Book Review: Blood in the Paint by Jordanna East

Lyla Kyle is an artist. Her favourite subjects are married men who cheat on their wives. She paints them. She paints and sculpts many things but she is particularly fond of and protective of her works featuring those philandering men. She paints them using shades of red mixed with their blood. Blood she drew from their dying bodies.

Jillian Atford is a psychologist with a past she’d rather put behind her, to say the least. Soon realising one of her clients is connected to her regrettable past, she finds herself spiralling uncontrollably toward a major crisis.

Officer Jason Brighthouse, a Philadelphia patrol cop, wants to prove he has his late father’s detective intuition and while checking out a reported dead body in a car park, feels something very inconsistent with an accidental death and decides he must test the strength of his inherited skills.

Jordanna East allows the reader deep into the minds of each of these characters, to understand the psychology behind their motivations, allowing an empathy to develop for each of them. It was difficult to pick a side, leaving me to root for all three, despite their indiscretions.

This novel is riddled with scenes that left me thinking “How on earth will he/she get out this situation?” East does a superb job in creating realism in a world where many OMG moments occur, leaving the reader wondering what could possibly come next. And what does come next is exciting, believable and edge-of-your-seat thrills.

Finishing up with some scenes of heart wrenching sadness, triumph and satisfaction and a neat twist leaving many question marks, Blood In The Paint presents a compelling invitation to read its sequel, Blood In The Paper. 5 Stars.

Here’s the Review on Amazon and Goodreads.