Review: Peril by Jordyn Redwood

Dr. Thomas Reeves is at the pinnacle of his career. The Department of Defense has awarded him a lucrative contract for his new research into superior autobiographical memory, which promises the ability to create combat troops able to quickly learn complex battle plans and enact them perfectly under the most demanding battlefield scenarios.

An elite unit has received neural grafts from fetal cadavers of genetically altered brain cells with enhanced NMDA receptors. The results are remarkable . . . until the recipients begin suffering hallucinations, nightmares, paralysis, . . . and death. Dr. Reeves searches for answers, but DOD insiders want him to stop the search.

The situation becomes public when pediatric ICU nurse Morgan Adams, Dr. Reeves’s daughter, is taken hostage by three research subjects in an attempt to force Dr. Reeves into disclosing why they are sick. If answers aren’t revealed within twenty-four hours, patients in the pediatric ICU will be killed.

This spine-tingling conclusion to the Bloodline Trilogy raises spiritual and ethical dilemmas torn directly out of today’s headlines. When does life begin? How far does commitment to family go? And can the sins of the father ever be forgiven?

This third offering in Jordyn’s Bloodline Trilogy can stand alone but draws characters and inspiration from the previous two. I’m hard pressed to say which is my favorite, because I enjoyed them all.

This one is a bit different in that there is no obvious “new romance” – no boy meets girl, etc. That’s not to say there is NO romance involved, but it’s less “traditional.”

From the death of an infant in the recent past to the taking of the PICU by terrorists, the twists and turns will keep you guessing. Medical and military collusion and trials on human participants. Those experiments gone awry – is anyone looking for answers? All of that and so much more.

Jordyn takes a potentially unpopular stand* on abortion in this book. It is NOT a bash-you-over-the-head all-pro-lifer’s-blow-up-abortion-clinics type thing – NOT at all [and we all know that’s not true anyway] – but she does use medical evidence to make you think about what truly happens. She also touches on things like donor memories for transplant recipients and the potential ramifications of those in the search for justice.

A roller coaster thrill ride from beginning to end, Peril and the rest of the Bloodlines Trilogy is not to be missed.

Overall Rating: 8.5 out of 10 stars

*As Jordyn’s primary audience is likely a Christian one, it may not be quite as unpopular as if she wrote for the general market.
Thanks to Jordyn and the publisher for a copy in exchange for my review.