Book Review: Bloodlines by Peter Hartog

Genre(s): Science Fiction / Science Fantasy

Book Synopsis:

Those dark and terrible things from your nightmares are VERY real.

They walk among us, masquerading as your neighbor, your lover, even your friend. You see, Empire City is full of them…if you only know where to look. How do I know this? Well, for starters the name is Detective Tom Holliday. I work homicide for Special Crimes. My friends, what few I have, call me Doc.
And the other reason?

I’ve got magic of my own.

Welcome to Empire City, where magic and technology co-exist, and humanity endures behind walls of stone and spell-forged steel. A place where danger lurks around every street corner, and anything is possible.

When former hotshot homicide detective Tom “Doc” Holliday is recruited to join Special Crimes, he trades in his boring desk job for a second chance to do what he does best: hunt down killers.

And his first case doesn’t disappoint—a murdered woman with a bogus past, her body drained of blood, and two eyewitnesses wasted on the designer drug goldjoy claiming a vampire did it. Armed with a fickle clairvoyance and saddled with a team whose past is as checkered as his own, Holliday embarks upon an investigation through a dystopian landscape filled with bio-engineered vampires, interdimensional shadow parasites, and the magical masterminds behind it all.

But to solve this murder and safeguard his city, Holliday will have to uncover the truth behind an ancient shadowy conspiracy and confront a destiny he never wanted.

Review:

Bloodlines is a blend of science-fiction, urban fantasy, and paranormal—three genres I happen to love. Add to the mix a good mystery to solve, and I’m a happy reader.

The “magic” in this story has an interesting premise. It’s set on a future Earth that has been recovering from a nuclear war, and it was the nukes that opened a long-dormant nexus leading to other dimensions—and magic. Doc’s brand of magic is unique and unreliable, but it makes him the perfect candidate for the Special Crimes unit. He refers to it as the “Insight.” It allows him to see hidden aspects of other people that no one else can.

But his case isn’t as straightforward as the synopsis makes it sound, even with his Insight. There were more twists and turns in this story than I’d anticipated, but it made for a really compelling read. I love when a mystery’s solution isn’t apparent until the very end of a book. This one did a fantastic job of keeping me guessing.

Doc meets a few interesting acquaintances along the way too. Besim is a Vellan (an interdimensional humanoid alien), who is both a scientist and a musician. Vellans’ senses are heightened compared to humans, and she is instrumental in several parts of the story. Deacon Kole is Besim’s bodyguard, and although crass, he’s no stranger to the supernatural and how to deal with them. Finally, there’s Leyla, a hacker and an ice witch of significant power. She’s young, and Doc often thinks of her as his little sister, though they aren’t related.

The mix of characters and their abilities was fascinating, and when met with bioengineered vampires, killer cyborgs, and soul-sucking demons, the team had some strange, yet interesting interactions. There were a number of fight/combat scenes throughout the book too, keeping that feeling of “what’s going to go wrong next?” ever-present.

I came across Bloodlines while following SPSFC2, and while this book didn’t make it to the finals, it’s a stellar read. It’s book one in the series, and I’ll be looking to continue the story in the future.

Author website: peterhartog.com

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