Poison by Jordyn Redwood

Five years ago, Keelyn Blake's armed, mentally ill stepfather took her family hostage in their house in rural Colorado. She and her half-sister Raven made it out alive, but others did not. Authorities blamed the father’s frequent hallucinations about a being named Lucent, but in the end, even the best of the FBI’s hostage negotiators failed to overcome the man’s delusions and end the standoff peacefully.

SWAT team member Lee Watson was there that day. He watched it all unfold and was able to pull Keelyn and Raven from the grip of their demon-possessed father. Though partially successful, his team had still failed, and the outcome of that day—and that tortured family—has continued to plague Lee ever since. Though unusual for SWAT to reconnect with survivors, Lee bumped into Keelyn two years after the crisis, and they both found some peace in their budding relationship. But peace is hard to maintain when the memory returns . . . in the flesh. Lucent is back, and he’s no hallucination. In fact, he is a very real person with dangerous motives. He has kidnapped Raven’s daughter, and--Keelyn worries--maybe has hurt Raven as well. Though she is estranged from her sister, Keelyn feels the immediate need to find Raven and save what family she has left. But when others who were involved in that fateful day start dying, some by mysterious circumstances, Keelyn wonders if she and Lee can emerge unscathed a second time.  The highly anticipated second installment of the Bloodline Trilogy explores the boundaries of faith and family and what happens when both are put to the test.

My review:
    I read and reviewed the first book in this series, Proof, and though I liked it, I thought this book was even better and didn't feel rushed like the first. That could be because in this book, the main characters are already engaged to be married at the beginning of the book. I would recommend reading this series in order.

  This book was hard to put down, so I didn't. I read it from cover to cover in one sitting, and enjoyed every page. Again, the author came up with a very cool plot and worked it around blood. There are a couple of characters from the first book in this story, and new ones, and I found myself liking them all, especially the two main characters. There are some creepy moments involving spiders, and a lot of suspense, and a few surprises.

   There is a lot of action that takes place in the hospital and with medical situations in both books, but the author does a great job of keeping things in terms even I can understand.

  The book takes a good look at family ties, and what people will do to save someone they love. It also shows that no one is beyond hope, and no matter how far they have gone, they are still worth saving. I loved the book, and am looking forward to reading the last book in the series.

About the author:

Jordyn Redwood is a nurse by day, novelist by night. She has specialized in critical care and emergency nursing for nearly two decades. As a self professed medical nerd, she reads medical textbooks for fun. This led to the creation of Redwood's Medical Edge-- a blog devoted to helping authors write medically accurate fiction. Jordyn loves to weave medical mystery into her story lines and see how her characters navigate through the chaos she creates.


Poison is available from Kregel Publishing.

Thanks to Kregel for the review copy.