In the Blood

by Lisa Unger

[Lianne]

I received an ARC copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. This review in its entirety was originally posted at caffeinatedlife.net: http://www.caffeinatedlife.net/blog/2014/01/17/review-in-the-blood/

In the Blood was a fascinating read. On the surface, it seems like a typical psychological thriller: a troubled child, a friend gone missing, secrets and lies all around with Lana at the centre of it all. But the further the story goes, the more the reader learns about what’s really going on with Luke, what Lana is really hiding, how there’s so much more to their respective stories than it initially seems.

The subjects of nature and nurture, parenting and children who have psychpath/sociopath tendencies and behaviour (for lack of a better term–not sure how they describe this these days) are really addressed here and play a major role in the story, especially given that Lana is studying abnormal child behaviour. There are no easy answers in this novel and the subjects really try on the characters’ patience and limits. These themes weave in nicely with the stories but they aren’t presented in a heavy-handed or information-overload manner but nonetheless touch on these issues nicely.

Overall In the Blood is quite the page turner and leaves the reader guessing at times as to how everything connects, what will happen next, etc. No doubt it was stressful at times to read, especially with all of the lies adding up and Lana trying to contain everything in, but the author does a wonderful job in keeping the reader’s interest.