Customer Reviews

Bloodlines: An Irene Kelly Novel (Irene Kelly Mysteries)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In January 1958 thugs badly beat Jack Corrigan after he sees a farmer bury a car. Meanwhile the bodies of wealthy socialites Mr. and Mrs. Duchane wash up on the beach. Their son Todd, his wife Katy and her dog who were also on the yacht with them remain missing; their baby is kidnapped and the nurse is left for dead. Although Corrigan and his protégée reporter Conn O'Connor work the case, they can't solve the crimes.

In 1978, reporter Irene Kelly covers the groundbreaking of a shopping center when a car is uncovered. Inside the trunk are the remains of Katy, Todd and the dog. O'Connor works with Irene to find evidence to bring the criminals to justice. When they get too close Irene and the man thought to be the Duchane heir are kidnapped and left to die. O'Connor saves her and the kidnappers go to jail but again, the mastermind can't be implicated. In the present, Irene and her protégée are again kidnapped by the same thugs who kidnapped her in 1978 because the mastermind is afraid they finally found enough evidence to implicate him.

Jan Burke has written her best work to date, bar none. The crime thriller is written for the first part in the third person and the rest of the book is told from Irene's point of view, a technique that works brilliantly for this particular work. Readers are treated to some very special characters who had a formidable impact on Irene's career and the audience will feel their every emotion. In addition to brilliant characterizations, BLOODLINES contains a gripping story line that keeps reader attention from first to last page.

Harriet Klausner

Usually when an author resorts to backstories long after a series has started it has the smell of a sitcom wedding or new baby, heralding the death of something that was once interesting or amusing. That is so not the case here. I won't retread the plot since that is done so nicely elsewhere in these reviews. But this book that goes into the background of Irene and her mentor O'Connor not only succeeds wonderfully, it takes what up to now has just been a plotline (O'Connor blown up, Irene taking over his desk, his rather nasty son who pops up from time to time) and turns it into a sort of heartache that most of these wonderful characters are long dead and gone. This is a book that if it is your first Irene Kelly read, I envy you. You can now start the series with emotional knowledge that will make the series more enjoyable than they originally were if that is possible.

"Bloodlines'" storyline, its characters, and the heinous crimes which mar their lives with so much suffering, span three generations. This novel will introduce you to some fascinating individuals. You will read their compelling stories, watch them play-out, and see how they connect, like pieces of some great puzzle designed by a psychopathic sadist. This is a tale of murder most foul, blackmail, psychological torture, fear and more murder. Jan Burke creates three-dimensional evil here. It lives and breathes in one of her characters - a man she constructs of paper and ink on the printed page, who brings out my own childhood terrors of the dark and monsters who lurk beneath the bed - a terrifying malevolent golum of a human being. I've known a lot of fictional villains, and this one is grim indeed. He permeates the story with a sinister presence and leaves everyone, including the reader, with a sense of foreboding that lingers after the book's conclusion.

I had never read an Irene Kelly mystery before, nor anything else by Jan Burke. I am fortunate that I began here, late in the series, because this novel goes back to Ms. Kelly' youth, where she begins as a reporter for the Las Piernas News Express. So now that I plan to read the entire series, I have had the opportunity to know her initially, as a young girl and professional. However, the beginning of the story does not take place in the spring of 1978, when Irene accepts a job at the Express, covering hard news. The story begins in January 1958.

On January 4, 1958, Jack Corrigan, veteran reporter for the News Express, is almost killed after he is abducted from a cocktail party, severely beaten, and left for dead in the swamps near Las Piernas. Upon first regaining consciousness, he witnesses the burial of a bloodstained car in a farmer's field. He understands that he is hung-over, in pain, and concussed. However, in any state, he surely knows when he is seeing suspicious activity. With the little strength he has left, he investigates to make sure he is not hallucinating. The man driving the tractor sees him from a distance, and calls someone back to the scene to make sure Jack will never investigate again. The next day he is discovered, crawling out of the wetlands, looking and smelling like death. And he almost is - dead!

That same night, a luxury yacht is lost during a storm at sea off the Las Piernas coast. Two bodies wash up within a short period. They were the Ducanes, a very wealthy couple and the boat's owners. Another couple was apparently on board with them - their son Todd and his young wife, Katy, who just celebrated her 21st birthday. Their bodies were never recovered and it was assumed, for lack of other evidence, that they also drowned. Katy and Todd's infant son was kidnapped that evening also. No ransom phone calls or letters were received. In fact no one was ever able to obtain information or clues leading to the whereabouts of the child. The nanny, who was caring for him, was found murdered in the nursery. Corrigan knew the baby's parents well, and had known Katy, and adored her, since her own infancy. She called him Uncle Jack and left property to him in her will. Needless to say, he was heartbroken, when he was well enough to hear the news.

Twenty years later, in 1978, Irene Kelly comes to work for the Express, after a stint as a reporter in Bakersfield. Conn O'Conner, who had been Jack's protege, student, foster son and best friend since 1936, when he was an 8 year-old paperboy, now mentors Irene. The 1958 murders and kidnapping have never been solved. Rookie reporter Irene is sent out to cover the groundbreaking of a new shopping mall, and discovers something much bigger. The construction crew at the site uncovers a buried car containing human remains. O'Connor decides to work the story with Irene. She was there when the car was unearthed, asked the right questions and deals well with the difficult detective in charge of the case.

"Bloodlines" explores the complex relationship between many of the characters who are first introduced in 1936, including the strong bond between Corrigan and O'Connor. There's another secondary but important mystery that began in the 1940s, when Conn's beloved sister, Maureen, was murdered. The crime was never solved. The mentor-protege relationship continues between Conn and Jack into the 1950s, however they're more like friends and colleagues. They work closely together, especially after Jack's beating. Then Conn mentors the young Irene in the 1970s and passes along what he had learned as they pick up more clues about the crimes committed in 1958. The book's last segment is set in 2000, when all loose strings are masterfully tied off.

Jan Burke also explores here the history of the newspaper industry and the changes brought about with the growing popularity of television. Her writing is taut, her pace fast and fluid, and her characters are most original and likeable. She gives them depth, which along with a spellbinding narrative, makes this novel a real keeper. A definite 5 star recommendation!
JANA

I won't go into too much detail,(since others have done so) but I have only positives to say about this novel. I thought the plot was well developed and the way she wrote the story in three stages to create and explain the mystery was very creative. The explanations for the family life were excellent! I also felt the characters were interesting and made you want to read more about them. O'Connor and Jack were very good together and believable...Yes, Irene came late into the picture but didn't that fit into the genre that Burke is writing about?
Too many authors don't develop the plot or the characters or leave descriptions too vague. I felt that Jan Burke hit all three! I am going to go back now to read her other novels...

Is Jan Burke capable of writing anything bad? I read Bloodlines yesterday and miss Conn and Jack already. I won't go into a detailed review as that has been done here already. I've been reading Jan since the beginning and when I think she can't get any better she proves me wrong every time. Don't let the length of the book put you off -- I wish it had been twice as long.

This is definitely Jan Burke's best ever -- and that's saying a lot! She really knows how to evoke the atmosphere of the past and the present as she goes from one to the other in this fantastic mystery about a curious newspaper reporter with one foot in this world and the other in another world from long ago. If you loved "LA Confidential," you love this book, which is equally deserving of a movie version!

If you live around or love Long Beach, you'll be especially fond of her novels. Simply, one of the best writing today. Thanks, Jan!

This is a very involved book, bringing to light all the past and present characters. I loved it. It was nice to see the history of O'Connor and his mentor Jack. I thought Ms. Burke pulled this one off nicely with the mystery being spread over a 40+ yr timeframe. Nice job. It was nice to see new characters introduced also, I hope to see them in future books. If you haven't read this series, you could probably get away with starting out with this book. I have to tell you though that you are missing a lot by not reading all of the other books in the Irene Kelly series.

While I think Ms. Burke has real talent, this book left me cold. Despite all the other very positive reviews, I found the ongoing "back-stories" confusing and hard to follow. Our "heroine", Irene Kelly, doesn't even appear until page 149! And there are just too many characters, and too many family relationships to keep straight. Not to mention too many references to other plot-lines not being explained in this book. Perhaps this book should have been separated into two, or even three, stand-alone books. I think "Bloodlines" would have benefited enormously from more capable editing.

I read a lot of mysteries, but Bloodlines is one of the best books I've read in 10 years. I don't know how Jan keeps all those characters and sub-plots straight, but it is never confusing to the reader and the reader is never "short-changed". I've read into the night on several occasions with an Irene Kelly novel. We all want to know....when is the next one coming?

Irene Kelly is a very complex character and I love the way Jan Burke expands her characters over years. The books center around Irene, but she is not necessarily the main character. Jan Burke's development of story line (this one is very complex)allows the reader to really know all the people involved as part of the development of the story line, not just "described" by the narrator. The actual story is almost secondary to the character development . . . in this case over 40 years. As good as it gets