Blood Vines [Hardcover]

Erica Spindler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2, 2010

In this bare-knuckled adrenaline ride from New York Times bestselling author Erica Spindler, Alex Clarkson’s worst nightmares are about to come true…

A sinister, hooded figure…

When Alexandra Clarkson starts having terrifying visions filled with blood and ceremonial images, she tries to find a rational explanation – maybe her mind is playing tricks on her, resurrecting creepy tableaux from her research on religious ceremonies and sects.  But when Alex’s mother, Patsy, commits suicide without leaving behind any information, Alex is left wondering: could she be haunted by something from the childhood she doesn’t remember?

Naked, writhing bodies…

Detective Daniel Reed was the last person to speak to Patsy.  What he reveals to Alex is shocking. Twenty-five years earlier, Patsy was married to Harlan Sommer, one of Sonoma County’s most prominent vintners, when their infant son disappeared without a trace.  The loss destroyed the Sommers’ marriage, causing Patsy to leave and take Alex with her.

A dead child…

Called on to investigate the identity of a baby’s remains unearthed in a Sonoma vineyard, Reed had picked up a trail that led him to Patsy in San Francisco.  Now Reed and Alex both wonder if the cold bones could be her baby brother Dylan, and Alex decides to accompany Reed back to Sonoma for the investigation.  No sooner does she arrive, however, than she is drawn deep into the search for a twisted killer…

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Bestseller Spindler's underwhelming stand-alone stars Alexandra Clarkson, a doctoral student finishing her thesis in human belief systems, who was raised in San Francisco by her unstable mother, Patsy, not knowing who her father was. When Patsy is found dead, Alexandra questions whether it was by her own hand or if it's linked to a years-old crime in nearby Sonoma County—the apparent kidnapping of baby Dylan Sommer, the son of Harlan Sommer, of the Sommer family wine dynasty, and, as Alex discovers, Harlan's then wife, her mother, Patsy. Keen to find out her father's identity, Alex relocates to wine country, where she learns about the repressed first five years of her own life. Despite the happy family reunion, not everyone is pleased with Alex's return to the area, so Spindler (Breakneck) stirs the pot with a few instances of ritual sacrifice and not-so-coincidental deaths. In the end, a tidy resolution substitutes for the mouth-dropping revelation many thriller fans will expect. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Alexandra Clarkson is suddenly haunted by frightening images of anonymous hooded people and a baby without a face. Daniel Reed, a police detective, believes that newly unearthed remains are those of a baby who was abducted 25 years ago. Alex discovers that her dying mother has been keeping secrets, and that Alex’s whole life might have been an illusion; then she finds out that she has a connection, not merely to Daniel Reed but also to the baby who disappeared all those years ago. All that in about 40 pages. Soon after, Spindler asks us to accept that Alex has entirely wiped from her memory a member of her own family, forgotten he ever existed. Despite its unnecessarily truncated opening (which makes its revelations seem silly, not suspenseful), and its general air of implausibility, the book does have some effective moments, and its story of family secrets and murder is not without interest. Still, this one is best recommended only to Spindler’s fans. --David Pitt

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; First Edition edition (March 2, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312363923
• ISBN-13: 978-0312363925
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #821,791 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

A New York Times and International bestselling author, Erica Spindler's skill for crafting engrossing plots and compelling characters has earned both critical praise and legions of fans. Published in 25 countries, her stories have been lauded as "thrill-packed page turners, white- knuckle rides and edge-of-your-seat whodunits."

Raised in Rockford, Illinois, Erica had planned on being an artist, earning a BFA from Delta State University and an MFA from the University of New Orleans in the visual arts. In June of 1982, in bed with a cold, she picked up a romance novel for relief from daytime television. She was immediately hooked, and soon decided to try to write one herself. She leaped from romance to suspense in 1996 with her novel Forbidden Fruit, and found her true calling.

Her novel Bone Cold won the prestigious Daphne du Maurier Award for excellence. A Romance Writers of America Honor Roll member, she received a Kiss of Death Award for her novels Forbidden Fruit and Dead Run and was a three-time RITA® Award finalist. Publishers Weekly awarded the audio version of her novel Shocking Pink a Listen Up Award, naming it one of the best audio mystery books of 1998.

Erica lives just outside New Orleans, Louisiana, with her husband and two sons and is busy at work on her next thriller.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love to Read, March 10, 2011

By 

Dawn T (South Georgia, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blood Vines (Mass Market Paperback)

This is a keeper! From page 1 until the end, I did not want to put the book down. The ending was great, in only it matched the middle and the beginning. This is a really good book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Didn't do it for me, July 23, 2010

By 

mahikahn (Columbus, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Blood Vines (Hardcover)

I generally like Erica Spindler's books but couldn't get into this one. The info on wine country was great and not excessive. But the characters had no depth. I really didn't care about any of them and the ending was stupid and not everything was resolved. Plus I don't get the thing with Alex and Reed. They never went out in public together and half the time Reed thought Alex was a murderer. There were three or four sex scenes which totaled, not kidding, about two pages. Borrow this one from the library.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Keeps you hanging on to every page, May 8, 2011

By 

Melissa (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blood Vines (Mass Market Paperback)

As always, Erica Spindler does not disappoint! Blood Vines was a great book that kept me waiting on the edge of my seat. Set in Sonoma California, the ending has a twist that you don't expect. Just as I thought I had it all figured out, I was wrong again! I love that her books are never predictable, I can never guess the ending no matter how hard I try. I've read all of her books and this one is as good as the first. You will enjoy Blood Vines.