Blood Work

Blood Work, the first in the Terry McCaleb series by Michael Connelly, won the 1999 Anthony Award. The only other book I've read by Connelly is The Poet.

from the back of the book:

When Graciella Rivers steps onto his boat, ex-FBI agent Terrell McCaleb has no idea he's about to come out of retirement. He's recuperating from a heart transplant and avoiding anything stressful. But when Graciella tells him the way her sister Gloria was murdered it leaves Terry no choice. Now the man with the new heart vows to take down a predator without a soul. For Gloria's killer shatters every rule that McCaleb ever learned in his years with the Bureau-as McCaleb gets no more second chances at life...and just one shot at the truth.

I enjoyed reading this one. There are only 3 books in this series, and I'm planning on reading the others to finish the man's story. There is a perfect balance between personal and professional lives. The author describes events in the past in such a way that I get the full impression of them. I assumed, for example, that this was not the first book about McCaleb and that there was a previous book about his time at the FBI working on the Code Killer case. There is information provided without the feeling that I'm being fed hints throughout the book. The characters are well-formed multi-dimensional people. This is an author I will read more of.