Bloodlines

An Irene Kelly Novel

By: Jan Burke

Narrated by: Eliza Foss

Effortlessly weaving plot threads from three different eras, Burke constructs a brilliant tale of kidnapping and murder that spans 40 years and features three dedicated, passionate journalists struggling to tie everything together.

©2005 Jan Burke (P)2010 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

“… this is an extremely satisfying work.” ( Publishers Weekly)

Oh my goodness!!

I just finished Bloodlines. What a great, well written story!!. The narration was also excellent! I'm going to use my credits this month to download more books by this author. Loved It!!

slow starter but keep at it

At the beginning I was almost ready to see about returning this book. After the first part it got my attention. While it is somewhat contrived and some of the bad guys are a little too stupid I found it worth the time to listen to the end.

Really good read overall

Really enjoyed this book. Good suspense and character development. There were some weak spots but ss a whole well worth a listen

Its all about the Characters, and the Story Too!

Since I wrote a note of dissatisfaction with Jan Burke's first book, received a refund and then bought it back again, I have become addicted to her books. I walk on the beach every day, working on my badly broken knee and learning about each of the significant characters in this Irene Kelly series. In this larger work, we see events that occurred prior to Irene's birth and see how they became intertwined with the lives that followed. We love O'Conner more than ever and Jack and Helen as well. This is the best of Burk so far; I'm taking them one at a time, from the beginning, skipping nothing, and savoring every bit. I don't have any complaints about this one and have a growing respect for the evolution of this mystery writer as well as the tremendous skills of Eliza Foss.

Don’t do the audio

This is a terrific book, and a great story—I feel like the author hired her debutant, great-aunt to narrate it though—skip the audio.

Excellent Crime Novel

This is a very entertaining crime saga. It begins in 1958 with a multiple murder and kidnapping and then flashes back to 1936 where we are introduced to newspaper man Jack Corrigan and newsboy Connor O'Conner. The mystery then unfolds over the ensuing 65+ years.

The story is set in the fictional California coastal city of Las Piernas. The author does a great job of showing how the newspaper business changed over time. The same is true for police investigative techniques and tools.

After listening to this book, I discovered that newspaperwoman Irene Kelly, who does not show up in the book until the 1970s is the main character in a number of other books by the same author. What this books does is fill in some of the history of Las Piernas and the newspaper beginning in the 1930s. It's an excellent listen with a good reader.

Interesting story

Great narration and an interesting story that spans three timelines. A great listen that is hard to put down.