Genre: Crime, Suspense Thriller
Summary:
For Ziba Mackenzie, it was an ordinary commuter train journey. And in a fraction of second, everything changed. There was a huge jolt. Smoke in the trains made the air unbreathable. There was a train collision. Being an ex-special force, Ziba’s instinct was to help the people around in chaos. That’s when she met the lady whose dying words were “He did it. You have to tell someone”.
The mysterious message was still in her head when she received an urgent call from the Scotland Yard. They were trying to nab a dormant serial killer who’s now active. Ziba had been a trained profiler specializing in serial killers. That’s why she was brought in for consulting. But Ziba was fairly consumed, with the nagging feeling of the strange message left by the women in the train. As a profiler, Ziba was duty bound to determine the identity of the serial killer but she thinks it’s important to work out the dying women’s wish too. Will she be able to figure out both the cases or will she fail?
My take on the book
I love reading crime fiction. It’s somewhat my weakness in books. But I am often put off by novels where it gets messed up at the end. “Blood for blood” is perfect in terms of storytelling, concept, and character development.
The storyline was an attention grabber from the get-go. It is written from Ziba’s perspective. Every thrill element and the suspense were exquisitely paced (it wasn’t too slow or too fast as if one’s reading a Hollywood movie script).
I love the way the writer builds up Ziba Mackenzie. The author provides subtle hints involving Ziba which converges with her character later in the narrative. As the plot expands further, the author introduces the other characters and the depth of each role progresses. Though, there are some instances in the book where I hated Ziba for being stupid because of her stubbornness. But then again, I could sense the personality is so well developed that I could connect with her at that level.
For a debut novel, the author has done an admirable job with the narrative and the storyline.
I hope to read the next in series for Ziba Mackenzie.
Thanks, NetGalley and Amazon for approving the advanced copy of the book request.
My rating for the book: 4 stars
Confessions of a Reading Freak 