Review: A story in which the tension continues to build and snowballs into an explosive ending with a shocker twist.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 4, 2013
Widow Sam Shelley has more on her plate than what she can handle.  After the death of her husband six months earlier, she inherits his boat yard and estate, and along with it, local public resentment.  The property of the Shelley's has been passed down through the male blood line for two hundred years and this sudden departure from tradition causes Sam more trouble than she ever could have imagined.  To make it worse, her close friend, eccentric Jonas Weal (or 'The Prof' as he is known locally), has disappeared.  Having designed a weapon technologically superior to any of its kind before it, he becomes a hunted man, wanted by the government as well as those with more private interests.  Unexpectedly, the key to finding 'The Prof' and ensuring his safety falls into Sam's hands.BLOOD POOL is a great achievement for debut novelist, J.E. Ryder.  The central characters were real and believable, and I felt particularly close to Sam.  Her weaknesses were alluded to nicely and the guilt she experienced over her desire for another man so soon following the tragic ending of her own (loveless) marriage was conceivable.  These attributes were topped off by Sam's naivety and her persistent inability to gauge who she could trust.  This helped to maintain the momentum of the story and heighten suspense as it progressed.The author also seemed to find countless ways to describe the setting of the coastal village and the Shelley boat yard.  She takes full advantage of the variations in the weather to do this and she does it nicely, providing an abundance of rich, visual detail all without losing the reader's interest.Personally, I found that Ryder's strengths were highlighted in her ability to create fast, strong action scenes.  The tension toward the end of the story escalates significantly, as is expected by a story within this genre.  Her detailing of the high tech weaponry central to the story was also impressive and this complemented the action scenes well.Overall, I recommend BLOOD POOL to readers who enjoy thrillers which keep them guessing to the end, a good deal of action, and a female protagonist.  It is definitely a story in which the tension continues to build and snowballs into an explosive ending with a shocker twist.