American Blood (Ben Sanders, A&U)

From the opening lines of American Blood you know you’re in the hands of a master storyteller. New Zealand author Ben Sanders (‘The Auckland Trilogy’) throws the reader into the belly of the story, and you’re doing well if you can keep up with the rapid twists as the tale unfolds. After a botched assignment, ex-NYPD officer and undercover cop Marshall Grade is in hiding with the assistance of the witness protection program, but he’s soon in a whole new world of trouble when he starts looking for a missing woman. The shady characters Marshall encounters seem all too familiar as his past life comes back to show its hand. In keeping with the noir genre, the language is suitably slick, the dialogue is smart and the pace is cracking. This hardboiled novel is so filmic that it’s no surprise there is already a film in the works. With its impressive body count, American Blood is attracting comparisons with Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men. It will appeal to fans of Elmore Leonard and James Ellroy and those who love their crime and thriller writing hardboiled.

Deborah Crabtree is a Melbourne-based writer and bookseller

Category: Reviews