After contemplating the next dreary, depressing guilt-ridden book club selection coming up, it was with genuine joy that I fell on James Rollins' latest thriller co-written with Rebecca Cantrell, Innocent Blood (#362). This is the second book in their The Order of the Sanguines Series, and about as far from reality as it can be. The action (and it's non-stop!) picks up the story of Dr. Erin Granger and Army Sergeant Jordan Stone shortly after the events of The Blood Gospel (See my post of 1/28/13.), so my recommendation is don't read Innocent Blood until you've finished The Blood Gospel, or nothing will make sense to you in the plot.
Although Rollins' books usually have a strong scientific component to give the edge to the thriller - could the events in the book ever conceivably happen? - their very plausibility is in most cases what makes his books oh so scary. (I still have nightmares about the creatures in The Ice Hunt!) In Innocent Blood there are priests and vampires; angels and betrayers, immortality and super efficient paranormal killers, romance and technology, but nothing to keep you awake nights from worry. Not being able to put the book down to sleep is entirely another story...
The Gospel written in Christ's own blood was discovered in the first book, but its purpose is revealed only in Innocent Blood when the head of the Belial organization seeks to use it for his own ends to destroy the world. It's up to the mortals Granger and Stone to thwart him, aided by the priestly order of the Sanguines. But he seems aware of every step they take. Can Erin and Jordan stay ahead of him and his evil minions?
It's total escapism. What could be better for a cold winter afternoon?
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