Cover Image: Blood and Bone

Blood and Bone

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Member Reviews

The third novel in Giambanco's Alice Madison series.

BLOOD AND BONE is a very good police procedural novel. As I haven't read the first two novels in the series, I can confirm that you don't *have* to have read the other two in order to enjoy this one, but I think I'd like to go back and get caught up.

Well-written, with an excellent protagonist and supporting cast. I enjoyed this.

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A well done and twisty procedural with a good protagonist in Alice. Note that there is also a serial killer. A good read.

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I just recently discovered Valentina and she has quickly become one of my favorite new authors. LOVE her books. I am clearing off a shelf in my bookshelves for her books

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When I started reading this, I didn't realize it was part of a series, so now I definitely need to go back and read the previous titles. This book was complex, dark, and very suspenseful. The characters had a rich feel, woven well together. Alice was likable, flawed, human. Her relationships were realistic, heartfelt. The twisted chemistry between her and Quinn is something I can relate to. The murder plot was well thought out, creepy, and took some interesting turns. I'll definitely be exploring other books in the series!

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This was an action packed police procedural about a serial assassin and the police woman in charge of the case. I enjoyed the storyline and I thought it was well written but at times there was an overwhelming amount of characters and it made it difficult to comprehend what was going on. I would recommend this to fans of Police Procedurals and the legal components of this book are very well written.

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This is the third book about Seattle homicide detective Alice Madison. Although it is possible to follow the plot without having read The Gift of Darkness or The Dark first, I would suggest reading them in order to get the full picture of the recurring characters. A big part of this series has been about the complicated dynamics between Alice, Nathan Quinn, who now works for the State Attorney, and John Cameron, who is wanted for several murders. This one is a little different from the other two though in that it focuses much more on Alice and her partner and father figure, Detective Brown, and their current case, which involves the hunt for a seriously deranged serial killer.
This series has been getting better and better with each book. Alice evolves and so do her relationships within the police force and with Nathan and John. The police procedural aspects are done really well and the characters as well as the plot come across as very believable. I also find the author's writing has become more succinct and flows better with each instalment. After struggling a little with the first book, I've become a huge fan and I hope there will be more of Alice, Nathan, John, and Detective Brown in the future. Highly recommended if you enjoy gritty crime thrillers with expertly fleshed-out characters!

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Alice had just walked outside the club where Andy’s bachelor party was being held to walk to her car. There weren’t any strippers at Andy;s party. Andy was a cop as was Alice and most of the people at the party. Two men approached Alice and were annoying her , she let them know after one guy was on the ground she was a cop and so were several people in the party. Alice was a homicide detective for Seattle Police Department. Alice and Kevin Brown her partner were very tired they had been up at 3 a.m to arrest a robbery/murder suspect. Alice knew the bride also- Stacey who was also a cop and they were friends Alice even had to go through a spa day as that is what Stacey was doing for her bachelorette party. Alice felt herself being watched by Detective Chris Kelly who was also a homicide detective, and Chris and Alice hated each other. Aaron and Alice had been seeing each other a little over six months. Alice had known Aaron since she was thirteen. Aaron w as a cousin of her best friend Rachel. Alice had a meeting on her day off with special agents A J Parker and Curtis Guzzman were with the Drug Enforcement Agency-DEA- in L A. This was the fourth time Alice was meeting with the agents. They had news of Robert Solvo a man Alice had identified as a man who was a cartel operative. Solvo was dead. Alice was the only police officer who had ever spoken to John Cameron , the only cop who had got that close. Alice had been on a collision course with John every since their paths crossed two years ago.Alice felt that one day she would be the one who went after John and hunted him even though she had already saved his life once. John Cameron and Nathan Quinn were brothers in ways but blood. John had killed for Nathan and for the memory of a boy who had been good and brave. Nathan now worked for the State Attorney. John and Nathan’s friendship was layers of shared memories when Nathan and John were kids, where their fathers worked together in the restaurant they owned. It was a lifetime of joy and sorrow but most of all secrets. Kevin new Alice’s mother had died when she was twelve. Five months later Alice ran away , Alice was on the road alone for seven days. Then Alice moved in with her grandparents. Alice had never investigated a serial killer case before. Now her case was joined to another case from seven years ago that Kevin solved and put the killer in prison. The man swore he was innocent and would not take any deals after four years in prison and he killed himself then man had been innocent. Alice received a call from Nathan asking her to go down to the beach by her house. Nathan stood with John . John told Alice she was under investigation from the Office Of Professional Accountability- OPA-. Also Alice had been for the last four months. It was because of Alice’s acquaintance with John and saving his life. The Push came from the DEA of L A. John also told her someone close to her was talking to the OPA, someone she worked with. The OPA is being extra careful about the informant and it’s kept under five different code names. But it is someone close to Alice and the OPA wants to protect the person from her and also from John finding out. The OPA thinks Alice is feeding John inside details about the Cartel deaths. John said she had gone to great lengths to save his life. The Cartel had put a tap on Nathan’s phone to monitor the calls between Nathan and John. The Cartel was after John and hoped to get information on his safe house. Alice had called Nathan’s home to save a SWAT team about to storm John’s boat. The Cartel had her call on tape. If the tape was made public Alice’s life as a cop would be over. Alice was sure it was Chris Kelly talking to the OPA. Alice’s murder case became lined to eleven other murders in the seven years. Then Chris who hated Alice caught a double murder that there was a good possibility was tied to Alice’s case. The tapes with Alice’s call to Nathan had been taken care of by Nathan and John.
This story was fantastic. It took me a bit to read it life gets in the way and sometimes it lagged a little but I never doubted I would finish the story as it kept me right there with it. Alice was an excellent cop as was her partner . Alice and Kevin care about the victims and do all they can to get them justice. I also learned more about procedure followed by the cops and i always enjoy learning new things. I loved how Alice figured things out with her partner at her side. I got angry at Chris Kelly but then he was a butt and he had no reason as far as I can remember. I also loved how Rachel made it clear that Alice was a part of her family already and had been for a long time and she didn’t have to marry into it. All and All an excellent read. I loved the plot and the way this was written. I also love the characters and how they interact with each other,I loved the part where the bad people definitely weren’t all bad. I also loved the twists and turns of this story and I highly recommend.

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