Blood Atonement - S.M. Freedman

AUTHOR: S.M. Freedman

GENRE: Psychological Thriller

RATING: 4.25 stars.

In a Nutshell: Strongly plotted, nicely written, emotionally hardhitting. Has minor flaws, but overall, a must-read.

Story Synopsis:

Grace DeRoche lives a life of solitude with her service dog, her goats and her pottery, trying to move one from her earlier years as a member of a Fundamentalist LDS sect that believes in subservient women and polygamous marriage. Grace had escaped during a police raid along with nine other children. Now, some of the other survivors have turned up dead. Suicide or murder, Detective Beau Brunelli isn’t yet sure. But one thing is for sure: what’s happening is somehow connected with Grace. But with her mental and physical health issues, how can he find out the truth?

Where the book worked for me:

👌 The characters are based on a real community called the Fundamentalist Mormon (FLDS) movement. Reading about them isn’t easy and is infuriating, especially as a woman. The extent of the brainwashing is horrifying! But this also is the biggest plus of the book. The author’s research and depiction work well to enhance the creepiness of the story. If you need one reason to read this book, this is it!

👌 The author's foreword at the start gives the right background to those readers who are unaware of the FLDS movement. It was very helpful to me to get this insight into the sect before beginning with the story.

👌 The author was a private investigator who has now turned to writing. This comes out so well in the criminal investigation segments. There are elements that I have never seen mentioned in usual crime fiction. It felt like a book written by someone who knows the system, and this adds great authenticity.

👌 Detective Beau Brunelli’s character is nicely sketched. The hard work that goes into police work is depicted well through him and his team. I also liked how the investigative reins remain firmly in the hands of the police, and how it is shown not as a one-man-show but as a collaboration between various teams. (I cant help but contrast this with my current audiobook where the kidnapped baby’s nanny has become an unofficial investigator of the crime. Sheesh!)

👌 The sexual abuse that the women in the sect undergo isn’t easy to read. So I truly appreciate the author’s writing choice of not going into extended details of the sexual infringements but revealing just enough to let us know what was happening. Of course, there is plenty of other abuse detailed on the pages. Well-written, but consider yourself warned: the book isn’t going to leave you easily.

👌 Grace’s mental disorder is written so well! I don’t want to go into spoilers by naming it, but suffice to say, I have read a few books with characters suffering from this problem, and this was one of the best-ever depictions of the same.

👌 The pace is quite slow, and with the sheer number of characters and the shifting timelines, it is near impossible to read faster. Despite this, I never felt overwhelmed or frustrated because the plot kept calling me back to it. If I had had a lighter schedule, I would have completed this within a day, it was so compelling!

👌 As with every psych thriller, I kept trying to guess who the culprit was. The author spun me in so many valid circles that I ended up dizzy. But after the big reveal, it was easy to see the clues she had scattered along the way. I loved how the reveal came logically from the plot rather than being a pulling-the-rug kind of solution.

Where the book could have worked better for me:

☠ I like the method by which the author incorporated the flashbacks in her writing; I just wish they had been indicated better. There are plenty of flashbacks in the story, not all of which are written with smooth transitions. It is sometimes confusing to understand which timeline is active. (Do note that I was reading a digital ARC. It is possible that the transitions are marked better in the final publication.)

☠ The final moments of the climax were straight out of a Bollywood blockbuster. (This is NOT a compliment.)

☠ There is one first person narration in the story (the rest is a limited third person narration from the point of view of various characters) but there are certain points in this track that I am unclear about.

☠ Hate the cover! I wouldn’t have cast this book a second glance had a ‘bangerlicious’ review by one of my GR friends, who goes by ‘GirlWithThePinkSkiMask’, not popped up on my feed. The cover doesn’t do justice to the story.

Overall, a book worth reading for a multitude of reasons as it hits most targets right in their bull’s eye. Recommended to readers of fiction inspired from real-life, cult fiction, police procedurals and religious fanaticism.

My thanks to Dundurn Press and NetGalley for the DRC of “Blood Atonement”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

Trigger Warnings: It’s a book about a religious cult that believes in male superiority. Imagine every horrible idea associated with this concept, and you’ll find it in the book. Not easy reading, for sure.