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jolynne's review
mysterious
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
I read that police procedural is not so accurate in this book but being that I don’t know police procedural I won’t complain. In fact it is a timely tale of white supremacy and crooked cops (maybe).
Khan never disappoints.
Khan never disappoints.
herreadinglife's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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? No
4.0
mg_in_md_'s review against another edition
5.0
This series is officially a must read for me, even though this is only the second book in the series. I had to sit with this one for a bit after I finished it because there was a lot to digest in terms of the themes and the characters. Even though it was a heavy read, I could not put the book down once I started it and cannot stop thinking about it. Another relevant, timely tale that tackles tough issues facing this country.
One of the things I love about this series and the author's prior mystery series is the inclusion of difficult themes/issues impacting the communities in which they are set. This novel focuses on police shootings and their aftermath in Blackwater Falls, Colorado. There are two separate shooting incidents that the Denver Police Department's Community Response Unit (CRU) is brought in to investigate, one of which has ties to Detective Inaya Rahman's past. We learn more about her, her family, as well as her coworkers Detective Catalina Hernandez and Lieutenant Waqas Seif. I feel like I am deeply invested in their lives due to their compelling backstories and how fully formed/three dimensional they seem. The story is intense, both from a professional and personal standpoint for the three characters who all find themselves at crossroads. The cases and the character development were equally gripping to me and kept me wanting to read "just one more chapter."
This book will challenge your thinking, especially as each character wrestles with their own demons, past and present. I felt like the outcomes of the two shootings also challenged my beliefs and thoughts about how they would turn out. I felt like I was experiencing the same emotions as some of the characters as we learned the motives and reasons for the shootings. The resolution of one was particularly heartbreaking to me. While this story was fictional, it could have easily been ripped from the headlines.
I think it would be easy enough to read this as a stand-alone novel, but you should 100% read the first book in the series if you have not had a chance to read it yet. It is excellent and this follow-up is equally stellar. It will stay with me for some time. And I cannot wait to find out what comes next for the CRU team in Blackwater Falls.
Many thanks to Minotaur for the NetGalley copy and a chance to read the latest installment in the Blackwater Falls series early!
One of the things I love about this series and the author's prior mystery series is the inclusion of difficult themes/issues impacting the communities in which they are set. This novel focuses on police shootings and their aftermath in Blackwater Falls, Colorado. There are two separate shooting incidents that the Denver Police Department's Community Response Unit (CRU) is brought in to investigate, one of which has ties to Detective Inaya Rahman's past. We learn more about her, her family, as well as her coworkers Detective Catalina Hernandez and Lieutenant Waqas Seif. I feel like I am deeply invested in their lives due to their compelling backstories and how fully formed/three dimensional they seem. The story is intense, both from a professional and personal standpoint for the three characters who all find themselves at crossroads. The cases and the character development were equally gripping to me and kept me wanting to read "just one more chapter."
This book will challenge your thinking, especially as each character wrestles with their own demons, past and present. I felt like the outcomes of the two shootings also challenged my beliefs and thoughts about how they would turn out. I felt like I was experiencing the same emotions as some of the characters as we learned the motives and reasons for the shootings. The resolution of one was particularly heartbreaking to me. While this story was fictional, it could have easily been ripped from the headlines.
I think it would be easy enough to read this as a stand-alone novel, but you should 100% read the first book in the series if you have not had a chance to read it yet. It is excellent and this follow-up is equally stellar. It will stay with me for some time. And I cannot wait to find out what comes next for the CRU team in Blackwater Falls.
Many thanks to Minotaur for the NetGalley copy and a chance to read the latest installment in the Blackwater Falls series early!
judithdcollins's review against another edition
4.0
Ausma Zehanat Khan returns following [b:Blackwater Falls|59808229|Blackwater Falls (Blackwater Falls, #1)|Ausma Zehanat Khan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1665470180l/59808229._SY75_.jpg|88378321] #1 with BLOOD BETRAYAL, the second in the Blackwater Falls series featuring Detective Inaya Rahman (love) with a timely, twisty, and gripping suspense cop procedural.
Set in Blackwater Falls, Colorado, a veteran cop, Harry Cooper, opens fire on a young black street artist, Dauante Reed when he thinks he has a gun but is only a can of spray paint.
John Broda is one of the police officers who has harassed her in Chicago, and now he is asking for her help to clear his son's name. Kelly is a young patrolman in Denver and has been accused of shooting and killing a young Latino man, Mateo Ruiz, in a drug raid.
Detective Inaya Rahman is Muslim and works with the Community Response Unit in Denver. The CRU's mission is to investigate police interaction within the community, violence, and actions if warranted. Areesha, a civil rights lawyer, represents the mother of the young black man.
Two cases. In either case, the ongoing question: Was lethal force truly necessary?
Lieutenant Waqas Seif and Inaya have big jobs and other complexities due to their religion. From past police transgressions and racism, there are a lot of items to juggle and cases to solve in Blackwater Falls.
There are many complex topics and emotions from religion, faith, prejudice, justice, and persecution— as well as their personal lives with the two investigations and the characters.
Ausma Zehanat Khan is a talented writer and storyteller, having read some of her other books and series. BLOOD BETRAYAL is an excellent addition to her collection, and fans will surely enjoy it. The author showcases her talent, blending professional and personal relationships with diverse backgrounds.
I listened to the audiobook narrated by Fareeda Pasha for a riveting performance, holding your attention to the end with social and political commentary and timely issues.
Thanks to RB Media, Recorded Books, and Netgalley for an advanced audio listening copy.
Blog review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
Pub Date: Nov 7, 2023
My Rating: 4 Stars
Nov 2023 Must-Read Books
Nov Newsletter
Set in Blackwater Falls, Colorado, a veteran cop, Harry Cooper, opens fire on a young black street artist, Dauante Reed when he thinks he has a gun but is only a can of spray paint.
John Broda is one of the police officers who has harassed her in Chicago, and now he is asking for her help to clear his son's name. Kelly is a young patrolman in Denver and has been accused of shooting and killing a young Latino man, Mateo Ruiz, in a drug raid.
Detective Inaya Rahman is Muslim and works with the Community Response Unit in Denver. The CRU's mission is to investigate police interaction within the community, violence, and actions if warranted. Areesha, a civil rights lawyer, represents the mother of the young black man.
Two cases. In either case, the ongoing question: Was lethal force truly necessary?
Lieutenant Waqas Seif and Inaya have big jobs and other complexities due to their religion. From past police transgressions and racism, there are a lot of items to juggle and cases to solve in Blackwater Falls.
There are many complex topics and emotions from religion, faith, prejudice, justice, and persecution— as well as their personal lives with the two investigations and the characters.
Ausma Zehanat Khan is a talented writer and storyteller, having read some of her other books and series. BLOOD BETRAYAL is an excellent addition to her collection, and fans will surely enjoy it. The author showcases her talent, blending professional and personal relationships with diverse backgrounds.
I listened to the audiobook narrated by Fareeda Pasha for a riveting performance, holding your attention to the end with social and political commentary and timely issues.
Thanks to RB Media, Recorded Books, and Netgalley for an advanced audio listening copy.
Blog review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
Pub Date: Nov 7, 2023
My Rating: 4 Stars
Nov 2023 Must-Read Books
Nov Newsletter
danubooks's review against another edition
5.0
A fascinating mystery concerning two young men of color shot and killed by police officers.
In Blackwater Falls, a town just outside of Denver, a young black man named Duante Reed, is shot and killed by white police officer Harry Cooper who is trying to curb the actions of a local group of vandals. Harry sees what he thinks is a gun in Duante’s hands, and after his warnings to put it down are ignored, he shoots and kills him. On the very same night back in Denver, a drug raid gets out of hand, and a young Latine teen named Mateo Ruiz is also shot and killed, presumably by a police officer. Neither officer has a history of excessive force or of racist behavior, and there is bodycam footage of both incidents to show just how events unfolded. In the case of Harry Cooper shooting Duante, it appears that all protocols were observed to the letter, and the death was a tragic accident. In the case of Mateo, however, things are not quite as clear. It appears that Officer Kelly Broda fired the fatal shot, but the video’s quality does not actually show who fired the shot, and Kelly refuses to talk about the incident. The two victims appear to be law abiding young men, highly thought of in their communities and loved deeply by their families. Each death is clearly a tragedy, but was their any wrongdoing on either side? The fact that both alleged shooters were white police officers, and both victims were young men of color, has raised the specter of racist behavior in the eyes of many in the local communities, especially given the negative reputation of the sheriff’s department in Blackwater Falls. Denver’s Community Response Unit is tasked with looking into both incidents, which will stretch the tiny department’s resources very thin. Lt. Waqas Seif leads the unit, with Detectives Inaya Rahman and Catalina Hernandez and Officer Jaime Webb as investigators and occasionally with the services of civil rights attorney Areesha Adams. The unit’s purpose is to create open lines of communication between the police and the communities they serve, particularly those of color, to ensure that the law is fairly applied to all and that prejudices do not cause situations to escalate to violence. Clearly the CRU’s presence is needed in both of these cases, as either could cause their communities to explode. The present situations also have ties to the past; Kelly Broda’s father has an ugly history with Inaya, yet pleads with her to intervene to help his son, while several of the characters have connections to events in Afghanistan which may or may not have implications in Duante’s case. The members of the CRU have a very fine line to walk….they are not fully trusted by other members of law enforcement, nor are they completely accepted as advocates by the communities they try to represent. As they dig deeper into the lives of both the victims and the officers who took their lives, as well as the families and friends of both, many secrets come to light but the truth will be very difficult to unearth.
Blood Betrayal is the second book in the Blackwater Falls series, but it is not necessary to have read the first to throughly enjoy and understand this installment (I have not read the first). As the story progresses, different characters narrate their investigations as well as related goings on in their lives. The characters are extremely well-developed, but not at the expense of keeping the investigation moving at a brisk pace. The torn loyalties between duty and community, homeland and adopted country, tradition and progress, are all dualities explored alongside that of prejudices of and against law enforcement and the communities of different colors and beliefs. There is even a little sexual tension thrown in for good measure. As a reader, I no more knew who the villains were in this story than the investigators, and like them I learned about the many schisms that exist in today’s world. Readers of Ms Khan’s previous works will certainly enjoy her latest offering, as would readers who enjoy Angie Kim and Amanda Jayatissa. Many thanks to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press/MInotaur Books for allowing me access to an advanced’ reader’s copy of Blood Betrayal.
In Blackwater Falls, a town just outside of Denver, a young black man named Duante Reed, is shot and killed by white police officer Harry Cooper who is trying to curb the actions of a local group of vandals. Harry sees what he thinks is a gun in Duante’s hands, and after his warnings to put it down are ignored, he shoots and kills him. On the very same night back in Denver, a drug raid gets out of hand, and a young Latine teen named Mateo Ruiz is also shot and killed, presumably by a police officer. Neither officer has a history of excessive force or of racist behavior, and there is bodycam footage of both incidents to show just how events unfolded. In the case of Harry Cooper shooting Duante, it appears that all protocols were observed to the letter, and the death was a tragic accident. In the case of Mateo, however, things are not quite as clear. It appears that Officer Kelly Broda fired the fatal shot, but the video’s quality does not actually show who fired the shot, and Kelly refuses to talk about the incident. The two victims appear to be law abiding young men, highly thought of in their communities and loved deeply by their families. Each death is clearly a tragedy, but was their any wrongdoing on either side? The fact that both alleged shooters were white police officers, and both victims were young men of color, has raised the specter of racist behavior in the eyes of many in the local communities, especially given the negative reputation of the sheriff’s department in Blackwater Falls. Denver’s Community Response Unit is tasked with looking into both incidents, which will stretch the tiny department’s resources very thin. Lt. Waqas Seif leads the unit, with Detectives Inaya Rahman and Catalina Hernandez and Officer Jaime Webb as investigators and occasionally with the services of civil rights attorney Areesha Adams. The unit’s purpose is to create open lines of communication between the police and the communities they serve, particularly those of color, to ensure that the law is fairly applied to all and that prejudices do not cause situations to escalate to violence. Clearly the CRU’s presence is needed in both of these cases, as either could cause their communities to explode. The present situations also have ties to the past; Kelly Broda’s father has an ugly history with Inaya, yet pleads with her to intervene to help his son, while several of the characters have connections to events in Afghanistan which may or may not have implications in Duante’s case. The members of the CRU have a very fine line to walk….they are not fully trusted by other members of law enforcement, nor are they completely accepted as advocates by the communities they try to represent. As they dig deeper into the lives of both the victims and the officers who took their lives, as well as the families and friends of both, many secrets come to light but the truth will be very difficult to unearth.
Blood Betrayal is the second book in the Blackwater Falls series, but it is not necessary to have read the first to throughly enjoy and understand this installment (I have not read the first). As the story progresses, different characters narrate their investigations as well as related goings on in their lives. The characters are extremely well-developed, but not at the expense of keeping the investigation moving at a brisk pace. The torn loyalties between duty and community, homeland and adopted country, tradition and progress, are all dualities explored alongside that of prejudices of and against law enforcement and the communities of different colors and beliefs. There is even a little sexual tension thrown in for good measure. As a reader, I no more knew who the villains were in this story than the investigators, and like them I learned about the many schisms that exist in today’s world. Readers of Ms Khan’s previous works will certainly enjoy her latest offering, as would readers who enjoy Angie Kim and Amanda Jayatissa. Many thanks to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press/MInotaur Books for allowing me access to an advanced’ reader’s copy of Blood Betrayal.
suzydemric's review against another edition
5.0
This is the second in a series, and I do recommend reading the first book prior to this one. While sometimes with series you can jump ahead, the beauty of both novels is the characters, thus I think it is very helpful to start with the first to fully appreciate character development, and their respective viewpoints/relationships.
I am really so impressed by her ability to create compelling and believable characters in this series, as well as her previous series primarily set in Canada featuring Rachel Getty and Esa Khattak. That series starts with The Unquiet Dead; I must have read that series prior to fully using Goodreads since I haven't rated them here (all would have been rated 4's or 5's).
The Blackwater Falls series is set in Colorado, and Inaya is the main character but she has many friends and colleagues that make this such a compelling read. Family relationships, trauma, politics, racism, are all dealt with realistically and thoughtfully.
The two cases depicted here are interesting, with plausible killers and realistic resolutions. I will definitely continue reading this series.
I am really so impressed by her ability to create compelling and believable characters in this series, as well as her previous series primarily set in Canada featuring Rachel Getty and Esa Khattak. That series starts with The Unquiet Dead; I must have read that series prior to fully using Goodreads since I haven't rated them here (all would have been rated 4's or 5's).
The Blackwater Falls series is set in Colorado, and Inaya is the main character but she has many friends and colleagues that make this such a compelling read. Family relationships, trauma, politics, racism, are all dealt with realistically and thoughtfully.
The two cases depicted here are interesting, with plausible killers and realistic resolutions. I will definitely continue reading this series.
theirresponsiblereader's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-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
4.0
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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What’s Blood Betrayal About?
On one night, there were two police shootings in the Denver area. One is the shooting of a possible innocent bystander/possible fleeing suspect in a drug raid. The other is the shooting of a vandal by an officer who (claims? he) mistook a can of spray paint for a gun.
Both of the officers were white, and the men who died were young minorities. Both cases will call for the Community Response team to investigate, neither case will be easy for them (and not just because their limited resources will be stretched by simultaneous investigations of a charged nature).
So let’s deal with these in the order we learn about them…
Case 1
Harry Cooper isn’t a fantastic cop—nor is he a bad one. He’s a solid, middle-of-the-road officer, and has been one for years—and now is near retirement. He’s never used his weapon before, but while pursuing some vandals on foot, he fires a warning shot in the air. Then he’s sure he sees a weapon in the hand of the vandal facing him. So he shoots to kill.
It seems like a tragic mistake, but as he’s part of Sheriff Grant’s force, Lt. Seif seizes the opportunity to do a thorough investigation—to ensure that’s all it was, and to maybe get more intel to help his case against Grant.
A number of things start to not add up—mostly around the “vandal.” He’s not one. He’s an art student who isn’t even from Blackwater Falls. He’s taking part in a legitimate street art contest, for one, not someone tagging random private property. Secondly, Seif thinks the physical evidence may point to something bigger. But he’s just not sure what. He wants Inaya Rahman to lead the charge on this.
Case 2
But Inaya has other concerns. She left Chicago after being assaulted by a number of fellow officers, we learned last time. So when one of those officers shows up on her family’s doorstep, she’s disturbed (to understate it). John Broda has come to her for help—his son is a patrol officer in Denver assigned to help a drug raid on a marijuana dispensary that was known to sell harder drugs, too. In the midst of it, a potential suspect was shot. Officer Kelly Broday was arrested for murder, without saying he shot Mateo Ruiz, he is saying he’s responsible for his death.
John Broda wants her to investigate and clear Kell, and in return, John will give Inaya the evidence he needs to close her last case from her days in Chicago.
She starts to look into things in exchange for the evidence, but she’s soon convinced that Kell was set up—possibly by a gang within the Denver Police. But she can’t figure out if someone wanted Ruiz dead (or why), or if it all has to do with the officer. Or is it both?
Meanwhile, the communities both young men belonged to start to organize and protest—particularly the Hispanic neighborhood Ruiz was from—and the Police Department isn’t responding calmly. Time is of the essence for this investigation.
Everything Else
Which is just a pithy way of saying “Everyone’s Personal Lives and the FBI’s Investigation into the Blackwater Falls Sheriff.” We learn more about every member of the Community Response team (and the civil rights attorney they ally with), and whatever arcs we saw or got hints of in the first book progress nicely (well, at least for the reader—I’m making no promises about how the characters feel).
Those aren’t the important parts of these books, but the more we get invested in these characters, the more compelling we’re going to find how the cases impact them and their lives. As a plus, they’re all really interesting characters so the arcs make for good reading.
As far as the FBI Investigation goes? Well…it’s still a thing. I’m not sure how much more I can say.
So, what did I think about Blood Betrayal?
It’d be easy to write this series off as some sort of “woke” thing where a racially diverse group of police investigators find hate crimes everywhere. Especially when white cops kill black and Latino men. That would be a grave error, however. Khan writes complex stories that cannot be reduced to a simple, one-line explanation, never mind a label or two.
In Blackwater Falls we got one murder that led to the uncovering of a web of more crime and corruption. Here we have two murders that end up being about so much more—both cases are about as complex as the one from Blackwater Falls, but the way that Khan weaves the two stories together (if only because the investigators are the same) makes this an even more complex novel. We get two great crime stories for the price of one. Yes, I think one of the cases was easier for the reader to figure out—possibly too easy. But the way that the clues, motives, and solution were revealed more than made up for that. And the other case? You’re never going to guess the solution until Khan shows it all.
But better than that is the way Khan shows (again) how crimes like this can impact entire communities, and the tensions that result and build up (possibly spill over) between those communities and the police rings so true that you could believe it happening today.
But Khan’s not just good at the big, social commentary—the impact that these killings have on the families is obviously bigger than anyone wants to imagine. And, as she did in the previous novel, Khan shows the grief, confusion, anger, and the other emotions that strike a family at this time with sensitivity and keen observation. Over the last few years, I’ve started noticing this part of a police procedural, and I really appreciate it when the author does it well. Khan’s one of the best around in this aspect.
Throw in some strong writing and great characters to all this? You’ve got yourself a winner. One of the best sequels that I read this year. You’d be doing yourself a favor if you grabbed the two books in this series up and doing so soon.