3.5 stars

In the near future city of York, 16-year-old forensic investigator Luke Harding is tasked with investigating why the local hospital has more and more patients dying than ever before. But when Luke and his robotic partner MALC discover DNA evidence linking Luke’s father to the crimes, Luke must confront his family’s past while finding out who the killer is before anyone else dies.

Blood Brother is the sixth installment of Malcolm Rose’s Traces mystery series featuring young Luke Harding. While I have not read the preceding stories, I found it easy to slip into the world that Rose has crafted. The series is geared for young adults and as a result the writing is simple and straight forward. This is probably a strength because this allows the story to move along quickly never allowing the tension to slacken. Rose does a very good job of making his primary characters interesting. There isn’t a lot of character development beyond Luke however. His trials and tribulations have depth, but his relationships aren’t a priority. The real story is in the chase and it is laid out quite well.

Blood Brother is definitely ideal for young readers who want some action and technology in there reading. And while the mystery isn’t very complex, it holds together well and should give adult readers some quick entertainment as well. An enjoyable story. ( )

Luke Harding is still recovering from his last close escape from death and has spent time in hospital. He and MALC are called upon to explain why more patients than considered normal are dying. Is there a case to answer? Where is the evidence that there has been something sinister happening? When Luke starts to uncover evidence pointing directly to Peter Sachs, he has a personal reason to solve any crime. Peter Sach’s is Luke's dad. Just who stands to gain from these patients deaths? How are two seemingly unrelated things, heather and cookie crumbs, part of each crime/death scene? ( )

This book is in a series written by Malcolm Rose. This one concentrates on Luke's past. FI Luke Haqrding is asked to investigate a rise in deaths in a hospital, as it could be suspicious. However, what he is not bargaining for, is to meet his father, who is involved in the case. And when all the evidence starts to point to his father, Luke will stop at nothing to clear his name.
Date Reviewed: 03/09/08 ( )

Book Six in the Traces series. Luke Harding and malc are called upon to explain why more patients than normal are dying. When the evidence points directly to Peter Sachs, Luke's dad, Luke has extra motivation to solve the case. Who stands to gain from patients deaths, and how do heather and cookie crumbs come into play as clues? ( )