Kendare Blake gives readers the perfect spooky season read with her latest release, All These Bodies.
Set in 1958, All Theses Bodies is the perfect example of what happens when true crime meets supernatural fiction. 17-year-old Michael Jensen is the son of the local sheriff in rural Minnesota and has aspirations of becoming a journalist, but little does he know that the biggest story of his life is about to be dropped in his lap when a local family becomes the next victims in a string of bizarre murders. Their bodies, like the others, are drained of blood, and there’s not a drop left in sight. Enter Marie Catherine Hale, who is found standing covered in blood in the middle of the crime scene. At first, she is perceived as a victim and key witness, but when it’s revealed that none of the blood is hers, she is soon labelled as an accomplice.
As those around him hunt for answers, Michael must turn to the one person who may just know the truth. But is he willing to hear it, and most importantly, will he believe what Marie has to tell him, before their time runs out? With the perfectly suspenseful backdrop of a small town set to ignite, Blake once more crafts a powerfully atmospheric novel with characters that stand up off the page. This unique way of weaving urban legend with true crime will have readers racing to find out what happens next.
So, let’s begin at the heart of the novel. The scary thing about All These Bodies is that it reads very closely to true crime. The ominous presence of the supernatural vampire does little to dissuade the reader’s belief, and that is the true power of this author—to make us believe in the inconceivable. Blake has also stated that she drew inspiration from two real-life crime events. These include the 1958 murder spree of Charles Starkweather and his girlfriend Caril Ann Fugate—the young couple left eleven people dead in Nebraska and Wyoming. As for the murder that happens in Michael’s small town, this is inspired by the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kanas. It’s this carefully handled fascination with true crime that brings this book to life, as the author takes things one step further and includes the ‘what if’ element of vampiric lore.
And here’s the thing—while we should know outright that something like this couldn’t be real, the way in which the author handles suspicion and disbelief makes this story that much more believable. Michael’s constant struggle with his want to believe Marie and his need to get to the bottom of the story is transferred onto us as the reader: whenever he outrightly questions her truth, we are also there for when he experiences something unexplainable. It’s this constant play between truth and what we perceive as believable that suspends the audience’s disbelief enough for the story to flourish.
Blake has also very cleverly chosen her main protagonist. Michael is an open book, not yet completely tainted by the views or opinions of the adults around him, and is extremely likable. He is chosen by Marie because she recognises him as one of the only people that may accept the tricky position of believing her story. The range of emotions we as the reader experience through him is well done—his interaction with Marie’s story is set to change his life in more ways than one.
As for Marie, she is purposely complex. She’s a young teenage girl, seemingly without guardians, in a small town run by middle aged men. Here we see the author push back against outdated views of fragile femininity, as Marie’s role in the story is revealed. Initially, she is thought as of ‘just a girl’ without power. While recounting her tale to Michael, we see a different version of Marie emerging. As Michael states, this unknown girl is about to challenge everything he knows. It is through the exploration of Marie that the author also provides an important discussion on the role of one’s choices, and how the choices we make in the moment define our path. Sometimes, as Marie finds out, there are no right choices to make, only equally hard ones.
The only main critique for this book concerns its villain. While the focus is predominantly on Michael, Marie, and the ‘Bloodless Murders’, we experience this ominous figure who menaces the story from the shadows. For those that like a fully resolved ending and a secure ‘gotcha’ moment, this may be the only piece of the story that doesn’t quite come through. However, it can be argued that the intent of the author is clear here: not all stories, especially in the instance of true crime cases, are so easily wrapped up; and not all villains are so easily defined.
Perfectly combining fact, fiction, and urban legend, All These Bodies is definitely a book for your wish list—especially if you’re a lover of a good true crime podcast. Blake’s experience as an author is clearly evident throughout the novel as she takes the reader on a suspenseful, and original, supernatural man hunt.
All These Bodies is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.
Will you be picking up All These Bodies? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
Sixteen bloodless bodies. Two teenagers. One impossible explanation.
Summer 1958—a string of murders plagues the Midwest. The victims are found in their cars and in their homes—even in their beds—their bodies drained, but with no blood anywhere.
September 19- the Carlson family is slaughtered in their Minnesota farmhouse, and the case gets its first lead: 15-year-old Marie Catherine Hale is found at the scene. She is covered in blood from head to toe, and at first she’s mistaken for a survivor. But not a drop of the blood is hers.
Michael Jensen, son of the local sheriff, yearns to become a journalist and escape his small-town. He never imagined that the biggest story in the country would fall into his lap, or that he would be pulled into the investigation, when Marie decides that he is the only one she will confess to.
As Marie recounts her version of the story, it falls to Michael to find the truth: What really happened the night that the Carlsons were killed? And how did one girl wind up in the middle of all these bodies?
