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Never judge a book by its cover.
According to the cover jacket bio, Blood Ties is author Sigmund Brouwer's 25th book. The jacket hype praises this novel as " . . . a spell-binding story with remarkable twists and turns, and surprises that make every page an adventure". The cover has an interesting double exposure picture with a brightly embossed eagle feather underlining the Blood Ties title. It looked interesting. I began reading with favourable expectations. Boy, was I let down.
The subject of Blood Ties is the overcrowded genre of deranged serial killers. It seems to me that if you're going to cover the same ground as a hundred other writers then it makes sense to either create some unique characters and a new story line or at least put an original twist on the standard ones. Brouwer does neither in Blood Ties.
. Set in Kalispell, Montana, the story revolves around Kelsie McNeill and the mysterious stalker/killer, who calls himself "The watcher", who proclaims his love for her as a teen and then kills his first victim to prove it. Clay Garner, a rookie FBI agent shows up to rustle all the local boys' feathers as an outsider. There is even a land scam scheme thrown in to provide a few red herrings.
Unfortunately we've seen/read all these characters before. The wise Indian grandfather character, George Samson, is the only one that comes close to having depth and substance. But even he is wasted in the second half of the story when an adult "watcher" stalks the married Kelsie and makes his expected play. Which of course ends in death and destruction.
From a Christian perspective I don't see why Word Publishing would promote such mediocre material. I suggest you don't judge Blood Ties by its cover . . . which looks great.
Kirk Schriefer is a freelance writer from Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., where he attends Westview Christian Fellowship with his wife, Ruth Anne.
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