Blood Work

This book is about an ex FBI agent who is trying to find a killer after retiring from duty. As a favor hes asked to find out why a young woman was killed and by who. He's personally vested in the case because he is the recipient of her heart when she was killed. I loved the plot, the story kept me guessing who it could possibly be and the ending was great!!

I have enjoyed all the Michael Connelly books I've read lately, and Blood Work is even better than I have come to expect. While this isn't part of Connelly's Harry Bosch series, the protagonist, Terry McCaleb, has appeared in other books (including a Bosch). Terry McCaleb is a retired FBI agent whose specialty was criminal profiling. His retirement was brought on when his heart was attacked by a virus, and he eventually had a heart transplant two years later. McCaleb is a mere two months past surgery and still recovering when a beautiful woman shows up on his boat. Graciela Rivers is seeking his help. Her sister was brutally murdered in a convenience store robbery. The LAPD are not much interested and think it was a random shooting. He begs off, saying that he can't physically perform an investigation. He can't even drive for another seven months. But then Graciela plays her trump card: McCaleb received her sister's heart. McCaleb reluctantly decides to look into the case, and finds himself pitted against the LAPD and the FBI. McCaleb also discovers that this isn't a random shooting and that the killer is in fact a serial killer. In solving the crime, McCaleb also learns a lot about himself. He discovers that he misses the chase and the work. He's still got it despite his physical limitations. This case also helps to heal more than his heart. Connelly is so convincing because he writes like a cop (thanks to his years as a crime reporter). Suspects are "in the wind" (they have disappeared without a trace). Or McCaleb does the "hard tango" with other officers to get information (when they aren't willing to share). Last summer I was on a James Lee Burke kick (Dave Robicheaux) and Connelly is also a fan. It was fun to find McCaleb wearing a Robicheaux Dock and Baitshop t-shirt in one chapter. For any Connelly fan or even a lover of mysteries, it doesn't get much better than Blood Work.

I don't write these reviews often, but this book impressed me so much that I had to put in a few good words for it. I have read several of Connelly's Harry Bosch novels and had enjoyed them very much, but this one stands out from the rest. Why? First of all, Terry McCaleb is the hero of this. An ex-FBI serial killer specialist, he has a newly transplanted heart in him as the book opens. He isn't the classic pulp hero, and it makes life interesting. Second, and I won't ruin the plot by saying anything, this is extremely intelligent, a creation of lots of good reporting and crafting of a great plot. Connelly, a former LA Times reporter, shows his background when he weavees together a plot that is fascinating, believable, and full of surprises. This is among the best constructed mysteries I've ever read. So do yourself a favor and spend the few bucks -- or few cents -- it takes to purchase this book. You'll be intrigued and amazed by it.

Terry McCaleb is a retired FBI Agent. His departure from the Bureau was forced. He needed a heart transplant. Having given up any hope of being saved because of his rare blood type, he has resigned himself to dying. Then, at the last moment, a heart became available. All of this happens before "Blood Work" begins.Having become a minor celebrity due to a pair of newspaper articles, Terry has turned down several requests by people to solve crimes on their behalf. Then Graciella Rivers tells him he has to solve the murder of her sister, Gloria. When he asks why, she tells him that he has Gloria's heart."Blood Work" provides a fascinating study into how a professional works a murder case. Picking up where the police left off, and incurring their wrath in the process, Terry develops new leads, makes use of old evidence, and soon is on the trail of Gloria's killer. However, in a strange plot twist, Terry realizes that someone killed Gloria for one of her organs, making him a prime suspect.At this point, the plot could have turned in on itself and lost its way. Other writers would have left us with a very smart Terry up against a very stupid everyone else. However, Connelly provides plot twist after plot twist until the surprise revelation of the killer's identity. Even then, he's not finished with the story or Terry's search for justice.As a former resident of Los Angeles, I enjoyed reliving visits to various places around that city. As a reader of fiction, I appreciated a well-written, intelligent thriller.

NO ONE crafts hard-boiled crime novels as masterfully as Michael Connelly. Considering the hundreds of mystery writers out there toiling at this very moment over their word processors, that's quite an extravagant statement--but it's true all the same. He has mastered the art of weaving mysteries that are superbly complex and which keep readers on the edge of their seats. A seemingly unimportant utterance or action early in the novel can later on become magnified into an all-important clue as more is revealed about the crimes and the their perpetrator. Connelly's ability to lead his readers in one direction only to have a sudden revelation change the entire complexion of the story is nothing short of breathtaking at times. *Blood Work* is a particularly fine mystery in terms of these kinds of "twists and turns." It's also refreshing to see Connelly take a vacation from the Harry Bosch series through his creation of a new protagonist, retired FBI man Terrell McCaleb. Interestingly, McCaleb AND Harry Bosch are featured in a subsequent Connelly novel, *A Darkness More Than Night*.Is the book perfect? It's close, but no. The ending is somewhat Hollywood theatrical, almost as though Connelly grew tired of brainstorming further subtleties and unexpected revelations. Also, although Connelly is very attentive to empirical details in his descriptions of places and institutions, he slips up in chapter ten when he describes a character's employment as an engineer in charge of inspecting an aqueduct with a "Lone Pine segment." He writes, "He was an engineer with a private firm contracted by the state..." The Los Angeles Aqueduct is, of course, operated and maintained by the City of Los Angeles' Department of Water and Power. This is a trivial error, of course, but those who know California water resources cannot help but raise their eyebrows upon reading this passage.

REALLY enjoyed this book after seeing it as a runner-up for the 1999 Edgar award.... It had suspense, a great read on psychological profiling, enough clues to keep me ALMOST up to the hero. But then comes the little twists and turns that can make a good book into a much better read. The author reminded me quite a bit of Richard Thomas (Silence of the lambs(, without as much gore. Can hardly wait to buy more of Michael Connely to see if this was a one time thing.