Jan Burke, Bloodlines

Bloodlines

Jan Burke

Simon & Schuster, Jan 2005, $24.00, 480 pp.

ISBN 074322390x

In January 1958, thugs badly beat Jack Corrigan after he sees a farmer bury a car. Meanwhile the bodies of wealthy socialites Mr. and Mrs. Duchane wash up on the beach. Their son Todd, his wife Katy and her dog, who were also on the yacht with them, remain missing; their baby is kidnapped and the nurse is left for dead. Although Corrigan and his prot g e reporter Conn O'Connor work the case, they can't solve the crimes.

In 1978, reporter Irene Kelly covers the groundbreaking of a shopping center when a car is uncovered. Inside the trunk are the remains of Katy, Todd and the dog. O'Connor works with Irene to find evidence to bring the criminals to justice. When they get too close Irene and the man thought to be the Duchane heir are kidnapped and left to die. O'Connor saves her and the kidnappers go to jail, but again, the mastermind can't be implicated. In the present, Irene and her prot g e are again kidnapped by the same thugs who kidnapped her in 1978 because the mastermind is afraid they finally found enough evidence to implicate him.

Jan Burke has written her best work to date, bar none. The crime thriller is written for the first part in the third person and the rest of the book is told from Irene's point of view, a technique that works brilliantly for this particular work. Readers are treated to some very special characters who had a formidable impact on Irene's career and the audience will feel their every emotion. In addition to brilliant characterizations, BLOODLINES contains a gripping storyline that keeps reader attention from first to last page.

Harriet Klausner