Blood Vines

When Alexandra Clarkson starts having terrifying visions, she thinks that her mind is playing tricks on her. But when Alex’s mother, Patsy, commits suicide without leaving behind any information, Alex is left to wonder whether she might be haunted by something from a childhood she can’t remember.

Detective Daniel Reed was the last person to speak to Patsy. What he reveals to Alex is shocking: Twenty-five years earlier, Patsy was married to Harlan Sommer, one of Sonoma County’s most prominent vintners, when their infant son disappeared without a trace. The loss destroyed the Sommers’ marriage, causing Patsy to leave and take Alex with her.

Called on to investigate the identity of a baby’s remains unearthed in a Sonoma vineyard, Reed had picked up a trail that led him to Patsy in San Francisco. Could these cold bones be Alex’s long lost baby brother? Alex joins Reed in Sonoma for the investigation—and is soon drawn deep into the search for a twisted killer…

In this bare-knuckled adrenaline ride from New York Times bestseller Erica Spindler, Alex Clarkson’s worst nightmares are about to come true.

Publishers Weekly

Bestseller Spindler's underwhelming stand-alone stars Alexandra Clarkson, a doctoral student finishing her thesis in human belief systems, who was raised in San Francisco by her unstable mother, Patsy, not knowing who her father was. When Patsy is found dead, Alexandra questions whether it was by her own hand or if it's linked to a years-old crime in nearby Sonoma County—the apparent kidnapping of baby Dylan Sommer, the son of Harlan Sommer, of the Sommer family wine dynasty, and, as Alex discovers, Harlan's then wife, her mother, Patsy. Keen to find out her father's identity, Alex relocates to wine country, where she learns about the repressed first five years of her own life. Despite the happy family reunion, not everyone is pleased with Alex's return to the area, so Spindler (Breakneck) stirs the pot with a few instances of ritual sacrifice and not-so-coincidental deaths. In the end, a tidy resolution substitutes for the mouth-dropping revelation many thriller fans will expect. (Mar.)

Erica Spindler’s bestselling novels include Copycat, Killer Takes All, See Jane Die, In Silence, Dead Run, Bone Cold, All Fall Down and Cause for Alarm. This New York Times bestselling author lives in the New Orleans area with her husband, an advertising executive, and their two sons.