Major themes in Bloodwork

Connelly's Bloodwork  does highlight a few issues that are worth a minute of our time. So let's take a minute of our time to think about these issues that are worth this minute of our time.

Evil
One can't deny that this James Noone guy is not terribly warm and cuddly, he is a twisted evil cold blooded maniac. His portrait is so evil that you end up wondering whether such extremes exist in real life. Let's hope they don't, otherwise we'd all be in deep trouble.

Internet
Connelly clearly points to computers and the internet in Bloodwork as a potential source for trouble as well as solace: McCaleb makes a major breakthrough thanks to the BOPRA online database and the killer uses that same database to choose victims and convey messages to McCaleb. In an interview with Bob Cornwell, Connelly says he believes that the internet "has fundamentally changed the relationship between writer and reader".

Blood-bonds
McCaleb feels compelled to help Graciela (She may also have been a pain in the backside) solve this mystery because he has her sister's heart. He feels indebted to her and does whatever he can to repay his debt. But did he really have to? Granted, he was the major beneficiary from this murder but he didn't know that when Graciela first came, he could have simply blown her off, and then we wouldn't be here discussing all this. Do we really owe anything to people with whom we share blood?

Camaraderie and professional confrontations
This is an area where Bloodwork excels. The professional bonds between Terry, Winston, Arrango Walters , Uhlig and co. are thoughtfully researched and well described in Connelly's words. We can clearly see how the local authorities (here the LAPD) are bummed by federal authorities' interventions (here the FBI), how Arrango is infuriated by Terry's involvement in the case and how Terry himself regards Buddy Lockridge, who was arguably essential to his work, as a mere servant.

Of course, other topics are mentioned in the novel, so feel free to share those that interested you the most.