I enjoyed this book much more than I thought I would. I had a tough time when I started, but quickly got enveloped and mesmerized by that characters, the premise and the story. By the time, I got to the end, I didn’t want to put it down and kind of felt sad when it was over. Great read and totally unexpected.

The synopsis doesn't even do it for me when I went to pick up this book. Sorry I could not even try, thank you for the early access though!

Thought this was Christian fiction. This is certainly NOT Christian, as is apparent in the first several pages. This seemed like an interesting book but it will not be read any further due to illicit content.

Do you like SciFi thrillers? ✔
Do you like blood and give ✔✔
Do you like great writing?✔✔✔

Ending not as good as I wanted but it didn't hurt my enjoyment of this book. At all. Looking forward to more from this author.

DNF -did not finish. I decided not to keep reading this novel because I did not connect with the writing and plot. Thank you, netgalley and publisher for the early copy.

It had an interesting premise, but I just couldn't get sucked in the way I would have liked. The style was fantastic, however.

How far will you go to save others? That is the question here - how far will authorities go to prolong the lives of others at the expense of those with no choice in being "saviors." This book goes to show that in a society where innocent people with no choice in the matter hold the "cure" for something, they will be targeted with no thought of their own well beings, just those of others. And that it'd take a group rebellion to stop it. Even though there's already evil at play, it hasn't stopped yet because there are always more evil organizations and people than those before.

"Blood World" was chilling, brutal, gory, and both fantastic in the original meaning and painfully believable. Light on science, heavy on action, violence, and treachery, Mooney painted a world that looked and felt like ours but was an undefined number of years in the future. The only technological change and cultural changes depicted were those related to the blood world; everything else could have been lifted from a contemporary novel.

In this world, a protein in human blood has been identified that can be the fountain of youth, or at least boost your health. Carriers of this protein are identified and often kidnapped so their blood can be be illegally sold. It's the hot new drug. Oh, and the blood is even more potent when the carrier is young. Children are kidnapped for their blood. The wealthy drive the demand but even the less well-off would like an infusion of the special blood; if they can afford it at all, they can only get the cheap stuff which doesn't have the same results.

There are several organizations or individuals who are the main players in the sale of the potent blood and there's a new player trying to make his mark on the scene. The lead character is a female police officer, Ellie Batista, who's willing to do absolutely anything to bring down the illegal blood suppliers and the blood farms. Ellie is cold, pragmatic, determined, and loyal. She gets a chance to go undercover to insert herself into one of the criminal organizations and she buries herself in her work.

"Blood World" skimps on science and doesn't try too hard to engage our emotions. Although, I did find myself at times rooting for one of the bad guys. Then he would say or do something to remind me that he was actually a very nasty person. Still, I mostly liked him better than our heroine Ellie. She had a nice little tragic backstory and I wanted her to accomplish both her personal mission and her official mission, but I never connected with her or cared about her. I wanted her success because of the awfullness of the blood world and the horror that carriers lived with daily. And that's where Mooney shone. The world building, despite the lack of scientific grounding, was strong. The blood trade could as easily have been our modern day drug trade. We get an up close look at building and keeping a criminal enterprise going and the violence that keeps one afloat or catches the attention of the law. The details around the process of selling the special blood, finding carriers, finding clients, etc drew me in.

"Blood World" was enthralling, a story with colorful personalities, a future problem that resonates with current problems, and a breakneck pace. The ending was...over the top, and the final scene both expected and unexpected. The story was a wild ride; I mean, I never thought I'd be rooting for a murderer, who was also a drug dealer and a kidnapper, and yet I did. His allies were nearly as compelling and both his allies and his enemies were greedy, amoral, and fascinating. "Blood World" is a crime novel with a slight science fiction twist that will keep you up reading to see what happens, who comes out on top, who lives, who dies, and whether the good guys are really the good guys.

In the near future, Ellie’s brother is abducted as a gene he has makes his blood very special and valuable. The blood if combined with certain drugs have healing and transformative powers. What are these powers? When LAPD Ellie and her partner Danny come acros a dog with a message in blood, they find the home where an UNSUB shoots her partner Danny, the homeowner and other occupants in the hose. Why? Ellie recognizes two of the persons from missing person files. Ellie is then transferred to he Blood Squad. Th Blood Squad investigates crimes against the carriers. The carriers are wanted for their blood whites is in very high demand. Ellie has a mission to find her brother dead or alive and who took him. An ex-con and blood runner Sebastian Kane finds himself in competition with his deceased wife’s son Paul. Paul wants to be the boss rather than being Sebastian’s lackey. What will Ellie do when she discovers Sebastian and Paul in the blood business?

The novel is suspenseful throughout the story. I felt bad for the “bad guys.” I admired Ellie’s character. This mystery/thriller Is a page turner. It is a thought-provoking novel. The author has written an excellent novel.

Loved the story and the characters. Very well written, I could totally see this translated into a limited series. Hopefully there will be more stories in this dystopian version of our world.

Fast-paced and fun, this science fiction thriller is set in the near future and features an LAPD cop who goes undercover to expose the illegal business of treatment centers that provide special transfusions and the blood farms where the carriers are kept.

After a lost dog leads Ellie Batista and her partner, Danny, to a mansion in Brentwood that turns into a bloodbath, she is tapped to get on the inside as the Feds and police try to take down the main players in the blood world. Carriers are a very valuable commodity and usually very well protected, but lately many of them have been kidnapped and drained of their special blood -- which acts like a fountain of youth restoring muscle tone and vitality. As Faye Simpson, Ellie gets involved with some of the major characters involved in the lucrative practice. As those in the trade fight among themselves, Ellie/Faye has her own agenda -- to find someone she loved who disappeared a very long time ago. Will she stay alive long enough to get what she wants? NO SPOILERS.

I enjoyed this one though it was definitely full of lots of blood and gore, torture, and grisly detail. The "science" of the carrier blood and its effects was fascinating and quite believable. The characters were multi-dimensional, so much so that I found myself rooting for the bad guy a time or two. It was absorbing and kept me interested throughout.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for this E-book ARC to read, review, and recommend.

3.5 stars, rounded down. "Blood World" starts with an interesting concept- transfusions with the blood from certain young people act as the fountain of youth for the general population. The setting is set in what feels like a realistic L.A. setting, creating a merge of sci-fi with realistic police thriller. Normally, I would be excited about both of these genres- the problem with mixing the two is that there are so many ways that a situation can easily become unbelievable and break the overall setting of the story for the reader.

Main character Ellie is going undercover with the Feds to see if she can break into the blood world- a term used to talk about the criminal activity of abducting young people with 'carrier blood' to fuel their illicit activities. Ellie is smart and motivated- she hasn't told anyone, but she is obsessed with making a breakthrough so that she can find her missing twin brother that was abducted as a child.

So far, so good. I enjoyed reading up to this point-- mostly thinking, "Go Ellie! Woo! Find your brother!" But then she comments on how Ellie is not her real name and that she doesn't want people to know about her missing brother-- this isn't a spoiler at all, just a statement that she makes pretty quickly about herself. Yet, I found it pretty unbelievable the way this part of the story progressed. From the beginning to the very end, I couldn't accept her secret or the resolution of this portion of the story line.

The combination of genres is difficult to manage, but I think that "Blood World" can appeal to many different types of readers. I would recommend it to someone who is looking more for suspense/police action rather than sci-fi futuristic. Thank you Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a DNF for me. It was very obvious that the main character was always going to be little lady detective who needed help and nothing more.
Interesting concept, writing wasn't bad, but I'm over reading books with female lead characters that are disparaged just to be disparaged.

BLOOD WORLD by Chris Mooney is an adult, sci-fi, futuristic thriller line focusing on the fight for control of the fountain of youth.

Told from third person perspective BLOOD WORLD follows several paths including that of LAPD police officer Ellie Bautista. Desperate to secure a position on the Blood Squad, Ellie goes undercover in an effort to ferret out the people responsible for a series of kidnappings and missing persons known as carriers, people who carried the fountain of youth in their blood. A play for power and control of the blood carriers finds several powerful men vying for the top position in the world of illegal blood trade, and the use of specific drugs known to enhance the benefits of the blood’s use. As Ellie begins to work with some of the men responsible for the local blood farms, a fight for control turns into an all out war where the price for endless youth is indeed high.

BLOOD WORLD is a futuristic story line set in California, the playground of the rich and famous where eternal youth is a commodity very few have the money to pay. The discovery of the fountain of youth has provoked a hunger for power, the power to control the ultimate prize.

Chris Mooney pulls the reader into a what if story line. What are you willing to do? What are you willing to pay? Will you sell your soul to eternal youth? An edgy and dramatic story line; a thought provoking and intriguing tale of desperation, power and control.


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This book is set in the world of the near future, the blood world, where the blood of carriers can cure diseases and make bodies young again. Carriers are at high risk of being kidnapped, drained and killed, or sent to blood farms to have their blood harvested on a regular basis. LAPD officer Ellie Batista wants to get on the special Blood Force to investigate these crimes for one reason-to find her twin brother, a carrier who was kidnapped as a child. After she and her partner are ambushed she gets her wish and is thrust into an undercover operation like she never imagined. As the female lead Ellie is strong willed and smart. At first she seemed hard and impersonal but her character grew as her involvement in the blood world did. Some of the bad guys were just thugs doing a job but the main two were well developed. Sebastian was one of the producers of the Pandora blood and kept a blood farm of donors but he seemed to be caring and kind. I couldn’t help rooting for him. His son Paul was truly an evil man, a villain, driven by lust for money and hatred. The story line was unique and plausible. There were a few twists and turns and lots of nonstop action. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an early copy of a book I might otherwise have overlooked

The nitty-gritty: An exciting, multilayered sci-fi crime thriller with action, intrigue and emotional depth.

If you love sci-fi thrillers that lean more towards crime fiction than sci-fi, then I suspect you’ll love Blood World as much as I did. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started reading, but the cover really sets the tone for this story. Blood World takes place in a gritty, almost lawless near future Los Angeles. Certain people are born with a particular gene that causes their blood to have miraculous healing powers, especially when the blood is mixed with certain drugs. These “carriers” as they are called, are highly sought after, and most live their lives in fear of being kidnapped and drained of their blood. A secret underground blood world has sprung up because of these carriers, and the most savvy criminals have made fortunes from carrier blood, selling it to wealthy individuals who are looking for the ultimate fountain of youth. A carrier’s blood, you see, can be injected through needle or blood transfusion and imbues the recipient with a youthful appearance, strength and beauty. 

The LAPD has created a special task force called the Blood Crimes Unit to counteract this illegal behavior, but they have been unable to prove the existence of and locate a “blood farm”—a secret location where carriers are kept against their will and forced to give up their blood.

Ellie Batista is a street cop who wants nothing more than to make it into the Blood Crimes Unit. Ellie is obsessed with carriers and has spent years researching those kidnapped and never seen again. But Ellie has a personal reason for her obsession—her brother J.C. was kidnapped as a child, and Ellie has never given up on finding him alive. Her chance comes when she’s asked to go deep undercover in order to infiltrate the inner workings of the blood trade, an assignment that puts her in danger but also brings her closer to finding her brother.

As Ellie—now “Faye”—gets to know the dangerous players of the blood world, her life depends on how well she can play her part. And Ellie’s keeping plenty of secrets, not only from the men who hold her life in their hands, but from the LAPD as well.

Blood World was a twisty story full of violence (if you’re squeamish when it comes to cold blooded killing and torture, this might not be the right book for you), secrets and lies, backstabbing, betrayal, and plenty of high stakes. The chapters alternate between Ellie and Sebastian, an ex-con who has created a lucrative—although highly illegal—business with carrier blood. Ellie ends up working with Sebastian when she goes undercover as Faye, and I thought Sebastian was a great counterpoint to Ellie’s wide-eyed determination to find her brother. Some of my favorite parts of the story were the ones where Faye is interacting with Sebastian and his fellow criminals and has to be very careful about what she says. Because she’s undercover with the Blood Crimes Unit, she’s being watched and protected while she’s deep in the criminal underworld, but even they can’t protect her from everything. There were so many terrible situations that Ellie/Faye found herself in and I honestly didn’t know which way things were going to go.

Mooney adds a nice emotional layer to his tale by giving many of the characters personal motivations. Sebastian in particular had quite the backstory, which included a tragic shooting in his past that put him behind bars, ruining his relationship with his soulmate Ava. Sebastian’s godson Paul also plays a big part, and his actions set the whole story in motion. Sebastian is torn between trying to protect Paul—he’s almost like family, after all—or wanting to kill him for what he’s done. I also ended up really liking and feeling sorry for Sebastian, believe it or not. He’ll kill you at the drop of a hat if he thinks you’re betraying him, but he also has a soft squishy side that gave him an interesting vulnerability. He sort of reminded me of Avery from The Firm (played by Gene Hackman), if you’ve seen that movie, another despicable character who you can’t help but feel sorry for at the end. Plus Sebastian and Faye end up bonding in a way, and I really enjoyed their odd relationship.

Mooney did a fantastic job with the Los Angeles setting, and it was so well done, in fact, that I was sure he was a California native (his bio says he lives on the East Coast). He’s certainly done his homework, that’s for sure. The story takes place over a sprawling area of Southern and Central California, as the characters go from L.A. to Long Beach, to Ojai and Santa Paula and other places in between. Because I live in the area, it was easy to picture the characters hitting the freeways, getting stuck in traffic, etc. Mooney also uses the California wildfires as a backdrop to his story, which added an extra layer of tension and danger. The final showdown takes place right on top of one of these fires, and even though I was cringing the whole time (because brush fires are real and very dangerous), I couldn’t help but applaud the author’s adept use of integrating the fires seamlessly into his story.

I did have a few reservations, however. I wanted a little more background on how carrier blood evolved and how it was discovered. Also, the ending felt a bit rushed to me, and things were resolved a little too quickly and neatly for my taste. I’ve heard the ending described as a “cliffhanger,” although it didn’t feel that way to me. But now that I think about it, it seems that Ellie’s story might not be over. Given the author’s penchant for writing series, I wouldn’t be surprised to see more books set in this world, and I'd definitely be on board for a sequel.

Overall, I had a blast reading Blood World, and I look forward to Chris Mooney’s next book.

An exciting, yet frightening sci-fi thriller

In the near future man has conquered the effects of old age. All it takes is a whole lot of money and a blood donor who is a carrier of a specific gene. The blood from these donors dissolves excess fat, tightens loose skin, erases wrinkles, gives strength of body and mind, and heightens all the senses. Since the donors aren't willing to just give up their blood, they are kidnapped, held on "blood farms" and their blood is transfused into people rich enough to pay the price.

Ellie Batista is a patrolman on the LAPD but her long-time desire is to get involved in the newly formed LAPD Blood Crimes Unit. She hasn't had any luck so far in getting onto the unit.

But a series of unfortunate events have them seeking her out to work undercover. And she jumps at the chance even though it will mean leaving everything in her old life behind. But she's wanted this for years, for reasons known only to her.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I liked Ellie's character and it was a sign of the author's writing skill that there were a few of the bad guys I found myself liking (or at least not hating), too. The story moved at a fast pace and I enjoyed every bit of it.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys thrillers, science fiction, or just a plain good book.

I received this book from Berkley Publishing through Net Galley and Edelweiss in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.

This review was originally posted on <a href="https://booksofmyheart.net/2020/08/11/blood-world-by-chris-mooney/" target="_blank"> Books of My Heart</a>
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<i>Review copy was received from the Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.</i>

<strong>Blood World</strong> is an interesting dystopia. For "carriers,"  it is a brutal world with one kind of prison or another.  The rich can and will pay anything for the blood effects.  The criminals running the blood farms are not good guys, but certainly some are worse than others.

Ellie is our main character and I feared for her and was terrified often.  She is smart and careful but takes so many risks.  The blood producers are willing to torture or kill as needed; it doesn't bother them.  When she goes undercover, she manages to make herself useful and luckily her cover identity holds well.  There are <em>many</em> instances where she almost dies.

The blood producers, Sebastian, Frank and their security guy Ron, have long been successful and profitable. Now they have some major problems.  Sebastian is our other main character. If he and his partners weren't bad guys, I could almost feel sorry for them. Their enemies, who are competitors,  are worse.

I found this exciting, violent,  full of action and suspense.  The world was developed with intriguing, mysterious facets of blood production. The criminals were vicious but had to have some outer face to deal with their rich clients. The police had their own corrupt officers helping the criminals to an easier time.  Ellie had her own deceptions to reach her goals. These main characters were flawed with layers but overall true to their path in life.

LAPD Officer Ellie Bautista has been looking for her twin brother who was kidnapped when they were 6 for years. He's got the gene which makes him a carrier - a fountain of youth. Set in the near future (it's not clear how near) this is a fast paced thriller that had me turning the pages. There are an incredible number of young people who have been grabbed and put in blood farms, milked, as it were. Ellie and her partner find a dog, which then leads then to discover a location where some of them are being held. This leads to an undercover effort to find not only her brother but also other carriers. No spoilers from me. This has good guys, bad guys, a damaged but tough and determined female protagonist, and something to think about. Yes the theme of greed and conspiracy might be familiar but this felt fresh to me because of the characters. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. A page turner!

Blood World is our world but with a small difference: some people are carriers. We don't really know what they carry, other than getting some of their blood in a transfusion has a miraculous effect on health. They're in high demand, and it's illegal to do business in the carrier blood transfusion trade, but some people do it, and they're ruthless. One cop wants to get to the bottom of it all, and she's willing to put her life on the line to try.
The writing of this book is mind-blowing in the depth of detail the author offers. Maybe all suspense/thrillers are like this, but I've never encountered such riveting writing. The reader is shown all of what a character feels or thinks, can get caught up in the wave of terror or rage or love felt by the characters. The scenery is described so clearly, the reader could be right there in the book itself. I am astounded at how thoroughly I enjoyed reading this!