Book Review: Blood Memory

Title: Blood Memory: A Novel by Greg Iles
Publisher: Pocket Star
Pages: 800 pages
Format: Paperback
Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Synopsis: Some memories live deep in the soul, indelible and dangerous, waiting to be resurrected....Forensic expert "Cat" Ferry is suspended from an FBI task force when the world-class odontologist is inexplicably stricken with panic attacks and blackouts while investigating a chain of brutal murders. Returning to her Mississippi hometown, Cat finds herself battling with alcohol, plagued by nightmares, and entangled with a married detective. Then, in her childhood bedroom, some spilled chemicals reveal two bloody footprints...and the trauma of her father's murder years earlier comes flooding back. Facing the secrets of her past, Cat races to connect them to a killer's present-day violence. But what emerges is the frightening possibility that Cat herself has blood on her hands....

(24) Review: I found a copy of this at our beach house and picked it up for something to read while we were there - I couldn't put it down.  I loved it.  Cat is a mess, personally and now her professional career is taking a dive.  Suffering from panic attacks at the last two crime scenes Cat is struggling to get control of her life.  She is pregnant by her married boyfriend, trying to withdraw from alcohol and is having flashbacks of her fathers death. It seems that the story she has been told all her life is not true and the truth is muddled up in her head with blackouts, manic episodes, and alcohol.  Now the police think she may have some inside information into the serial murders that are taking place or she may actually be the perpetrator. The truth however is far more disturbing.

I loved how this book unraveled, as Cat tries to piece together what is going on with her. Iles has hooked me with his subtle writing, it was like peeling an onion with each layer you find something new.  His descriptions of the South and southern culture bring the bayou right to you and allow you to feel the humidity in the air and the deeply secretive ways of many of the little towns near New Orleans.

I am also impressed that Iles has been able to capture the fear, confusion and insight of a female character which seems so difficult for so many male writers who try to have a female protagonist.  Kudos Iles I will be seeking you out for more! So glad I found this one.