Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Pg. 99: Daniel Kalla's "Blood Lies"

The current feature at the Page 99 Test: Daniel Kalla's new thriller, Blood Lies.

About the book, from the publisher's website:
Ben Dafoe, a young emergency-room doctor and part-time crime-scene consultant for the Seattle Police Department, is haunted by addiction. Two years earlier, a cocaine and crystal-meth habit claimed the life of his identical twin, Aaron. Now Ben walks onto the scene of a savage stabbing to find that the victim is his former fiancĂ©e, Emily Kenmore — another loved one who fell prey to drugs. Part of the carnage in Emily’s bedroom is a single streak of blood caked on the wall.

When the DNA from that sample matches Ben’s, he becomes the prime suspect.

Convinced his identical twin is still alive and somehow involved in Emily’s death, Ben goes on the run, aiming to find Aaron. Working under an assumed identity at an inner-city clinic, Ben desperately searches for Aaron while playing cat-and-mouse with the authorities.

But someone is determined to thwart his hunt at any cost. In the story’s final twist, the truth hits closer to home and more lethally than Ben ever imagined.

Set against the backdrop of the ER, Blood Lies is a medical thriller and a Fugitive-style suspense novel with a major twist. As Ben struggles to solve a tragic mystery from his past and clear his name, he might just learn that, sometimes, blood lies....
Among the early praise for Blood Lies:
"Fans of intelligent contemporary whodunits who enjoyed Scott Turow's debut, Presumed Innocent, will find welcome echoes of that modern classic in Blood Lies... The twists are well done, and Kalla has a gift rare in the thriller field for creating sympathetic characters."
Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Fast paced and smartly written. Kalla has quickly matured into a force to be reckoned with.... The novel springs several fresh surprises on the reader (including one whopping great shocker)."
Booklist

"Kalla strikes again with another perfect page-turner."
— Lee Child, New York Times best selling author

"Daniel Kalla has penned a winner with his new one, BLOOD LIES. It's well-written, intelligent, complex, and satisfying -- all good things -- and all amounting to a damn fine read."
— John Lescroart, New York Times best selling author

"Kalla gets the details right... Solid details flesh out a nicely complicated plot."
Kirkus Reviews
Dan Kalla spends his days (and sometimes nights) working as an Emergency Room physician at an urban teaching hospital. Blood Lies is his fourth novel.

Visit Kalla's website and read an excerpt from Blood Lies.

The Page 99 Test: Blood Lies.

--Marshal Zeringue