BLOOD SPORT - Judith E. French
Love Spell
ISBN: 978-0-505-52757-8
July 2008
Romantic Thriller

Ocean City, Maryland, Present Day

FBI Special Agent Jillian Maxwell has had marked success in identifying and capturing serial killers in Northern California and Oregon. This gives her credence with her superiors when she profiles a mass murderer she calls Nighthawk. She's allowed to select and head-up a task force to find him and stop the killing. Nighthawk knows who Jillian is, but so filled with hubris is he, that lately he's sent her postcards before his kills. Judging by the times and locations of his latest torture/killings, Jillian theorizes his next kill will be in the area of Ocean City, Maryland...he's very fond of the water.

Jillian asks for Special Agent Reed Donovan of the Baltimore office to join the team. Reed earned the nickname "Cowboy" for an heroic exploit in his past; he's now trying to live down. He's a widower with two boys, six and four, whom he dearly loves. He and Jillian work well together, though he's not convinced of her theory that a brotherhood of the blood exists, that the most evil killers know of each other and keep score. In this, Jillian is right and Reed is wrong, for we meet another villain hiding in the shadows...as if Nighthawk weren't enough to give us the chills.

After a brief prologue, BLOOD SPORT begins with a meeting of Jillian and Reed in a South Carolina morgue. From the beginning, the story unfolds from multiple viewpoints: our two protagonists naturally take up most pages, but we also see through the eyes of the intelligent but mad Nighthawk and a fellow "brother" of the blood who may be an admirer...or something else entirely. We become involved with the victims themselves as they move into Nighthawk's sphere. This shifting of scenes chills and tantalizes us and definitely increases suspense. Many well-defined minor characters are introduced and add much to the overall interest of the story, even when they are sidelines to the main plot.

Is there a romance? It would have to be against very difficult odds. Jillian suffered a horrible childhood that still gives her nightmares. Much of her energy goes to staying strong against old traumas. This baggage and her adamant opposition to intra-agency affairs work against the strong attraction she feels toward Reed.

BLOOD SPORT is not an easy book, not one to pick up to lighten a heavy mood. However, it's extremely well written, full of tension, gives much food for thought, and does have a happy ending for Jillian and the Donovans. And if there's a single thread still hanging . . . .

Jane Bowers