Blood Work by Michael Connelly

Blood Work published in 1998 features ex-FBI agent Terrel McCaleb who is in retirement following his heart transplant and lives on a boat. Graciella Rivers approaches McCaleb to find her sister Gloria's killer. McCaleb agrees to look into it. Now that he is retired the LAPD is hostile and doesn't want to share files with him. Will he catch Gloria's Killer? Is he ready for the task, so soon after his transplant? McCaleb is a serial killer expert so is he reading more into a murder for robbery?
Life is full of coincidences, while flipping channels, I found Blood Work being played featuring Clint Eastwood as McCaleb. I didn't see the movie as I didn't want it to spoil the book for me. My dad saw the movie and told me who the killer is. At one level I was excited, I kind of guessed the killer and I was spot on. At another level, so what is the point in reading. Knowing the killer did not spoil the book for me, I kind of enjoyed it. And I had a real surprise, the killer wasn't the guy I guessed. The movie version was different from the book.
The book is a bit slow, it could have been fast paced. There are some twists and turns and surprises. But some surprises are kind of lame something that could be easily guessed. I wouldn't say it was great but it wasn't bad either.

Dead Simple by Peter James

Michael Harrison is quite a prankster. To get even with him, his best friends device a secret plan on his stag night. After a pub crawl, they place drunk Michael in a coffin and bury him with a bottle of whisky, a magazine, a flash light and a walkie-talkie. They decide to come back for him in a couple of hours. They all die in an accident. Only Michael's best man, Mark Warren, who was away knows where Michael is. But he decides to keep quite. Ashley Harper, Michael's fiancée, is not sure what happened to Michael and is completely broken.
Will Michael live? Will he be in time for his wedding? Roy Grace investigates Michael's disappearance. The repartee between Grace and Glenn Branson especially, the movie references is funny. Roy Grace believes in the paranormal and uses it in his investigation.
At one point, I was wondering how such a simple story line is developed into a gripping tale. After many twists and turns, I realised that it is not simple, but Dead Simple. Loved the book, I am ready for more Peter James. This is my first read for Mystery and Suspense Challenge 2011.