Children. It always amazes me how a love as strong, as intense as that between parent and child is also fraught with so much that is negative – expectations, disappointments, worries. This book was very much about children and the ties that bind them to their families long after they cease to fall under the label “child.”

Sloane Burbank is a former FBI agent, forced to leave her beloved job by a serious injury to her right hand that made it impossible for her to perform every aspect of her duties as a negotiator and field agent. She is a consultant now, raking in the big bucks, and moving on with her life by moving in with her boyfriend, Derek Parker. Or rather, he is moving in with her. But even as he unloads boxes in her cottage, Sloane receives a frantic call from her father, telling her her mother has been injured in a break-in and is at the hospital. Sloane needs to come – and leave FBI agent Derek at home.

Derek, not surprisingly, is hurt and suspicious. He’s being pushed out of a crisis in Sloane’s life right when he feels like they should be pulling together through what life hands them. And then to find that his lover’s father doesn’t want him there because he is FBI makes his radar go flying off the charts. What is it that the FBI can’t know? And why?

Thus begins a case that quickly spins out of control for all involved. Sloane, who is also a lawyer, has to honor client confidentially with her father and his business partners. And they are holding a dozy of a secret: They know for a fact that upstanding businessman Xiao Long is responsible for a murder several decades ago. And this is a secret the FBI is determined to find – Xiao has been on their radar for a long time, and never more than now as his criminal empire is expanding in a dangerous way. As Sloane and Derek find themselves on opposing sides they wonder if their love really can withstand all it will be up against.

Let me say right off that the romance in this book left a lot to be desired. Right from the start Sloane makes it clear she loves Derek but has big chunks of her life that she will put ahead of her relationship with him. It was not fun to watch them work through this – more like sitting in on a counseling session between angry lovers than reading a romance novel. In addition, I didn’t get why Sloane and Derek loved each other. Yes, she was beautiful, brilliant, amazingly (over)talented and a loyal daughter and friend. Yes, he is hot, an FBI studdly do right, smart, an ex-Army Ranger. But what made them tick as a couple? I felt that whenever the author got close to showing us, she wound up revealing more about the crime instead.

And I have to admit the men Sloane was fighting to protect – her father and his partners – did not impress me at all. They weren’t exactly stand-up guys – not only did they hide a killer’s identity for years, they tried to swindle a young woman out of a valuable painting (launching another aspect to the case), acted like frat boys on more than one occasion, and were just generally egotistical rich guys. More than once I found myself sympathizing more with one of the villains than with them.

Which brings me to what was really great about this novel. Ms. Kane really brings every character into life, painting no one all white or black but creating in each person a complex human being with human ties. Xiao Long’s ruthlessness is tempered by his loyalty to his boss. It is very real, to the point where he will harm himself to protect him. Johnny Liu’s love for his daughter, while complicated by the complex culture in which he was raised, is real and almost painful to be a part of. Cindy is ruthless – but compassionate about certain things too. The partners are idiots – but they are mostly average men who love their families and care about each other. Sloane is every daughter out there – torn between family love and romantic love, trying desperately to make them balance. Derek, as a man torn between work and family life, seems very real too.

And the relationship between father and daughter is explored in just about every way possible – Sloane with her father who expected her to take care of him and his friends, Johnny Liu with his daughter and his feeling of failure in protecting her, and Wallace with his obsession with the daughter that he loved but whose death he ultimately caused through his actions. Even Cindy shows the fierce loyalty that can spring up between a daughter and her father figure. This was all subtly woven throughout the plot, enriching what could have been a story of hate and weakness into one that tells a twisted tale of how love can be both our greatest strength and worst weakness.

Kane seems to excel at the mystery and plot surrounding it. If you like police procedurals, this will definitely be a match for you, since it is a meticulous one. Every step is carefully documented, the dance done familiar to any fan of this genre. I kept expecting to hear the familiar “donk, donk” (or whatever the heck that is) of Law and Order. Kane’s writing has that sometimes dry but always interesting intensity that was a hallmark of that classic show.

I can recommend Drawn in Blood for those who like their suspense to have a touch of romance in it and who prefer procedurals to thrillers. If you can focus your interest on those features, this book is sure to entertain and satisfy.