Bound by Blood [Hardcover]

Rick Nelson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 19, 2008

New Orleans detective Jack Brenner is struggling with a faltering marriage, an injured partner, and an overbearing lieutenant when Emmett Floyd Graves, a convict facing lethal injection, sends Jack word through his lawyer that he has information about the unsolved murder of Jack’s cousin, a civil-rights worker killed in the summer of 1972.

Jack is intrigued but suspicious, and before he can figure out whether he’s being played, he and his new temporary partner, Keisha Lundy, are assigned to the drive-by shooting of a teenage boy. Eerily, both Steven Bowen and Jack’s cousin David were distance-running phenomenons at the same high school where Jack himself was a champion hurdler. Jack juggles the Bowen case with his own secret investigation of Graves’s claim, backed up by Keisha, who knows what it’s like to lose a young family member through violence. Jack thinks he has time to make sense of things before bringing anyone else into it. But then television reporter Willow Ashe, an old flame from Jack’s past, comes on the scene. She not only stirs up old memories of hot nights on the levee, but breaks Graves’s story on the evening news for all the world to see, including Jack’s lieutenant, wife, and aunt. Jack is in hot water at work and at home. But the publicity gets him what he wants---a chance to solve his cousin’s murder. 

The two crimes, separated by thirty years, send Jack and Keisha shuttling between the Big Easy underworld and the delta town of Bon Terre. Jack’s gut tells him that the Dixie Mafia kingpin who runs Bon Terre is somehow connected to both murders. Proving it will put him and people he cares about in the line of fire.

An impressive debut set among the moonlit bayous, great houses, and old ghosts of Louisiana, Bound by Blood delivers a fine balance of humor, violence, and sorrow.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Nelson's bland debut fails to capture the feel of its Big Easy setting (pre-Katrina, apparently), and its two story lines are loosely intertwined at best. New Orleans detective Jack Brenner learns that death row inmate Emmett Graves has information on the murder of Brenner's cousin, David, and another young civil rights worker more than 30 years earlier in Bon Terre, La. Graves hints that Avery Hammond, a prominent businessman, may be involved, but Brenner discovers that Hammond has a tight grip on the town and no one wants to talk. Trying to solve not only his cousin's murder but also the recent death of a promising high school athlete, Brenner finds himself mired in a conspiracy reaching deeper than he ever imagined. With the help of his new partner, Keisha Lundy, and Willow Ashe, a determined TV reporter and Brenner's first love, he must stay one step ahead of men who will stop at nothing to see that their secrets stay buried. Since Nelson fails to generate suspense for either murder investigation, the reader quickly loses interest. (Feb.)
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Review

"The plot is serpentine, the heat palpable, and the final denouement savage. Bound by Blood is a fine debut."--Booklist

 

"A gritty debut that will appeal to readers of Reggie Nadelson and James Lee Burke."--Library Journal

 

"Nelson's lean, forceful prose shows promise."--Kirkus Reviews

 

"Bound by Blood is Louisiana through and through, from its inauspicious opening with the smell of putrid crab, to its cinematic and rewarding climax of a shootout on the bayou."--Mystery Scene

 

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; First Edition edition (February 19, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312372647
• ISBN-13: 978-0312372644
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,847,313 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars entertaining Big Easy police procedural, February 21, 2008

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bound by Blood (Hardcover)

In Louisiana, attorney Neil Gross calls New Orleans Police Detective Jack Brenner with intriguing information although the source is unreliable. Neil's client "redneck scumbag" Emmett Graves on death row claims he has information pertaining to two homicides three decades ago in Bon Terre; one of the victims was Jack's cousin David who along with another civil rights advocate was murdered. Graves insists Brenner visit him at Angola if he wants to know more.

Unable to resist, Brenner learns from Graves that he was in Bon Terre when the murders occurred. He implies town martinet businessman Avery Hammond was involved. In the town, no one will talk to Brenner. However as he and his temporary partner Keisha Lundy work the drive-by shooting of a high school athlete; they also investigate the Grave's claim with the help of reporter Willow Ashe, who was the now married Brenner's long ago first girlfriend in an atmosphere where someone is willing to kill cops and a TV journalist to keep the 1972 homicides a cold case.

This is an entertaining Big Easy police procedural although the two cases at times slow each other down. Still Brenner is a fascinating lead character as he tries to do what he believes is right for his late cousin, but not only has someone trying to kill him, his family and his boss are upset with him. New Orleans police procedural fans will enjoy this suspenseful tale.

Harriet Klausner

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's a winner!, May 28, 2008

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bound by Blood (Hardcover)

Jack Brenner is a New Orleans homicide detective that enjoys his job and takes it seriously. Brenner's cousin, David Brenner, and a fellow Civil Rights worker were murdered in the summer of 1972. That murder has haunted Brenner because David was more than a cousin; he was the person he most looked up to.

Now, Emmet Lloyd Graves is in prison and fighting to avoid the death penalty. He claims he has information that will lead authorities to the killer of David Brenner and his friend. Brenner must decide to trust an evil man, or leave an old murder behind forever.

While Brenner begins to work on the decades' old murder, another young man is murdered. Steven Bowen, who just happened to break David Brenner's high school track record, is shot while talking on a pay phone.

Brenner juggles both cases and comes face-to-face with his past. Willow Ashe is a television reporter and Brenner's former girlfriend. Willow breaks the story about the Civil Rights murder and things are never the same for Brenner. The good â~ole boys rear their ugly heads, a failing marriage is put to the test, family members want things left as they are, and even a police partnership is at risk.

Bound by Blood is a stunning debut mystery. It is fast paced, the plot has twists and turns that are unimaginable and flawless and the characters are full, real and have all the complexities of real people. Once I started reading I couldn't put it down.

It's a winner. Actually, I rate Rick Nelson's debut right up there with James Lee Burke, Michael Connelly and Robert Crais. Now that's good company to be in.

Note: Unfortunately Rick Nelson did not live to see his debut novel published, dying from cancer in December 2007.

Armchair Interviews says: If you buy one mystery this year, make it Bound by Blood. You won't be sorry.

5.0 out of 5 stars Bound by Blood - A Five-Star Hit, March 15, 2008

By 

Fed Man (Texas USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bound by Blood (Hardcover)

New Orleans Detective Jack Brenner and a cast of memorable local characters work the mystery of a cold-case rural double murder involving a relative and another civil rights worker in 1972, plus a contemporary drive-by shooting in uptown New Orleans, tied in by the unreliable statement of a death-row inmate all involving a small-town local crime boss and his henchmen. Classic fare for a real page-turner, which this is. Plenty of local-color zest, from the ex-priest gardener with the "road-map" scar on his face, who had his nose bitten off in a bar fight, (presumably after leaving the priesthood), to the white-linen-clad town boss sipping premium bourbon from Riedel stemware on his riverside patio, while sitting a scant few inches above the spot where the shotgun used in the 1972 double murders lies buried beneath the fetid gumbo soil of rural South Louisiana. Even knowing that, the puzzle remains - "Who dunnit?"