Ah, the ever elusive fountain of youth. What if you could kick your last couple of decades of aging to the curb with a simple blood transfusion? There are but a few individuals who carry the special type of blood that can effect this enhancement. Once discovered, they are often abducted and end up hidden away on blood farms for future use. Think of the riches this enterprise could produce for a person with a savvy business sense and no discernible conscience. Sadly, I couldn't work up any love or hate for the characters. Great premise, but this thriller did not enthrall me.

WOW! A gritty, high-octane crime thriller punctuated with explosions and gun battles, deceit and Machiavellian confrontations with an intriguing underlying premise cemented in speculative fiction. The premise ... there has been discovered a unique protein in the blood of some "carriers" ... when taken and transfused into another individual it imparts many unique and beneficial "side effects" to the recipient . An anti-aging property with the seemingly wiping away 10 to 15 years of age with enhancement of muscle and skin properties ... a regeneration effect counter acting disease and injury ... and even a libidinous property of enhancing arousal and performance. Naturally, a black market evolves, with the kidnapping of the young carriers, quartering them like cattle in "blood farms" and harvesting their blood for transfusions. True "carrier" blood remains rare as the Hope Diamond and ridiculously expensive .. and for the most part is utilized by the rich elite. The lesser, and second-tier products are peddled primarily by the Mexican and Armenian cartels. Sebastian Kane actually appears to be the kingpin in the "blood world"... utilizing his real estate empire as a front, he controls most of the high-end blood products ... the primo agent is termed "Pandora". A Blood War erupts between Sebastian and his psychopathic step-son, Paul Young ... for ultimate control of this most profitable business venture.
Mooney spins a twisted high-octane thriller pitting the two adversaries and their minions ... replete with explosions , AR 15 and sniper rifles .... and shredded bloody bodies. Embroiled in the action is undercover agent, Ellie Batista who infiltrates the world of Kane , not only to thwart the evil empire but perhaps find her twin brother .. a carrier who was kidnapped when they were only 6 years old. This page turner escalates into an exhilarating conclusion. The theme is explored, that a parent will put the needs and welfare of a child above their own ... always and forever. Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for providing an Uncorrected Proof in exchange for an honest review. ( at readersremains.com )

This is one of those books that took a minute. While I liked some of the near future elements (the whole carrier thing), I was a little put off by our main character. Every so often, I thought to myself – definitely a man trying to write a woman.

Before you @ me, a non-spoiler example:

When a woman walks into a bar that’s full of older, rich men and young, surgically enhanced blondes, she’s definitely having some thoughts, but her first thought generally isn’t ‘sausage fest’. It’s also likely not her 2nd, 3rd, or 800th thought. There were things like that throughout the book.

However, despite my nitpick, the book soon smoothed into a very good crime novel! It’s just gritty enough and the meld of those near future items is extremely well done. I especially liked that the author plays with our perceptions of some of the characters. When I found myself kind of rooting for a pretty evil character, I knew he’d done a good job or making his characters more complex and interesting than I’d expected.

The book is good. It’s a quick read and it’s the kind that makes you sorry you need to stop for sleep or work.

I’d read the author again.

*ARC Provided via Net Galley

Chris Mooney has written a solid and engrossing page turner of a read with Blood World! Well worth your time.

I found the concept of this book to be intriguing. It almost had a vampire vibe to it, but it was more evolved then that. The actual story on the other hand fell a little flat form me. It was slow paced which made it hard for me to get into and I wish the actual world building was more exciting. If the book was a little shorter and had more action in it, I would have loved this story.

My review will go live on the Book Confessions blog on 8-8-20.

Oh my gosh....so good. Not the usual type of mystery/ thriller I usually go for. Blood World is a great mystery/cop thriller, but thrown into the mix was the sci-fi aspect of blood farms and carriers. Stay with me lol....blood farms are used to extract the fountain of youth type of side effects from the carriers. But this creates an underworld of people looking to make their living by snatching people of of the streets. So, so good! And an excellent ending to boot!

I knew it would be good! I have all his books and have read some twice! Super exciting and such a surprise idea but I won't tell the book has to be read! Thank you Netgalley and publisher. I sure hope it never comes true, we have enough to deal with right now! Books are the answer! I keep my head right inside one most of the time! Try this and I promise you will go and read his past books and thank me!