Bloodline

Set in the 60s, this mystery that takes place in picture-perfect Lilydale, Minnesota, will certainly give you the creeps. This quaint little town where everybody knows everything and everyone can’t be that perfect without something sinister in its closet. I’ve sworn off downloading more free Kindle books unless it’s from an author that I’ve enjoyed in the past because 99% of the time, I can easily see why it was free. I’ve purged many of these after the first few chapters of reading but occasionally I’ll find a gem and this was one. The writing is very professional, descriptive, engaging, and had me from the beginning. I’ll not hesitate to read more from her.

BLOODLINE by Jess Lourey is a psychological thriller that grabbed me from the beginning and didn’t let go. Her excellent writing and exquisite story line captured my attention immediately. The author’s note tells the story that inspired this novel. When a pregnant Joan Harken is mugged on her way home, she agrees to move to from Minneapolis to her fiancé’s small hometown two and a half hours northwest. Deck Schmidt tells her Lilydale is peaceful, friendly, and everyone knows everyone and looks out for each other. His parents have even gifted them their old house and Deck tells her he is sure the local newspaper will hire her as a journalist and she will get a coveted byline. What could possibly go wrong? Is it too good to be true? Something seems off. Is Joan being watched or is she being paranoid? Can she trust her instincts? Is there anyone she can trust? This novel takes place in 1968 and 1969 and there is some jumping back and forth in time. As the time shifted forward, I continued to wonder what happened in the intervening months that landed her in the situation she is in in the future. While it would have helped if the transitions had been labeled with dates, a picture is gradually revealed to the reader. Recognizing that this novel is set in the late 1960’s and not current times, I can see why Joan handled some things the way that she did. This was a time before the internet and cell phones. The story would not have worked for me if it was a contemporary setting so the author selected an appropriate timeline. Joan was someone that I wanted to be safe and happy and to have a healthy baby. But she also has some flaws that emerge during the course of the books that makes her more believable. Almost none of the other characters were likeable. The writing is very atmospheric and creepy; the plot tense and suspenseful, with a few twists and a dramatic ending. Several themes are woven into the book, but I don’t want to give away any spoilers. Suffice it to say that family relationships and town dynamics play a large role in the story. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. It was an entertaining book that was emotionally intense at times. If you are a fan of psychological thrillers and family dramas, then you may want to check out this book. I am looking forward to reading more books by this author. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and are not biased in any way. Publication date is currently set for January 1, 2021. This review was originally posted at Mystery and Suspense Magazine.

Inspired by true events, Jess Lourey's thriller "Bloodline" crossed my desk courtesy of Amazon's First Reads program, an opportunity provided to Prime members on a monthly basis to check out some of contemporary literature's most promising reads. Lourey, a tenured professor of writing and sociology and an Amazon bestselling author, has crafted an engaging if fairly predictable tale that has commonly been compared to such noteworthy titles as "Rosemary's Baby" and "The Stepford Wives," though certainly Lourey takes a few turns of her own along the way. Set in the 1960's, "Bloodline" centers around Joan Harken, a promising writer who is living with her boyfriend, Deck, and pregnant with their first child. After a savage attack in a St. Paul, Minnesota alley, she agrees to move to Deck's hometown of Lilydale in search of a quieter and safer place to raise her child and pursue her journalism career. The town of Lilydale is an intriguing one, long having had the reputation of a bit of a rural oasis where life is just plain perfect in just about every way. Of course, you and I know that's going to end up being not quite so true. Just how untrue is a huge part of the story that unfolds over the course of "Bloodline." Seemingly nurtured by a long present organization known as the Mothers & Fathers comprised of the community's leaders, Lilydale is known for taking care of its own and only has one apparent deep secret in its past - the mysterious disappearance of a young child from the local school that's never been solved. Lourey takes her time setting the stage for the story that's really going to unfold in "Bloodline," the first half of the book largely setting its tone and giving us time to get to know its major players. As the second half of 'Bloodline" kicks off, however, the action really picks up as a web of paranoia and small town dysfunction begins to set in. "Bloodline" is, at least for the most part, a rather predictable thriller that keeps us engaged primarily because Lourey has an undeniable gift for character development. While I had a pretty good idea where everything was going, I could envision these characters in my mind and often found myself with a strong visual story going on in my head as I was turning from page-to-page. While "Bloodline" wasn't a book that I couldn't put down, in fact it's likely noteworthy that I stopped at one point 87% of the way through the book, it was still a book that kept me engaged and that I looked forward to revisiting even if I did have a sense that I knew what was going to happen next and was typically right about it. I read one review that compared "Bloodline" to "Pleasantville," a comparison that strikes me as more accurate than "Rosemary's Baby" or anything Stepford related. While "Bloodline" certainly goes much darker than "Pleasantville" did, it's in many ways a story about the masks we wear and the lengths we'll go to in order to protect the facade. I found the ending particularly satisfying, perhaps softer than one might expect yet an ending that feels honest and both intellectually and emotionally satisfying. On the flip side, some of the transitions in "Bloodline" weren't quite as satisfying as the story's occasional shifting felt a little too intentional and not quite as authentically manifesting from the story as I'd have liked. Occasionally, these transitional sequences actually jarred me out of the story. As a lover of atmosphere, I had a definite appreciation for Lourey's work here even if this feels like a mid-range effort for me. It's compelling enough that I find myself wanting to read her other titles and explore the worlds she creates. While some will likely be left unsatisfied by its somewhat familiar and formulaic thrills, "Bloodline" is a solid thriller that should resonate with those who appreciate Lourey's rich characterizations, dark atmosphere, and her ability to flesh out the story of a bloodline sustained at any cost.

Keep me reading constantly. Wanted to find out what would happen. If you love to read mysteries, this book is for you.

This was my Amazon First Reads pick for the month of December. Reminiscent of The Stepford Wives and Rosemary's Baby, Bloodline is the story of Joan Harken, a pregnant Minneapolis reporter, who is mugged and left feeling scared and unsafe. Her boyfriend, Deck, convinces her to move to Lilydale, his hometown. His family lives there and it's a great place for a new family just starting out. It's a perfect small town with perfect homes and perfect people. It's just....perfect. Too perfect. Other than a missing child 20 years prior, there is no crime in Lilydale. No scandals. Nothing. Everyone is super friendly and always willing to help. Sounds great, right? Yet something is off about the place and Joan can't quite put her finger on it. That is, until she gets a job as a local reporter and starts digging into Lilydale's past. So many twists! So many turns! There are suspects and then more suspects! Who can you trust? Anyone? What can you believe? Anything? I do admit to laughing here and there about certain things that are said. I mean, what doctor tells a pregnant woman that she can have 4 cigarettes a day? You do have to remind yourself that this is set in the 1960's. Aside from that, it's a well written, gripping tale that is sinister, dark and at times infuriating. You just want to smack Joan upside the head, but in all fairness, you pretty much would like to do that to any character in the book. It kept me engaged and needing to read on even when I should have stopped. It definitely was a wild, entertaining ride and one that I am glad I took.

I was fortunate enough to discover author Jess Lourey early in her career, and have been enjoying my fellow Minnesotan’s books for well over a decade now. Lourey hails from a small town in the central part of the state and, from her first book, has shown a keen eye for both the communities that dot the landscape and the people and personalities who populate them. Until recently, I’ve known Lourey primarily as the writer of the humorous murder-by-month mysteries, a series of cozies featuring a fish-out-of-water librarian-cum-detective, her octogenarian accomplice, the scheme-a-minute Tammy Faye Bakker-esque mayor and a police chief who resents the intrusions on his investigatory domain. In her most recent novel, however, the Amazon Charts bestseller “Unspeakable Things,” Lourey tackled much darker material. Drawing from the 1989 abduction and murder of 11-year-old Jacob Wetterling, “Unspeakable Things” chronicles a series of horrific and ultimately tragic events in the fictional community of Lilydale. In “Bloodline,” Lourey pays a return visit to Lilydale, but it would be misleading to say that she picked up where she left off in “Unspeakable Things.” On the contrary, the events in “Bloodline” occur some two decades before “Unspeakable Things.” But neither is this a prequel, at least not in the traditional sense. The storylines are separate and distinct and there is little overlap among the characters. Here we meet a newly-expectant Joan Harken, who trades the urban jungle of Minneapolis for the tranquility of a new life in her boyfriend’s hometown. Yet, like Joanna Eberhart arriving in Stepford, our protagonist quickly realizes that something is amiss. The pieces are there, but they don’t make sense. The harder Joan pushes for answers, the harder the community pushes back. “Bloodline” explores the dark side of small towns, the sometimes-open secrets a community ignores, or even embraces, in order to protect its own. Indeed, the common thread in these books is Lilydale itself. Lourey is mining haunted ground, a cursed village built on an abomination, and she does so with aplomb. The Lilydale of “Bloodline” is over a century old, leaving several more generations of these twisted townsfolk for readers to meet, should Lourey choose to tell us their stories.

Just finished "Bloodline" by Jess Lourey. Picked this one up as a Kindle First read as the premise of a decades old unsolved crime peaked my interest as a thriller. Without giving the storyline away, an idyllic small town is not always as it seems. The narrator is central to the action and relays the tale from a current fog-like state and flashbacks to build storyline and suspense. A little bit "The Stepford Wives" meets "Girl on a Train" in my opinion. The narrator, while well developed as a character is hard to like. Even as the mystery unravels, it is hard to feel good for anyone coming out of the story in the end. I was about 3/4 of the way through and wondered if I even liked the book but pushed on to the end and was glad I did. The story is well told and characters well developed. It is an interesting storyline and suspenseful. I would give it 4 stars for the quality of the writing, even though I lacked connection to the story. I think it could be an enjoyable summer beach read.

In 1968, pregnant journalist Joan Harken was tentatively following her boyfriend, Deck, back to his Minnesota hometown of Lilydale. With a picture-perfect town and a settling down mindset, Joan was ready to start her new family life. As she tries to fit in, she still has a nagging feeling that something is off about Lilydale. The old-fashioned organization controls everything in town while keeping Joan under a watchful eye. So does the lingering secret of a little boy who disappeared decades ago. Cornered into finessing a modest Lilydale role, is Joan giving in to paranoia, or did she move into a village that isn't what it seems? Jess Lourey is the queen of fictitiously creating mysterious atmospheric stories based on elements of actual events. Set in Lilydale, the same town as in her previous novel, UNSPEAKABLE THINGS, Joan and Deck embark on their next chapter in life as future parents. From the moment they stepped foot in Lilydale, the neighbors on Mill Street became intrusive and a little too friendly for my liking. The townpeople's strange behavior instantly reminded me of The Stepford Wives and being it's one of my favorites; I was all about it! Joan's character fascinated me from the start. Even when the odds were against her, Joan's adaptable nature and strength gained my praise. For one, I would not be able to handle everyone in my business; it would drive me mad. As for all the secondary characters, I was pleasantly delighted at how complex and compelling each persona was. Even the disturbing no-gooders appealed to my senses. Sadly, I have to keep my review discreet simply because I want you to experience the wickedly satisfying twists for yourself. I will mention, Jess Lourey has blown me away not once but twice now with her notoriously suspenseful plotlines. I was itching to finish this spooky tale, and luckily my book hangover was worth it. Overall, holy fork, BLOODLINE was a stand-out thriller that'll be one of the best of the year!