Rating: 
Summary: Pretty Good
Review: I enjoyed the work. I enjoy the Bosch novels more but this one grew on me. It did have a slow start for me. Really slow.What i enjoyed was the character go through the motions. Yes, he was a former fed but his action didn't go by the rules. He wasacting like a man with a mission and then a former fed. Also, the little insight on a criminal mind were nicely done. He(MC) didn't spend a lot of time on that either, just enough. And last, i enjoyed how the character told you bits of insite on the FBI mind. For example, the neighbor next door, going to do luandry, with, shoes off and some quaters. and putting dirt on the broken lock. Very nice details.
Rating: 
Summary: My Favorite Novel of 2001
Review: Terry McCaleb is a retired FBI Agent. His departure from the Bureau was forced. He needed a heart transplant. Having given up any hope of being saved because of his rare blood type, he has resigned himself to dying. Then, at the last moment, a heart became available. All of this happens before "Blood Work" begins. Having become a minor celebrity due to a pair of newspaper articles, Terry has turned down several requests by people to solve crimes on their behalf. Then Graciella Rivers tells him he has to solve the murder of her sister, Gloria. When he asks why, she tells him that he has Gloria's heart. "Blood Work" provides a fascinating study into how a professional works a murder case. Picking up where the police left off, and incurring their wrath in the process, Terry develops new leads, makes use of old evidence, and soon is on the trail of Gloria's killer. However, in a strange plot twist, Terry realizes that someone killed Gloria for one of her organs, making him a prime suspect. At this point, the plot could have turned in on itself and lost its way. Other writers would have left us with a very smart Terry up against a very stupid everyone else. However, Connelly provides plot twist after plot twist until the surprise revelation of the killer's identity. Even then, he's not finished with the story or Terry's search for justice. As a former resident of Los Angeles, I enjoyed reliving visits to various places around that city. As a reader of fiction, I appreciated a well-written, intelligent thriller.
Rating:
Summary: bloody work!
Review: Terry McCaleb is a retired serial killer detective for the FBI. He had to retire because of his heart but he was pulled back into work for the same reason. His heart came from a young woman who died in a random store shooting. He got her heart after she died. The womans sister wants McCaleb to find out what really happened, because she doesn't believe it was a random robbery/murder. McCaleb feels he owes it to the woman who saved his life.
He begins working on the case (...) McCaleb finds many dead ends in his search, but also finds love.
Michael Connelly did an excellent job placing the reader into the story with Terry McCaleb. You felt as if you were following him on a lead or with him while he's enjoying time with Graciela. An exciting story of love and murder with a heart wrenching twist.
Rating:
Summary: blood work
Review: Terry McCaleb was trying to get away from FBI work when he retired for having a bad heart. His heart is what pulled him into his work again. Michael Connelly does an excellent job writing this story about an ex investigator who works one last case for his heart. His heart was received from a young woman who was shot in a random store shooting. His heart transplant saved his life, but onelife was taken for his second chance. The sister of the store shooting has the womans son and wants McCaleb to find out what really happened.
This job is hard on McCaleb but he finds himself in love and in a lot dead ends. Connelly puts you, the reader, right there with Terry McCaleb, ex homicide detective. You follow him on his leads and confusion.
Rating:
Summary: A very satisfying read
Review: This book has a very complex plot, with lots of stories interacting with each other. I found it very interesting, because it had a lot of believable information in it, and it showed a very real insight into crime in America. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good read over the age of about 11 ' 12.
Rating:
Summary: A must read for criminal fans
Review: This book kept me up reading for a few nights. The twists are incredible and each chapter start and ends with another reason to turn the page.
Rating:
Summary: Terrific
Review: Connelly is a master of the police procedural. This book is one of his best, although they are all strong. His writing is sharp. His plotting is intelligent and unpredictable. Difficult to put down.
Rating: 
Summary: Plot holes you could drive a truck through
Review: I love Connelly's writing, but when I finished this book, I couldn't sleep because I was so angry that Connelly cheated to make the ending wrap up too tidily. I don't want to ruin it for anyone, but one example is this crackerjack former FBI agent McCaleb is investigating the heck out of these brutal shootings. He sees on a store video tape that one of the victims was grabbed from behind, the robber/murderer puts the gun to her left temple and fires, while holding her with his right hand. Not once in the 498 page book is there a discussion that the guy they are looking for is a lefty. The book ends, and the fact that his watch was on his right hand, and he shot someone in the head with his left, when they had absolutely no other clues to go on would seem huge. I was shouting at the book, "at least you can narrow down the suspect pool to lefties." Second, the killer is diabolically clever, evading capture for a long time by extremely intelligent means. Yet, the way he is ultimately found is such an incredibly obvious and stupid mistake, it was a total cheat to have the murderer screw up just to get a clue for the protagonist before the end of the book! Also, maybe it's the trial lawyer in me that scrutinzes the details too much, but I also guessed who did it and why about 200 pages before this brilliant FBI agent figured it out [the big shocking revelation was not at all shocking to me.] I am a big Connelly fan, and because his writing is so entertaining, I would still recommend the book; but it seemed that he was a bit lazy on this one. I would still recommend it as a fun read, but disagree with the people who think it was brilliantly plotted.
Rating:
Summary: Layers Within Layers
Review: This one finally reaches the level of "The Poet." Serial killer police procedurals are a dime a dozen these days, but in "Blood Work" Michael Connelly has produced a truly impressive contribution to the genre. The reader is led through an increasingly confusing maze of mystery and misdirection that is a triumph of intricate plotting. For me, this book stands with Ruth Rendell's "A Judgement in Stone" in featuring one of the most unusual motives for murder that I have ever come across. Bravo, and keep them coming.
Rating:
Summary: Fabulously plotted until the very end
Review: NO ONE crafts hard-boiled crime novels as masterfully as Michael Connelly. Considering the hundreds of mystery writers out there toiling at this very moment over their word processors, that's quite an extravagant statement--but it's true all the same. He has mastered the art of weaving mysteries that are superbly complex and which keep readers on the edge of their seats. A seemingly unimportant utterance or action early in the novel can later on become magnified into an all-important clue as more is revealed about the crimes and the their perpetrator. Connelly's ability to lead his readers in one direction only to have a sudden revelation change the entire complexion of the story is nothing short of breathtaking at times. *Blood Work* is a particularly fine mystery in terms of these kinds of "twists and turns." It's also refreshing to see Connelly take a vacation from the Harry Bosch series through his creation of a new protagonist, retired FBI man Terrell McCaleb. Interestingly, McCaleb AND Harry Bosch are featured in a subsequent Connelly novel, *A Darkness More Than Night*. Is the book perfect? It's close, but no. The ending is somewhat Hollywood theatrical, almost as though Connelly grew tired of brainstorming further subtleties and unexpected revelations. Also, although Connelly is very attentive to empirical details in his descriptions of places and institutions, he slips up in chapter ten when he describes a character's employment as an engineer in charge of inspecting an aqueduct with a "Lone Pine segment." He writes, "He was an engineer with a private firm contracted by the state..." The Los Angeles Aqueduct is, of course, operated and maintained by the City of Los Angeles' Department of Water and Power. This is a trivial error, of course, but those who know California water resources cannot help but raise their eyebrows upon reading this passage.
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