Book Review and GIVEAWAY: A Blood Thing, by James Hankins {ends 5/24}

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

As he spoke, Pickman allowed his eyes to drift slowly across the mosaic filling the wall opposite him, as he often did when in this room. The colors and connections. The angles and patterns. A seamless web, the labor of a year of his life. It could have been hanging in a museum of modern art, more beautiful by far than anything painted by Jackson Pollock. But where the appeal of Pollock’s work grew from what Pickman perceived to be a chaos barely contained by the edge of the canvas, the beauty of his own masterpiece lay in the fact that the colors and connections and patterns and angles represented order, rigid precision, and efficiency – a study in complex yet flawless perfection. It was stunning in both form and function. It was, by far, his greatest work.

I actually finished this book more than a week ago, but I’m still working out the details in my mind. Wow! The plot of A Blood Thing by James Hankins was so intricate and well thought out, then expertly presented. The beginning of the book had crimes committed that you really hoped couldn’t have been done by the alleged criminal who all the evidence pointed to—but who else would have done it?

Official synopsis:

Vermont’s promising young governor, Andrew Kane, is at another public meet-and-greet when a stranger from the crowd slips him a cell phone and whispers, “Keep this with you…keep it secret…you’re going to need it after the arrest.”

Hours later, Andrew’s brother, Tyler, is taken into custody—framed for the brutal murder of a young woman—and Andrew discovers there is only one way to free him: answer the mysterious phone and agree to a blackmailer’s demands. All the governor has to do to make it all go away is compromise everything he stands for and grant a full pardon to a convicted felon. With no better option, he complies. Which is his first mistake…because the stranger isn’t through with him. He has another little condition. Then another. And another. And Andrew has no choice but to play along until he can find a way out of this personal and political nightmare. But he isn’t prepared for what he will face, or how far he will have to go to save his brother and keep his family together.

I can’t wait to catch up on my reading and read this again. Yup. The bad buy’s plan is so intricate and convincing, reading it again will give me another chance to see how it all fits together, while knowing that it does indeed fit.

Someone slips a phone to the governor at a public appearance, and a blackmailer’s plan is set in motion. Every time it seems the governor and those in his family are getting closer to solving and stopping the plan to ruin their lives, they come up to another dead end, or more incriminating evidence against them.

I would definitely recommend this book. I give it 5 out of 5 stars, because I want to read it again. The characters were likable and complex on their own, and the plan against them is truly staggering to unravel.

A Blood Thing will be in stores and online on June 5, 2018.

{click here to pre-order}

Becki Bayley is a school employee looking forward to the summer off to read more and blog at SweetlyBSquared.com.

GIVEAWAY:

Three of my lucky readers will win a hardcover copy of A Blood Thing!

Enter to win via the widget below. Giveaway will end on Thursday, May 24th, at 11:59pm EST, and winners will be notified via email the next day, and have 24 hours to respond, or an alternate winner(s) will be chosen.

U.S. and Canadian residents only, please.

Good luck!

Hardcover copy of A Blood Thing - 3 winners