Blood: A Susan Shader Novel (Susan Shader Novels) [Hardcover]

Joseph Glass (Author)

Book Description

Series: Susan Shader Novels | Publication Date: July 12, 2000

Dr. Susan Shader is the most fascinating -- and sexiest -- heroine to come along since Clarice Starling made her debut in The Silence of the Lambs. Introduced in Joseph Glass's widely praised first novel, Eyes, Susan is a renowned psychiatrist and criminal profiler for the Chicago Police Department whose uncanny gift of second sight has made her a celebrity among law enforcement professionals. However, Susan is increasingly reluctant to devote her psychic powers to the cause of tracking down criminals. Last time, her efforts led to the abduction and near death of her eight-year-old son.

But when a young woman is found dead in a body bag in Chicago's Lincoln Park, Detective David Gold, Susan's longtime friend at the Chicago Police Department, once again calls upon her psychic powers. Traces of foreign blood and strange markings found on the body make one thing certain: a killing this ornate could only be the work of a deranged serial killer. They call him the Undertaker.

Susan is quickly drawn in by the bizarre psychology of the killer, a man who preys on, and prays over, beautiful young women like a fanatic executioner. Plagued by psychic messages that allude to abortion, virginity, and seemingly random quotations from Romeo and Juliet, Susan scrambles for answers. When the best efforts of a determined police force fail to solve the riddle, Susan Shader's controversial gift may be the only way to stop the madman.

Combining the disturbing imagery and virtuosic writing of Thomas Harris and the intricate plot twists of John le Carré, Joseph Glass catapults the suspense thriller to an entirely new dimension. In Blood, he has fashioned a relentless, masterly psychological drama that leads to a most unexpected and bone-chilling climax. And he has given us Susan Shader, a hauntingly appealing heroine we've definitely not seen the last of.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

If you haven't read Eyes, Joseph Glass's first Susan Shader novel, Blood will certainly send you in search of it. A psychiatrist and criminal profiler, Shader is also a gifted psychic who's put more than one murderer away. In this chilling suspense thriller focusing on the search for a serial killer who preys on young women, she employs both her psychic abilities and her extensive psychiatric training to create a horrific portrait of the murderer, whose bizarre rituals quickly earn him the sobriquet the Undertaker. Yet Shader is stumped in her efforts to identify him. Unable to decipher the distorted messages whose themes of abortion, virginity, communion, blood, and one particular Shakespearean tragedy seem to be tied into the murders, Shader partners with David Gold, a Chicago detective who believes in her psychic powers as well as her professional talents, and Meredith Spier, a television journalist who has been contacted by the Undertaker and may be his next intended victim. One bad hunch destroys Shader's credibility with the police department. By the time she convinces Gold that she's decoded the psychic clues that can lead him to the killer, the Undertaker has Meredith in his clutches, and the grisly scene that sets up the denouement seems almost anticlimactic. In fact, greater danger awaits, from an escaped killer who's got a grudge against the good doctor, and acts on it in a coda that's a real heartbreaker.

Forensic psychiatrists and criminal profilers aren't new in the mystery suspense genre; every police force seems to have one these days. But Susan Shader also has a private practice, and sitting in on her sessions with her own patients is what sets Blood apart from the field. In her work with one of them, an unhappy young woman named Wendy Breckinridge, Shader's real talents as a healer and therapist are brilliantly illuminated. For readers with a particular interest in psychiatry, the true mystery will be how to find a counselor with Shader's special gifts. --Jane Adams

From Publishers Weekly

Chicago psychiatrist/psychic Dr. Susan Shader returns in Glass's creepy thriller about a serial killer who abducts young women for the purpose of bizarre, apparently religious executions. Police detective David Gold again teams up with Shader to investigate the series of murders. The killer, dubbed the Undertaker for leaving his victims in body bags, repeats his MO scrupulously: all the women have deep cuts to their hands and feet, their stomachs are sliced open in the shape of an upside-down crucifix and blood is poured into their wounds. All either recently had or were planning to have abortions. A misfire in her psychic powers gets Shader kicked off the case temporarily, but as the case grinds on, Shader's second sight proves invaluable. When beautiful TV reporter Meredith Spiers is abducted by the Undertaker, Shader guides the investigation in ways that standard police techniques never couldAdeep into the moral symbolism of abortion and, chillingly, into the rituals of vampires. Glass (Eyes), a pseudonymous "bestselling" (according to the publisher) author, dexterously handles a multilayered story that's equal parts crime drama and psychological exploration. Psychobabble and Shader's soul searching occasionally ambush the plot, but Glass usually snaps things back on track. Heavy doses of gore mean this above-average thriller is not for the faint of heart. Agent, Deborah Schneider. (July)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (July 12, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684859637
• ISBN-13: 978-0684859637
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,220,162 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptionally well written! An awesome thriller!!, September 12, 2000

By 

Christian "Writer/Human" (Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blood: A Susan Shader Novel (Susan Shader Novels) (Hardcover)

Joseph Glass has mastered control of the human endocrine system with "Blood: A Susan Shader Novel". Displaying perfect control, he deftly manipulates your adrenal gland with just the right amount of reserve...slowly building his plot with unexpected twists and excellent characterization. He knows just when to push the button to make you jump, and when to withhold to increase the dramatic tension. A follow-up to "Eyes", his first novel, this second effort far surpasses the first.

Susan Shader returns in "Blood..." as the psychologist with an added gift...second sight. But this "gift" is more of a curse than a blessing for her. Although it helped to save her son in the first novel, it also was the reason several innocent people died. Clairvoyance, after all, is not an exact science. Ambiguous in its visions, it can be interpreted in many ways...and Shader knows that she must use it with extreme caution. She has learned to downplay it whenever possible and cringe when forced to rely on it for help. Unfortunately, a killer as surfaced in Chicago and is draining blood from his victims...the police confounded by a lack of usable information, forcing them to turn to Shader once again for help. Haunted by errors she made previously, she approaches this most recent case with definite trepidation and dismay...but also with a bit more determination to do right. Personal guilt is her most ferocious detractor...not to mention the numerous officials who would rather see her banished to some far corner of the earth before they would admit that her second sight even exists. It's this tension upon which Glass builds his story...effectively and powerfully. Giving Shader such derailing emotions, he creates a credible foundation on which his characters play out their drama.

Although he follows nearly the identical format here as he did in his first book, Glass manages this time to fine tune it and create a hugely complex plot and a much more satisfying climax. His plot twists are more surprising, his characterization more detailed, and his story much more engrossing. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes being grabbed by their lapels and hurled into a great read. Otherwise, I think the Learning Channel is showing a rerun of the mating habits of South African bees.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars From the author of "Eyes," we continue with "Blood...", July 29, 2001

By 

Jonathan Burgoine "bookseller" (Ottawa, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blood: A Susan Shader Novel (Susan Shader Novels) (Hardcover)

Susan Shader is a heroine of the highest calibre. Introduced to us in "Eyes," she is a psychiatrist who possesses a gift that is the epitome of "mixed blessing." She is psychic; however, clairvoyance is not a stable talent, and in "Eyes," the deaths of innocents rested on her visions being misinterpreted.

Joseph Glass (a nom de plume for an otherwise bestselling author who I wish I could uncover) writes an excellent thriller with "Blood," though it does hinge on having read "Eyes" first (many of the characters and plot devices wouldn't make as much sense without the first book). The villainous serial killer in this book drains his victims of blood. When the police are left with nothing more than the exsanguination to go upon, once again Susan is brought in with her psychicatric - and psychic - expertise.

Far more gorey than "Eyes," (to the point at which I was somewhat nauseated once or twice), "Blood" nevertheless jacks up the tension a notch, and once more challenges both reader and the characters within the book. Susan's intelligence, wit, and training, as well as her gift, are all put to task in this thriller. The supporting characters of David Gold (Susan's police friend) and Susan's son Michael also get valuable time at the forefront, and are developing into very rich characters.

If you enjoy thrillers of any kind, or if, in specific, you enjoy thrillers or mysteries with a psychic touch, "Blood" is phenomenal. Just be prepared for more than average amounts of gore, and try to catch a copy of "Eyes," first.

'Nathan

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BLOODY GOOD READ, April 12, 2003

By 

Michael Butts (Berkeley Springs, WV USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blood: A Susan Shader Novel (Susan Shader Novels) (Hardcover)

This is certainly a graphic novel, and not for those with weak stomachs. With that aside, this second entry in the Susan Shader series (And I hope there are more to come!) is an excellent thriller, featuring the very interesting Susan Shader, and also her sidekick, David Gold, who is also an integral part of this series.
This time we have two despicable killers, one that Shader thinks she's helped put away (early in the book), and then a serial killer called The Undertaker, who is as sick and bloody as they get.
The book has several unsettling scenes, and you're never quite sure who the Undertaker is. The characters of Wendy Breckinridge and Tony Garza, as well as Scott Carpenter, are also great ones, although the fate of one of them is truly sad, and one has to wonder why Shader allowed it to happen...but it's realistic enough, and brings the book to a hair-raising close.
A brilliant read.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.