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Tessa Grey appears to be an attractive, young, and vulnerable widow. This makes her seem to be the ideal victim and is the reason Noah Bishop has requested her help. The Church of the Everlasting Sin, whose headquarters is in Grace, North Carolina, is a cult that has been recruiting several women with lots of disposable property. Bishop suspects that the Reverend Samuel is a psychopathic predator responsible for several murders and disappearances but has no proof of such crimes. The FBI's Special Crimes Unit, which Bishop heads up, cannot take an official interest in the Church due to the lack of evidence. In addition, it cannot request local assistance, as there are several prominent officials in Grace who support the church. The SCU works closely with a group of unofficial individuals who have extrasensory abilities. These individuals are frequently asked to do investigative work to help the SCU solve unusual crimes. Such is the situation with the Church of the Everlasting Sin and Tessa. Tessa Grey has not had the opportunity to work with her abilities long and knows that there is a lot that she still needs to learn. At the same time, she does not want a psychic predator on the loose. Tessa is actively recruited by the cult and visits the compound. There she receives the thoughts of a very strong and demented individual. These thoughts frighten her, as she believes they are a glimpse of the dangers yet to come. She also notices strange things about on the compound. All of the women seem to love the Reverend, almost seeming brainwashed, yet the men are more ambivalent. There are no animals on site – wild or domestic – and the children are closely supervised with little freedom. Grace's Chief of Police, Sawyer Cavenaugh has his own issues with the Church. He too believes that the Reverend Samuel is plotting something terrible although he does not share the SCU's dire predictions. Sawyer will work with Tessa to bring the Reverend Samuel to justice. Just as their plan is about to come to fruition, events spiral out of control. It becomes a race against time as Sawyer, Tessa and Bishop attempt to stop Samuel from completing the devastation and annihilation he has implemented. BLOOD SINS continues the trilogy begun with BLOOD DREAMS. While it is possible to read BLOOD SINS without knowing all of the background from the previous book, certain elements of this book will make more sense if the trilogy is read in order. Many of Kay Hooper's books are written to a formula and BLOOD SINS is no exception. Her basic formula for the Special Crimes Unit series is for the protagonist to get into a dangerous situation either as victim or as investigator. Said protagonist meets a member of the opposite sex he or she finds appealing – and they ultimately fall in love. At least one person has extrasensory talents and develops these talents throughout the plot. And finally these two individuals must rely on and trust each other to bring about a positive resolution to their problems. The only element of this book that differs from Hooper's formula is that in BLOOD SINS, Sawyer and Tessa do not begin an intimate relationship. That's not to say that the book does not imply that they will not get together later but that merely the time is not right for a more intimate relationship. BLOOD SINS will appeal to long-term fans of the series as Hooper still manages to create an interesting and action packed plot while following a formula. While this series will not appeal to readers searching for inventiveness or originality, sometimes there is something comfortable about knowing what to expect in a book.
Reviewed by Sarah Dudley, March 2009
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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