Early Review – All These Bodies by Kendare Blake (3/5 stars)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Thriller/Mystery
Length: 304 pages
Publisher: Tachyon Publications
Release Date: September 21, 2021
ISBN-13 : 978-0062977168
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: eGalley from NetGalley
Rating: 3/5 stars
“ Summer 1958. A gruesome killer plagues the Midwest, leaving behind a trail of bodies completely drained of blood.
Michael Jensen, an aspiring journalist whose father happens to be the town sheriff, never imagined that the Bloodless Murders would come to his backyard. Not until the night the Carlson family was found murdered in their home. Marie Catherine Hale, a diminutive fifteen-year-old, was discovered at the scene—covered in blood. She is the sole suspect in custody.
Michael didn’t think that he would be part of the investigation, but he is pulled in when Marie decides that he is the only one she will confess to. As Marie recounts her version of the story, it falls to Michael to find the truth: What really happened the night that the Carlsons were killed? And how did one girl wind up in the middle of all these bodies?”
Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I got a copy of this book through NetGalley to review.
Thoughts: I really enjoyed “Anna Dressed in Blood” but Blake’s other books have been a bit hit or miss for me. This one was okay, but didn’t really pull me in. Originally I thought this was a retelling of an actual series of murders, but the whole thing is fabricated (even if it is loosely based on a variety of events that have happened in the past, which Blake addresses in an Afterword) and that makes this story have less impact.
The story is told from a teen boy’s perspective as he is tasked with interviewing Marie, the girl who was found covered in blood at the last of the Bloodless Murders. It ends up being a fairly dry story and moves very slowly. Marie’s stories push the reader towards believing that these events were paranormal in flavor but nothing is well defined and the reader is left to draw their own conclusions.
It was a short enough story that I went ahead and finished it. However, I found the ending to be fairly disappointing and open ended. Those who follow my reviews know that I generally don’t like a lot of open-endedness to my books.
The one bright point here was I enjoyed the Minnesota setting. It’s fun to read books set in my home state; there just aren’t a lot of books set in Minnesota. I do think Blake did a great job of capturing the shifting moods of a small town and enjoyed that as well.
My Summary (3/5): Overall this one was a bit of a miss for me. It is pretty short and I was curious enough to finish it up. However, it moves slowly and the ending was disappointing. I went into this thinking this was a story about an actual serial killer, but it is all “made up” which gives it less impact. I also thought that the supernatural/paranormal elements felt forced. The characters are pretty hard to engage with as well. I did enjoy the Minnesota setting. This is one I would personally skip.
