The next day Tyler’s great-great-aunt Matilda calls with the message that “There’s a blood-aura on the moon tonight.”  A few minutes later Evan Bartlock, an off duty cop, shows up at Tyler’s door with the news that Tyler’s brother David has been kidnapped. 

At first, since Davis is very rich, it looks like a standard kidnapping for money.  That is until Tyler gets a phone call from the kidnappers saying she has something of theirs and to give it back or David dies.  Of course, she has no idea what that “something” is.

The St. Claires are a long line of family with the gift of second sight.  Matilda is the wacky matriarch of the family.  As soon as she met Evan, Tyler knew that he was a St. Claire relation.  Matilda sent Evan to help Tyler find David.  At the same time, David’s daughter Jane is hitting puberty and coming into her abilities.  (Why is puberty always the trigger?)  Throughout her life, Tyler has struggled to accept her psychic gift and has ultimately blocked it.  Can she accept and use her gift soon enough to save David?  Can she help Jane learn to control her new gift?

Tyler is a likeable character.  Outside of her family’s gift, she’s a normal woman dealing with a difficult situation.  Her love and concern for her brother and niece are realistically portrayed.  Due to her love for her family, she’s willing to open herself up to the gift she’s avoided in hopes of finding and saving her brother.  The only thing bothersome about Tyler is her way of swearing.  She uses odd phrases, like “spit and decay” or “ashes and spit,” instead of typical swear words.  Each time Tyler swears the author tried to use a new phrase.  Rather than being colorful, the habit becomes annoying.

The relationship between Tyler and Evan is unexciting.  The two are attracted to each other, but there is little focus on the two together.  The main focus is on Tyler’s internal battle with her gift and David’s kidnapping.  One annoyance is it is never fully explained how distantly related Tyler and Evan are.  The knowledge that they shared a bloodline makes their relationship a bit uncomfortable.

In the end, the reason why David was kidnapped seems too far fetched.  It doesn’t fit with most of the clues Tyler found and the only connection is a letter from David. 

On the whole, Bloodstone is an acceptable read – not great but not bad either.

--Terry Lawrence