Amazon Guest Review of In the Blood
By Karin Slaughter
Reading In the Blood is like grabbing a live wire. You’re minding your own business, just looking for a good read, then suddenly you’re jolted into a shocking, unputdownable thriller. There’s no way you can let go—the thought of never finding out what happens to these manipulative and terrifying characters is not an option.
The story begins with Lana, a deeply troubled young woman who is a student at a private university in upstate New York. Lana is a psychology major with a knack for working with troubled children. She takes a job as a babysitter for a disturbed young boy named Luke, but it’s not just the experience she craves—there’s something about Luke that unsettles Lana to her core. Maybe it’s because Luke seems to know Lana a little too well. Maybe it’s because she’s a firm believer in keeping your enemies close. Luke is a master manipulator, a budding psychopath who loves playing games. And he seems dangerously close to figuring out Lana’s secrets.
Luke isn’t her only worry. The police have found out that Beck, Lana’s friend, has gone missing. They start asking her questions she can’t answer. Her quiet, academic life turns upside down. The sheltered campus is suddenly against her. Worse, throughout it all Luke wants to play a mysterious and disconcerting game that seems eerily connected to Lana’s troubled past. And the longer she plays, the more the game seems connected to the night that Beck disappeared too. Lana hasn’t told anyone what happened, so why does it feel like the only way to find her friend is to keep playing Luke’s horrific game?
Lisa Unger is a master at creating psychologically damaged characters. Lana is refreshingly original, an engaging yet completely unreliable narrator. We want to trust her, but should we? Luke is equally inscrutable. He has a dangerous side that both horrifies and draws you in. Is Lana playing Luke’s game, or are they both playing the reader? The answer delivers the kind of shock that will leave you stunned long after the last page is turned.
