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NEW RELEASE
Blood in the Past
(Blood for Blood Series)
by Jordanna
East
Blood in the Past is the prequel to an exciting new series called Blood for Blood. Make sure you get your copy before the first book in the
series is released later this year. You can read my review below.
Description
Ten years ago...
Jillian Atford falls
for an older man, a handsome Philadelphia cop, whose mystery is that he's
married, a reality Jillian refuses to accept. Lyla Kyle finds her mother dead
on the floor from an apparent suicide. She blames her philandering father and
wastes no time taking her revenge. Detective Jason Brighthouse Sr. is in the
wrong place at the right time to attempt to save a colleague from his burning
home. When neither of them make it out alive, his son can only harp on their
last argument. He shoots himself in the head ... with his father's gun.
Three lives. Three
deaths. One story of consequences, revenge and obsession.
To understand the
future, you must visit the past. Blood in the Past: an introductory novella to the upcoming Blood for Blood Series, coming late 2013.
Excerpt
Lyla eased her car
to a stop a few blocks away from his house. A low-hanging branch scraped the
roof. Lyla cringed at the sound, almost as if it were begging Lyla to return
her foot to the gas pedal. But she did not. She parked, drew 10 ccs of
succinylcholine into the syringe, and slithered out of the car into the wet
night. She hurried to her destination in a half-crouch, trying to blend into
the darkness of the asphalt.
She sneaked around
the back of her father’s house through the shadows of the maple trees. They
still clutched their leaves in denial of the approaching autumn. Every now and
again, the rain would tear a leaf from its branch and the fluttering shadow
would frighten Lyla. But instead of cursing the rain, she thanked it. It
softened the ground, cushioned her footfalls, and tethered the neighbors to
their couches. Few, if any, people would witness her arrival.
Searching for signs
of life in his house and finding only the soft flickering of a TV in the living
room, Lyla entered through the back door. Despite burying his wife hours
earlier, her father had gone on a date that night. She’d overheard him bragging
about it to a group of his colleagues at the funeral. A few were impressed by
his gall, but most were repulsed.
However loathsome
Lyla found it, she’d learned from her mother that, following a date night, her
father would drunkenly pass out on the couch, which was good for Lyla,
logistically. She imagined his stench: sex and a perfume so cheap the woman
probably purchased it at the cosmetics counter of the nearest drug store. For a
second, she marveled at how he at least had the decency not to bring the girls
to the house where his wife - her mother, for God’s sake - had lost her life.
She knew the
bristles of the doormat made a scritch-scritch noise, so Lyla bent each leg and
thoroughly and silently dried the soles of her sneakers on her pants’ legs.
Without squeaking, wet shoes, she tiptoed down to the basement, pausing to grab
a candle from the emergency kit at the top of the stairs. The old house’s
circuit breakers were notoriously fickle, so she switched off the main breaker,
drowning the house in complete darkness. Lyla paused in the spot where she’d
overheard her aunt’s suspicions only days earlier. With her ear toward the
ceiling, she strained to hear any indication of her father’s stirring over the
din of rain pelting the house. She heard nothing, so she removed the hypodermic
needle from her over-sized bag, almost piercing herself as she fumbled for it.
“Here I come, Daddy,” she said in a
singsong whisper, creeping back up the stairs.
Review
By Lynda Dickson
Blood in the Past tells the story of the intersecting lives of three young people.
Firstly, the reclusive Jillian shows her true colors after coming face to face
with a mugger. Her life changes after meeting Officer Calvin Kyle, who responds
to her 911 call. As her obsession with him grows, so does her erratic behavior,
leading her to make a catastrophic decision.
In Chapter 3, the narration shifts to Kyle's daughter, Lyla. Once again,
a series of bad decisions leads to a disastrous chain of events which will have
far-reaching consequences for years to come.
Chapter 4 is told from the point-of-view of Jason Brighthouse Jnr, a
cop's son, whose life crosses paths with Lyla's.
I believe the last scene is setting us up for the first book in the Blood for Blood Series entitled Blood in the Paint. I'm curious to find
out what happens next, and how these three people will interact in the future.
This was a short, easy, and entertaining read with few editing errors. Be
aware that it contains coarse language, violence, and adultery. Although, this
book kept me reading in order to find out what would happen next, I found the
characters were not very likable and had few redeeming features. No one acts as
one would expect them to, and no one is safe. I can only hope that the future
books will shed some more light on the characters' motivations. Early in the
book, Jillian states, "I just wanted to know why people are the way they
are and do the things they do." Same here. I guess we'll just have to suspend
disbelief and accept that people will do anything for revenge.
About the Author
Jordanna East readily confesses that she started writing a novel one day
when she was broke and unemployed. Her cable had been turned off. SHE WAS
BORED. So she sat down on her bed and started writing...and she hasn't stopped.
Though, now she has cable and pens her Psychological Thrillers at an actual
desk. Jordanna currently lives in South Jersey with her husband and their two
cats, both named after food.
Blood in the Past is the prelude novella to her upcoming, debut Blood for Blood Series, which follows three lives entwined by
deaths and consequences, revenge and obsession. Also be on the lookout for The Word and the Way, a serialized novel
involving an off-the-grid cult plagued by abusive and power hungry members,
sexual abuse, and murder - and the young couple desperate to escape. Episode One
of the series will be released in late 2013.
Links
