Rating: 
Summary: A SPINE TINGLING READING
Review: For those who fancy their thrillers fraught with forensic detail and mixed with medical information best-selling author Tess Gerritsen (Harvest and Life Support) has proffered another page turner.Heroine Dr. Clair Elliot is attempting to rebuild her life after the death of her husband. Her predicament and the challenges that follow are vividly traced by champion voice performer Jan Maxwell. Primary in Clair's mind is her 14-year-old son, Noah. It is with his good in mind that she chooses a small town, Tranquility, Maine, as the perfect spot to relocate. There, she reasons her impressionable son will be removed from the potentially damaging influences of big city Baltimore. We mentioned that the name of the town is "Tranquility" - what a misnomer! It's not long before teenage violence is running rampant through these once quiet streets. It seems that such an episode occurs once every half century. What causes this, could the culprit be a supernatural force? Claire works in tandem with the local police chief in order to solve this mystery. Another home run for author Gerritsen and one more listenable chiller for audio audiences. - Gail Cooke
Rating:
Summary: Different from your average medical thriller
Review: The reviews seem to be torn a bit. Some people really love this book, and some people really hate this book. However, the main reason that this happened is that this isn't your average medical thriller. It has some pretty violet scenes(teenager chewed off his thumb to get out of the handcuffs, later found dead) and other scenes not often found in medical thrillers. Most of the action here takes place OUTSIDE of a hospital. It doesn't deal with the corruption in the medical system. It doesn't deal with any of the clichés found in other medical thrillers. It deals with the clichés found in other horror-thriller books. Some people have been complaining that there is a certain lack of detail in the descriptions, that seem somewhat vague. Since I've read this book just after it's release in Mass Market Paperback, I cannot honestly say if that's true or not. One thing I can say is that the medical scenes ARE well described. The characters are very well written (truly three-dimensional characters, with flaws like real people) If you're not sure wether to buy this book or not, read the first 6 pages of the book(somewhere, I don't know) and see if you can resist the temptation of reading the rest. I really loved this book, but I can't say that you will too, specially after seeing the reviews differing each other so much.
Rating: 
Summary: Ban-gor, not Bang-er
Review: Anyone who has spent any time in Maine will quickly realize that the mispronunciation of Bangor is only one of the many ways that Bloodstream fails to accurately capture the essence of Maine. Combine that with the convoluted, highly unbelievable plot and subsequent resolution, and the unrealistic characters (Amelia, the 14-year-old girl from a dysfunctional family thinks and behaves like a well-adjusted adult) and this is one book I hope readers will skip. Maine deserves better.
Rating:
Summary: Crazy Kids and a Mystery that Begs to be Solved
Review: Dr. Claire Elliot moved to quiet Tranquility, Maine with her rebellious teenage son Noah after the death of her husband. She takes over a small medical practice and starts to rebuild her life, but after only being in town for a short while, strange things start happening among the town's youth. Teenage pranks rapidly accelerate into a shooting spree at the local school. Clare wonders why some of the town's residents want to cover up the incidents and she also wonders if there might be a medical explanation for everything that is going on. Then folks start blaming her for what's happening and it looks like they want to drive her out of town. Convinced that there's a medical reason for the evil behavior of the town's teenagers, Claire chases after every clue she can find. Then her son is arrested for a hit and run and that leads to the clue that might solve the puzzle. BLOODSTREAM is a fast and fun five star read that will have you deeply involved in the mystery while you work along with Claire as she tries to figure it all out. Review submitted by Captain Katie Osborne
Rating: 
Summary: Lots of Action with Involved Plot Amid Weak Writing
Review: This book is very unusual. I found it very difficult to get through the first 100 pages because the horror aspects were so gruesome and seemingly gratuitous. Then the plot seemed to be pointless. But a medical emergency scene came in that was quite good, and then another. After a few hundred pages, the plot got better and the horror less gruesome. The final 50 pages were absorbing to read. This makes grading difficult. I gave the beginning a one-star, the end a four-star, the medical emergencies a five-star, and the bulk of the dialogue and portrayal of the town of Tranquility, Maine a one-star. Unless you are dying for a horror-medical mystery, I suggest you skip this one. Ms. Gerritsen can write emergency room scenes quite well, but regular dialogue is difficult for her to do smoothly and make interesting. There's a lot more dialogue in this book than emergency room scenes. Dr. Claire Elliott moves to Tranquility, Maine with her teenage son, Noah, to get away from the evils of the big city, Baltimore. She soon finds that she is shunned as an outsider, assumed to be incompetent, losing patients and money, and unable to make headway against a mystery disease. All of this seems to tie together into something that has been going on for hundreds of years. What is it? The conflicts between the characters are pretty predicatable, so it is impressive that Ms. Gerritsen can keep the mystery working through the obvious plot complications and setbacks. You can figure out the mystery though. There are many clues, decently scattered at large intervals along the way, but it is a fairly interesting premise as medical mysteries go. The medical mystery solution made me glad that I finished the book. After you read this book, you should think about what you can do to be more friendly and cooperative with other people. Many chances to have a more beneficial and positive relationship are lost when both sides aren't open enough. Assume the best about the other person's motives and competence, and you'll be pleasantly surprised to find out how often you are correct. Build a better world, one relationship at a time!
Rating:
Summary: A SPINE TINGLING READING
Review: For those who fancy their thrillers fraught with forensic detail and mixed with medical information best-selling author Tess Gerritsen (Harvest and Life Support) has proffered another page turner. Heroine Dr. Clair Elliot is attempting to rebuild her life after the death of her husband. Her predicament and the challenges that follow are vividly traced by champion voice performer Jan Maxwell. Primary in Clair's mind is her 14-year-old son, Noah. It is with his good in mind that she chooses a small town, Tranquility, Maine, as the perfect spot to relocate. There, she reasons her impressionable son will be removed from the potentially damaging influences of big city Baltimore. We mentioned that the name of the town is "Tranquility" - what a misnomer! It's not long before teenage violence is running rampant through these once quiet streets. It seems that such an episode occurs once every half century. What causes this, could the culprit be a supernatural force? Claire works in tandem with the local police chief in order to solve this mystery. Another home run for author Gerritsen and one more listenable chiller for audio audiences. - Gail Cooke
Rating: 
Summary: A chilling and fast paced read
Review: Dr. Claire Elliot takes her son Noah away from Baltimore and moves to Tranquillity, Maine. Every 50 years or so when the rains are heavy and summers hot, the community's teenage boys, boil over with uncontrollable rage. Desperately hoping all the violent occurrences have medical causes, Claire comes up with a variety of theories, all of which involve placing a quarantine on Locust Lake, the town's main source of income. The real cause of the terror is even more ominous and frightening than Elliot ever imagines.
Rating:
Summary: Intruiging audiobook thriller!
Review: This was very good! First off, Jan Maxwell reads the plot wonderfully, with the right emphasis and just enough emotionality to lend it credulity. But more importantly, the plot is just thrilling - from beginning to end, the pace rarely slackens, and certainly speeds up on side-B-tape-2.
Without ruining anything, violence is erupting among the youth of Tranquility, Maine. It starts with scuffles, and vandalism, but is soon a rising tide of murderous rage. And when recently arrived Doctor Claire Elliot sees this violence closer (and perhaps within) her own teenaged son, things take a turn for the dangerous.
Tess Gerritsen has my hard-won fanship. With most medical thriller authors, after two or three you start to see the pattern, find the baddie, and close the book with a vague sigh. Even listening to abridged audios of her work, I never quite guess the villain until it's nearly too late for the heroine!
The only misgivings I have about this one is the romantic attachment that Claire finds feels a bit forced - likely a result of the abridgement, however, as I'm sure there are scenes missing that would have laid more of a foundation in their relationship.
All in all, a really enjoyable listening experience.
'Nathan
Rating:
Summary: one of her better books
Review: While I myself have read several of her books, I now just got around to reading this one. It one of her best, the best still is(the surgeon) You should still read this one despite the tame love plot and the rushed ending.
Rating:
Summary: Intriguing thriller with medical details
Review: After her husband's death, Dr. Claire Elliot moves to Maine with her son. In the small town of Tranquility, she hopes to build up a new life for herself and 14-year-old Noah. Yet the saying "nomen est omen" proves to be wrong this time -- Tranquility soon becomes everything but tranquil. A shooting in Noah's classroom is the first incident in a series of extreme teenage violence. Fearing for her own son, Claire tries to find the cause, thus coming across similar atrocities in the past. Police Chief Lincoln Kelly supports her, but the majority of the townspeople aren't thrilled by the theory Claire comes up with.
Tess Gerritsen's knowledge in the medical field from her former career as internist shows in her novel "Bloodstream." Dr. Claire Elliot is a very believable character -- both in her profession as doctor as well as a troubled woman trying to help her son and finding a new meaning in her own life. The author manages to balance Claire's strengths and weaknesses, neither making her a superwoman nor someone falling completely apart during a crisis. The book's plot grips the reader's interest from the very start, keeping it until the action-packed end. All in all, "Bloodstream" is an intriguing medical thriller which will not disappoint the reader in the least.
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