Enter the dangerous, yet fascinating world of the hired killer. One who has now become the next mark. You are about to embark on a journey full of twists and turns, of danger and intrigue. A journey where the outcome seems already cast in stone. After all, no one leaves the business without paying the price and that price is usually death. Still… You never can tell…

Amelia Calhoun’s life was changed forever when a hit man’s bullet took her father away. Only pity from the man who had paid for the hit saved her. Nick Statilini saw something in the now parentless little girl. He took her in and over time groomed her to be an assassin herself. Amelia lost count of the kills she is responsible for and longs for a life out of the ‘biz’.

Upon completion of her latest hit, she heads to her beachside getaway to recuperate. Soon she finds herself in more danger than ever imagined as evidence unfolds pointing to her having gone rogue. The only people she can turn to for help are the same one’s who now want her out of the picture – permanently! What is a girl to do when she doesn't know who to trust, and the one man who ever makes her feel something is the very one who is being sent to kill her?

I have read and reviewed several of Ms Cloud’s books and have become quite a fan. Regardless of genre, she manages to instill something fresh and new into her tales that keeps me hanging on every word, and coming back for more. Crying Blood definitely fits that description. From page one where Amelia gets stopped by a police officer while blood from her last hit is still fresh on her hands; I was hooked. You truly feel for Amelia while watching her long for a normal life while being trapped in a world where the only place you go to retire from the game is to a graveyard. There are a lot of players in this one and you will find yourself guessing, and then second guessing, just who Amelia should trust and who is really behind the plot against her. This is the way romantic suspense should be done.

Reviewed By Johnna
© August 2005