This was the first time reading the author but not my last. This story was very good. And the twists and turns? Awesome. I will definitely be telling many about this book. Do not sleep on it. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the arc of this book. Receiving the book in this manner had no bearing on this review.

Wow! Wow! Wow!

I could not put this one down! And, when I did, I had nightmares. Eek!

This story is set in 1968. Jess Lourey does an amazing job combining the time period with modern language. Joan Harken, moves back to her finance's hometown, where things are just too perfect. She begins to feel like she's being watched. Is she paranoid? Is it her pregnancy hormones? Or are things amiss? I won't spoil anything, just do yourself a favor and grab this book!

I can't wait to go back and read "Unspeakable Things".

A special thank you to NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer, and Jess Lourey for providing me with an ARC.

Newly pregnant Joan moves with her boyfriend to his perfect hometown and soon discovers something is amiss in paradise. This complex book is a brilliantly written tale of pure evil. Once you start reading you’ll have trouble putting it down! I enjoyed this book and am looking forward to more of this author’s work. I received this book free from Netgalley and chose to make a voluntary, unbiased review.

What a brilliant story. This was fantastic and beautifully set. I loved the writing and the characters. Amazing to fans of psychological thriller and mystery lovers x

This book was damn near unputdownable for me.

It's a very quick read and though it's set in the late-sixties, the dialogue felt modern. I really enjoyed Joan - her thoughts were fun and quirky. I loved the occasional references to her "modern" avocado kitchen appliances, and her "racy" Mia Farrow pixie cut.

Though I had an inkling of where the story was going, and was ultimately proven mostly correct, it was gripping. There was most certainly an essence of Rosemary's Baby, with maybe a side of Peyton Place thrown in.

At first I was going to rate this book 3.5 stars. Though I really enjoyed the writing, characters, and plot, it seemed so highly implausible. Then I remembered...this was set in 1968, years before the internet, iPhones, laptops, and other means of easily accessing information. Suddenly, the concept seemed so much more fathomable. Recommended!

4 genetically disturbing stars!
Available January 1, 2021.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for my review copy.

Part Rosemary's Baby, part Get Out, part The Stepford Wives, Bloodline is about a perfect town, a perfect street, a perfect community....sort of.

Joan is pregnant and moves to her boyfriend's hometown. They arrive to a welcome party - in the house that her boyfriend grew up in. Something isn't right. Everything is TOO perfect. Everyone knows everything about Joan - what she's doing and where she's been. She finds herself uneasy - until she gets a job at the local newspaper.

Then - a missing boy returns. Or, at least - that's what's being said. As Joan investigates, she finds more mysteries and more confusion.

I really enjoyed this book but did feel that the end was rushed. I wanted a little more - I wish there were 100 more pages - exploring more of what happened in the opening chapter and more about little missing Paulie.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thank you to the author, Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This novel, inspired by real events, is a creepy read. Some things worked extremely well, e.g. the author was able to portray the .underlying sense of menace and unease. However, some things did not work well, at least for me. The heroine's character was a bit too childish for her age and place in life, and her actions were wildly inconsistent, the setting in the 1960s was off, and the plot devices were at times cumbersome. Bit too much connecting of the dots, frequently and too early - let the reader reach their own conclusions, before revealing all at the end.

This was such a surprise! I was unsure of it to start with, but couldn't put it down. Lilydale reminds me of Sandford (the town in Hot Fuzz) where it seems to be a perfect town, but there's a darkness just under the surface. I liked Joan - I thought she was smart & it was great to see how she reacted to the townspeople. There were many shocking revelations that I did not see coming.

I loved this book!

I don't want to give anything away, but it's got everything: Rosemary's Baby vibes, creepy folks, too good to be true town, misogyny and murder!

Definitely would recommend!

There are reviews where Bloodline has comparisons to rosemary's baby and yes there are similarities. I also get some stepford wives vibes in here as well but it's been quite some time since I've read those so I wasn't bothered by that when reading this book. Bloodline is downright dark & suspenseful. The main character "Joan" is a strong female wanting nothing more than to be an accomplished writer and becomes part of a perfect little town where everyone looks out for their own and takes care of things, good & bad to keep it that way. In her heart she knows something is off but struggles with the truths, going crazy maybe, following her gut instincts. There is a group that run the town and they try their best to keep it's secrets from her and will do whatever it takes to keep things perfect. There was one thing I figured out early on in the book but part of that I also missed until it was disclosed. This book is full of secrets, mystery, suspense, murder, rape, incest. It was a great read I enjoyed more as it progressed. **Want to note that while It mentions rape, it is not described, but it's stated it has been happening**.
I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I wanted to read this book because I read Unspeakable Things by Jess Lourey and absolutely loved it. I gave that book a Five Star review. Jess Lourey did it again with another Five Star mystery/family drama that kept me binge reading until the end.

I had a “Love/Hate” relationship with this book. I LOVED the book. But I hated that I got nothing accomplished for two days reading it. I began binge reading. The chapters were short. When I came to the end of a chapter I knew I needed to begin my day, maybe get dressed. But I would look ahead and think, “This won’t take long to read one more chapter and then I’ll stop.” I kept doing that until the end of the book.

Both books were based on real events. I would guess Bloodline had more fiction added to the real events. I don’t want to give any “spoilers”. There were several spots where my mouth dropped open and I said out loud “No way!” And then the story details would fall into place. The ending was not what I expected.

If you liked The Handmaids Tale or Lakewood by Megan Giddings, you will like this book.

I received this galley from NetGalley.

I have read so many great reviews about Bloodline by Jess Lourey, but I seem to have a somewhat unpopular opinion on this one.
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Bloodline, set in the small town of Lilydale in the 1960s, has a very Stepford Wives feel to it. Joan is pregnant, and is convinced to move back to her fiancée's hometown after getting jumped in the city, where she works as a reporter. Lilydale is extremely old-fashioned, to the point where she must pretend her and Deck are already married to avoid being an outcast, among other things.
🧡
While this is happening, there are chapters that flash forward to Joan lying on some type of gurney, covered in blood. The novel then slowly builds up to how she got there. Because of this, I found the story a little slow, as the reader patiently waits to figure out what is happening in the present day.
🤍
I really love the premise for this novel, but setting it in the 60s and Joan's character both feel out of place for me. Joan is presented as smart, and having a wonderful intuition, but this completely counters her actions throughout most of the novel.
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All in all, this one didn't land for me, but I have heard so many great things that I will definitely be reading other works by this author.

i really enjoyed reading this book, it was a interesting read and the mystery was great. I liked the characters and enjoyed going through this plot.

Great new book from a great author good story good characters and a great suspense story Would recommend to other readers

Joan Harken has been something of a vagabond most of her life but after the death of her mother has finally settled in Minneapolis with boyfriend Deck. After she is accosted and stabbed while returning to their apartment, Deck induces her to leave the big city and return to his small hometown where she can feel safe.

So it’s off to Lilydale for pregnant Joan and baby-daddy Deck. The picture perfect town, however, is not quite what she expected. People are a bit too friendly, protective and “in your business” and Joan begins to feel like she under surveillance 24 hours a day. Deck dismisses her feelings as a touch of paranoia brought on by her pregnancy and raging hormones - - - but is it really?

This could have been one of those warm fuzzy tomes about home, family, surviving trauma and belonging. Instead, author Jess Lourey seems to have “channeled” the likes of Ira Levin and Dean Koontz to produce BLOODLINE, a narrative that will make you question Joan’s perspective as well as the motives of the inhabitants of Lilydale and in turn, cause those tiny hairs on the back of your neck stand up on end.

Fans of the aforementioned authors or those who enjoy the writings of Stephen King and Richard Matheson are sure to add Jess Lourey to their “favorite authors” list.

After Joan Harken is mugged in Minneapolis, she is ready to move with her fiance back to his Minnesota hometown, Lilydale. While getting settled in, everyone is overly nice, and she feels as if she is being watched. When a man shows up in town claiming to be the missing boy who vanished decades ago, the journalist in her is trying to find out the true story. When another boy goes missing, the truth starts to come out about the perfect little town.

This is a great story with many twists and turns that leave you haunted at the end of the book. Don't miss this book! Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an early ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Bloodline was my first Jess Lourey novel and I found it to be a frighteningly engaging read which I highly recommend! Set in the late 1960s, our main character is Joan, an independent, college-educated journalist working for the Minneapolis Star as an entry-level reporter. We learn about her unusual upbringing by her dedicated mother, in which they were always moving from place-to-place. Were they running from something in her mom's past? Joan never finds out from her mom, who has recently died after a short bout with cancer. After her mother's death, Joan has found strength and solace in the comfort of her new boyfriend, Deck.

A few months after meeting Deck, Joan is unexpectedly pregnant, has been passed over for a promotion at work and was the victim of a violent mugging. At Deck's suggestion (pleading?), Joan agrees to move back to Deck's very small hometown, Lilydale, MN (pop. ~1500). Lilydale has a respected reputation of being quaint, safe and as friendly as apple pie. There, Joan and Deck plan to start their family in the safety of a small town. Deck can work for his father, they can escape the violence of the city, and Deck has a better chance of avoiding the draft (due to his father's standing and influence in Lilydale).

Upon their arrival, Joan is immediately uneasy by the behavior and expectations imposed on her by Deck's parents and the people of Lilydale. She is thrown into the very patriarchal, close-knit and most elite families of Lilydale. Her role in this society is made clear: as an expectant mother she is not entitled to do anything that might risk her unborn child and she is forced to endure increasing scrutiny of her desire to work and be independent.

Are these residents of Lilydale well-meaning and have her best interest in mind, or is there something secretive and sinister bubbling under the surface? How might the apparent return of a child who went missing from the town in 1944 (on his first day of Kindergarten) fit into the past and present? Is Joan really in danger or is she imagining things?

As the reader experiences Joan's strange new life in Lilydale, many questions emerge. Some answers are easy to guess as the book unfolds, while others are more surprising. The second half of the book is quick-paced and barrels toward its conclusion. Bloodline is a satisfying thriller about hidden, but terrifying, secrets that one could imagine in any small Midwest town.

I thank NetGalley and the publisher, Thomas and Mercer, for a free ARC. This is my honest and unbiased review of Bloodline.

I am a fan of Jess's writing, and having been sucked into Unspeakable Things I couldn't wait to read Bloodline. I enjoyed the book, but I think the twist was a tad predictable. That being said the story still serves its purpose of being mysterious, uncomfortable and has an underlining feel of untrustworthy suspense. I like that there is a bit of a tease with Unspeakable Things starting at the end of Bloodline. It synced up things, and provided that "Ahhhh-ha" moment.
Bravo Jess!!! Its always a pleasure to read your stories.

This book seemed to not qute be sure of what kind of book it was. It had elements of various mystery and thriller styles, but by not chosing one, it doesn't work. At times it seemed as if it was supposed to be a psychological thriller, but the flash-forward bits negated that idea. The flash-forward snippets were so awkwardly done they blended in with the paragraphs preceding them are were confusing. The main character, Joan, developed such suspicion and paranoia that wasn't warranted by any of the the actual events happening around her. The storyline explanation was so far fetched that it was improbable and an unsatisfying end to the book.

A young couple move to the small town of Lilydale after the pregnant girlfriend is brutally attacked. Small town living close to his parent's sounds like the best option to flee the big city life and for a fresh, new start...
But life in Lilydale is not all it's cracked up to be, everybody spies on everybody, and a small tight knit group called the Mothers and Fathers try to make sure that everybody in the group is compliant, including her since she is in a relationship with their leader/mayor's son. This book soon takes a very sinister twist as everybody tries to convince her she's crazy and imagining things.
Once the reader found out what was really going on, it was a big, disgusting surprise and I could not put this book down. This was another very suspenseful book from NetGalley and the publisher who allowed me to read this book for an honest review. Thank you!