Blood Work

Publisher's Summary

Was America’s most notorious serial killer, Ted Bundy, responsible for the Broken Heart Murder? If not, who was, and can John Jordan figure it out and redeem his childhood hero?

John’s dad is still haunted by a murder he couldn’t solve four decades ago. 

On the same weekend Janet Leigh Lester was crowned Miss Valentine at the pageant and Queen at the Sweethearts dance, she disappeared, her car found in an empty field, its interior covered in blood. 

The case is decades cold now, but a new clock is ticking, and John Jordan has one last chance to get it right. With no jurisdiction, no support, and no real hope of solving such an old, cold case, John isn’t taking no for an answer.

Can John do what his father was unable to? Get Blood Work today and find out.

The John Jordan series:
From award-winning author and New York Times and USA Today best seller Michael Lister.
 

1) Power in the Blood
2) Blood of the Lamb
3) Flesh and Blood
4) The Body and the Blood
4.5) Double Exposure
5) Blood Sacrifice
6) Rivers to Blood
6.5) Burnt Offerings
7) Innocent Blood
7.5) Separation Anxiety
8) Blood Money
9) Blood Moon
9.5) Thunder Beach
10) Blood Cries
10.5) A Certain Retribution
11) Blood Oath
12) Blood Work
13) Cold Blood
14) Blood Betrayal
15) Blood Shot
16) Blood Ties
17) Blood Stone
18) Blood Trail
19) Bloodshed

©2016 Michael Lister (P)2018 Michael Lister

Could there ever be a better weekend?

John Jordan's father is ill: leukemia, and one old case in particular has become his obsession - the murder of teenage girl nearly forty years before. She had been on her way to a party but there was confusion over whether or not she even arrived. Her body was never found but her car was discovered, the interior soaked in her blood. Ted Bundy had been seen in the area, could he have been the killer? Bundy never admitted to it even though he claimed that he'd killed far more women than were attributed to him. At the time, John's father, in charge of the case, had thought so. But it had never been proved, never cleared up. He asks John to help him before it's too late.

The story is fascinating with several possible suspects besides Bundy, himself, and the resolution unexpected. There are flaws in the story raising unanswered question but the impetus is good, especially set against John's own increasingly rich family life which gently meanders through the background. The author also draws heavily on description of the latter crimes of Ted Bundy, his assaults, rapes and murders of his final known victims, as well as other known horrors from the area of Florida in which the small town of Marianna was located, in particular the racial tensions which fuelled lynchings, and the brutality of an infamous boys reform school. These, presumably accurate, historical descriptions made for gruesome but interesting true crime reading when first related but were unecessaily repeated at further points in the book.
Narration by Jason Betz was very good, clearly articulated with good intonation and an understanding of what he was reading obviously displayed by his phrasings. There was some differentiation in the character voicings, not too much but sufficient to know who was talking, and it made for a coherent whole.
I first read Blood Work in the textual version almost two years ago and found this audio version far more convincing and acceptable, with a greater sense of both character and reality. Much of this must be from Mr.Betz's import.

Overall, this is an interesting cold case mystery mixing both fact and fiction, which should appeal to any crime thriller fan. The future impact on others touched by an unsolved crime is especially well covered. Definitely flawed, it is still a good read..