Blood Memory By Greg Iles
Blood Memory is in many ways a book about the imperfections of life, although it is by no means an imperfect novel. In this story Iles takes the brave step of dealing with issues the avid reader might prefer to be swept under the rug while reading on the beach or in the lounge – for many readers read to escape realities as much as to explore them. Child abuse and the damage it inflicts on families and individuals, is moreover a subject not to be taken lightly by the novelists’ pen. It is a sore under the respectable and not so respectable surface of society at all levels
In Cat Ferry, a dental forensic expert, we have a flawed character, but one that is flawed for good reason. The fascination with this character however lies not in her flaws but in her strengths, for although on some levels she is not even likeable, on others she has deeply admirable qualities. A functioning alcoholic, sleeping with a married man, beset by panic attacks and blackouts, she nonetheless summons the courage and dignity to survive attempts on her life and to solve an old crime of which she herself was the victim.
Set this against a related subplot involving, curiously, the serial murder and mutilation of men, and several surprising kinks and twists in the story, and you are left with this novel set in the American deep south that is not perfect, but Blood Memory is certainly as interesting and as unforgiving as its subject matter demands.