Blood Revenge - David Thor

This is David Thor's (normally I'd insert a link to info about the author, but couldn't find anything) first attempt at fiction. He has written a non fiction book - In Search of Ubiquitous Computing - that I could not find any reference to either.

In Blood Revenge, Thor plays upon the fears of Western Nations - that the enemy is among us. A good hook for a thriller book.

In China and the USSR in 1974, two different families send their children to the US. The children seem to assimilate on the surface, but are secretly still loyal to their homelands and history. Fast forward to 2009 - some kind of biological weapon has been unleashed in the U.S.

So yes, a good plausible premise for a thriller.

There are lots of characters quickly introduced - I did reread the first couple of chapters to make sure I had everyone straight. I started to have misgivings at page 33....

"The man was still a good thirty yards away, but Gwen Saunders could tell he was headed her way. It was difficult to make out all his features; his hair was shrouded in a turbine, and much of his face was covered with short, pubic-like hair."

Okay I could live with the pubes on his face, but a turbine? Methinks turban is the word you're looking for? The publisher, Cosacinco Press, spent money on a full front page colour ad on the Aug 31/09 Publishers Weekly cover. Linking to their website gives you no further information about themselves either. The only link working at the time of this writing was for Bloodrevenge.com. Perhaps they should have spent some of the advertising dollars on editing/proofreading. This was not the only error, but the first really glaring one. I was reading from a finished copy.

And speaking of finishing - this is the only book I have not finished this year. Yep, couldn't do it. The plot is clumsy and just tries too hard. The sexual tension thrown is ill timed and laughable. Too busy, too many characters, too ... I could go on, but won't.

I tried to find other blog reviews to link to provide other opinions, but could only find Harriet Klausner's - 'nuff said. Here's the Amazon page. If anyone else wants to give it a try, I will happily mail it to you.

Not to be confused with author Brad Thor!