I was intrigued by the premise of this thriller, which is a former New York undercover cop in the witness protection program living in New Mexico and hiding from the mob. Warner Bros. has optioned the film rights, with Bradley Cooper tapped to produce and star in the lead role. When I took a look at the author’s bio, I was amazed to learn that this native New Zealander had his first book published when he was 20 years old, and still an engineering student at the University of Auckland. American Blood is the first book set in the United States; his previous three-book series is set in New Zealand and they were all national best sellers. I am amazed at the talent that a single person can possess!

Marshall Grade is living in relative anonymity in Santa Fe, New Mexico, after an undercover job gone wrong forces him into the witness protection program. He has some seriously bad guys after him, including an assassin named “The Dallas Man.” He subleases his house to a clueless tenant in order to stay even further off the grid, and is hiding from the federal marshal in charge of his case, whom he doesn’t really trust. He doesn’t really trust anyone.

One evening he sees a news story about a missing young woman who reminds him of someone from his past that he apparently could not save, so he decides to save this unknown woman instead. And….it’s off to the races!

Marshall uses his skills honed as an undercover cop and his survival instincts to track down information on the missing woman. He encounters a female detective recovering from a personal tragedy, and together they proceed to outwit the kidnappers in order to rescue the girl. Marshall is a bit of an anti-hero, as we learn he did some pretty nasty things during his undercover work, and most of the villains in this book are really, really, bad. I had to skim over some of the more gruesome scenes. But I commend the author for creating a compulsive page-turner (he was under 25 when he wrote this, folks)! He can definitely hold his own against other more mature and prolific writers out there.

This one’s not for the faint of heart, but the main characters are so well-drawn, with fully-realized back stories, that you can’t help but root for them, despite some not-quite-legal actions they take to save the missing woman. Ultimately, Marshall realizes that his actions can’t replace what he’s lost, but salvation can be found in all sorts of places.

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American Blood is a decent read for one not wanting anything too heavy to contemplate.

The main character is flushed out through flashbacks and piecemeal parts and seems to be a blending of Jack Reacher from Lee Child and Thomas Perry's The Butcher's Boy series.

The writing style of the author is a bit different from American authors and the tale unfolds as the different characters spin around in a way that we know all of them are going to converge at some point.

It would not surprise me if this is the first book in a series because the ending is left with potential strings left untied.

Still, it's a decent thriller and better than a lot of others out there.



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Taking up the the mantle of hard-boiled, gun obsessed, blood soaked American lone wolf characters, New Zealand author Ben Sanders has created his second book to fit into that world like a clenched fist in a black, leather glove.

http://reviewingtheevidence.com/review.html?id=10540 ( )

Once working undercover for the New York City Police Department, Marshall Grade has relocated to New Mexico, courtesy of the Federal Witness Program. Although he generally follows his own rules, he’s been keeping a relatively low profile until he decides to find a young woman who is missing after a night of clubbing.
Enter the drug cartel goons, an Albuquerque police detective on stress leave, a federal marshal, and the hit man out to eliminate the former cop and watch the flying bullets and flowing blood as the good guys take on the bad guys in the new Old West.

An action-filled page turner with well-developed characters and a conflicted but honorable protagonist, “American Blood” spills out its violent story of good versus evil with enough plot twists and turns to keep readers guessing right up to the final reveal.

Highly recommended. ( )

Thank you Goodreads for the copy Of American Blood by Ben Sanders. Marshall Grade is an ex-cop who is now in a witness protection program. He tracks down drug dealers in an effort to locate a young girl that has gone missing while trying to stay undetected from those hunting him. Working outside the law, he takes matters into his own hands to bring justice. To be honest, I almost put this book down and wasn't going to finish it. The beginning was confusing and I found the writing style to be choppy. I think the incomplete sentences worked in some instances but I think this technique was over-used and detracted from the flow of the story. I stuck with the book however and was glad I did because the action picked up and there were a few surprising twists at the end that were worth waiting for. All in all an okay book that I can definitely see being made into a movie. ( )