Bloodman

Mar 10, 2013 Chandni rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: firstreads, mystery, reviewed

This book starts off strong. I really liked how Jake's history with his father was described right off the bat. It introduced us to Jake's character and his relationships in a direct manner which I appreciated. I also liked how the novel didn't waste any time in introducing the murder. This book is not for the squeamish! The details of the murder are really graphic so if you're not comfortable with graphic and stomach churning descriptions of murders, this book isn't for you. I definitely found...more

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May 31, 2012 Kathleen Minde rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: thriller, mess-with-your-head, recommended-to-friend

It's been a long time since I've read a first novel that enthralled and tested me like Robert Pobi's "The Bloodman"; an intriguing, complex thriller that twists it's way through a four day period in quiet Montauk, New York. Special Agent Jake Cole has come home after walking away from his abusive and alcoholic father twenty-eight years ago. His father, a talented painter now tortured by dementia, horribly maimed himself in a mysterious fire. Over the years, after battling his own demons, the ang...more It's been a long time since I've read a first novel that enthralled and tested me like Robert Pobi's "The Bloodman"; an intriguing, complex thriller that twists it's way through a four day period in quiet Montauk, New York. Special Agent Jake Cole has come home after walking away from his abusive and alcoholic father twenty-eight years ago. His father, a talented painter now tortured by dementia, horribly maimed himself in a mysterious fire. Over the years, after battling his own demons, the anger and hatred Cole felt toward his father is now superseded by a numbing apathy. But as the only child to his widowed father, Cole feels it is his duty to attend to his affairs.

The night Cole arrives at his childhood home, now full of garbage and scotch bottles, he receives a call from the local sheriff. They found two bodies in a house up the beach from his father's place, a woman and a child both skinned alive. For Cole, this is a gut punch. The horrific scene at the crime is familiar, he recognizes the murderer's work from his own tortured past. Desperate to quickly finish his father's affairs and run home to his own wife and son, Cole now feels compelled to stay and work on this case. His eidetic memory, commonly referred to as photographic memory, allows him to reconstruct three-dimensional crime scenes in his mind, and provides him with an unusual skill that can assist the overwhelmed small town police force.

Everything about Agent Cole is unusual. A recovering substance abuse addict with the entire text of Dante's "Inferno" tattooed on his body, he can verbally shred an officer foolish enough to laugh at a crime scene, mentally suppress the graphic "pornography" of his job, and still come across as a devoted husband and father. He is a master at solving the puzzles left behind by murderers. With demons lurking in the corners of his own mind, he can relate to and decipher the thoughts and intentions of the monsters he is trained to hunt down. It is both a blessing and a curse.

Compounding the murders and the enigma of thousands of crazed paintings littering his father's house is a Category 5 hurricane headed directly for Montauk. With the storm pounding Montauk back to the stone age, Cole is desperately pursuing answers and the killer. It is a thrilling combination of events and puzzles and character drama that had me guessing up to the final haunting twist at the end.

Unbelievably, this being Pobi's first novel, he has presented a fiercely complex masterpiece with riveting scenes and compelling characters. The author has also cleverly painted clues into the layers upon layers that make up the final picture. There are puzzles within puzzles throughout the book. But his writing evokes clear images, whether of a graphic murder scene or a quiet moment between Cole and his wife. And I found myself anxiously tearing through the last 100 pages as the hurricane's destruction of the town starts to mirror the anguishing devastation of Cole's life as he knows it.

This is an incredible book that kept me thinking even after I finished. I hope it does well as the author definitely deserves kudos for his work. And, when he writes his next book, I will be in line ready to buy it.(less)

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May 15, 2012 Randy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Jake Cole was home for the fist time in twenty-eight years. He had come to see about helping his father, the famous painter Jacob Coleridge, who'd set himself afire in an Alzheimer-fueled accident. Most of his fingers were burned off, his face ruined on one side.

Jake had his own demons to deal with as well. Alcoholism, addiction, the pacemaker in his heart with a battery to jolt him when the organ ran to fast, to slow, the result of a lot of heroin before he got it under control. Some time in th...more

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Apr 22, 2013 Tony Bulmer rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

If You Want Blood, You Got It, with Robert Pobi and Bloodman

According to Canuck crime writer Robert Pobi, his genre defying debut, Bloodman is actually his second book, whereas his new read, the monstrous Mannaheim Rex, is actually his first. And if that wasn’t enough, Pobi has a third thriller River of the Dead on the way from those nice people at Random House. Glad we cleared that up.

That’s right Crimeziners, rapacious Robbo is already an “Internationally best selling author,” and here’s why—

M...more

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Jan 19, 2013 Juju rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Jake Cole ist in jeglicher Hinsicht nicht normal. Sein Vater Jacob Coleridge, ist ein berühmter Maler und dazu noch sonderbarer Säufer. Als Jakes Mutter bei lebendigem Leib gehäutet wird taucht Jake in der Drogen- und Säuferszene ab. Jetzt mit Mitte 40 hat er eine eigene Familie und klärt als FBI Agent grausame Morde auf. Dabei ist er besonders gut, da er sich an alle Details exakt erinnern kann und eine besondere Weise besitzt Zusammenhänge zu erkennen.
Plötzlich tauchen zwei Leichen auf, die a...more Jake Cole ist in jeglicher Hinsicht nicht normal. Sein Vater Jacob Coleridge, ist ein berühmter Maler und dazu noch sonderbarer Säufer. Als Jakes Mutter bei lebendigem Leib gehäutet wird taucht Jake in der Drogen- und Säuferszene ab. Jetzt mit Mitte 40 hat er eine eigene Familie und klärt als FBI Agent grausame Morde auf. Dabei ist er besonders gut, da er sich an alle Details exakt erinnern kann und eine besondere Weise besitzt Zusammenhänge zu erkennen.
Plötzlich tauchen zwei Leichen auf, die auf furchtbare Art an den Mord an seiner Mutter erinnern. Er ist also wieder da. Für Jake Cole ist sofort klar: Diesmal wird er ihn schnappen!

Fazit:

Der Schreibstil ist flüssig, gut zu lesen und fällt besonders gut auf, weil er zum Protagonisten und der leicht düsteren Stimmung passt. Die Beschreibungen sind aus besonderen Perspektiven und immer mit einem Hang zu der dunklen Seite der Sache. Die einzelnen Kapitel sind so klein, dass es dem Leser leicht fällt sich zurechtzufinden und auch eine Stelle zum Aufhören zu finden.
Die Spannung ist von Beginn an da, hält sich anfangs jedoch im Hintergrund und wird erst ab der Hälfte richtig spürbar. Zum Schluss wollte ich das Buch nicht mehr weglegen.

Die Geschichte ist eigentlich schnell beschrieben: Jemand mordet Menschen auf grausame Weise und Jake ist scheinbar zufällig da und versucht den Täter zu identifizieren. Jedoch scheint Dieser immer einen Schritt voraus zu sein. Doch so einfach es klingt, durch die ganzen persönlichen Zusätze der Charaktere und Umstände wird diese Geschichte viel komplizierter und interessanter. Da ist zum Einen die Vergangenheit von Jake, die uns in kleinen Schnipseln präsentiert wird und auch die Beziehung zu seiner Frau und dem Sohn ist wichtig. Zum Anderen scheint sein Vater verrückt zu sein, will Jake aber offenbar etwas mitteilen, was dieser noch nicht versteht. Es ist also kompliziert, aber nicht zu kompliziert und hilft dem Leser ein gutes Bild von Jake und seinem Leben zu bekommen.

Die Charaktere sind nicht alle so einnehmend wie der Protagonist, jedoch haben alle ihre Besonderheit, mit der sie sehr glaubwürdig wirken. Seine Frau und sein Sohn sind wie wirklich gute Nebendarsteller und lockern die Geschichte hier und da auf.

Insgesamt bin ich von diesem Thriller begeistert! Die Geschichte reist einen mit und die Auflösung hat mir sehr gut gefallen. Leider habe ich ab der Hälfte begonnen zu ahnen wie es ausgeht und hatte am Ende Recht damit. Dennoch war die Story so gut gemacht, dass man als Leser selbst dem Täter auf der Spur war. Dieser Thriller ist wirklich zum Fürchten gut!

Was ich besonders mochte:

Dem Leser wurden immer Fakten zu den Morden zugetragen, aber nie eine in eine besondere Richtung einschlagende Meinung. Deshalb konnte man selbst ermitteln und sich ein eigenes Bild vom Täter machen. Das hat mir wirklich gefallen!(less)

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Nov 23, 2012 Christopher Clark rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The writing is pretty decent, but the protagonist is simply over the top. He is not realistic at all and the way the author tries so hard to make him mysterious by not revealing giant holes of his life to the reader is simply cheesy. For example, the author goes on and on about the tattoos he has all over his body and explains that he got them on a 4 month bender. They are never really explained, ever. I also lost count of the large number of red herrings.

The plot is also too Hollywood. The hur...more

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Oct 03, 2012 Melissa rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: notworthit, yikes, i-cry-foul, throw-the-book-across-the-room

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. When I first started reading this book, I found it so sinister & gross I was sort of creeped out to keep it in my bag or next to me on the couch. It had me checking the locks on the doors on my day off. But then it became so laughably bad, my psyche was spared from further onslaught & the creepy parts retreated under the awful ones.

Jake Cole is an FBI consultant with an eidetic memory which allows him to memorize crime scenes. He can’t seem to remember how many times he’s told the story...more When I first started reading this book, I found it so sinister & gross I was sort of creeped out to keep it in my bag or next to me on the couch. It had me checking the locks on the doors on my day off. But then it became so laughably bad, my psyche was spared from further onslaught & the creepy parts retreated under the awful ones.

Jake Cole is an FBI consultant with an eidetic memory which allows him to memorize crime scenes. He can’t seem to remember how many times he’s told the story about his pacemaker to certain people but this gift does allow him to get inside the heads of serial killers. He’s gone to his old hometown to see to his Alzheimer’s-y father Jacob Coleridge & gets pulled into investigating some homicides that redefine yucky. Also he’s apparently in town to be a serial killer himself, since hometown sheriff eventually figures out that the as-yet-unidentified the bodies of the first victims are actually Jake’s wife & son. Hey, Jake, you know all week long while you were at your dad’s house & your wife & son were visiting? And your wife did all that cleaning around the house& you had that talk about whether or not you were doing a good job raising your kid? And you guys had sex while you choked her with your belt (but it was okay, that’s how she likes it)? Well, all of that never happened. How do we know? Jake only ordered one pizza for dinner. Apparently his mind can sustain the fiction that he didn’t skin his family alive & he’s been hanging out with them all week, but he can’t order a takeout meal for more than one person. And not only that, all those memories of how his mother loved him a lot & he loved his dog & it was his big asshole dad that killed his dog? Also false. Because Jake isn’t actually the son of his father & mother, even though Pobi uses tons of inferences & every word other than “DNA” to make you think so. When Jake was a little boy, he killed his real parents on a boat & then tried to sink the boat and the Coleridges found him & I guess that’s why he’s a serial killer now & at the point I was so confused & annoyed I threw the book across the room.

Unreliable narrators are one thing. They’re not my favorite thing ever, but there are instances when they work well. I’m thinking of Gone Girl or maybe John Dies at the End as pretty good examples. But when an author writes a whole book about a guy & his family & memories just to yoink it out from under the reader’s feet, I absolutely must cry foul. If as a writer you have to ask your readers to disregard the entirety of the book they’ve just read so you can pull off your killer reveal, I respectfully submit that you are not a very good writer. If you make your reader sit through 396 pages of a book which includes the disgusting murder & de-epitheliazation of four adults & two kids, you damn well better come up with an ending better than, “That guy who was trying to catch the killer? He did it.” Robert Pobi, you have failed. Try again.
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Aug 01, 2012 Heather Ponzer rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror

There were things I liked, even though this is not something I'd normally read. I'm trying to branch out. In some ways it was well-done. It held my interest, I cared about the protagonist, and I was horrified by the violence. Other things didn't quite work for me.

Strong points: I thought the puzzle pieces were nicely connected. There were plenty of little hints and clues that made me go back and reconsider. It was definitely creepy and dark. Even though I "knew" the ending, the author had me sec...more

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Jul 05, 2012 Robert Beveridge rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: amazon-vine, finished, owned-and-still-own

Robert Pobi, Bloodman (Thomas and Mercer, 2012)

Full disclosure: this book was provided to me free of charge by Amazon Vine.

It is on page 60, with the last sentence of Chapter 9, that Bloodman blows up in your face. At that point it turns from an average, if overly descriptive, thriller into a good (if still overly descriptive) thriller. At some point, I'm not exactly sure where, in the thirty pages that follow that, Bloodman turns into a very good thriller indeed, the kind of book that has you s...more Robert Pobi, Bloodman (Thomas and Mercer, 2012)

Full disclosure: this book was provided to me free of charge by Amazon Vine.

It is on page 60, with the last sentence of Chapter 9, that Bloodman blows up in your face. At that point it turns from an average, if overly descriptive, thriller into a good (if still overly descriptive) thriller. At some point, I'm not exactly sure where, in the thirty pages that follow that, Bloodman turns into a very good thriller indeed, the kind of book that has you sacrificing all of your available free time to read. It gets overly twee (in that annoying “aren't I clever?” sense) in the final third, but given that Pobi manages to almost pull off everything he's trying to do, I was far more forgiving of it here than I have been with some books (the obvious example, if you've been following my reviews long enough to remember me writing it up almost ten years ago, is Everything Is Illuminated).

Plot: Jake Cole is an FBI agent, but as the book opens, that is less important than the fact that he has returned to his childhood home for the first time in a quarter-century in order to deal with his father's advancing Alzheimer's. Jake's plan is to get in, get the decisions made, and get out, but of course things don't ever really work that way; his first night in town, he gets a call from the local sheriff—two bodies are found in a local sublet house, skinned. (Weak stomach warning: one of them is a child.) Jake is not only the closest Bureau agent to the scene, but he also specializes in ugly cases like this; he has an eidetic memory for crime scenes, and as the son of a famous painter, he has the kind of unofficial training in scene composition that allows him to look at things in ways most forensics people don't. That'll come in handy, given there's a time limit on solving the case: a Category Five hurricane is projected to make landfall right outside Jake's father's house in two days. Even worse, Jake takes one look at the crime scene and knows he's encountered this killer before...

There's an Ebert Rule in movies that also applies to a lot of genre mystery/thriller novels. The Internet is currently failing me on the exact quote, so I'll have to paraphrase for you: once you have exhausted all the other possibilities, the last person left is the killer. (You could doll that up in Sherlock Holmes-speak: “the last person left, however improbable...”. It went through my mind while I was reading Agatha Christie's The Secret Adversary, which may have invented the conceit.) These days, thriller writers who want to think outside the box are going to flaunt that rule—they will give you a number of scenarios that all seem quite plausible, including the real one, and tell you, subliminally, to take your pick before walloping you with the correct answer. You can see how this sort of thing could go very badly in the hands of an incompetent writer. Pobi, on the other hand, manages it with some panache, though if you're not paying close enough attention, you may find yourself asking a few questions at the end (I was paying close enough attention, and there were a couple of things that seemed a bit out of place). There's also one pivotal scene in the book that is told from two different perspectives, and it has the kind of clumsy handling that one sees in older mystery novels where the detective gathers everyone in the drawing room and explains how he solved the crime before dramatically naming the killer. (Again, we turn to Agatha Christie.) But to be perfectly honest, even though those things jarred me, by the time I got to page three-hundred-whatever and realized what Pobi was doing—another mark of a really solid genre thriller, for me, is that that one last piece of the puzzle doesn't click in my head until a few pages before the actual revelation, which is exactly what happened here—I didn't care as much as I probably should have. I had been thoroughly entertained by this book, and it had thoroughly entertained me in a way that was, if not novel, at least a sterling example of this new breed of wave-a-red-cape-in-front-of-your-audience mystery/thrillers. This is not a mystery that will change your life, but it is one that does its job, and does it exceptionally well; it's Mirage rather than The Usual Suspects. This makes it no less worth reading by any measure. If you're a fan of the genre, this is a must-read. *** ½
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Mar 28, 2012 Miles rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reviews

Bloodman is one of those books, no matter how hard you think, no matter how much you analyse, you’ll never guess the ending!! Well, never say never for there are readers out there far shrewder than I but this is one ending that completely blew me away – talk about powerful, this book is off the scale with shock! I’ve been incredibly fortunate to read a lot of books over the last 18 months or so and I often find myself trying to guess how one character fits into a story or who will turn out to be...more Bloodman is one of those books, no matter how hard you think, no matter how much you analyse, you’ll never guess the ending!! Well, never say never for there are readers out there far shrewder than I but this is one ending that completely blew me away – talk about powerful, this book is off the scale with shock! I’ve been incredibly fortunate to read a lot of books over the last 18 months or so and I often find myself trying to guess how one character fits into a story or who will turn out to be the killer but I can hand on heart say I just didn’t guess this one. Not even a sniff, Bloodman bamboozled me – in a good way!

Although incredibly well written, it took a little while for me to find my feet with the book – 50 pages or so -but once I’d found a rhythm, acquainted myself with the numerous characters I couldn’t let go. The story begins on the fourth and final day with the arrival of a category five hurricane called Dylan, the biggest to hit the shoreline since 1938, and then quickly moves back in time to day one. Devastation is inevitable but when a number of grisly murders begin to surface, the local police do their best to hide the macabre murders from the prying eyes of the press corp. Fortunately Special Agent Cole is on hand to guide the local police and they manage to keep the press at bay.

Bloodman isn’t for the fainthearted, the murders are some of the most graphically terrifying I’ve come across in a crime novel, they leave very little to the imagination. Robert Pobi must still be in therapy – if he isn’t someone take him please! - after coming up with some of these murders, no one is safe, young or old, male or female, rich or poor – no one is off limits, the killer doesn’t discriminate. It’s as if Pobi sat down and thought of the worst possible way to kill someone, then magnified the brutality to end up with a product as terrifying and savage as this book. There were parts that made me squirm and put the book down, he certainly likes to shock does our Richard!

Full review on my blog:- http://www.milorambles.com/2012/03/27...
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Apr 07, 2012 Dee West rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I received this book through Goodreads First Reads.

I'll start off by saying that I enjoyed this book. I like crime novels (and tv shows. and movies.) and as far as they go this was a pretty good one. Not great, but enjoyable enough.

I found the characters to be...a little obvious. Starting with the main character - Jake Cole, tough FBI agent with a troubled past. His father - brilliant artist and alcoholic, now succumbed to the horror that is Alzheimer's. The small town Sheriff that's in over hi...more

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Apr 01, 2012 Lynn rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: thriller

FBI consultant Jake Cole reluctantly returns home to Montauk to look after his estranged father, famed painter Jacob Coleridge. Once a brilliant man, Coleridge is gripped by dementia and in a moment of madness set himself on fire. Jake is only there because his late mother would have expected him to look after his father. Shortly after he arrives in Montauk, Jake is called in to consult on the murder of a mother and child. Let me tell you, this book is not for the squeamish. I did some skimming...more

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Aug 18, 2012 Terry rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Vivid, muscular writing. A serial murder mystery that satisfies, horrifies, keeps you turning pages as fast as you can (especially when plot threads start coming together and making sense). Chilling, suspensful, fairly graphic and tinged with much sadness.

A couple of quibbles. Pobi tends to linger over some scenes when I wanted the action to move forward (mainly scenes involving vehicles and driving.) It's hard to explain, because again, I'll say I'm not a professional book reviewer. But when a...more

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Aug 13, 2012 Denna rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This story is a perfect reminder of why I love to read crime novels: the pace is fast, the creepy factor is way up, tons of tension, a good measure of horror, and a deep, dark murder/mystery that needs to be solved. When you add all this up you get a fantastic thriller in Bloodman.

Jake Cole grew up with the ultimate dysfunctional family. After the murder of his mother when Jake is still a young boy, he is forced to leave home and learns to survive on his own in the city. He hates his artist fath...more This story is a perfect reminder of why I love to read crime novels: the pace is fast, the creepy factor is way up, tons of tension, a good measure of horror, and a deep, dark murder/mystery that needs to be solved. When you add all this up you get a fantastic thriller in Bloodman.

Jake Cole grew up with the ultimate dysfunctional family. After the murder of his mother when Jake is still a young boy, he is forced to leave home and learns to survive on his own in the city. He hates his artist father and misses the idolized mother he’d lost to a depraved killer, all the skin ripped from her body. With no money and no one to help him, Jake must rely on his own intelligence to survive the mean city streets. After years of this nightmare existence with prostitution, alcohol and drug addiction, he wakes up one morning in a pool of toilet water and decides it’s time to stop hating himself. He cleans himself up and does a one-eighty with his life, marrying a woman he meets at an AA/NA meeting, having a child with her, and then going to work for the FBI as a hunter of serial killers. Lately Jake’s wife has been pressuring him to spend more time with her and their son, but Jake doesn’t know if he can stop chasing killers.

Jake isn’t the only one to return home. Not long after he arrives to take control of his father’s estate and hospital care, two people are found dead, a mother and son, every inch of skin torn from their bodies. Because he is already in the area, Jake is called in to assist the local law enforcement to catch the depraved killer before he can hurt another family. There is never a dull moment as we follow Jake and the police officer who finds himself in over his head, not only with the monster who taunts them, but also in the murky waters of Jake’s past and the connection it points to in the present murders.

Add the threat of an approaching hurricane and you have a suspense that nearly drove me crazy as it rushed toward a surprise ending. And that’s as far as I’m going to take you because I don’t want to ruin it by giving away the end. You’ll have to read it for yourself if you want to know what happens. Bloodman by Robert Pobi is a fast, exciting read. I enjoyed the story from start to finish, anxious to get back to the pages whenever life pulled me away. What more could one ask for in a novel?
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Oct 10, 2012 Ray Palen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Debut Author Robert Pobi grew up in the art and antiques world before turning to full-time writing. It’s a good thing he did because his first novel, BLOODMAN, is a chilling and quite unique thriller that will keep your mind turning in horror long after the final page is turned.

Taking place on the eastern tip of Long Island --- mostly from Southampton to Montauk --- provides for a nice atmospheric backdrop for the horror that ensues within. The wealthy and usually quiet Montauk area is rocked by...more Debut Author Robert Pobi grew up in the art and antiques world before turning to full-time writing. It’s a good thing he did because his first novel, BLOODMAN, is a chilling and quite unique thriller that will keep your mind turning in horror long after the final page is turned.

Taking place on the eastern tip of Long Island --- mostly from Southampton to Montauk --- provides for a nice atmospheric backdrop for the horror that ensues within. The wealthy and usually quiet Montauk area is rocked by a series of horrific murders where the victims are found mutilated with the skin ripped from their bodies.

The local Police Department doesn’t know what to make with this kind of evil so the FBI is called on in the form of the tormented Jake Cole. Jake has a unique gift in being able to ‘read’ crime scenes and create three-dimensional models of the crime scene in his head, allowing him to catch what other investigators might miss.

Jake is familiar with the area having grown up there. Ironically, his father is currently hospitalized following an Alzheimer’s related accident. A famous American painter, Jacob Coleridge has been estranged from his son Jake Cole (who changed his name to not be associated with his family). The trouble is that Jacob’s home and art studio house thousands of odd portraits that all seem to be about the same thing --- a faceless killer he refers to as the Bloodman.

Both father and son deal with their own version of ‘art’ and lately their minds are filled with scenes of darkness. The question remains whether Jake can interpret his father’s madness to be able to find the clues he needs to stop Bloodman from killing again. However, kill he does --- and with each brutalized body Jake gets more and more wound up. To make matters worse, his wife Kay and son Jeremy have joined him at a Montauk beach house and may have put themselves directly in harms way. It seems Jake has a deep dark family secret that involves his mother being skinned alive by a murderer thirty years earlier --- a crime he never forgave his own father for.

As if all this were not enough, Robert Pobi ups the ante by putting a Category 5 storm by the name of Hurricane Dylan in the mix --- and Montauk is ready to absorb the brunt of the storm of the century. People are evacuating the area while the wind begins to do its’ damage. Among those left behind are Jake Cole and the local Montauk P.D. led by Sheriff Hauser. Can they defy Mother Nature and stop a supernatural-like serial killer? When Jake’s wife and son go missing, he has no choice but to push on at all costs.

At one point in the novel Jake surmises: “Some families run on love, some run on anger and madness, some run on worse things”. This is a very telling prophecy and BLOODMAN is a serial killer thriller unlike most in this genre with a very clever twist that even the most astute reader will not see coming. This one is highly recommended for those with a strong stomach who enjoy high-caliber thrill-rides.

Reviewed by Ray Palen for Curled Up With A Good Book

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Jul 25, 2012 Stacy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This psychological thriller has it all. Jack Cole, FBI agent who investigates the worst of the worst killers in the country, doesn’t look or act the part. He is covered in one big Dante’s Inferno tatoo from his neck to his ankles with an attitude to match. Jake is one of the more interesting characters I’ve encountered in awhile.

When Jake heads home to take care of his sick father, famous artist Jacob Coleridge, he is called in to help the local police solve a grisly murder. The two victims had...more

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May 06, 2012 Carol MacInnis rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-thriller

Special Agent Jake Cole of the FBI has been called to come back to Montauk to care for his aging father, Jacob Coleridge. Jacob was a very accomplished painter but now has dementia and had set himself on fire which resulted in him losing most of his fingers. Jake has been estranged from his father for over 30 years but since his Mother's murder years ago, he feels compelled to do what he can in her memory. So he leaves his young wife and 3 year old son and promises to return as soon as he can. O...more

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Aug 14, 2012 Daniel Ray rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Give me a break.

This is the part of my review where I give the finger to the author and the novel that I just read.
Bloodman. Shame on you.

What a disappointment and waste of a great story (idea, concept, characters, etc.) and great talent of a writer (you’re good Pobi, but better luck next time). I can’t imagine a worse book this year. I love thrillers. This book came very highly recommended from a number of friends as well as recommendations from this website. From what I heard, Bloodman was t...more Give me a break.

This is the part of my review where I give the finger to the author and the novel that I just read.
Bloodman. Shame on you.

What a disappointment and waste of a great story (idea, concept, characters, etc.) and great talent of a writer (you’re good Pobi, but better luck next time). I can’t imagine a worse book this year. I love thrillers. This book came very highly recommended from a number of friends as well as recommendations from this website. From what I heard, Bloodman was the must read thriller for people who like thrillers.

250 pages into this book, I would agree. This book is absolutely enthralling at first. I couldn’t put it down. Oh my God Bloodman is sooo good. I kept telling people. Then a few things started popping up which became “minor” issues for me.

Let’s first talk about the liberties the book takes. As someone whose favorite genre is the thriller, I’m willing to let a lot slide. However, Bloodman becomes ridiculous. We have a character who has a faulty heart (which conveniently knocks the lead character out at key points), a hurricane which is the storm of the century and is making everything hell, and a tiger shark! These were minor things, but seriously, with 100 pages left in this book, it goes to hell quick. I laughed out loud as this smart thriller became the equivalent of a Michael Bay film.

I loved the set-up. I loved the writing. I hated how it was handled. And honestly, when you throw so much into your book as Bloodman does (big set-up,big set-up,big set-up) that’s exactly where you’re assured to go. Hell. I marveled at first, because I thought, wow, he must have some amazing pay-off the way he is doing this. He (the author) doesn’t. I honestly expected BigFoot to show up and be the killer. The novel took over with its ludicrousness and the author lost track of himself. So of course, what we get is the cardinal sin of any great thriller. I won’t give the ending away. Let’s just say it’s lazy and full-on retard. Awful.

I’ll read Pobi’s next book however. Just to see if he’s learned his lesson.
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Jun 30, 2012 Robin Fitch rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I originally chose Bloodman because I wanted to read a novel about an FBI agent. It turned out to be the wrong choice, because Special Agent Jake Cole (which is a cool name but probably a little awkward to say out loud) is very much not a typical FBI agent. It did turn out to be a good book, though, so I stuck with it. It was good enough that I a) read part of it on a plane, which I usually can't do, b) finished it in a relatively short time, and c) dropped everything else to finish the last few...more

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Jun 28, 2012 Tea Time with Marce rated it 2 of 5 stars

From my blog

This is categorized as a thriller but I think it should be categorized for the horror genre fans with a psychological thriller feel. I love reading about serial killers - I even started a Serial Killer Reading Challenge so the excitement and expectation is already set high. This is a debut by Robert Pobi that I can see huge potential for his future but not quite there yet. With some more experience I would say he could be in the same category as Dennis Lehane and Stephen King. Even t...more From my blog

This is categorized as a thriller but I think it should be categorized for the horror genre fans with a psychological thriller feel. I love reading about serial killers - I even started a Serial Killer Reading Challenge so the excitement and expectation is already set high. This is a debut by Robert Pobi that I can see huge potential for his future but not quite there yet. With some more experience I would say he could be in the same category as Dennis Lehane and Stephen King. Even though they are not my cup of tea they have an amazing fan base and Robert Pobi made me think of there works.

The beginning was great, edgy with numerous suspense moments to keep you wondering. The serial killer the police are looking for skins his victims so definitely a novel for those that can handle gruesome details. There is a hurricane coming into the town also, so the police are dealing with evacuation but also trying to hunt down the killer. We have those scenarios but Jake initially comes into town to care for his father who has Alzeheimers, so many twist to try and play with your mind but for those that are fans of this genre I think will be able to figure it out.

By the time I got half way I was starting to get bored, I felt numerous things were being repeated and not benefiting the investigation so they felt like filler instead of adding to the story. My disclaimer..... I never do this so will feel less guilty stating. I had 100 pages left and decided to read the last 3 chapters, it was what I had expected so I didn't bother to complete, so in the end I probably didn't read 75 pages.

Some scenes were amazing in my opinion and can be looked at as for shock value to others. I do enjoy the unorthodox detectives but I don't know if Jake truly passes the test as being as highly respected in the profession as the author wanted us to believe.

Overall a good try, I would be willing to try this author again and that is why I finally decided on a 3, it was sitting at 2 1/2 for awhile. (Note - rated a 2 for Goodreads)(less)

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Apr 24, 2012 Tricia rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

Bloodman
By: Robert Pobi

In my opinion, this book has the full package: intriguing and unique characters; professional, well-done writing; atmosphere and an excellent plot.

Jack Cole works for the FBI. He comes home for the first time in 25 years. While seeing to his father’s health problems a double homicide has him entangled in a time ticking race to find out the “who” and “why.”

While reading this book I was totally consumed with the storyline. I had some questions that I thought were plot holes...more

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Apr 21, 2012 Sue rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: suspense-thriller-mystery, psychological-triller

Bloodline by Robert Pobi is one of the best psychological murder/mystery thrillers that I have ever read.This book was AMAZING!

FBI consultant Jake Cole reluctantly returns home to Montauk to look after his estranged father, famed painter Jacob Coleridge. Once a brilliant man, Coleridge is gripped by dementia and in a moment of madness set himself on fire. Jake is only there because his late mother would have expected him to look after his father. Shortly after he arrives in Montauk, Jake is call...more

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Jun 03, 2012 Jerry rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a horror story and a psychological thriller, not just a murder mystery. It is shocking and grisly and violent and it isnt for everybody. Agent Cole is in town dealing with his aging father's needs after a terrible accident, and that is when the first truly horrible murder is discovered. From there it is a race against time to find the murderer before an epic hurricane makes landfall. I loved how Hurricand Dylan is practically a character in the book. This book starts with and somehow sus...more

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Dec 29, 2012 Büchermonster rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: hörbücher

Seit Jahren hat Jake Cole, Sonderermittler beim FBI, schon keinen Fuß mehr in seine Heimat, das Küstendorf Montauk im US-Bundesstaat New York, gesetzt. Nun machen dringende Familienangelegenheiten eine Rückkehr jedoch unumgänglich: Jakes Vater, der berühmte Maler Jacob Coleridge, hat sich als Folge seiner fortschreitenden Alzheimer-Erkrankung selbst in Brand gesteckt und wurde in die örtliche Klinik eingeliefert. Zwar ist das Verhältnis zwischen Jake und seinem alten Herrn nicht das beste, er ko...more

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Aug 29, 2012 Lainie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really enjoyed this book and found it difficult to put down. I read a few reviews where readers commented about the author's prose was too verbose but I loved the rhythm of it (and the manly feel of the car drives - a hint of the author's passion for cars?).

Likes: the breadcrumbs of clues throughout that made me go "Ah-ha!" out loud; the crime scenes - brutal, gory, and raw; characters that had an initial blush of predictability but turned at some point, flipping over and presenting me with a...more

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Apr 23, 2012 James Renner rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My favorite perk of being a published writer is getting advance reader copies of novels. For an avid reader, it’s like a secret peek into the future. So I was excited to get down to Bloodman, by Robert Pobi, before its scheduled May 15 release. But damned if I know how to review it.

It’s a murder mystery, okay? Let’s start there. The main character is this hard-wrung dude, Jake Cole, who is like a profiler-savant, a Rain Man of crime. He can look at a violent scene and recreate the killing in his...more

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Oct 28, 2012 Heather Deas rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Fight Club did it better. The characters spent the entire novel asking "why?" and in the end it was chalked up to, "He was crazy." I hate the it-was-all-a-dream cop out. There was so much left unexplained. Why skinning? Why his own family? It left me rolling my eyes. I have been reading Sherlock Holmes lately (who the character has the audacity to compare himself to) and was disappointed with the sit-and-wait tactics of crime solving that were employed. Instead of trying to solve the crime, the...more

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Jun 08, 2012 Jael rated it 5 of 5 stars

Wow!! That's the only word I could think of after finishing Bloodman by Robert Pobi. I had to re-read the last few chapters twice to make sure I understood everything. I've never read anything like this before. It was very creepy. The whole book I'm trying to figure out who the killer is. One moment I think I've got it all figured out, only to realize I haven't.

Just look at the cover. Doesn't it freak you out? Is that a man? A woman? Black? White? Is he even human? I found myself wondering about...more

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Apr 22, 2012 Benoit Lelievre rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This will probably go on and do very well, because it will fulfill people's expectations of a thriller. It's deceptively conventional. I didn't hate it either. Two stars mean I thought it was "OK" which is what I feel about this book. It's not a bad novel, it's just not what I'm looking for in literature. I command Robert Pobi's efforts to avoid clichés in his storytelling, but dealing with such a formatted genre makes it hard to avoid certain pitfalls. I enjoyed going back to the commercial thr...more

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May 03, 2012 Mary Ann rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Wow, this was a great read, Robert Pobi is quite the writer. I will read his upcoming three novels without question. This was a gritty and captivating story that had me hooked from the beginning. He has a raw way of describing some of the more grisly scenes (one of the worst and best I have ever come across) and an artful way of describing the little details that construct the environment where the story takes place. I was hoping to find another author akin to Mo Hayder, one of the best mystery/...more

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topics	posts	views	last activity
Who tattooed Jake?	6	30	Oct 10, 2012 05:09pm
How many of you suspected who the killer was and if so, when?	7	39	Aug 28, 2012 01:25pm
Chilling Thrillers: BLOODMAN by Robert Pobi	1	9	Aug 08, 2012 07:02am

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