A chilling depiction of a world where your blood can be a priceless asset that marks you for life. A protein has been identified that can be the fountain of youth. Carriers of this protein are identified and protected from those who would plunder that resource. It is a fascinating concept that drew me to try my first Chris Mooney thriller. The main character is a female police officer who decides to go undercover to attempt to bring down the criminal minds who have established blood farms to mine the lifeblood of other human beings. There are sci-fi elements, but the setting is present day California and its wildfires are a character of their own. This action-packed thriller will appeal to readers who love Lee Child and David Baldacci.

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

Fast paced novel. The novel is part thriller/crime novel, part sci-fi. What would you do for a sip from the fountain of youth? As with all good things there are greedy corrupt people lurking in the shadows.
I’m giving the novel 3 stars because even though the premise had a lot of potential, the characters were flat. I found them to be shallow and there wasn’t a deep connection to them. The story relied more on action than character driven.
Thanks NetGalley for the ARC

Blood World by Chris Mooney is a standalone Sci-Fi thriller. I did not know what to expect, as this was a different kind of story line, but once you get past the beginning, as we learn the world building and characters, this caught my attention.

In this world, blood is a commodity, especially in the young, who are carriers. Their blood is able to produce drugs that have amazing results; curing disease, improve aging by years, increases power, improved body functions, etc. The blood farms hold the kidnapped young carrier children, who supply the blood to those who will pay an exorbitant amount.

We meet our heroine, Ellie Bautista, an LAPD police officer, who happens to be checking a possible drug site, when they are ambushed, and her partner is killed. Ellie talks to the police chief, desperately asking to be on the ‘blood team” investigations. With an ulterior motive, Ellie has wanted to be on this team, because she is trying to find her twin brother, who was kidnapped years before at the age of six. Because of her knowledge of the blood drugs, and is a good cop, she is asked to go undercover, which she accepts.
Sebastian Kane is one of the leaders of the “blood world”, and he claims he treats the carriers with care. He trusts no one but his close associates, such as Frank. When Ellie goes undercover working for Anton, another leader, she is eventually transferred to Sebastian’s team, working mostly for Frank. This plunges her into a dangerous world that puts her life in constant danger, especially as they keep a close eye on her.

Sebastian has his hands full, as a war between him and his step son Paul, escalates into a full blown out, wild nonstop action filled escapade. For every step Sebastian makes, he is stymied with losing most of his people, as Paul, who is evil and a sociopath, is one step ahead. At this point, Ellie begins to work closer with Sebastian, since most of his people have left or are gone. She learns though Sebastian is one of the bad guys, he insists he treats people good, and when he learns his ex is now in danger from Paul, who kidnaps the ex’s daughter, who turns out to be his. This will push Sebastian to the max to find her, and Ellie determined to find her brother, goes along with him. All hell will break out with so much violence and everyone in danger. I can’t tell too much more, as you need to read this book to find out who if any survive.

I loved Ellie, who was a great heroine, and though under close watch, her expertise helped her survive the many situations she was in. Blood World was a different kind of story, which was intense, violent and dark; and very well written by Chris Mooney.

Chris Mooney’s Blood World is a sci-fi thriller that is bound to leave a positive impression on readers. Releasing on August 18th, Blood World takes today’s world and immerses the reader in a place where certain people’s blood (called Carriers) can reverse the ageing process and make people feel invincible; essential leaving them feeling like they are a superhero and like they have discovered the fountain of youth. This new world has created an unground ring of illegal activity that the police have dubbed “the blood world” where people are kidnapped and become blood giving slaves for the rest of their life so that the rich and famous can continue to live a luxurious life.

26-year-old Ellie Batista is an everyday patrol cop with the LAPD who desperately wants to prove herself as more than just a pretty face in the police force so that she can be taken seriously and get on the Blood Squad. One fateful day, Ellie’s wish comes true as she gets promoted to the Blood Squad after a series of unfortunate events and goes undercover as gambling addict turned stickman (someone who checks to see if people are Carriers) named Faye Simpson. When Ellie/Faye end up crossing paths with Sebastian Kane, a huge name in the blood world, Ellie/Faye finds that she is going deeper into the blood world than she ever thought possible and gets thrown into dangerous situations that will leave the reader holding their breath, hoping Ellie/Faye makes it out alive. As the story progresses, readers will get to follow both Ellie/Faye and Sebastian’s sides of the story giving the reader an inside look at both sides of this new world. Mooney does an excellent job at creating well rounded characters that are both likeable and realistic.

Mooney explores quite a few themes throughout Blood World including greed, vanity, human trafficking, and of course the ‘fountain of youth’ trope. What Mooney does so well with his writing is that he bleeds each of these topics into one another in such a way that they are continuously brought up throughout the story while maintaining a sense of wonder from the reader. Mooney slowly releases information to the reader while also upholding a fast-paced atmosphere that keeps the reader engaged and entertained throughout the entire novel.

Mooney has clearly put a lot of thought and research into his latest novel. The science behind the blood world is sound and he leaves no stone unturned when explaining things to the reader. Mooney does this effortlessly creating an incredibly believable world. The characters in Mooney’s novel are each flawed in a way to make them relatable and likeable. Sebastian is meant to be one of the villains in the novel however he has so many likeable qualities that it can be hard for the reader to see him as someone so evil, and Moony has done this brilliantly. The ending of this novel leaves the reader with some unanswered questions which leads the reader to suspect that maybe this isn’t the last of Ellie Batista and the blood world.

Blood World was a fascinating fast-paced Crime Thriller with Sci-Fi elements that I devoured in a day!

Basically, science has found some people have special blood that when mixed with secret elements and transferred to others can keep people looking young and healthy in as little as an hour after a transfusion. And now doctors are mixing it with other things and have come up with a new super-potent blood mix they are calling Pandora, that will heal you incredibly fast and also make you very horny. Obviously all blood trade is illegal, but there's a huge underworld of "blood farms" where people can get transfusions if they can afford it.

The story follows Ellie, a cop who's got a vested interest in trying to get on the secret Blood Crimes task force and Sebastian, a Blood Farm owner who's dealing with a rogue former employee who wants to kill him and take over his entire operation. Sebastian thinks of himself as one of the "good guys" because he treats his blood "donors" with kindness and only kidnaps people with rough lives to stay on his Blood Farm. His stepson has totally different ideas and is the more evil bad guy in the story.

If you're looking for lots of action, undercover cop drama, and the seedy underside of society mixed with some light science bits about blood this is the book for you. I'm only rating it 4 stars instead of 5 because I thought the blood stuff could have been explained better and more thoroughly and the ending was a little too tidy in my opinion. I can see this becoming a movie though and I hope it does because it would be pure entertainment.

In a world where the blood of carriers is as illegal and worth more than any other illicit products out there, one woman is determined to take down the key players. Ellie/Faye goes undercover in the most secretive operation and deals in a blood concoction called Pandora. This almost mythical mixture can turn back the clock and make you even better than you were in your younger years.

What I Love

The novel is action-packed from page 1 without any lulls in the story. The layers of suspense stacked on top of each other until I started thinking that the bad guy would never be stopped. I love thrillers that keep up the fast pace. It takes energy to read, but it’s a ride I enjoy very much.

Faye/Ellie is my favorite character. She is strong, determined, and focused but capable of a great deal of love and compassion. I loved that she was developed so achingly well even amongst all of the action. I cheered her and worried about her the whole time, but that only worked on adding to the suspense.

Lastly, I love that there are different levels of bad guys. Sebastian deals illegally in the blood trade, but he treats the carriers he has kidnapped with kindness and humanity. Paul is a whole other level of bad guy - one without any conscience and is arguably a psychopath. He has created a perverse blood blend that is aggressively dark and scary. For the good of humankind, Paul must be stopped!

What I Wish

I wish that the genetic/blood carrier aspect had been explained in more detail. I kept expecting those details to come up in the story, and they never did. I wanted to know more about the gene and why the effect of it has such a profound impact on people who receive blood transfusions from the carriers.

I am undecided about how I feel about the ending. Unfortunately, I don’t want to say more because I try very hard not to give out spoilers, but I am conflicted in my feelings about the way it ended.

To Read or Not to Read
If you enjoy thrillers and a bit of sci-fi to make it more intriguing, this non-stop thrill ride is an excellent choice for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Going into Blood World, I knew I was taking a risk. It's not the type of book I would normally have picked up. But I've been trying to read more widely, to branch out this year. The synopsis promised crime thriller elements- a genre I'm new to but loving at the moment-, and sci-fi is a genre I've been trying to explore more.

Unfortunately, this one just didn't work for me. And I kind of figured that out after the first sentence. That one sentence alone included approximately one thousand adjectives. Yikes. A book that starts out with a sentence that's 60+ words long is never a good sign for me. And it turned out to be foreshadowing. The copious amounts of unnecessary detail in Blood World had my attention drifting every few minutes. It made me feel as though there were a wall between me and the story that I just couldn't break past to get into it.

My other big issue was the way women were written about and treated by other characters. It felt gross. I can see where it wasn't overtly misogynistic, or it was then those thoughts and actions were coming from a bad character, but I still didn't like to read it. Which is fine, we all have differing taste in books, no? But it definitely kept me from enjoying this one. The main character is a woman, and I just never felt that she was believable. Right at the start, her much older, male colleague makes a reference to how attractive she is while they're on the clock. Sure, maybe he wasn't a bad guy, maybe he didn't mean anything by it. But it was gross. And then it just went downhill from there. Like I said, others may be fine with reading that sort of thing, but I didn't enjoy it and I wasn't going to force myself to keep reading.

I went out on a limb for Blood World and it really just didn't work out for me. Oh well, maybe next time. I have a hard time thinking who I would recommend this one to, but that might just be because I don't read a lot of sci-fi and don't know many people personally who do. But every book has its readers out there somewhere, so I say that if the premise of Blood World catches your eye the way it initially did mine, give it a shot. Just maybe don't expect too much from it.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to preview Blood World by Chris Mooney. This book is different - part science fiction, fantasy, and realism.
The book takes place in LA where the world is a very different place. A year or so ago, I would have said this was pure fantasy, but now, anything is possible. What if there was a fountain of youth and if you had the means and the money, you could get this drug? There are some that possess certain characteristics in their blood - younger people - and this blood can be harvested into a wonder drug that promises to cure you of illness, creates youth, and changes your life.
These young people are now the target of a sinister plot and they are not safe. A young police officer, Ellie, is determined to put a stop to those who would do anything to get that blood. Ellie is caught in a cycle of madness and finds that she may be the only hope to keep those kids safe or die trying.
3 stars.

Part thriller, part science fiction, Chris Mooney’s BLOOD WORLD proves that vanity knows no bounds as humans with special genes carry the blood that becomes a miraculous cure-all for disease, old age, and makes its recipients almost super-human with appetites to match. Of course, there will always be someone whose greed will abuse this almost magical brew. Carriers are kidnapped, “milked” for their genetic gift and the body count is rising. One detective with her own dark secrets will stop at nothing to bring this monster down.

Intriguing, the concept behind this book is fabulous and magnetic! Who wouldn’t want to sip from the fountain of youth? But, like everything good, there is a dark side and for me, it was the inconsistent pace and a main character that just seemed a little flat to me.

That said, this still make a good crime novel with a bloody twist.

I received a complimentary ARC edition from Berkley! This is my honest and voluntary review.

I could see this book being so believable. The author wrote the characters so well and grabbed you in from the start. I couldn’t put it down as I was drawn into the story. I enjoyed the way they wrote and near the end didn’t want the book to end. Overall a great read.

A drug to prevent aging. Who would have ever thought this would be possible? Millions of dollars will be made from this, but at what price? Blood carriers are the most sought out people in the world. Their blood is what makes the serum. They are taken form their families and used as animals would be. Is it worth the all the suffering to be young and beautiful? It is worth it to some and that is why bodyguards are hired to protect the carriers. Ellie became a police officer for the LAPD to fight this. Little does she know that there is someone who is willing to make a stronger serum that will give the user super powers.She's become a member of the Blood Squad. She is fighting to stop the blood farms and goes undercover at extreme danger to herself. This is a great book. Once I started it, I could not put it down. Sleep deprivation was a small price to pay for such a great book. I received this book from Net Galley and Berkley Publishing Group for a honest review. I will also buy it for several friends of mine.

Blood World is the latest story from Chris Mooney. Mr Mooney brings us lots of action and edge of your seat moments in this difficult to put down thriller. The storyline is set sometime in the future but is very believable. I want to thank NetGalley and Berkley Group for an early copy to review.

I found this title to be a solid read through most of the story. The plot fell apart a little at the end but still engaging. 3.5 stars.

To me it was a slow moving book. I like books that move fast just enough description to get an idea of what is going on. Most of the book was overdrawn but I will say I did like the premise of the story. Everyone is looking for the fountain of youth.

The concept of this book is interesting . Some people are born with a blood that carries the fountain of youth . This makes them so desirable their families must hire bodyguards to protect them. A cross between a crime thriller and sci fi. this book is an exciting read

When I originally heard about Blood World, I heard it was compared to books like Dark Matter by Blake Crouch and my favorite tv series, Black Mirror and Blood World did not disappoint! I loved this book so much and I am so excited for it to come out later this summer/fall. I felt the book had solid character development and an addictive plot. I could not put this book down!

The concept of the novel was just enough different to hook me, that some people are born with a rare "fountain of youth" quality in their blood. This makes them so desirable that their families hire bodyguards to prevent criminal gangs from kidnapping them and taking them to blood farms. Many lie about being "carriers."

It seems to be set in an alternate universe in a similar timeline, but I couldn't place exactly when. The writing was pretty smooth, and I rather liked Ellie, the main character. Sebastian, the quintessential bad guy, becomes somehow less bad as the book goes on and you understand his motivations.

A good book, and I'd love to check out what else Mooney has written.

*ARC from netgalley and publisher in exchange for agreement to provide review; all opinions are mine*

I was very excited when I read the concept and summary for this novel. It was novel, unique and intriguing. There as so much that could be done with it to bring it alive and flesh it out. Instead a very run of the mill mediocre novel was produced. Little was done with the the Blood World itself or the effects of the Blood on people who received it. That is what I was expecting - some science and sociology of the world. I was really looking forward to seeing a lot more. Instead it seemed to be just an excuse for a rather ordinary novel that included gratuitous violence and some gratuitous sex. The undercover police investigation aspect was the one strong point that held the story together. Otherwise it was a muddle of sub-plots. Weak writing was a large drag on the story. It just did not give me much to hang onto and to pull me in to read more. It was not a total loss as I did find some aspects making want to find out what was next and how the story ended. The biggest distraction and turn off was the odd inclusion of the christian / catholic themes. Every time I came to those, I wanted to put the book down. Sadly, if I was not reading this book with the expectation of doing a review, I would have put it down early one.

Throughout the history of the world any commodity that becomes valuable beyond the range of it's worth as a single item develops a black-market selling at a much higher price than on the regular market. This is done to hasten the delivery of the item for those that don't want to wait and to bring the item to a group unable to get it on the regulated sales avenue. Chris Mooney sets such an item up as the most valuable commodity ever discovered. It is blood from a select group of carriers that when treated can bring to recipients a longer and much healthier life than ever available. This makes the carriers a group to be preyed upon. When discovered they become subject to kidnapping and either a death by draining or a life of captivity as a donor where their masters charge fortunes to customers looking for the treated blood. The carriers of the blood become targets for people taking them away from their lives keeping them on a "blood farm"
Ellie Batista has joined the Los Angeles Police Department specifically to become part of the Blood Squad and help fight the incidence of blood farms and exploitation of those captured by people to be placed on the farms. It is a path that is not quickly open to a new comer such as Ellie, but fate intervenes when the man she is first partnered with is killed in the line of duty. The circumstances allow her to convince her supervisors to permit her to enter the department as an undercover agent. Ellie has an excellent personal reason to want to work with the Blood Squad as we discover that her twin brother was kidnapped as a baby due to having the blood type making him a donor. The rumors circulating about him are that he is still alive after many years and possibly being held on a blood farm.
Ellie's work as an undercover agent is fraught with danger and the distinct possibility of her being killed. To also add to the factors, she must weigh in her decision the meeting with another police officer with whom she falls in love. It appears that he is going to ask her to marry him but her working undercover is a detriment to any attachment. The author depicts Ellie with all the factors weighing upon her and her very normal approach to handling her ambivalent situation with all the doubts and second guessing that any person would face.

3.5 stars

Pros: I enjoyed Blood World! This novel contained elements of crime fiction, suspense and sci-fi (very reminiscent of something by Blake Crouch which is a compliment because he is one of my all-time favorite authors). The thing I loved the most is that it has a unique and interesting plot, definitely not something that has been beaten to death. The reader finds themselves in an alternate version of Earth where some humans, known as “carriers” have a special blood for which they are kidnapped and held captive on blood farms. Their blood is taken and infused into those seeking eternal youth for a very high price. The story gives the reader the viewpoint of law enforcement trying to get the undercover scoop on blood world, and the people running the underground blood world. Eventually the two collide.

Cons: The author used several odd analogies that I found detracted from the story and were just unnecessary (“He had teeth as white as a toilet”). Sometimes less is more. Also, I was confused about the time frame in which story occurred. Is it present day or in the future? At one point Sebastian, who is in his mid-40’s, made reference to social media when he was a teenager, which would have been impossible if this took place in the present as he would have been a teenager in the 1980’s/90’s. Just a bit later there was a reference to the “me too” movement which led me to believe that the story was occurring in the present. There was somewhat shallow character development, and I never did develop a deep connection to the characters but honestly, it wasn’t a big issue for me, as this story line was more action based and less emotional.

All in all just minor annoyances and inconsistencies. It was an easy, engaging read that kept my interest.