Summer's Blood by Adele Royce

Adele Royce

Author

Summer's Blood

A wealthy Los Angeles ad executive, Craig Keller has it all–a loving family and lavish lifestyle steeped in glamor and success. But beneath the luxurious facade, he is tormented by guilt over his brother DJ’s death in a yacht accident thirty years ago, which left no body. Tragedy strikes with the death of Craig’s father, but nothing prepares Craig for the ghosts of his past coming back to haunt him at the funeral. He is suddenly forced to face the question that has plagued him for three decades: What really happened the day DJ disappeared? Desperate for answers, Craig is drawn into the dark underbelly of Las Vegas, where a shocking secret and an organized crime syndicate’s greed will collide, throwing Craig into the fight of—and for—his life. Delving into secrets hidden in the shadows, and the darkness of the criminal underworld, Adele Royce’s first installment in her new contemporary thriller series will have readers holding their breath until the heart-pounding finale.

Reviews

After a booze-fueled yacht party goes horribly awry, DJ Keller’s body is never recovered. His younger brother Craig, plagued with the pressures of being the heir apparent in an ultra-wealthy family, is forever traumatized by his older brother’s absence. Despite being handsome and intelligent, Craig believes himself inadequate to fill DJ's shoes, driving him into a desperate hunt for perfectionism. When their father suddenly dies, Craig is sure he sees DJ at the funeral; despite pursuit, the stranger evades him—until the following week, when he crops back up unexpectedly as Hendrik, the son of casino owner and family friend, Luuk Van Ness.

Royce crafts a wonderfully visceral mystery that teems with grotesque and vivid characterizations. Grounded by Craig’s mature point of view, characters—many of whom appear in Royce’s earlier series, Truth, Lies and Love in Advertising—are summarized briskly and efficiently, allowing readers to breezily follow the action. And that action rolls in at breakneck speed from the start: as Craig closes in on answers to the mysteries from his past, he’s shocked to discover pieces of his former life cropping back up in a mobster driven, vengeance-seeking spree of dark secrets, hidden identities, and bloody, action-packed fights.

Royce capably wends through a family tree of mistruths, mirroring Craig’s past life—before his transformation into a loving family man—against that of his family’s current chaos. Ever mindful of his duty and full of love for his family, Craig willfully chases whatever he must to free himself and his loved ones from their terrifying mess. The lengths he’s willing to go to are soon plumbed to the max, as he finds himself face to face with a gritty wonderland filled with all manner of filth, danger, and madness. Readers who appreciate relatable characters and gritty action will be entertained.

Takeaway: Gritty, vengeance-driven thriller of family secrets and sacrifice.

Comparable Titles: CLR Dougherty’s Assassins and Liars, Samuel Lockwood’s The Hidden Heir.

Production grades
Cover: B+
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A

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