THE BLOOD OF SEVEN

A debut novel weaves a tale of
redemption.

Detective Ann Logan finds herself in
personal limbo. Ann has been praised for stopping the serial killer the Salida
Stabber, but her partner and a child were killed during that takedown, so she
doesn’t feel like a hero. A mysterious package causes her to go home to Harmony,
Colorado, to search for her missing father, Bram. But strange things are
happening in that small town. Teresa Hart’s daughter, Tiffany, died under
strange circumstances seven years ago. Now a manifestation of Tiffany is
haunting Teresa. Tiffany tells Teresa that if she collects seven souls for the demon
Yaldabaoth, her daughter will be brought back to life. When Harmony’s sheriff
disappears, Ann reluctantly takes over the investigation since the young deputy
is incompetent. She also learns that her father, the former sheriff, was a
member of the ancient Egyptian cult Protectors of the Knowledge and that she
now has to defend Maggie, Teresa’s 6-year-old adopted daughter, whom Yaldabaoth’s
followers, the Messengers of the Light, are pursuing. So Ann must battle her
insecurities about being a cop while protecting Maggie and her sacred tome and attempting
to keep Teresa from resurrecting Yaldabaoth. Fishback tries to accomplish so
many things in this convoluted thriller. She shows how differently two women
handle traumatic experiences in their lives. Both had strong parental figures: Ann’s
father expected her to follow him as sheriff, and Teresa’s mother harped at her
concerning what she needed to do to keep a husband. Both women suffer from
guilt: Ann’s partner was killed because she didn’t follow protocols; Teresa’s
daughter died due to her negligence. But Ann works through her doubts while
Teresa opts for what seems like a simple fix, a boon granted by a higher power
in exchange for murdering others. Fishback’s use of the Gnostic demiurge
Yaldabaoth and his attendant backstory is creative. But going back and forth
between Ann’s missing person investigation and Teresa’s soul hunt is often bumpy,
with the supernatural overwhelming the realistic. Still, in the end, the author
dovetails the two disparate parts into an enjoyable, if gruesome and overly
long, whole.

An engaging but sometimes jarring thriller
that showcases both the paranormal and the psychological.