Thank goodness! That’s all I can say….

Book 6 in this series was an absolute banger and then book 7 was kind of middle of the road and I was seriously worried about where the series was heading. Thankfully it was heading straight back into the same area book 6 was in which was brilliant! This book leans heavily on the personal side as Po’s old flame Elspeth Fuchs turns up in a town where Po is, and she has a child with her. The difference is that child is a dead ringer for Po as well as being the right age should the boy be his.

What started as an innocent running into an old flame turns out to be a fight for survival for Elspeth and her son Jacob. It turns out that Elspeth is on the run from her violent partner Caleb and they had been living in a secluded and vert controlled community. What I loved about this book was that emotions were what led both Po and Tess as opposed to it being just a job. Is Jacob Po’s son? If it is his son, can Po fight to keep him safe?

As ever the faithful Pinky lends a hand as Po and Tess closest friend and together they chase after Elspeth and Jacob but don’t bank on coming across Caleb and his friends. This makes for an emotion filled but packed with action thriller book with my favourite characters all in attendance. I can’t help but think this series is seriously underrated by many and I think if people gave it a chance and started from book one they would fall in love with these very un-traditional characters. Sadly I have now caught up with Tess, Po and Pinky so will need to wait until next year for the next instalment.

The eighth outing for ex-con Po Villere and former cop turned PI Tess Grey in this action-packed thriller series. The pair are on a mission, to rescue Po's ex-girlfriend Elspeth & son Jacob (who bears an uncanny resemblance to a young Po) from her violent husband & murderous family who live in fortified cult commune. Aided by their friend, reformed career criminal Pinky Leclerc. This tale is full of non-stop violence that makes Jack Reacher seem like a choirboy.

Blood Kin is the eighth book in the Tess Grey and Po Villere series about a pair of private investigators from Maine, who are also a couple, and their flamboyant best friend Pinky. I’ve read the last three of these, as well as the first, but each stands alone, and this one didn’t spoil any of the earlier books that I could recall. This was a violent action thriller with some very nasty villains, and a plot reminiscent of most of the Jack Reacher books. I liked but didn’t love it, partly because I’m tired of reading about violence against women, and the plot held few surprises.

Tess is waiting for a lift home from Po when she sees him talking to a beautiful woman accompanied by a ten year old boy who looks just like him. Elspeth, his ex, has run away from the prepper commune run by her psychotic husband Caleb’s brutal family, after a decade of abuse. Taking her in, and anxious to find out if young Jacob is really Po’s son, they are shocked when Elspeth storms off, only to be retaken by Caleb and his goons. Po, not a stranger to violence himself, determines to rescue them, but getting in to the fortified compound is only the start of their difficulties...

This was competently written in omniscient third person narrative style, with plenty of fast paced action, and likeable main characters who will defend each other to the end - as ever, Pinky is the star of this particular show. I found this easier to read than the last one, but still found it dragged a bit in the middle while our characters sneak about getting in and out of the villain’s compound. There are brief mentions of child abuse but more overt descriptions of spousal beatings and torture. I haven’t decided yet whether or not I will continue this series, I used to love this sort of novel, but they are starting to all seem much the same. 3.5 rounded up for a decent if somewhat abrupt ending.

Thanks to NetGalley and Severn House for the ARC. I am posting this review voluntarily.
Blood Kin is published today.

Po is shocked when he sees Elspeth, a former flame, but even more shocked when he looks at her son Jacob. Is Jacob his son? Unfortunately, Elspeth and Jacob are in the clutches of Caleb, a tyrannical megalomaniac with antediluvian attitudes about women and children. So, of course, Po sets out to rescue them with the assistance of his partner Tess. There aren't a lot of surprises here but it's a good read, especially if you, like me, have read a few in the series and are familiar with the characters. If you haven't know that this will make a fine standalone. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. No spoilers but I'm sure looking forward to the next one.

This is number 8 of the Tess and Po series, and it is the first and only Matt Hilton book I've read. Blood Kin has a strong storyline of its own and I barely noticed the missing character background that must have been detailed in the first seven books. Because I didn't already know Tess and Po, my attention was caught and held by Elspeth and her son Jacob, the innocents Po is trying to save. Elspeth is held in a criminal militia camp, married to the son of the iron fisted leader, who believes women should be seldom seen and never heard. Elspeth was once Po's girlfriend and he believes her son Jacob may possibly be his child. This is a fast paced action packed thriller, and there are no shades of gray separating the bad guys from the good guys. A candy bar read, a little like the Jack Reacher books.

Tess And Po With Elements Of Reacher And The Lottery. This is only my second Tess and Po book, but I've quickly fallen in love... and noticed the basic pattern. (Which is the same basic pattern most books of this type have. Brief interlude of "normal life" leads into some inciting incident - in this case, Tess and Po stumbling into a mother and child in peril - leads to an investigation which leads to action. It is a successful pattern given how often it is employed across so many books, and it is well executed here.) When we get to the investigation/ action stages is when this book evokes one of the more memorable Reacher tales due to the similarity of the enemy faced (controlling militia type). And then we bring in elements of the ultra-creepy The Lottery to boot. Completely a Tess and Po story, but the common elements serve to enhance it even more (assuming you've read those tales, anyway :D). A final note: This *is* deep in a series of investigative/ police procedurals. It can work as a standalone/ entry point as long as you don't mind seeing more advanced stages of the investigative team's life together, but if you're a reader that doesn't like any level of spoiler of previous books, you're going to want to start at Book 1 and get to here. Because if you do start at Book 1... just go ahead and buy the entire series. You're going to want to have them on hand as you finish each one anyway. Hell, I'm already wishing I had Book 9 in my hands, and this one doesn't even release to the public for nearly a month! Very much recommended.