Closer Than Blood-Gregg Olsen

Closer Than Blood
Gregg Olsen
Pinnacle, Apr 1 2011, $7.99
ISBN: 9780786020454

Beauty can mask evil with neither naturing nor nurturing matter when a person turns to the dark side. The perfect example is mirror twins Lainie and Tori. They were treated the same way by their parents but everyone who knew them realized Tori was a bad seed. Fifteen years ago the twins were driving on a rocky road in Kitsap County, Washington where teens raced for thrills; only one of the teens felt remorse for the death of their friend Jason.

Trni went to a juvenile facility and was released when she turned eighteen. She disappeared only to surface at her high school reunion. Her husband Alex Connelly was murdered and she was shot in the back. Toni made it to her neighbor’s home. She calls her sis Lainie O’Neal asking her to come to Tacoma because the police suspect she killed her husband. The cops arrest Darius, a neighbor and an ex-lover as there is overwhelming evidence he was in her sister’s home. County Sheriff’s Detective Kendal Stark does not believe Darius is the killer just like she never accepted the story of Jason’s demise years ago. She works the cases from fifteen years ago and today hoping to find the truth behind both deaths.

Ironically from the onset, the audience knows who the killer and how that person used sex to control many people. In spite of this advanced knowledge, Closer Than Blood is an exciting tale as Gregg Olsen still provides surprising twists and suspenseful spins. Readers will enjoy this drama as identifying the killer does not mean preventing the killings as Mr. Olsen keeps the reader hooked wondering if the culprit be stopped or at least exposed.

Harriet Klausner