Format: Paperback, 344 pages
Release Date: September 8, 2020
Publisher: Angry Robot
Source: Publisher
Genre: Science Fiction / Apocalyptic & Post-Apocalyptic
In a near future where citizens are subject to
the mandatory blood draw, government phlebotomist Willa Wallace
witnesses an event that makes her question her whole world…
To
recover from a cataclysmic war, the Harvest was instituted to pass
blood to those affected by radiation. But this charitable act has led to
a society segregated entirely by blood type. Government blood
contractor, Patriot, rewards your generous gift based on the
compatibility of your donation, meaning that whoever can give the most,
gets the most in return.
While working as a reaper taking
collections for the Harvest, Willa chances upon an idea to resurrect an
obsolete technique that could rebalance the city. But in her quest to
set things into motion, she uncovers a horrifying secret that cuts to
the heart of everything.
File Under: Dystopia [ Blood Will Out | This Might Hurt a Bit | Be positive | Bloody Nightmare ]
Chris Panatier's The Phlebotomist is Thelma and Louise meets The Passage. The year is 2067, it has been 35 years since Chrysalis changed the world. The government has been supplanted by Patriot; a private organization who enforces a monthly blood tax called the Harvest in order to save the sick who live in the Grey Zones. 60 something Grandmother Willa Wallace is the main character in this story. Her title is Reaper (or what we call a Phlebotomist which I am proud to say I was one). She's one of the rare ones in that she was trained to do the job unlike those she works with.
In this world, everyone 16 and up is required to donate blood in what’s called the Harvest. Some, desperate for money, try to donate sooner. In this reality, the absolute earliest that the human body could replenish a unit of blood is 28 days. There is a whole lot of build up to this story. The author breaks down the various Phenotype’s that we all carry in our blood. Example: A, AB, B, and O. This is now a world where people are segregated by blood and vampires known as Ichorwulves, rule over everyone. If you are a universal donor, O-negative, you're a highblood, if you are a universal recipient AB, well your blood isn't worth much so you're a lowblood. To pay for living, people sell their blood, that is used to help people from Grey Zone (meaning a zone that suffered after a nuclear fallout).
After Willa takes her blood collecting bags for the day to a main drop off center because her cooler is broken, she comes across something strange. A drone falls from the sky right in front of her. A Patriot personnel arrives, and she is taken home, not understanding the severity of what she has witnessed. She’s soon visited by other Patriot personnel who force her to sign an NDA to not discuss what she saw. Harboring new suspicions about Patriot, Willa is forced to cooperate with blood-hackers, criminals who profit from mislabeled units of blood, to keep her grandson safe. The more that she becomes aware of the secrets that have been hidden from the public, the more involved Willa becomes.
Bottom line is that this is a story where a heroine in her 60's, meets Janet aka Lock a former marine in her 50's, who are joined by a young girl named Kathy who was taken from her parents, and adopted by the ruling Ichorwulves, to wage a war in order to retrieve the children who have been taken and will soon be up for bidding. My rating isn’t higher because the book ends on a glaring cliffhanger ending. I can’t locate any information whether there is another book scheduled, or it’s all dependent on how well this book sells. I loved the fact that the author uses characters my age. It’s rather refreshing to know that women my age can be heroines just like those in their teens and young adults. Lock is a slightly unhinged, and a master at old thrown out technology. The addition of Kathy to the story added a bit more depth and understanding at what is happening to the children who are being taken away from their parents. She is also more than capable with knives and swords as you will soon discover.
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