A dip in the roller coaster ride……  **

Michael Robotham can write a gripping suspense novel. He proved this in Lost and Shatter.  He can also  write a mediocre novel as in The Suspect. He can also miss the mark as in The Night Ferry and this novel, Bleed For Me.  This roller coaster ride is frustrating, makes me want to read every odd book in the sequence. This reminds me of the San Francisco Giants, who can win a World Series only every even numbered year.

Bleed For Me is too cliched. The teenager who is a cutter, the drama teacher who seduces girls, the last minute heroics of the main character, Joe O’Loughlin. The story lacks consistency as one minute Joe can hardly move, then we find him chasing down somebody.  The late revelation of how is daughter is involved nullifies Joe’s supposed ability to figure things out.

The police reluctance to dig as deeply as they should stretches believability, but does allow our hero to do his work.  The cover has a quote from the San Francisco Chronicle that says, “A novel that appeals as both a thriller and a literary read…” The lack of surprises makes it difficult to call this a thriller and while Robotham can write, this is far from being literary.

This one gets two stars, and I can only hope the next novel in the series is a thrill ride.