For the Blood is the Life by Joe Albanese

police procedural (with a bloody twist!)

Summary:

Evan Summers is a cop down on his luck. He’s struggling with alcoholism, his soon-to-be ex-wife wants sole custody of their son, and there’s a serial killer ripping out the throats of prostitutes, yet somehow, no one on the police force had any idea that the women had died. When a young bartender is murdered, Summers and his older partner McNally investigate, with the dubious help of an obnoxious subordinate.

When his ex announces a move to a different city, Summers can no longer resist the siren call of alcohol. Then he ends up face-to-face with the killer. Exactly who–and what–the killer is defies belief and leaves him baffled about their encounter. It also might drive him to make a dangerous bargain, one that leaves more than himself at risk.

My thoughts:

This novella is a quick, easy read.

There’s a bit of jumpiness to the narrative, and I felt rather jerked around as I read. However, this is to be expected in such a short (70-odd pages) saga.

The twist truly startled me. I blinked. Wow, I really wasn’t expecting that! I thought. Honestly, I was unsure how I felt about this turn of events. (I don’t normally read in this subgenre. Without a major spoiler, I can’t say what that subgenre is!) However, the narrative picked up steam after that. The second part was more energetic than the first. The ending is unexpected but fitting. It brought things full circle in a sad and unexpectedly moving way.

The strongest aspect of the book was the relationship between McNally and Summers.

McNally worries that he did Summers a disservice by recommending the younger man’s promotion to detective at such a young age. He also thinks that the stress of the job contributed to the alcohol addiction and domestic violence that led to the breakup of Summers’ marriage. He feels responsible, in part, for this. He’s also grown fond of Christine, Summer’s ex, and their son Aaron. He truly wants the best for their family.

For his part, Summers struggles with how “everyone” treats him like a child when they speak of his battle with alcohol. He also seems to care about McNally, just like he cares about Aaron and Christine. But caring about someone doesn’t equal being good to or good for them.

There were some odd quirks in the prose that distracted from the overall story. (Hence the 3 stars.) Occasionally there’s an unnecessary verb tense shift (from simple past to present) and some minor typos mar the text. There were also some point of view lapses. The book is mainly in close 3rd person (with Summers and McNally as the POV characters), but there are occasional points when we read things that the POV character cannot know.

For example, when police sketch artists produce four different descriptions of the killer, we are told that three of the sketches Summers looks at aren’t even close to being right (page 20). As Summers hasn’t met the killer yet, how can he know this? He can’t. Yet we’re supposed to be reading his point of view.

Overall, though, a good story. 

Bonus tip for writers

Do the twist–wisely.

Albanese’s ending startled me. I really hadn’t expected this outcome, yet in hindsight, it seems like the most logical, inevitable outcome that could happen in these circumstances. But it’s not only a clever plot twist. It works emotionally, too, as this feels like the most fitting outcome in the characters’ relationships. It ties together multiple threads of the story (the alcoholism, the custody battle, the killings, etc.) in a sad but fitting way. It also doesn’t feel too orchestrated, either.

So here’s what I learned from that:

Twists are a big thing in plots now. But don’t just throw one in for the heck of it. Make it work on multiple levels, not only on the surface level, and serve the story. Use it to deepen relationships and bring out different dimensions of characters’ emotions and motives. The result will be a stronger, more satisfying reader experience.

Note

Thanks to Joe Albanese for giving me a copy of For the Blood is the Life for review. I was not required to give a good review. The book is available on Amazon as an e-book. Joe is also on Twitter @JoeAlba88.

Want more?

Like police procedurals with a twist? Read my review of Jim Alexander’s Good Cop Bad Cop.

Like stories about people confronting their inner evil? Try D. H. Schleicher’s Then Came Darkness.