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rachxedge's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
colorfulleo92's review against another edition
3.0
I knew going in to the novel that I wasn't going to love it as I don't normally like to read about serial killers . But it was an okay read anywho, somewhat engaging and entertaining. But a bit to extreme for me.
sitnstew's review against another edition
2.0
Cain's Blood is a violent, gory, unapologetic story. There is really a lot going for it - it's very well written, fantastically researched and has constant edge-of-your-seat action. With all that said, I quit 3/4 of the way through. I'm not one to get squeamish or be overly sensitive to violence but this was needlessly descriptive. Every type of murder, torture and other terrible offense is excruciatingly laid out on the page. There's no such thing as 'use your imagination' in this book. And quite frankly it was just too much for me so I put it down.
If you can handle all that stuff, I'd say it was a pretty good book otherwise. The story was original and well crafted. It would make a sensational TV series. Perhaps I just needed something lighter right now though.
If you can handle all that stuff, I'd say it was a pretty good book otherwise. The story was original and well crafted. It would make a sensational TV series. Perhaps I just needed something lighter right now though.
cs172's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
booksabrewin's review against another edition
5.0
I received an e-copy of this book from the publishers on Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
When I received this book, I was so anxious to dive right into it. As I read I just became more and more enamored with the story and the overall general story line. I started discussing it with various family members and describing as much as possible without giving away EVERYTHING (we don't take kindly to spoilers in this household), and actually got quite a few people interested. Sadly, I had no way of loaning them my copy since it was an e-copy. Low and behold, I actually found a physical copy of the Cain's Blood/Project Cain ARC in one of my local used bookstores. Now I have a copy to loan out!
This book is a thriller the likes of which you have never imagined. Cloning, after the success over a cloned sheep named Dolly, has become a full-blown obsession for the U.S. government. The government and a biotechnological company called DSTI takes cloning a bit further and starts cloning children out of serial killer DNA in order to isolate the "anger gene" in a macabre experiment of nature vs. nurture. Taking some of the child subjects and placing them into loving homes as well as abusive homes they study the roll of a pre-dispositioned serial killer in their different environments.
The creator of the program is unsatisfied with how the overall project is going decides to free some of his creations on the world. The clones of Albert Fish, Ted Bundy, David Berkowitz, Jeffrey Dahmer, Henry Lee Lucas, and Dennis Rader are allowed to give into their murderous desires and run a muck. In comes the problem solver, black ops soldier, Shawn Castillo. He is set to capture and/or kill the teenagers as soon as humanly possibly. Despite being trained to do as he is told, Castillo buckles under the idea of having to kill teenagers, even if they are criminally insane teenagers.
While on the trail of the escaped subjects he comes across a cowering boy in an abandoned house and finds out he is yet another clone of Jeffrey Dahmer. Having no idea what else to do and hoping Jeffrey may have some insight he wouldn't normally have he takes the boy along on his journey, always weary of the fact that the innocent boy sitting beside him in the car could flip a switch at any moment and become one of the most notorious serial killers of all time.
I have been reading a lot of paranormal books recently and was glad to take a break from all that and get into something a little more realistic. This was a scary read. Not scary like, crazy zombie monsters, but scary in the fact that it is entirely possible for this to truly happen. Genetic testing and experimentation are alive and very much well in the United States. It is not a stretch for the government to use it to understand some of the most fearsome killers of all time. This book was so, so, so good! The adult version Cain's Blood opposed to Project Cain is very graphic and has some material that I would definitely not recommend for a younger audience. For the younger ones, stick to Project Cain.
Cain's Blood is a realistic read that sheds light on the human condition. It explores the ever debatable question of nature vs. nurture and gives it teeth. Why are we the way we are? Is it where we grew up or how we are designed genetically? Is a clone of Jeffrey Dahmer destined to be the nightmare his genetic host was, or is there a chance that good or bad, violent killer or innocent victim, that it all comes down to conscious choice?
Explore Cain's Blood's work of literary horror and thrills, that will have you flinching in shock but begging for more.
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paulathepudding's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
lachese's review against another edition
5.0
An ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review. This did not influence my thoughts in any way.
Interwoven fact and fiction provides the meshwork of genetics, psychology, criminology, and government conspiracy that serves as the frame around which Cain's Blood is built. We have the technology. We can build them. The six million dollar cloned serial killers.
The science in the book is plausible, and that realism adds to the horror of the book's premise. For any conspiracy theorists, the existence of black budget experiments is undeniable and what those experiments could possibly contain is unfathomable. We have already cloned sheep, goats, horses, wolves, and even a monkey. Cloning a human is naturally the next step. In the book, the cloning of famous serial killers enabled researchers to make great strides in treating various mental illnesses, including PTSD. It also enabled them to study how psychotic individuals morph into serial killers: nature vs nurture. Additionally, scientists were able to create weapons from research obtained on these cloned killers: creation of a deadly gas and perfection of a supersoldier. What price is the government willing to pay to increase our scientific knowledge? How about build better weapons? According to Cain's Blood, even loss of all morality is an acceptable price.
We experience much of Cain's Blood not through the point of view of the victims, but from the serial killers' perspective. Not once do we see through the eyes of a victim. This serves to disassociate the reader from the victim, representative of a serial killer's lack of empathy. With the killers, we see the knife glinting in our hand, feel the warmth as the blood is freed from the body as we slice the screaming meatsuit in front of us. While reading this book, I experienced dreams much like this, where I was not the victim, but the hunter. Perhaps this book awakened something in my subconscious, perhaps the book will awaken something in any reader. After all, isn't that the point of the book? That every human has Cain's blood running through their veins? Every one of us has the capacity to murder in the correct circumstances. We all have the darkness, it just must be realized.
However, there are some things that even a serial killer fears...
Interwoven fact and fiction provides the meshwork of genetics, psychology, criminology, and government conspiracy that serves as the frame around which Cain's Blood is built. We have the technology. We can build them. The six million dollar cloned serial killers.
The science in the book is plausible, and that realism adds to the horror of the book's premise. For any conspiracy theorists, the existence of black budget experiments is undeniable and what those experiments could possibly contain is unfathomable. We have already cloned sheep, goats, horses, wolves, and even a monkey. Cloning a human is naturally the next step. In the book, the cloning of famous serial killers enabled researchers to make great strides in treating various mental illnesses, including PTSD. It also enabled them to study how psychotic individuals morph into serial killers: nature vs nurture. Additionally, scientists were able to create weapons from research obtained on these cloned killers: creation of a deadly gas and perfection of a supersoldier. What price is the government willing to pay to increase our scientific knowledge? How about build better weapons? According to Cain's Blood, even loss of all morality is an acceptable price.
We experience much of Cain's Blood not through the point of view of the victims, but from the serial killers' perspective. Not once do we see through the eyes of a victim. This serves to disassociate the reader from the victim, representative of a serial killer's lack of empathy. With the killers, we see the knife glinting in our hand, feel the warmth as the blood is freed from the body as we slice the screaming meatsuit in front of us. While reading this book, I experienced dreams much like this, where I was not the victim, but the hunter. Perhaps this book awakened something in my subconscious, perhaps the book will awaken something in any reader. After all, isn't that the point of the book? That every human has Cain's blood running through their veins? Every one of us has the capacity to murder in the correct circumstances. We all have the darkness, it just must be realized.
However, there are some things that even a serial killer fears...
marc_le's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Gore, Violence, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Body horror
Minor: Homophobia, Child abuse, Cannibalism, Kidnapping, and Misogyny