Innocent Blood - Graham Masterton ****

A terrorist attack at a school fatally wounds Frank Bell's only son Danny. Feeling partially responsible (and fully responsible in his wife's eyes) Frank is introduced to a medium who he believes will put him in contact with his son so that he can ask forgiveness.

However the bombings continue and Frank's interaction with the spirit world leads him deeper into the investigations.

Who is the mysterious woman who he has taken as a lover? Are the messages received through the medium to be trusted? Can he help crack the terrorists identity before more blood is shed?

A very interesting book that echoes the September 11th attacks. A mixture of horror and thriller that is an easy read and hard to put down. The only flaw in my opinion is that the ending could be guessed by a relatively astute reader two thirds of the way through.

My second book by the author and I will continue to look out for others. ( )

Another good read by this author - I do love his books.

Back Cover Blurb:
When a terrorist bomb devastates an exclusive junior school in Hollywood, killing the sons and daughters of many famous TV and movie actors and producers, all hell breaks loose. Among the dead is Danny Bell, the son of successful comedy writer Frank Bell.
Responsibility for the blast is claimed by a group who say that they want to put the decadent Western media out of business for good. But when Frank meets up with another survivor of the blast, the strange and alluring Astrid, he begins to question if this was a terrorist attack at all. As more bombs go off, causing havoc at TV studios and theme parks, Frank enlists Astrid's help and that of a celebrated psychic detective and at last begins to piece together the tragic secret behind the terror campaign. Soon his eyes are opened to a world in which the dead are never gone for ever. But he also has to come face to face with real and absolute evil..... ( )

Masterton is truly at home when writing horror yarns about paranormal investigators and mysterious, yet sexy women who seem to be hiding secrets. Innocent Blood is no exception, however the usual elements are well wrapped up in a story of one man's grief after a terrorist attack in Hollywood. It's a brave story, clearly rooted in the events of 7/11 and pulls no punches (as Masterton readers would expect). The flaw is that the secret that the story tries to hide is rather obvious, although that said, you'll still be eager to see how it plays out, keeping you hanging until almost the very last page. It's an action packed novel, with plenty of naughtiness and some gore to keep the horror fans happy too. The supernatural elements are not the singular focus in Innocent Blood, which makes a change in direction for Masterton, but a pleasant one none-the-less. Easy to read, far too predictable, yet a real page turner. ( )