Splinter in the Blood

A Novel

By: Ashley Dyer

Narrated by: Piers Hampton

A propulsive debut suspense novel, filled with secrets, nerve-jangling tension, perplexing mystery, and cold-blooded murder, in which a police officer on the hunt for a macabre serial killer is brutally attacked, and only his partner knows the truth about what happened—and who did it.

After months of hunting a cold-blooded murderer that the press has dubbed the Thorn Killer, Detective Greg Carver is shot in his own home. His trusted partner, Ruth Lake, is alone with him. Yet instead of calling for help, she’s rearranged the crime scene and wiped the room clean of prints.

But Carver isn’t dead.

Awakening in the hospital, Carver has no memory of being shot, but is certain that his assailant is the Thorn Killer. Though there’s no evidence to support his claim, Carver insists the attack is retaliation, an attempt to scare the detective off the psychopath’s scent, because he’s getting too close. Trapped in a hospital bed and still very weak, Carver’s obsession grows. He’s desperate to get back to work and finally nail the bastard, before more innocent blood is spilled.

One person knows the truth and she’s not telling. She’s also now leading the Thorn Killer investigation while Carver recuperates. It doesn’t matter that Carver and the rest of the force are counting on her, and that more victims’ lives at stake. Ruth is keeping a deadly secret, and she’ll cross every line—sacrificing her colleagues, her career, and maybe even her own life—to keep it from surfacing.

Utterly engrossing and filled with masterfully crafted surprises, Splinter in the Blood is a propulsive roller-coaster ride, filled with deception, nerve-jangling tension, perplexing mystery, and cold-blooded murder.

What does the title mean?

This book to was enjoyable. The characters were well thought out. When the narrator is speak as a character who is using a voice disguising mask he becomes very difficult to understand. Otherwise the narration was very good.
The concept of the head-injured detective with synesthesia (seeing colorful auras around someone he is interacting with) is similar to the Memory Man series by David Baldacci from 2015.
Not close enough to be labelled derivative, but there are a lot of similarities. I liked Memory Man more than this book.
The title of this book is cool, but I have no idea how it relates to the story.

Slow burn but worth it

This book surprised me- the title does not make sense but the characters are well developed and rounded. Be patient with it- it ja a real slow burn