recommend this book for those who want to experience the joys of reading without the guilt that accompanies the expenditure of time on so much of what passes for popular fiction these days.

Greg Iles is one of my favorite authors. His last two books have really disappointed me though. 'Sleep No More' was about souls switching bodies, and 'Footprints Of God' was just a boring Dan Brown rip-off. So when I heard the plot for 'Blood Memory' I was a bit leary. A thriller about child abuse? Iles actually pulls it off though. Blood Memory is the best book I've read this year. It is more than just a thriller, it reads like "To Kill A Mockingbird'. A fantastic portrait of life in the south. Iles characters jump off the page like they are real people living in Natchez, Mississippi right now. Buy this book, you will not regret it.

While Iles' books always make for a good read, he may have written his best yet with this one.

Iles manages to pull off a task with which many male writers have problems - writing from the point of view of a woman, in this case Cat Ferry, a vulnerable and likable character. While she's likable, she's also very human in her thoughts and actions, not a superwoman like too many fictional characters.

While the plot includes a serial killer in New Orleans, the book is really about Cat's past and her attempt to get past those events. Of course, this past eventually ties in somewhat to the present, but Cat is really the focus, far more than the murders. There's plenty of action and mystery, and Iles keeps the reader hanging for most of the book.

Thrillers are a dime a dozen, but excellent ones like this are far more rare. An excellent novel, one that will have most readers rushing to get to the end.

Catherine Ferry, the protagonist of "Blood Memory," is in deep trouble. She is an alcoholic with a long history of promiscuity and manic depression. Cat is a forensic odontologist who is having an affair with Sean Regan, a married homicide detective with the New Orleans Police Department. Her relationship with Sean is an open secret that may soon derail both their careers and Sean's marriage. Cat has helped Sean solve a number of murder cases in the past. Now, they are investigating a series of brutal homicides of older men who were shot and covered with bite marks. For reasons that elude her, Cat has had panic attacks at several of the crime scenes, and she is rapidly losing her professional credibility.

Much of "Blood Memory" is a recounting of Cat's hazy recollections of her early childhood. She fondly remembers her beloved father, Luke, a Vietnam veteran who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. Cat's grandfather, Dr. William Kirkland, is a powerful, tough, and influential businessman who has no tolerance for weakness. Her mother and aunt are unhappy women with serious personal problems of their own. Only by delving into her past will Cat uncover the dark secrets that have caused her so much pain for so many years. Both in flashback and in the present, the author provides evocative and vivid descriptions of Natchez, Mississippi, Cat's and Iles' home town.

"Blood Memory" starts out well. Cat is a sympathetic heroine. She is smart, tenacious, and beautiful, but her problems threaten to overwhelm her. Will she be able to stay away from alcohol? Will her mania and depression destroy her ability to function? Will her married lover give up his wife and children to be with her?

As "Blood Memory" progresses, however, the book gradually sinks under its own weight. At almost five hundred pages, the narrative becomes increasingly repetitious and melodramatic. One horror story after another emerges until, by the end of the book, I felt burdened and exhausted.

Except for Cat, the characters are mostly one-dimensional. Pearlie is the steadfast house servant who has tried to keep Cat's family from disintegrating over the years. Michael Wells is a pediatrician who has always carried a torch for Cat, and he conveniently shows up to help her in her time of crisis. Cat's grandfather, William Kirkland, is a stock villain with absolutely no redeeming features. The only character other than Cat whom I found intriguing was Dr. Nathan Malik. He is a psychiatrist who specializes in manic depression and repressed childhood memories of abuse. Malik has a creepy aura about him and his supercilious manner reminded me a bit of Hannibal Lechter.

By the time I finally turned the last page of this novel, I felt very weary and sad. "Blood Memory" is about tormented individuals who suffer for the rest of their lives when vicious people rob them of their innocence. Iles also explores the meaning of childhood memories, the psychology of vengeance, and the imperfections of our criminal justice system. If the author had streamlined his book, fleshed out his characters, and handled his subject matter with more finesse and subtlety, "Blood Memory" would have been a much better and more readable novel.

This was the first Greg Iles novel I've read. It was entertaining and did have me reading longer than my "normal allotted time." I felt it was somewhat predictable and felt that after the number pages of spent early the "wrap up" was rushed. I will consider reading another Greg Iles novel.

I've read all of Greg Iles's books and though there are some I like better in the end than others, they all have one thing in common: they grab your attention from the first few pages and don't let go. Whatever you think of his writing style or the preposterousness of his plots at times, Iles has a way of pulling you in immediately and not letting go until you've read the last page.

Blood Memory revolves around Cat Ferry, an odontologist working with the police in New Orleans to catch a serial killer. She is also an alcoholic who is sleeping with a married detective and has just found out she's pregnant. She goes back home to Natchez Mississippi to get away and clear her head. While there, she accidentally finds an old blood stain on the carpeting in her room. She begins investigating as she thinks it may lead to the truth of her father's death when she was a child. As the story unfolds, Cat finds out many things about all members of her family that horrify her, but help explain why she is so screwed up.

The two mysteries intertwine at times and keep you guessing to a point. You will probably figure out one of them before it is revealed, but not the other. Blood Memory is an excellent thriller, albeit too long. You could pare 150-200 pages off of it and have the same book. However, the story will keep you reading and there will come a point where you have to continue no matter how late it is or how tired you are.

First off, I need to get my biases out of the way. I was looking for a book to read in the airport for a long plane flight and found Dead Sleep. Since reading that book, I have read all of Greg Iles's books and have loved each and every one for different reasons. Each book (while of the thriller genre) are so completely different from each other in theme and subject matter that I am amazed from each title.

Blood Memory is no different. Some reviewers here and in professional magazines have talked in great deal about one of the plot twists that is fundamental to the book. I won't ruin what is a very emotional and powerful twist here and would recommend readers interested in this novel not to read more reviews than necessary.

The story follows Cat, a sympathetic protagonist with many many problems. Not the least of which is that she is dating a married man and is addicted to pain meds and alcohol. She works as a criminal odontologist, who works on cases where teeth are involved. Her married boyfriend is on a case involving murders where bite marks seem to be the calling card. This case will open up Cat's past in a way that will either save her or damn her. I don't want to ruin anymore, part of my joy reading Iles is that he keeps the pacing, intensity and twists coming so that you are constantly wondering where you are going and where you've been in the novel.

My other compliment to Iles is that he can write characters who are emotional damaged or have problems but not make them into victims. Dean Koontz has a problem with writing female characters who have similar character flaws or are troubled but I always felt like he portrays them more as a victim. I think Greg Iles missteps that problem and instead creatings interesting and sympathetic characters who, while having problems, still ring true.

Sometimes I feel like Greg Iles's plot twists almost get away from him and tread the line of believability, and there are a couple points where this novel treads that line. But overall, the story and the characters are immensely appealing and intricate.

If you like Iles's other works involving crime and murder mysteries, then this is definitely a book for you. Often times heart-wrenching and unflinching, it is a terrific book that will both move you and excite you. Very well done.

As usual the writing is top notch.

The plot starts off with a serial murderer that eventually ties back to a wretched story involving the main character Catherine Ferry.

Somewhere around page 500 I started checking on how many more pages were left. It seemed we were covering the same ground that had been thoroughly covered already.

I think you could cut 150 poages out of this book without losing too much.

The other knock on this bookk is that at one level it is a whodunnit and we don't meet the bad guy until the end of the book. There are vargue hints regarding the identity of the killer, but it feels more like a rabbit being pulled out of a hat than a satisfying mystery.