Inspired by Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, All These Bodies is the ideal read for fans of Fantasy and true-crime TV. Kendare Blake spins a web of crime, inspired by real events and literary journalism, to create a novel that feels breathtakingly real, and equally fantastical.
From the blurb;
'For months, a gruesome killer has been plaguing the Midwest. The murderer’s calling card? The bodies they leave behind are completely drained of blood.
'Aspiring journalist Michael Jensen, desperate to escape his small-town life, can hardly believe it when the Bloodless Murders come to sleepy Black Deer Falls, Minnesota. Or that his father, the sheriff, located the only suspect: fifteen-year-old Marie Catherine Hale.
'Tiny Marie doesn’t look capable of committing the grisly, inhumane attacks that are gripping the nation. At least, not on her own. With Marie refusing to talk to anyone but Michael, he agrees to tell her side of the story.
'But how can Michael trust Marie’s confession when it calls into question everything he's ever known . . . when falling for her lies may cost him his life?'
All These Bodies is a brilliant crime thriller, laced with fantasy hints, combining to leave shivers running up spines and the hair on the backs of necks standing on end. Blake shows off her writing prowess through this gritty, tell all, interview style novel focused on the mystery murders that have rocked the American nation, and the boy who finds himself caught up in them.
As we read Michael's experiences we are drawn into a very realistic painting of his life. His time at school. His friends. His family. This highly realistic depiction of his day-to-day lays the groundwork for the mystery.
Faced with crimes no one can explain, when the potential killer is captured, Michael hear's her story first hand, and he and his friends begin to experience things that point to Marie's story being true.
Each spine tingling incident rocks both the reader and Michael's worlds and begins to lay the seed of a question, one Blake refuses to provide a definitive answer too.
As Michael pieces together the story of the murders through Marie's confession we too get a better idea of what happened, or what we think happened. Marie's story doesn't seem believable in this realistic setting, but how else can you explain what happened? What is happening? What is still yet to occur?
Blake provides just enough information, just enough hints and clues, to make both the Fantasy and the 'Reality' believable. Forcing the reader to ask themselves, what do you believe? Do you believe in monsters in the night? Or do you think that something awful has happened to Marie to make her believe in her own fantasy?
Brilliantly crafted Blake will leave readers breathless with All These Bodies, and desperate for more novels of this style from her in the future.
We give All These Bodies Five Stars
ISBN - 978-1529052893
Cover Price - £7.99 First published in 2021