BLOOD MEMORY
By Greg Iles
Scribner
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
ISBN: 0-7432-3470-7
Hardback, 496 pages, $24.95
Genre: Mystery

Catherine (Cat) Ferry is a respected forensic odontologist whose personal life is a mess. Promiscuous since a young age, and now an alcoholic, Cat decides to clean up her act when she learns she is pregnant. Determined to ignore her cravings as she concentrates on her job, Cat isn't prepared for a serial killer who targets men and leaves bite marks over their bodies. Something about these crimes triggers Cat's subconscious and she begins to suffer panic attacks. When she passes out at a crime scene, she is kicked off the task force. Cat flees to her home in Natchez, Mississippi to detox and there discovers evidence that her father's suicide when she was a young girl may have actually been a homicide. Cat begins to investigate her father's death which keeps leading her back to the murders in New Orleans. Could the two be interrelated? And did she witness her father's murder? Cat's determined to find out, which places her in extreme danger.

A compelling read dealing with child sexual abuse, Cat's feelings are portrayed by the author with such realism that at times it became painful to this reader. Cat isn't a particularly likable character; a woman who drinks and takes drugs while pregnant and seems out of control. However, her journey to sobriety and in finally recalling her past sexual abuse are fascinating. The story moves at a fast pace and is one that holds the reader's interest throughout.