Customer Reviews

Bloodroot

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

MAY BE SPOILERS WITHIN: I am a big fan of Bill Loehfelm's, having read and reviewed his first novel, "Fresh Kills." Unfortunately, I could not develop the same interest in the characters in this, his second, novel. While Loehfelm's writing style remains very readable and his descriptions of life on Staten Island still strike a chord in me, the characters just do not feel genuine, the story is choppy, and there are just too many convenient coincidences.


Danny, the prodigal brother, has badly hurt his relationships with his brother Kevin and his parents, with his drug abuse. He has returned home after a prolonged absence, claiming to be a year "sober' but now involved in all manner of shady business. Danny seems to have an immediate though unexplained need to involve Kevin in his activities. Kevin, an intellectual yet somewhat shallow college professor. is understandably reluctant to let Danny back into his life, particularly given the fragile state of their mother's health. But, overwhelmed with brotherly love, Kevin joins Danny in a number of dangerous and downright criminal activities, for reasons that are never explained.

Both brothers have demons to exorcise: Kevin's are related to his past inability to protect his brother from the seduction of the needle. Danny's are more bizarre: he has remembered, apparently while in a drug-induced haze, that he was once a resident of the infamous Bloodroot, a residential hospital for handicapped children, which was shut down for child abuse. Indeed, Danny has also somehow remembered that he was actually adopted into Kevin's family at a young age, having been rescued by Danny's mother. Danny's mother now admits that he was adopted, but denies he was ever at Bloodroot, claiming instead that he was rescued from an emergency room after his birth mother died of a heroin overdose. This conflict is never resolved, at least not in my reading.

The memories and experiences (real or imagined) of the brothers perhaps explain many of their character traits, but they really do not begin to explain their somewhat extreme conduct as this story unfolds.

Hanging about the serrated edges of the pages of this novel is the mysterious Bloodroot, which apparently had an impact on most of the characters in this story, though we never learn why or to what extent. Bloodroot has been the shameful scene of some of the most gruesome tales of child abuse, at least if Danny's "memories" are to be believed. Danny's need to destroy every last remaining remnant of Bloodroot, including someone who is trying to "preserve" the building, takes over the story at some point, and instead of being a "thriller", it becomes more of a tale of bloodlust. While the ending may leave some feeling satisfied, to me it felt overly dramatic and overdone.

With that, it is still not a terrible read.

I just adopted a puppy, so my reading time has been significantly less (read: none). However, Bloodroot really got me back in the fold and I could not stop reading it. For those of you who know how time consuming a puppy is this should mean a lot.

Bloodroot examines the idea of brotherhood and what people would go through in order to save those closest to us. Bloodroot follows Kevin who has recently come back in contact with his recovering heroin addicted brother, Danny. All seems well until Kevin gets involved in some of Danny's "business ventures" which begin to unravel the past to the harrowing end. How far will Kevin go to help his brother and his family? Does he have it in him to do what is necessary, no matter how right or how wrong it seems to him?

Bill Loehfelm has crafted a magnificent tale of family and brotherhood, with darkness around every corner. The plot may seem to some to move slowly at times, but in these moments are the most significant in terms of character development and personal insight. Following Kevin and Danny is a journey into the heart of family values, brotherhood, and sacrifice with stops in the darkest corners of their souls. The way Loehfelm unravels these characters is nothing short of perfect, weaving a tale that is impossible to resist.

If you liked Starvation Lake by Bryan Gruley then you will most certainly enjoy Bloodroot.

Good reading,

J.Stoner

First thing I have to say is that the book really didn't come across to me as the thriller that the book's blurb promised. For that matter, I also expected the nightmarish institution of Bloodroot to come more into play than it did.

The book's main character is, for lack of a better description, a somewhat whiny and washed up professor (Kevin) who spends most of his nights barely existing. He's not happy in his job but does nothing about it. He desires a beautiful coworker but is too afraid to pursue her. He broods over how he could have done more to save his junkie brother Danny but fails to see that there really wasn't much more he could have done. It's not until his suddenly clean brother returns that his life begins to change & Kevin finds himself entangled in much more than he should be when he agrees to help his brother with his new line of "work".

To be honest, I didn't really like the character of Kevin. He was a bit drab & I found him to be a bit whiny. The whiny part I can deal with because it really emphasized how much of a rut he was in. I did enjoy the character of Danny for the most part & I really wished that the book had followed him more so I could become more familiar with his overall character. I also wish that the titular Bloodroot had been further explored & explained. We're told that all of these horrible things happened in it, but for something that's affected so many & is such a drive for Danny & others' motivations it is woefully underdone. There's also another thing- the whole "truth about Danny" thing. It's never resolved & I found that a little irritating. Like another reviewer said, there's just too many coincidences in this book- Danny's past, his sudden appearance in his brother's life after so long a time... Heck, I also wondered where Danny got the education in advanced computers & hacking. The last time his brother had seen him he'd been a junkie & that was 3 years before he reappears. It would have been nice learning a little bit more about what Danny had been doing in that time & where he'd learned all of these things.

Overall, this wasn't a terrible read. I just really wasn't as in love with it as I'd hoped I would be. The ending was fine enough, although I agree with others when I say that it was a teensy bit dissapointing. This would make for a great beach read or for something to casually read. It's just not really the "edge of your seat thriller" that I thought it was going to be. Still, it's not bad. I did enjoy it for the most part, but it's not something I would recommend people running out & buying straight away.

I've been a fan of Bill Loehfelm since he won the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards with his freshman effort "Fresh Kills." While "Fresh Kills" was stuck somewhere between a literary psychological analysis, and a dark mystery, "Bloodroot" makes no mistake about what it wants to be. From the word go, it's a full on thriller of a ride. There are times when the prose is so good, you find yourself not caring what the story is about. I didn't want the book to end. For me, the true test of a book is the "put down" factor. Can I put this book down and go to bed? The answer, for "Bloodroot," was no. I stayed up all night reading. If "Bloodroot" is the direction of Bill's career, I hope he has many, many more books to come.

I really love dark stories and flawed families and flawed characters in general, and BloodRoot has that. We follow two brothers, Kevin and Danny who have been apart some time, but they have soon come back into each others lives, Danny a recovering heroin addict. Unfortunately, as probably to be expected, Kevin is pulled into Danny past world and things start to spiral out.

It's an interesting look, just on a basic level, on how far will family go for one another, even into a dark, dirty world to do things they don't agree with. The writing is sharp, the pace goes up and down--slow, fast--but overall it keeps you reading. For some strange reason I thought of "Supernatural" and the Winchester brothers while reading this because Keven and Danny are close like them, had a dark past, and certainly have to make sacrifices like them Kevin and Danny. I also love the brotherly connection and the love between them, that they may not always agree but in the end they would not leave them to be eaten by wolves, and if that is the case they will go down together.

I think it's a nice read.

Bloodroot, while a fast paced and entertaining read, is utterly disappointing. Before delving into the significant flaws of this book, a quick synopsis is in order.

Kevin Curran is an American history professor at a small college on Staten Island, specializing in the American founding and constitution. He has a stable, if somewhat dull life. That is until his not quite estranged, but prodigal brother Danny shows up after a three year absence. Danny was a heroin addict and general troublemaker that dragged Kevin into his misery and is about to do it again. While seemingly clean and sober, Danny is into some nefarious activities and Kevin, as he has done before, can't resist the lurid pull of his brother.

At the background of the novel is Bloodroot, a former children's home where evidently children were abused and mistreated. How this plays into the drama unfolding in this novel I'll leave for the reader to discover, but it intertwines itself into the narrative and the outcome.

This book is badly flawed that at times I wanted to quit reading it. But it is entertaining enough to keep the reader engaged. Simply put, the characters are utterly unbelievable. I felt throughout the novel that Kevin was not a very believable professor and the author shows such a lack of knowledge of American history in one passage that it left me stunned and made the novel that much more unbelievable. Danny is also a rather unbelievable character.

And the end of the novel simply does not make sense. The characters actions are not rationale, not that they should, but it was so over the top and incredulous that it just left me flat instead of satisfied.

Had I to do it over again, I'd skip this one.

Bloodroot by Bill Loehfelm is a character study that happens to be in the thriller category. I'd like to consider Bloodroot on both of these dimensions.

First, as a character study Bloodroot features fairly in depth character development. The story revolves around two brothers Kevin and Danny Curran, and we learn the most about these two. In Danny you have the brash younger brother who is a former junkie turned low level mob grunt. Danny lives with a "devil may care" approach to life as he plays situations in the way to serves his purpose regardless of what the law or truth would otherwise require. Yet Loehfelm portrays Danny in a very sympathetic manner. He draws the reader strongly toward a conclusion that Danny is not evil, but life just dealt him a bad hand to play out as best he can. Kevin is a fairly stark contrast to Danny. He is an eight year history instructor at a local community college. However, his "clean and normal" life is even less of a contrast than his cowardice. Danny manipulates Kevin like a puppet on a string, and Kevin finds himself on the slipperiest of moral slopes as Bloodroot plays out. For every line that Kevin crosses, he goes to great lengths to convince himself that any action can be justified as long as you are doing it in the name of helping someone you love. The dichotomy of these brothers creates a tension that balances on a fine line throughout Bloodroot, and this is the strongest aspect of Loehfelm's work.

However, if strong character development doesn't do it for you, Bloodroot is probably not for you. As a thriller a story needs a compelling yet believable storyline that makes you want to find out what happens next. While Loehfelm has all of the elements for a good story, it winds up like a bridge without all the pieces connected. So much time is focused on Kevin and Danny that the story of Kevin, Danny, their family, and the sordid history of Bloodroot just don't all seem to fit together. I almost got the sense that the actual story of Bloodroot came in a distant second in the amount of attention that Loehfelm gave it. There was also more potential to development to mob theme, but it almost winds up a cartoonish portrayal.

All that said, I think that Loehfelm as the talent to write better novels than Bloodroot. I think he would be better suited to dramatic character studies than something that is supposed to be in the mystery/thriller genre.

Overall: C-

Danny and Kevin are as tight as brothers can be. Until Danny's heroin addition grows worse and worse, and then he disappears for three years. He returns, seemingly clean and sober, and Kevin cautiously welcomes him back. Though he does sort of wonder where an ex-junkie got all those nice clothes, and apartment, and computer equipment.

This is one of those books you don't read, so much as strap into and then hold on for dear life. Cuz you're going for one h*ll of a ride. As Kevin peels back each layer of Danny's story, he finds himself sucked ever deeper into Danny's sick world. At the same time, Kevin develops a love interest, the first in many years, and struggles to save his brother while shielding his girlfriend from the danger and horror of Danny's activities.

The writing here is intense, and the pacing just right. The book starts out strange and you may think it won't be to your taste, but stick with it, the tone changes completely after the second chapter. Once you get that far, you'll have a hard time putting this one down.

So if it's that good, why not 5 stars? The problem is with Kevin. He should be a sympathetic character, and you should care about him. But he starts out as such a no-life nobody that you really wouldn't care if he got hit by a bus. It's not until much later, when he joins Danny's activities, and starts dating, that he shows some depth and character. Maybe that's the author's point: we're all pretty hollow and lifeless without some danger - preferably illegal - to spice up our lives? But the story suffers for it. Also, while the author goes to some pains to show how close these brothers are, it's hard to imagine Kevin going so deeply, so quickly, into Danny's activities. This is no slippery slope he's traversing; it's a flailing cartwheel down the side of Mt Everest. On the technical side, at one point a bad guy successfully incinerates a couple of bodies by dousing them with a can of lighter fluid. A five gallon can of gas might work, but not a few ounces of lighter fluid. When you hit something like that, it destroys the spell and pulls you right out of the evil little world you were just enjoying.

Aside from those nitpicks, this is a great thriller. Good enough that I plan to vote with my wallet and buy the author's other book. Definitely recommended.

First I have to say I really struggled to finish this book. The description says that it is a thriller, but I disagree. While there are some parts of the book that may be suspenseful, they do not last and are far apart. Only partway into the book did I really start to lose interest. I would read a couple pages, then leave it for a few days. Little bits and pieces here and there finally would start to draw me back in, but they would only last a page or two and then there would be nothing for a few chapters. There were to be too many details about mundane things to keep me reading, and, in my opinion, too many sexual references, and too much bad language. I never really cared what happened to any of the characters in the book. The only thing that kept me reading it on occasion was the hope that it would get better and the desire to write the review for others like me. The story focuses mostly on the relationship between the two brothers and seems unfinished at the end with no explanation of a few things. Throughout the entire book you start to wonder about several things, but only a few have conclusions. As for the brothers' relationship, it didn't really matter much to me. I was hoping for a good suspense story and was very disappointed with the book. If you were hoping for something thrilling or suspenseful, I suggest you look elsewhere.

Bloodroot is a story about a family, particularly two brothers, and how what happened in the past and what will happen in the future hinges on what will happen in the present. The happiness - and safety - of the family depends on the actions of troubled Danny and the lengths his brother Kevin will go to for Danny's sake.

I found this to be a well written book, hard to put down, and thoroughly disturbing. Danny is a man who has turned to drugs to escape his demons. He becomes alienated from his family, though whenever he shows up, out of the blue, at Kevin's door, Kevin does all he can for Danny. Their parents want nothing to do with him, having been hurt too much in the past.

There is a lot that unfolds in the story and I don't want to give it away. Some of the story is shocking and disturbing, but essential to the horrors of the story. In my opinion, if you are a person who can get through raw and horrible details, this is a compelling book, a great story. Sensitive readers should avoid this book.