What Memories are you Hiding?... (Blood Memory - Greg Iles)

Member Name: Foxy-Lady

Product:	Blood Memory - Greg Iles
Date:	17/03/08 (262 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A real page turner!

Disadvantages: Some slightly implausible bits

Catherine Ferry is a successful odontologist who occasionally works closely with the New Orleans FBI, helping to establish forensic evidence relating to teeth. The latest series of murders requires her knowledge and expertise as bite marks play a huge part in the torture. Evil is yet again at work and the monster must be caught before there are any more victims.

The case disturbs Cat immensely...it seems to trigger a reaction deep within her, bringing her own demons to the surface. Now in her thirties, she has recently felt that certain areas of her childhood were a bit 'fuzzy' and not quite right, particularly regarding the death of her father when she was eight years old.

It is soon realised that the current murders stem from repressed memories...and it becomes clear that Cat has some deeply hidden memories of her own. But are the past and the present connected?



My first impression of Blood Memory is that Greg Iles does a remarkable job in establishing the main character, Cat. He fluidly weaves her background into the story with just enough detail to make her realistic and totally believable. She's written with such honesty, including her many flaws. It's apparent from the outset that Cat is a very independent and strong-willed woman but underneath the tough exterior lies a troubled individual. A history of suicide attempts, substance abuse and overall destructive behaviour reveals a touching element of weakness that she can't seem to escape from. In fact she's in danger of cracking under her own pressure. She's desperately searching for answers about her past but nobody seems willing to give them to her - particularly her family who insist that it remains a closed book. Even visiting a series of therapists over the years hasn't enabled her to get to the root of the problems.

Full of anguish and despair, she begins to feel that she will never find out the truth. That is until flashbacks and nightmares begin to increasingly plague her. Whilst deeply upsetting, these images also provide snippets of forgotten events, offering a glimmer of hope of finally being able to unravel her past...and the family secrets.

The care and attention that has quite obviously been paid to the building of Cat's character allows the story to really take hold and become completely involving in terms of plot development. Unlike some other books of this genre, I actually cared about the protagonist and for once my eagerness to turn the pages wasn't just because I wanted to get to the bottom of the murder investigation. I was full of sympathy for this vulnerable woman and I actually wanted to be told that she was okay aswell.

Many periphery characters that are included with a great depth also power the dramatic story. These people are equally as interesting and in their own way play an important role within the plot. With the assistance of these characters, this hugely engaging thriller contains twists and turns throughout. There are shocking elements, suspense and surprising revelations to be found within the pages, keeping the reader entertained. A factor that resulted in me being thoroughly gripped right from the start.

I get the feeling that Iles really took his time in writing Blood Memory as there are far too many complexities and a wealth of detail that suggest he can't possibly have rushed it. It's not just the characterisation that is strong. Praise must also be given to his scenic descriptions as they serve to put you right there amongst the action and everything is alive with depth and realism.

A certain degree of concentration and commitment is required to fully understand everything that is going on. Personally, I found myself captivated by the chilling intrigue and eager to soak up every word, trying to slot together the various pieces of the story like a jigsaw. I don't want to spoil the story in any way but at this point I think it's quite important to say that one of the themes explored in the book is sexual abuse. It's not particularly graphic and is delivered in a fascinating manner but the mere suggestion of the subject matter may be too sensitive and heavy going for some readers. I'll let you decide for yourself.

The overall content of Blood Memory is superbly written with some great insights which clearly come from thorough research by the author. Some information included in the book is very specific and certainly doesn't come under general knowledge!

One slight criticism I have is that the book is quite long at just over 500 pages. Whilst I found it intensely readable, I got to a point (probably around the 400 page mark) where I found myself feeling a little frustrated and couldn't wait to finish - partly because I was keen to find out whodunnit, but also because it was beginning to drag on ever so slightly.

Throughout Blood Memory there are some possibly implausible elements, for example, one of the characters manages to check their mobile phone and listen to their voicemail whilst being stuck in the middle of a river (naked and injured), during a lashing storm and desperately trying to hold onto a log to stay afloat! I just put it down to a touch of artistic license though and it did nothing to spoil my enjoyment of the novel. Apart from slight flaws such as this, the storyline is well constructed and ultimately all the sub-plots and characters are creatively tied together. An element of the ending did appear to come out of nowhere which I found a bit surprising but it had an overall feeling of being complete in the final few pages.

Ile's masterful storytelling provides a powerful insight into the journey of Cat Ferry and the horrendous effects that forgotten events can cause.




Published by: Hodder & Stoughton
Pages: 512
Cover price: £6.99 (but I picked mine up as part of a 3 for a fiver deal at a local Book Depot)
ISBN: 0340833696
ISBN 13: 978-0340833698

Summary: Family secrets, forgotten events and hidden memories