The Ignorance of Blood by Robert Wilson, Review: Labyrinthine plot
Robert Wilson’s The Ignorance of Blood is a gritty, high octane crime thriller with a labyrinthine plot that I highly recommend in audio. Read our review.
The Ignorance of Blood Synopsis
The final psychological thriller in the Javier Falcon quartet, that includes The Hidden Assasins and The Blind Man of Seville.
The sweltering city of Seville is still recovering from a shocking and unsolved terrorist attack but now a spectacular car crash brings to light another threat. A dead gangster and a suitcase filled with millions in cash means the prospect of a serious Russian mafia presence on Inspector Jefe Javier Falcon’s beat.
As a turf war erupts, Falcon finds himself and those closest to him personally targeted by the lethal forces suddenly unleashed. In the face of such a brutal attack, Falcon decides to retaliate with a ruthlessness that surprises him as much as his adversaries – but it will come at a tragic price.
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BOOK REVIEW
From the opening quote, The Ignorance of Blood promises depth, deception and intrigue.
‘Love is the master key that opens the gates of happiness, of hatred, of jealousy, and most easily of all, the gate of fear.’ (Oliver Wendell Holmes)
Robert Wilson’s The Ignorance of Blood is a gritty, high octane crime thriller with a labyrinthine plot.
Protagonist Inspector Jefe Javier is a complex and compelling character that carries a large burden – all that he has seen and experienced in his time in the police force along with personal tragedy of his own.
Calderone leaned across the table, looked up through the pupils of Falcon’s eyes into the top of his cranium. “Do I detect something of an obsession going on here?” he said. “Personal crusades, Javier, are not advisable in police work. Every old people’s home in Spain probably has a retired detective gaping from the windows, his mind still twisted around the missing girl or a poor bludgeoned boy. Don’t go there – nobody expects it of you.”
Audiobook narration
Audiobook narrator Sean Barrett, with his husky, gravelly voice does a wonderful job of conveying the world-weary but dedicated Javier Falcon (listen to an audio sample).
Some cite the need to read Robert Wilson’s preceeding 3 novels as a weakness of The Ignorance of Blood, the final title in the Inspector Javier Falcon thriller quartet. It is admittedly one of the more complex plots I have read in some time, and there are many different mobsters, terrorists, spies and police agencies for readers to get their head around. However, despite not having read any of the previous titles in the series, I found Wilson provided all the background information I needed through reflective sequences.
Seville comes alive for the reader through Wilson’s evocative descriptions. The pictures he paints of gory mobster brutality are equally vivid – just something to note for readers a little faint of heart where blood and violence are concerned.
I highly recommend Robert Wilson’s The Ignorance of Blood – an example of European crime fiction at its best.
BOOK RATING: The Story 4.5 / 5 ; The Writing 4.5 / 5
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Genre: Audio, Thriller, Drama, Crime-Detective
About the Author, Robert Wilson
British crime writer Robert Wilson, born in 1957, has written ten novels including the Bruce Medway Series and the Javer Falcon Series. He won the Crime Writers Association Gold Dagger Award in 1999 and the 2006 Gumshoe Award for Best European Crime Novel. Wilson has travelled extensively and is now married and writes from an isolated farmhouse in Portugal.
