Book Review: Blood Will Have Blood

Blood Will Have Blood by Thomas H. Carry is one of those books that makes you (or least me) wonder who the good and bad guys are. You know in movies like Fast and the Furious where the main stars are technically the bad guys/criminals, but they’re the stars so they’re the “good” guys? It’s a little bit like that.

The novel follows Scott Russo, a struggling actor in 1980s New York. While rehearsing for an off-Broadway adaptation of Macbeth, Scott is struggling to find some paying work. After getting fired from his latest waiter job, he takes up his friend Freddie’s offer to be a pot runner. What he thought would just be an easy job with quick money turns into a life changing decision. On his first night working, Freddie goes to meet with the boss, Tobias, only to find that Tobias is out and his operation has been taken over by Aiden – a Westie. The Westies were an Irish American organized crime gang in New York City during that time period.

Aiden and his enforcer, his cousin Sean, are ruthless and violent, but also comical at times. Deathly afraid to cross Aiden, Scott does whatever Aiden tells him to do. Add in the District Attorney’s office trying to get Scott to work for them to spy on the Westies, and some other nefarious groups trying to turn Scott as well, his life becomes crazy and stressful. Scott is oftentimes left wondering what the best thing to do is for his own survival and what’s “right” and “wrong”.

I enjoyed the book a lot more than I thought I would. When it first started, I wasn’t too sure about it, but then I got really into the storyline and wanted to keep reading and reading for long stretches at a time. I didn’t always find Scott to be super likable, mostly due to the fact that he seemed to make bad decision after bad decision, but I think he figured things out by the end. I really enjoyed how it ended as well.