Carved In Blood by E.R. FallonMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Time taken to read - 1 day
Pages - 211
Publisher - Endeavour press
Source - bought copy
Blurb from Goodreads
That happens when your mother kills your best friend, then goes on to kill other young men.
Wanting a clean break, Evelyn joins the Navy and afterwards goes to college.
It is around that time that Evelyn becomes Evan Lane and fully embraces being a man.
Now, Evan lives in Seven Sisters, a big city a few states over from Freedom Village, where he grew up.
He has a lovely girlfriend Sammie, a dog named Paige and a job cleaning up crime sites.
No one knows he’s transgender, or that his mother was the serial killer Alice Lane.
And that’s just the way he wants it.
Until the bodies of young men start showing up and Evan learns they have a message for Evelyn carved in their flesh.
But Evan’s mother is in prison.
So who is killing young men in Seven Sisters?
One day Evan wakes to find that someone he thought he could trust has sold his story and also divulged information about the investigation.
When it goes viral, Chief Gilani is furious and he is suspended.
With time on his hands, Evan figures he can clear his name before things get any worse…
He travels to his hometown of Freedom Village seeking answers.
For the first time in twenty years, Evan sees his mother and learns she might be innocent after all.
And he might be in the killer’s sights.
Carved in Blood is the gripping first installment of the Evan Lane Mystery Series .
My review
Evan is no stranger to dead bodies, he has a team that goes in and cleans up crime scenes. He also happens to be the off spring of a serial killer. As an adult Evan has nothing to do with his mother and has long since left the town he grew up in. Evan is in a happy relationship with Sammie, has a wee dog and quite happy with his lot. When bodies of young men start appearing in his area and he finds out one has a message relating to his old life Evan has to consider is the killer speaking to him? Is he in danger and will he need to face his past to survive his future?
So, as this is in the blurb it isn't a spoiler, Evan is transgender and with bodies piling up he needs to confront his past. His estranged mother has no idea Evan is transgender, in fact she knows nothing of his life. Evan finds himself having to "come out" deal with issues from the past and consider was there more to his mothers crimes that he initially knew?
The book has a few layers, the crime, Evan's personal life, trans phobia, relationship issues, unresolved issues with his mother, his past and how it all impacts on his current life plus a killer who seems to have Evan in their eye!
This is the first book I have read, I think, with a transgender character, it really makes you think about the issues, ignorance, hate and general vileness the trans community face just for living their lives as their true identity. All of this in among a killer on the loose and trying to keep a semblance of a normal life with the past ripping its way into Evan's present. For the start of a series I think it is a good paving stone for book one, I look forward to what is next for the characters and where the author decides to take the series, 3.5/5 for me.
There are so many things about this book that interest me that its definitely one for my Wanna Read List if not my Wish List.
ReplyDeleteI not so long ago watched a TV series about two companies of 'extreme' cleaners whose job it was to clean/declutter the premises of hoarders, those who had sadly died only for their bodies to be discovered some time later and the scene of crimes. Fascinating stuff.