Reviewed by Carolyn Martinez
Deep Blood
by Phillip Thompson
Roundfire Books
Paperback: 254 pages, July 16, 2013, ISBN-13: 978-1782791782
Deep Blood takes a gritty look at human characters, their relationships, life choices, secrets, and the realities of flawed people. Lead character, Sheriff Colt Harper, is a man’s man. Deep seated wounds and fears are barely spoken of, suppressed under a lifetime of training to be a man. Raised by an abusive, alcoholic father, there comes a time when Colt must confront demons from his past.
What would you do if forced to choose between the oath you’ve taken or protecting a guilty family member?
For a glimpse into the Mississippi people scape, this is a well paced, easy read. Thompson writes well. His style is succinct. The publisher should do a final proof read before the next print run to eliminate a small number of spelling mistakes – but one can’t blame the author for that. I would have liked to see a little more character growth. As a reader, I like to travel along with my characters as they experience life, and change and grow from those experiences. At the beginning of the novel, Harper is a man who expresses little, and at the end of the novel, Harper is still a man who expresses little. Happiness is elusive. Deep Blood is, however, an interesting, fast paced tale of the choices made by hard men in a hard land. No double or triple plots here but an easy novel for a reader who wants to ‘switch off’ and be entertained.
About the reviewer: Carolyn Martinez is the author of Inspiring IVF Stories and the President of the Hunter Writers Centre, New South Wales. She is the former owner/editor of The Westerner newspaper, and has a Master of Arts (Writing) through Swinburne University. She consults in corporate communications, and is currently writing her second book, Finding Love Again.