User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
Bloodline by Jess Lourey
The Stepford Wives and Rosemary's Baby get mixed in with Leave to Beaver channeling The Twilight Zone. I approached this story with excitement because I enjoyed Lourey's Unspeakable Things so very much. I did like the idea of this story but the main character, Joan Harken, torpedoes it for me.
The year is 1968 and after Joan's mother's death, meeting the love of her life, getting pregnant, and being mugged, all in quick succession, Joan and her fiancé move to Deck's hometown of Lilydale. A house is waiting for them, among the houses of the leaders of the town and Joan feels the claustrophobia and pressure of having all eyes on her, having these town leaders acting as if her baby belongs to them. I love the atmosphere, the description of the people, town, homes, food, and the creepy feeling of never being alone, of always being watched, of something being very wrong with this town.
But Joan is an unreliable narrator with fuzzy memories and a penchant for shoplifting. Even Joan's best friend doesn't really trust Joan. At first I wasn't at all impressed with Joan's friend from her college days but by the end of the story I couldn't blame her for being frustrated with Joan, because I was also frustrated with her. There are only so many bad decisions and risks that a main character can take before I'm ready to throw in the towel and just give up on her. I slept on this review, not wanting to give it just 3 stars but woke up knowing that I didn't feel right rating it higher. And Joan...it's all your fault!
Published January 1st 2021
This was an Amazon First Read selection.
Rating: really liked it
December Prime First Reads Pick.
The year is 1968, and Joan is a journalist. After a terrifying mugging incident, she agrees with her boyfriend, Deck (the father of her unborn child), to move back to his hometown of Lilydale, Minnesota.
The town is like nothing she has ever seen. Everyone is so friendly, so interested in what she is doing at all times, so sinister. So perfect...TOO perfect.
Joan gets a job at the Lilydale Gazette after hearing a story about a young boy going missing from the community over 20 years ago. As she investigates the story while simultaneously getting to know more about the residents who live on her street, it soon becomes clear that there are secrets this “charming” small town is keeping...secrets that could be deadly if anyone tried to reveal them.
The timeline immediately hooked me. For those who may not know, I absolutely LOVE mysteries that take place in the era before internet, cell phones, GPS, etc. Author Jess Lourey does a phenomenal job of creating that time in ones mind. I also felt genuine suspense and unease as the story progressed. I gobbled everything up until the end.
However, I suspected the direction the story was going in, and it’s a direction I don’t particularly enjoy in my reading. My intrigue ended at about 70-80%, but I will say that this is a book where the epilogue makes up for some of it.
3.5 stars. Right on the dot. Since it’s the giving season, and I enjoyed it for the most part, I will round up (but I am very conflicted, and may round down at some point...I just don’t know at the moment).
Review also posted at: https://bonkersforthebooks.wordpress.com
Rating: really liked it
Yessssssssss! I found a winner after my last terrible waltzes with so many thrillers ended up with disappointment and frustration!
This is smart!
This is batshit crazy!
This is exciting!
This is my favorite kind of nail biter, eyes popper, jaw dropper, soul shaker, blood freezer
thriller!
I loved it! I loved it! I loved it!
Full definition: Rosemary’s Baby meets Wayward Pines, Stepford Wives with Handmaid’s Tale vines!
It’s riveting, surprising and deliciously twisty! Most of them are not foreseeable! Especially the last third of the book is crazy wild ride!
Joan Harken is a young reporter in her mid-twenties, shaken by the loss of her mother but her life suddenly changes after the funeral: first of all, she finds her dreamy man Dex and she gets pregnant. As she starts thinking how she will adjust in her new life as a new mother but a serious of events including the promotion she expected is given to another colleague and getting mugged and stabbed at the back street, pushing her out of Minneapolis when she accepts Dex’s offer to move to Lillydale- a small town where he was born and raised. A town with motto: “Come Home Forever” and the people of the town welcome her with open hands, hugs, lots of kisses!
Everybody is too friendly, interested in her and her baby! Of course Joan is having hard time because throughout her life with her mother, she always lived in the shadows, laying low, having a secludedly lonely and friendless life! But now her future parents in law and entire town community watch like hawks, stalking her each step, talk or her misdemeanors just like disturbing spies who never sleep!
We understand that something happened Joan’s baby at the first chapters and we realize she is being kept in somewhere without her consent.
But the events dragged her to that room are really eerie, creepy and way too much batshit crazy!
So keep reading the adventures of cuckoonest town and its lunatic and terrifying community! It’s kind of unputdownable, heart pounding, entertaining adventure!
I’m giving five cult-ish, master race, crazy townies, mid fifties, WTH I just read stars!
This is definitely a great hit I highly recommend!
Rating: really liked it
3.5 ⭐️ Rounded up for this entertaining tale from the PSYCHOLOGICAL HORROR GENRE
As the book opens, the nation was in Chaos.
In DC, marines guarded the Capitol steps with machine guns while buildings were being torched.
Festering tension fueled by black poverty and racism exploded to the surface.
No, it isn’t sometime in late 2020, or Jan. 6, 2021.
( It was just weird timing for my read of THIS book)
The year was 1968.
Dr. Martin Luther King had just been murdered in Memphis, where he had traveled to march peacefully. The unrest had spread to Baltimore, Cincinnati and Chicago’s west side.
And, Joanie had just lost a promotion and been mugged when her boyfriend, Deck, suggested that they leave Minneapolis and move to his idyllic, hometown of Lilydale, Minnesota.
CREEPY, huh?
At first, everything seems picture perfect.
Mr and Mrs. Ronald Schmidt are waiting outside, Joan and Deck’s new home. They rush forward with hugs to welcome their new daughter, a Corning Ware dish with a hot casserole has been prepared for dinner, and the neighbors will arrive with more of the same for days to come.
But, then Deck begins to resemble his father, more and more (picture those hysterical Progressive Insurance commercials 😂) and suddenly her life resembles the movie, Rosemary’s baby!
I loved the references....the locket, the Pixie haircut, the lemon yellow room, and the chocolate pudding.
But, don’t worry, there are differences, as this story was inspired in part by a TRUE story-that of six year old, Victor John “Jackie” Theel of Paynesville, Minnesota, who wore a blue sailor suit for his first day of Kindergarten in 1944, and was never seen again.
There was something strange about that community, and when a similar incident occurred there AGAIN in 2016, the mystery surrounding THAT tale inspired THIS one.
I rewatched the 1968 Roman Polanski film, of Rosemary’s baby, right before reading this book because I love to spot the references when I know a new book is paying homage to a Classic.
This story may be even more OTT than that one, and the voice may not be exactly right (comparing with the movie)
BUT, if you enjoy reading horror on occasion, you might have some fun with this one! 👶🍼
I was never bored!
Rating: really liked it
This book was damn near unputdownable for me. It's a very quick read and though it's set in the late-sixties, the dialogue felt modern. I really enjoyed Joan - her thoughts were fun and quirky. I loved the occasional references to her "modern" avocado kitchen appliances, and her "racy" Mia Farrow pixie cut.
Though I had an inkling of where the story was going, and was ultimately proven mostly correct, it was gripping. There was most certainly an essence of Rosemary's Baby, with maybe a side of Peyton Place thrown in.
At first I was going to rate this book 3.5 stars. Though I really enjoyed the writing, characters, and plot, it seemed so highly implausible. Then I remembered...this was set in 1968, years before the internet, iPhones, laptops, and other means of easily accessing information. Suddenly, the concept seemed so much more fathomable. Recommended!
4 genetically disturbing stars! Available January 1, 2021.Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for my review copy.
Rating: really liked it
EXCERPT: I'm sitting on one leg as I grip Deck's hand, perched in the Chevelle's passenger seat, hurtling toward my new home, a place I've never been. My cat is curled on my lap, and with my free hand I'm caressing the itchy stab wounds through my pantyhose. Leftovers from the mugging. They're angry red scabs, halfway to healed. They hadn't been deep, and if not for them, and for Deck's reaction, the mugging would have already faded into the shadows of my mind. Why dwell on what you can't change?
Deck'd been shocked, though, horrified, swore that strangers didn't assault women in his hometown. Lilydale was peaceful, friendly. Everyone knew everyone, looked out for one another. The world outside might scream and swirl like a tornado, but Lilydale floated in a bubble, outside of time, as safe as a smile. The town even had a newspaper, Deck said. The
Lilydale Gazette . I might finally get my byline.
'Yes,' I'd said, finally convinced. 'Yes, please.'
It wasn't just the byline. After a childhood of moving from one city to another, the idea of settling down with Deck, of belonging, well it suddenly sounded all right.
ABOUT 'BLOODLINE': In a tale inspired by real events, pregnant journalist Joan Harken is cautiously excited to follow her fiancé back to his Minnesota hometown. After spending a childhood on the move and chasing the screams and swirls of news-rich city life, she’s eager to settle down. Lilydale’s motto, “Come Home Forever,” couldn’t be more inviting.
And yet, something is off in the picture-perfect village.
The friendliness borders on intrusive. Joan can’t shake the feeling that every move she makes is being tracked. An archaic organization still seems to hold the town in thrall. So does the sinister secret of a little boy who vanished decades ago. And unless Joan is imagining things, a frighteningly familiar figure from her past is on watch in the shadows.
Her fiancé tells her she’s being paranoid. He might be right. Then again, she might have moved to the deadliest small town on earth.
MY THOUGHTS: Stepford Wives meets Rosemary's Baby. Bloodline is even set in the same year, 1968, that Rosemary's Baby was released. But despite a blending that ought to have been full of menace and suspense, I felt not even the inkling of a chill, not one single goosebump. And this is a story that deserves to have that effect on its readers.
The plot has all the right ingredients. A picture perfect town with incredibly 'nice', if somewhat nosy, residents. A twenty year old missing child mystery. Joan's constant feeling of being watched. The fact that people know so much about her that she hasn't told them, including what she has been doing. The townsfolk referring to her baby as 'their' baby. And another missing child. This should have been downright creepy. But it just wasn't. It was all a little pedestrian and predictable.
If you are not familiar with Stepford Wives or Rosemary's Baby, this might well work for you.
And what's with Joan's boyfriend's name? Deck? Really?
⭐⭐.9
#Bloodline #NetGalley
THE AUTHOR: Jess Lourey lives in Minneapolis with her family and foster cats (and occasional foster puppies, but man those goobers are a lot of work). She writes about secrets, and is the author of nonfiction, YA adventure, magical realism, and crime fiction.
DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Thomas and Mercer, via Netgalley, for providing a digital ARC of Bloodline by Jess Lourey for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com
This review and others are also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
Rating: really liked it
Now a Goodreads Choice nominee in Horror! Joan Harken may get to have it all. A fulfilling job, a doting fiancé with a baby on the way and finally: a stable home and community for her young family to grow into, something she was deprived of in her own childhood. After a terrifying run-in while living in Minneapolis, Joan and her current partner, Deck, decide to move back to his hometown Lilydale. It’s promised to be a perfectly safe town, a place where nothing bad happens—until it does.
Not long after moving in Joan begins to notice things seem a little....off in Lilydale. There’s a strange hierarchy among the residents she just can’t figure out, and she increasingly feels like she’s living inside of the world’s most claustrophobic fishbowl. As she tries to make an impression in her new job at the local newspaper, Joan begins looking into the disappearance of a young boy who vanished decades prior without a trace. Pulling at this thread starts to unravel generations of secrets and mysteries that have been hidden away. And now that Joan is in Lilydale, pregnant with Deck’s child, will she be able to untangle herself before it’s too late?
I was excited to continue my search for the Great 2021 Thriller with
Bloodline, which I received as a participant in January’s Mystery Book Club and Scared Suspense Book Club cross-over this month! And it isn’t just my first book by Jess Lourey, author of Unspeakable Things, which was a huge bestseller last year, but I’m also pretty sure this is the first one I’ve read from Amazon’s in-house publisher Thomas & Mercer. Despite how I feel about Amazon as a company, I appreciate that it can be a tool for authors to make their work more accessible to a wider audience, outside of the traditional ‘Big Five’ publishing houses.
I really liked this book, though I don’t think it will top any of my lists this year. The writing is easy to get sucked into, and I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of people were able to finish it in one sitting. Lourey has worked so many twists into such a quick read that even if you guess a few of them, it would be difficult not to still be surprised. I’ll also say that this book had me yelling quite a bit, not unlike the way you’d yell at a character in a horror movie keeps GOING BACK INTO THE HOUSE DON’T DO THAT OMG YOU WILL BE MURDERED YOU *IDIOT*!!!!!!
There’s a lot of psychological warfare, where you’re not sure who Joan can trust. Her decisions, while understandable, can be frustrating, but a lot of that is due to the constraints of being a woman in the time period she’s living through. Outside of the general sexism you may come to expect during the
Mad Men era, there were numerous restrictions and legal hurdles in place to keep women from obtaining independence. They couldn’t open their own bank accounts or credit cards, they couldn’t make reproductive decisions without their husband’s permission, they were flat-out barred from pursuing educational and career opportunities, so the ‘
wHy DiDn’T sHe JuSt LeAvE’ criticisms seem pretty inane to me.
But if you’re in the market for a taught and twisting thriller, especially one that can pull you out of a reading slump, I’d still definitely recommend
Bloodline. And Hollywood,
if you’re listening, I think this would make for some great tv!
*Thanks again to Dennis, Chelsea, Carrie & Jordan for including me this month and to Jess Lourey for sending a copy of her book!**
For more book talk & reviews, follow me on Instagram at @elle_mentbooks!
Rating: really liked it
Amazon Prime First Read - December
Mill Street, Lilydale welcomes Joan Harken and fiancé Deck with open arms. Joan is anxious to fit in with Deck’s family and friends as she had a childhood spent on the move. It soon becomes obvious Lilydale is not the place Joan hopes it will be.
The timeframe for this novel is really good in 1968 with the Vietnam War and the draft in the background, MLK and Bobby Kennedy’s assassinations and the men being firmly in charge - well, certainly in this town which feels very old fashioned and sexist. The storyline and plot are good and keep you invested until the end. It’s like a cross between Rosemary’s Baby (several nods to that) and Stepford Wives and the chilling claustrophobia of being watched constantly freezes your blood. It’s clear there is a group controlling everything in the town and Joan finds the atmosphere stifling. She’s a determined character and her attempts the get the truth at the wicked heart of Lilydale are brave and smart as she exercises all her ingenuity. However, at times her behaviour doesn’t always make sense as she fails to confront Deck about the ways she is being kept in line. Maybe she realises the pointlessness and that she can’t win. The novel unfolds chillingly well with menace, tension and suspense until the twisted and explosive end. I dare say the plot line is far fetched but not beyond belief when you examine the crazy things that people have done/do!
Overall, this is an entertaining read.
Rating: really liked it
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BLOODLINE is the third book I've read by Jess Lourey and I think it's her best yet. The other two books were coming-of-age stories that took place in a landscape of horror. In this book, the heroine is a full-grown adult woman who wants to have a family and a career as expectations for women are changing-- set against a landscape of suspicion and horror. After being mugged, Joan decides to retreat to her fiance, Deck's, hometown of Lilydale in Minnesota. An idealistic little town where the motto is "Come Home Forever." But if you're at all familiar with Lourey's works, they're basically all about fucked-up small towns in Minnesota and naturally, BLOODLINE is no exception. Come home forever, indeed.
Right away, something is off. There's a sort of narc culture in town. Everyone's in her business and watching her all the time. Her parents-in-law to be are kind of creepy. There's a secret society of sorts in town. They're weirdly obsessed with the town founders. And she can't help but feel like her fiance is hiding something from her. Something, you know... big.
This book was basically a list of all my fave tropes. I loved that it was set in the 60s, which gave it a fun retro bent. I liked the homage it paid to classic horror novels, like ROSEMARY'S BABY or, like, some of Stephen King's earlier works. I liked how the author wasn't afraid to go "there" and really deliver on that star finish of a horrific reveal. And I liked how the heroine was a reporter, which kind of made her Nancy Drew shenanigans a little more believable.
4 stars
Rating: really liked it
BLOODLINE by Jess Lourey is a psychological thriller that grabbed me from the beginning and didn’t let go. Her excellent writing and exquisite story line captured my attention immediately. The author’s note tells the story that inspired this novel.
When a pregnant Joan Harken is mugged on her way home, she agrees to move to from Minneapolis to her fiancé’s small hometown two and a half hours northwest. Deck Schmidt tells her Lilydale is peaceful, friendly, and everyone knows everyone and looks out for each other. His parents have even gifted them their old house and Deck tells her he is sure the local newspaper will hire her as a journalist and she will get a coveted byline. What could possibly go wrong? Is it too good to be true? Something seems off. Is Joan being watched or is she being paranoid? Can she trust her instincts? Is there anyone she can trust?
This novel takes place in 1968 and 1969 and there is some jumping back and forth in time. As the time shifted forward, I continued to wonder what happened in the intervening months that landed her in the situation she is in in the future. While it would have helped if the transitions had been labeled with dates, a picture is gradually revealed to the reader.
Recognizing that this novel is set in the late 1960’s and not current times, I can see why Joan handled some things the way that she did. This was a time before the internet and cell phones. The story would not have worked for me if it was a contemporary setting so the author selected an appropriate timeline. Joan was someone that I wanted to be safe and happy and to have a healthy baby. But she also has some flaws that emerge during the course of the books that makes her more believable. Almost none of the other characters were likeable.
The writing is very atmospheric and creepy; the plot tense and suspenseful, with a few twists and a dramatic ending. Several themes are woven into the book, but I don’t want to give away any spoilers. Suffice it to say that family relationships and town dynamics play a large role in the story.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. It was an entertaining book that was emotionally intense at times. If you are a fan of psychological thrillers and family dramas, then you may want to check out this book. I am looking forward to reading more books by this author.
Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and are not biased in any way. Publication date is currently set for January 1, 2021. This review was originally posted at Mystery and Suspense Magazine.
Rating: really liked it
Bloodline by Jess Lourey is one of the creepiest books I have read in a very long time and I loved every word of it. Rosemary’s Baby is a prime example of what I consider creepy. Joan Harken, a journalist, leaves the big city for a move with her boyfriend to his Minnesota childhood home in the country. Lilydale is like a picture postcard and is everyone’s dream of life in a small town. But not all is as it seems and Joan soon notices that someone is always watching her. The friendly neighbours are overly-friendly and claustrophobia creeps into Joan’s life. There is something definitely wrong with this place and the journalist in her wants to find out what is going on. Why is everyone so interested in her? I cannot provide more information without spoiling the book for those who have not yet read Bloodline. The fact that this novel is based on real events makes the reader even more invested in the story. And you will not believe the conclusion! Highly recommended for any mystery reader who doesn’t mind a little fear and tension. Thank you to Thomas & Mercer, NetGalley and the author for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: really liked it
Remember
Dean Koontz's earlier novels from the 1970's and 80's? Or
John Saul's,
The God Project? Well,
Bloodline felt like it was written in that time period, but set in the 1960's. It was all a bit dated. I liked it but I think it's one I would've really loved back in my late teens/early twenties.
1968 – Reporter Joan Harkin has always been a city girl. But when she is mugged at knifepoint it's the final straw. Her fiancé Deck has been trying to convince her to move to his hometown ever since she found out she was pregnant, and wanting a safer life for her baby she agrees to up sticks and move to the country.
At first Lilydale seems like something out of a fairy tale, a storybook place, but Lily soon starts to feel suffocated living in Deck's childhood home, a stone's throw away from her in-laws to be. And the rest of the neighbour’s in Mill Lane seem a bit too friendly and helpful, and far too interested in her pregnancy.
Joan's uneasiness increases when she discovers a child, Paulie Aandeg, went missing on his first day of Kindergarten in 1944. She becomes fixated on the cold case, and the deeper she digs, but more her fears grow for her unborn child.
As I said I enjoyed
Bloodline well enough, but the writing and plot did feel a bit old-fashioned, and not because it was set in the 1960’s. But there was a lot I liked - the opening chapter was extremely disturbing, bordering on horror, and there’s no way I could've stopped reading after that. I enjoyed the eerie vibe throughout as I tried to figure out whether Joan was being driven crazy or whether she was imagining or overreacting. The big twist was a complete surprise, as well as what followed and I had no inkling in regards to any of it. This fictions novel drew inspiration from the real disappearance in 1944 of Kindergartener, Victor John “Jackie" Theel from small-town Minnesota, and the author wove it into her own plot in clever and unique ways.
I know it was set in 1968 where a women's place is in the home, and sexism and misogyny were common place, but considering Joan was portrayed as such an independent career woman I felt she should have confronted her husband and stood up for herself more, especially initially when she began to suspect that life in Lilydale wasn't all it cracked up to be. A lot of her behaviour came across as weak-willed, inconsistent, and sometimes downright strange.
The references to
Rosemary's Baby went completely over my head as I am long overdue for a re-watch. Thanks
Jayme and
DeAnn for enlightening me. An above-average, fast-paced, quick read but it didn't make any where near as much of an impression on me as her previous novel,
Unspeakable Things.
Rating: really liked it
3.5 “Rosemary’s Baby” tribute stars
There’s something to be said for being surprised when you read a book! I went into this one completely blind and it was quite the ride!
Our main character, Joan Harken, is an aspiring journalist in Minneapolis. Finding herself pregnant and surviving a mugging, she agrees to move to her boyfriend’s small hometown in rural Minnesota. At first the town seems idyllic, but things are not all as they appear in Lilydale.
Soon we aren’t sure if Joan is paranoid or if people really are watching her. A sinister air permeates the town and I really wasn’t sure how this one would end up! I liked the nod to "Rosemary's Baby" but that movie creeped me out too much to watch again (kudos to you Jayme!). Joan feels like the whole town is against her and I rooted for her to find some way to escape!!
This was my December Amazon book choice.
Rating: really liked it
December Kindle First
Rating: really liked it
Imagine a small, picture perfect town in the 1960s with a close nit community where nothing bad ever happens…allegedly. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that
Bloodline takes place around St. Cloud, Minnesota which isn’t too far from where I live. The main character, Joan, needs a new start with her fiancé after unfortunate circumstances keep happening to her.
They decide to move to Lilydale, which is the hometown of her fiancé for a pregnant Joan to have her baby. Like a colorful Band-Aid covering a festering wound, our main character pulls of the picture-perfect facade of the town to discover dark secrets that the inhabitants go to great lengths to conceal including a child kidnapping that happened many years ago. Maybe.
Joan is not always the most reliable narrator as she tends to omit things from her own memories such as a friend’s suicide and replace them with more pleasant ones. She also has knack for stealing little trinkets that she picked up in her childhood to help her cope with stressful situations. At first, it was a bit annoying as it felt like she was ruining things for herself, but I eventually came around to cheering her on when her eye catches hold of something you just know she shouldn’t pilfer.
She was a strong fighter and well written character though. I felt her helplessness through the pages especially since she cared so much about others even at her own expense. I would have just driven away from the town earlier if I went through everything she had to experience. For real though, I would leave far, far away, especially since the community keeps too close of an eye on any dissidents making it too stressful by far.
I enjoyed how the author described scenes through all five senses which made it easier to imagine. The prose was fun with how you would have separate small chapters taking place in the present of her waking up in a room. Her memories she forgot were slowly returning to her creating tension in the air that could be cut with a knife. The story felt like it was occurring in the 1960s as well with little events and news articles floating around further enhancing the feel of the era.
The mystery and twists behind the town were engaging where I kept trying to figure out what were red herrings and what weren’t. I kind of surmised the background of the town (truthfully, I’m giving myself too much credit here) and some mysteries, but there were enough twists and mysteries that surprised me all the same.
I really enjoyed this book even if some of the ideas behind the book have been done before. The author, Jess Lourey, bases a lot of her stories in rural Minnesota where some locations might be familiar to some of our patrons. Another interesting thing about this book and the author is that each one of her books is based on a true crime that happened locally. I’m glad this is only the first book that I read by Jess Lourey since that means I have more to look forward to reading.
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