Lifeblood

Karen Taylor #2

by N.J. Cooper

Six months on from the events in NO ESCAPE, forensic psychologist Karen Taylor is busy assessing prisoners out on parole for a Ministry of Justice project designed to predict which of them will re-offend. One of them is Randall Greer, a violent serial rapist, whose last offence took place on the Isle of Wight. Karen is sure he will attack again - and that this time he will probably kill. So when Randall breaks the terms of his parole and goes missing, Karen breaks all the rules. She returns to the Isle of Wight to warn DCI Charlie Trench, because he was involved in Greer's arrest and subsequent trial for the rape of Lizzie Fane. Randall had threatened to kill Lizzie if she gave evidence against him. Lizzie Fane has secretly reinvented herself as Lisa Raithe, and is enjoying a burgeoning career as a successful artist. She's settled into an attractive village well away from the Island - and has tentatively started dating again. As Lisa, she has everything going for her. Until she hears that Randall is out, and on the loose. She has stoically rebuilt her shattered life - how far will she go to protect it? Soon people who gave evidence at Randall's trial are found murdered. Has the rapist now turned killer, as Karen predicted? Has Lizzie herself turned avenging angel? Or, as Karen starts to suspect, is someone else pulling the strings?

Genres: Thriller, Crime, Fiction

321 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

A pseudonym used by Natasha Cooper

Reviews

[Melanie Peak · Rating 5 out of 5]

first time reading this author and I loved this book. good twists and turns will certainly be reading the rest of this series.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good fast paced crime thriller combined with a more academic view of sexually violent crimes as forensic psychologist Karen Taylor studies those that have been released following such crimes just to find herself in the middle of hunting down a potential repeat offender, and his victim who has disappeared from her home town to re-start her life. But is all as it seems or is someone else on the hunt for those that miscarried justice? The story is fast paced and engaging with well developed characters and a mostly believable story, including moments that ring incredibly true as family are forced to accept the truth of what their relatives have done.

[Hannah Redrup · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the relationship Karen had with Charlie in the book, was secretly routing for them both to be together but i liked the friendship they had 🙂 was a good read and would recommend it to anyone looking for a good read 😁

[Windy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good plot with plenty of red herrings

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Actually this book was a 2.5 because while parts of it were awful other parts had me thinking about the characters and plot while I wasn't reading, so it must have been interesting me on some level.

Plot: The plot was actually very sturdy and with all its subplots and characters it was quite complex and with a couple of twists. The central plot was the release of Randall Gyre, a serial rapist and his impact on those involved in his case. Will he rape again? Will he kill? Etc etc And it is psychologist Karen's job to find out and stop him. Fine. Lovely. Sturdy.
So I felt that the introduction of her love life, of her decorating her new home, of the private lives of other characters etc etc actually diminished the importance of the murders and this ruined the fludity and urgency in the whole novel. Therefore it was actually really slow paced because it was interupted SO MUCH by these insignificant plots.

Characters: Karen was okay as a character though I struggled to relate to her. We were supposed to feel her urgency over Gyre's escape but I didn't, more importantly we were suppoesd to feel her frustration in her relationship with Will and with the Robert Downey Jnr Look-alike Charlie. I had no interest in it at all!
Will was a workaholic who obviously gave more importance to his job as a surgeon than he did to Karen, and their relationship was stale. But Charlie, the supposedly dark and dangerous policeman who was trying to steal her heart, was an arse, plain and simple. There was no evidence that he liked her, more that he tolerated her. He was always telling her to shut up, mocking her and ignoring her findings despite asking her to be there. I didn't want Karen with either of them, so I generally skipped those parts.
I think part of the problem in this book was the dialogue. Everything was so stilted and wooden, it felt as though they were reading a script instead of feeling anything. Oh and if I read the word 'must' once more I was going to scream. "I MUST phone Charlie." "I Must go!" My god.

Overall there was the underlying, solid plotline but the characterisation and dialogue ruined it for me. The big conclusion at the end, which should have been an urgent hunt for the murderer, was rushed because for the last few chapters I was reading huge sections about how she was going to decorate her house instead of how she was going to stop the serial killer! The plotline was undermined by other aspects in the book.

[Ruth · Rating 1 out of 5]

OK - so this is all about a forensic psychologist, her latest case, her love life and family life. It was a fairly good plot but the writing is turgid to say the least. About two thirds of the way through, it lost its pace a bit in my opinion. I am not sure whether some of the additional detail such as she put her toothbrush in the pen slots of the computer laptop was really necessary to the story or the tone of the story. I was starting to think that the author had been paid per word. Perhaps, more the editors fault - but it was an ok read but will not search out other books by this author. I did like the setting though - just down the road, almost.

[Barbara Band · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a random choice from my local library as I was between reserved audio books and wanted something to listen to on my commute. Rather enjoyed it! Some of the characters annoyed me but it has a good plot and I didn't guess the ending (was totally off track in fact). Good crime mystery story.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great read but I felt that the ending was a bit rushed and there was a bit of a leap made

[Rafael · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was quite enjoyable.... Half way through I started trying to guess the murder culprit, I could not get it right. It was a short book with a rushed ending. BAM! It's over.

[Sadie Beard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bog standard read - nothing exceptional