Blood Sins

Holy crap! I'm hoping I don't dream tonight...but if I do, I just hope this book doesn't influence my dreams or they'll be some doozy of a nightmare. "Blood Sins" is Kay Hooper's second in her 'Blood' trilogy and her 11th starring the 'Bishop/Special Crimes Unit'. This unit is a special FBI unit composed of agents with 'special' abilities--mediums, seers, telepaths, etc. They operate as quietly as possible when crimes seem to have some unusual aspects. I've got all of this series in my permanent library, even the ones I didn't care that much for, because they all have that something...even when they scare the crap out of me!

This time Bishop's unit is facing a psychic who can, apparently, kill without touching, or even being close to, show more his victim. The body count is already too high and when one of their own goes down, Bishop and his unit will need to decide whether their intent is justice...or destruction.

This villain creeped me out--big time. I don't want to give too much away, but think Jim Jones or David Koresh WITH almost unstoppable psychic powers. Still makes my skin crawl! So if you like paranormal mysteries with some really twisted bad guys...you'll probably enjoy this series, and the shudders it produces, as much as I do. My only big disappointment with this one was the lack of a real romance in the plot. But I didn't actually 'miss' it until I finished the book, so that should tell you something! show less

A weird one. Somewhat less gory than usual, and somewhat more creepy. A cult leader with psychic powers, his Stepford followers, a lot of semi-random psychic assistance - ghosts, telepaths, and less common powers. People on several sides at once, including via hypnosis. And yet another puppetmaster, orchestrating things behind the scenes. Bah. It is the second of a trilogy, and the third came out nowish - have to hunt it down. As usual, I didn't exactly like it but I was fascinated - definitely need to read the rest of the series.

The Church of Everlasting Sin is led by Reverend Adam Deacon Samuel (a.k.a. Father). The church has been in the Grace, North Carolina, area for about ten years. Most members live on the compound, a community in themselves. Few are seen outside the compound. The children do not attend public schools and more than a few of the kids inside the church know that something is not right. The girls have the most to fear. The Haven organization knows that the church is somehow involved in the area's deaths. Bodies have been found in the river and X-rays showed that virtually every bone in the bodies had been pulverized, yet there were never any marks to indicate how this happened. Undercover agents have already given their lives to ferret out show more information and even helped a few of the children to escape. All that is really known is that at least one of Father's closest advisors is a strong psychic and no one can get a read on Father because he is like a null field.

This is the second novel in the series. If you did not read the first book titled "Blood Dreams", you may want to consider doing so before beginning this story. However, the author has done a good job of updating new readers within the first few chapters. Some characters from the previous book return to play secondary roles in this one. Tessa and the police chief are the main focus this time around though. Be warned that there are some graphic scenes in this story. Readers learn about Father's early childhood. (Not a pretty picture, trust me on that.) Still, the author retains her own outstanding gift of being able to write about paranormal talents and make them seem as if they are business as normal for the characters. show less

Review: Blood Sins by Kay Hooper. 4* 10/09/2022

This book is a continuation of the “Blood Series” of Noah Bishop. This is a well written thriller about a creepy cult in the Church of Everlasting Sin in a small town named Grace, in North Carolina. There are characters throughout the book that have psychic powers. The book was filled with mystery, suspense and ambiguity that kept me reading to the end.

Reverent Samuel is the leader of the church his powers are increased by draining other people’s psychic powers to make him more powerful. Tessa Gray, a member of Haven, has a unique gift of being able to identify and connect with other psychics so she asked to go undercover as a wealthy widow living in Grace and use her status to gain show more access and become a member of the church and find out more about the leader, the missing people, the murdered people and find out what he is doing to the young girls of the community show less

Tessa Gray is a stalking horse - the young, fragile, innocent-looking, woman is a plant. Posing as newly widowed, Bishop and company (FBI) hope she's an appealing target for the leader of the Church of the Everlasting Sin. Father, a psychic himself, is the prime suspect behind the serial killer taken down in Blood Dreams. Tessa may have a bit of help from the local police chief and some kids inside the cult itself, but with Father planning on triggering an apocalypse, it may be a case of too little, too late.

I hate to say it, but this series is starting to pall for me. Hooper's earlier novels were tense, suspenseful, and peopled with interesting characters. She's gradually making the shift from romance to suspense, and maybe she'll get show more there, but at the moment the romance elements aren't resting easily next to the intrigue. Too many characters, not enough back story to explain them all, and not enough attention given to the "romance" portion, either. Maybe if I'd taken the time to re-read all the previous installments in the series, but without that background... the result was disappointing. show less

I am a huge fan of Kay Hooper's, The Bishop Trilogies. Blood Sins is the second in the fourth set of trilogy books that she's written and it was awesome! As usual, Kay Hooper grabbed my attention from the beginning and kept me on the edge of my seat till the very last page! For those not familiar with these trilogies it is centered around FBI agent Noah Bishop and his Special Crimes Unit. The agents working in this unit all have special abilities whether it be mediums, precogs, abilities to heal themselves, profilers, etc-there are so many psychic abilities that it's absolutely fascinating. They use these abilities to solve horrific crimes that can not normally be solved by conventional means.

In the previous book, Blood Dreams, a killer show more had gone on a rampage and he had been caught. However, there was a Puppet Master behind these killings and in Blood Sins we get to meet him, Reverend Samuel. He has himself holed up in the mountains near Grace, North Carolina and he has been building himself a loyal group of followers-a cult. Samuel is very scary-he has his very own set of psychic abilities and is using them to draw other's energies to gain even more power for himself.

In this novel we meet Tessa Gray, playing the role of a grieving widow. Her job is to infiltrate the cult as these are the kinds of people the Reverend Samuel prays upon. Tessa is still learning how to use and control her unique gift which is being able to identify other psychics and knowing their abilities-this is something Samuel would love to have. She is approached by members of Samuel's church and she visits the compound.

From here the story explodes and as in all thrillers it's hard to talk about them because you can give away much of the story without even trying. What I will say is this is one of the creepier books that Kay Hooper has written. To even allow your imagination to go in the direction of what a cult leader like Samuel could do to people is terrifying. When reading one of her novels I feel like I'm right there with everyone, my heart is pounding and my eyes are hurrying over the words so I can get to the next part and find out what will happen.

What I liked about this novel was seeing some familiar names brought back like Galen, Quentin who I loved and Hollis, who was another of my favorite characters. Tessa was also a very likeable character. I've found that the author has a way of drawing you into the character's lives even though it's a thriller. She makes you know them, feel for them, and be scared for them. Kay Hooper also writes some romance novels (none of which I've read) but she always weaves an element of romance in her thrillers and while in this one it wasn't hugely pronounced, it was there and I always enjoy that bit of light banter between the two people finding that they may like each other.

Without question I would recommend this novel to those who are fans of Kay Hooper's Bishop stories and for those who aren't, what are you waiting for? Pick one up and give it a go-if you love the excitement of a thriller you'll like her books. I will say though that this one did have a few disturbing scenes but for me that's part and parcel of a thriller-killers and their crimes are disturbing. I will now be anxiously awaiting the third and last installment in the Blood Trilogy and I can't wait! Another note, any of the books in these trilogies can stand alone. You don't have to read them in sequence to know what's happening although I've liked doing so because of learning who the agents are and what they've gone through to get where they are now.

This book was released in hardcover by Random House on December 16, 2008. It sure would make a great Christmas gift for that thriller lover in your house!

http://peekingbetweenthepages.blogspot.com/2008/12/book-review-blood-sins-by-kay... show less

Better than Blood Dreams. Still obnoxiously "who's on first"-ish. I find it interesting that the various agents seem to suddenly have new nifty abilities..it's so convenient. No romance at all in this one.