BLOODLAND - Alan Glynn

I reviewed BLOODLAND by Alan Glynn for Shelf Awareness. If you missed its appearance earlier this month, I am reposting it here today. If you don't receive Shelf Awareness already, you can sign up through the widget in my side bar.

First line: "The way his heart is beating is unreal, the rate, the intensity - it's like a jackhammer drilling into rock.

In an attempt to keep journalist Jimmy Gilroy from accidentally uncovering a dark secret while writing a book about reality star Susie Monaghan and her untimely death, Phil Sweeney arranges for a sweetheart of a deal. Jimmy can assist former Irish Prime Minister Larry Bolger with writing his memoir. What Phil Sweeney didn’t count on was Bolger falling off the wagon and revealing just enough of the secret to spark Jimmy’s curiosity. When Jimmy starts digging, he reveals clues that lead him across countries, oceans and a hierarchy of the world’s powerfully elite. His perseverance may earn him the story of a lifetime or a place on the obits page.

Alan Glynn (Limitless, Winterland) capably juggles several subplots in Bloodland, giving the reader just enough detail to know the subplots are going to come together, but not enough to figure out how before Glynn’s ready for the reader to know. The constant movement of the novel’s players and the lack of foresight keep the plot’s momentum barreling at a full tilt pace.

Glynn employs timely political, corporate, military and scientific issues to keep the reader fully engaged. But this is a book readers must pay close attention to as there are many players in the game.

Bloodland sprints to the finish, in a race full of dirty, corrupt competitors. And readers keep the pace turning page after page, checking over their shoulders and watching for black helicopters. Bloodland will put your cardiovascular system to the test; don’t forget to breathe!

BLOODLAND is available in trade paper (ISBN: 9780312621285) from Picador.