BLOODLINE by Jess Lourey
Thomas & Mercer; 1/1/21
CBTB Rating: 5/5
The Verdict: sinister small-town suspense
If “small-town suspense-meets-horror” were a genre, Jess Lourey would be its queen. The author of 2020 standout UNSPEAKABLE THINGS returns on January 1 with her next work of dread-inducing rural horror, BLOODLINE. Set in 1960’s Minnesota, BLOODLINE draws readers into the heart of a picture-perfect town harboring unthinkable secrets. For pregnant journalist Joan Harken, her fiancé’s hometown of Lilydale represents a bright future: a place where their unborn child can grow up with all the safety and security that a tight-knit community has to offer—the kind of safety and security that was missing from her own upbringing. But as Joan settles into her new home, she can’t shake the feeling that something is just a bit off. Her neighbors have taken a keen interest in every aspect of her life, her fiancé is growing distant, and she swears someone is following her in the town. Joan is right to be suspicious—but even her wildest imaginings could never have prepared her, or the reader, for what is in store. Evil is lurking in the town of Lilydale, and Joan is going to have to rely on all her wits and inner strength to make it out with her life. BLOODLINE is a spine-tingling, up-all-night-reading psychological suspense novel-meets-horror story worthy of the comparisons to Rosemary’s Baby that it is receiving. If small-town scares are your cup of tea, BLOODLINE belongs on your 2021 reading list.
Plot Details:
Perfect town. Perfect homes. Perfect families. It’s enough to drive some women mad…
In a tale inspired by real events, pregnant journalist Joan Harken is cautiously excited to follow her fiancé back to his Minnesota hometown. After spending a childhood on the move and chasing the screams and swirls of news-rich city life, she’s eager to settle down. Lilydale’s motto, “Come Home Forever,” couldn’t be more inviting.
And yet, something is off in the picture-perfect village.
The friendliness borders on intrusive. Joan can’t shake the feeling that every move she makes is being tracked. An archaic organization still seems to hold the town in thrall. So does the sinister secret of a little boy who vanished decades ago. And unless Joan is imagining things, a frighteningly familiar figure from her past is on watch in the shadows.
Her fiancé tells her she’s being paranoid. He might be right. Then again, she might have moved to the deadliest small town on earth.
There’s something extra creepy about a crime novel inspired by real-world events, and Jess Lourey is quickly cementing herself as one of my favorite authors writing crime fiction in this space. In an author’s note at the beginning of her newest release, Lourey shares with readers that BLOODLINE is inspired by a real-world, unsolved mystery: the disappearance of a young boy in her own hometown in the 1940’s. From this true-crime foundation, Lourey unspools a gripping and genuinely terrifying tale of a picture-perfect community that is rotten at its core. BLOODLINE is only the second novel of Lourey’s that I’ve read, but in both this book and her 2020 release UNSPEAKABLE THINGS, I’ve been instantly impressed with her ability to craft a sense of place so convincing, readers will feel they are living in the town alongside her characters. In BLOODLINE, readers travel to the town of Lilydale, Minnesota—Lourey’s own hometown—alongside the novel’s protagonist, and they uncover the horrors at its core alongside its protagonist, too. Close your eyes and picture an idyllic Midwestern town, a place with rows of picture-perfect homes, a quaint town center, neighbors who welcome newcomers with casseroles and housewarming parties… you just pictured Lilydale, the idyllic setting in which Jess Lourey unspools her terrifying new story. Lilydale and its residents will call to mind the unsettling perfection of Stepford Wives, and the secrets the town and its residents are hiding prove even darker. There’s just something irresistible about a small town with a terrible secret, and Jess Lourey’s approach to writing small-town horror is my favorite I’ve found yet.
Central to BLOODLINE is, of course, the story’s protagonist—and what a great protagonist she is. Joan Harken is exactly the kind of sympathetic figure a story like BLOODLINE demands: not every decision she makes is exactly what I would have done in her shoes, but every decision she makes cements her as a character we can root for. When our story opens, Joan is a journalist living in Minneapolis with her boyfriend. The young couple has just learned that they are expecting a baby when, in a terrible twist of fate, Joan is assaulted and robbed while walking home one day. Suddenly, Joan’s sense of security is shattered. Reeling from this attack, Joan finds herself wondering if the city really is the best place to raise a child after all. When her boyfriend raises the idea of the couple moving back to his hometown, the sleepy town of Lilydale, Joan readily agrees. After all, where could be safer for a young child to grow up than picture-perfect Lilydale? Joan only has one condition: she is determined to maintain her career as a journalist no matter where they live, and she wishes to pursue a job at the local Lilydale newspaper as they settle into their new home. At first, everything seems as idyllic in Lilydale as Joan had hoped it would be. Joan is welcomed heartily by her neighbors, who take an instant interest in Joan’s pregnancy and the wellbeing of her and her unborn child. But as the days pass, the seemingly benevolent attention of the residents of Lilydale becomes increasingly suspicious, and Joan finds herself coming up against not only the prying eyes of her neighbors, but also the archaic rules and expectations that the Lilydale residents have in place. Joan is a woman with career aspirations and a mind of her own—qualities that are undesirable in a Lilydale woman, as she quickly comes to learn, but qualities which may just save her life. As Joan navigates the increasingly restrictive expectations of her new community and quietly begins using her journalistic skills to investigate her new neighbors and a local unsolved mystery, she begins to wonder just what kind of plans her new community has for her… and for her new baby. BLOODLINE leads readers ever deeper into the dark heart of a town where conformity is king, and leading a happy Lilydale life means paying a steep price.
BLOODLINE is part psychological suspense, part flat-out horror story, and all wildly entertaining. What begins as a seemingly innocent story of a young couple moving to a small town to raise their family twists and morphs into a jaw-dropping story of all-out horror, one very much worthy of the comparisons to Rosemary’s Baby that it is receiving. Lourey lays an intricate trap for her protagonist—and for readers—in her newest novel; BLOODLINE is the kind of story that starts off innocently enough, and slowly but surely snares readers in its deadly web. Drawing from the best of the mystery, suspense, and horror genres, BLOODLINE delivers a truly unmissable reading experience. For readers who love mysteries, Lourey delivers a gripping cold case that catches Joan’s attention: the unsolved disappearance of a local boy years prior, a mystery which Joan takes it upon herself to solve, and which turns out to have even more far-reaching implications than she could have imagined. For readers who love psychological suspense, BLOODLINE’s palpable tension, wildly suspicious cast of characters, and increasingly paranoia-inducing plot will keep even the most seasoned suspense aficionado on their toes. For readers who crave touches of horror in their crime fiction, this book’s genuinely jaw-dropping finale, including the ultimate revelation of the town’s dark secrets, will more than satisfy. As Lilydale’s net closes in around Joan, readers will find it impossible to put this book down.
Jess Lourey’s small-town suspense novels have quickly become some of my favorites in this category. Lourey’s newest release, BLOODLINE, is my favorite book I’ve read of hers yet, and a truly outstanding way to kick off a new year in crime fiction. I simply loved this book, and suspect I’ll be including BLOODLINE on my list of 2021 favorites when the new year comes to an end! Readers looking for inventive, chilling small-town suspense: add BLOODLINE to your 2021 TBR as soon as possible.
I received a free review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. All opinions my own.
Book Details
Publisher : Thomas & Mercer (January 1, 2021)
Language: : English
Paperback : 347 pages
ISBN-10 : 1542016312
ISBN-13 : 978-1542016315
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