Blood Ties by Sigmund Brouwer
"Blood Ties" by Sigmund Brouwer is a gripping medical thriller set in the small town of Kalispell, Montana, during 1973. The story follows FBI agent Clay Garner, who is called to investigate a suspicious train derailment and the subsequent murder of Native American George Samson's granddaughter, Doris. As Clay navigates the complexities of the local law enforcement, particularly Sheriff Russ Fowler, he uncovers a potential serial killer known as the Watcher, who leaves ominous eagle feathers at the crime scenes. Alongside Clay's personal struggles and relationships, particularly with Kelsie McNeill, the plot delves into themes of obsession and the confrontation between good and evil.
The Watcher, a deeply troubled character with a history of abuse, becomes increasingly fixated on Kelsie, leading to a series of chilling events. As the narrative unfolds, the tension escalates with Kelsie and Clay's family dynamics, including their son Taylor, coming under threat. The novel explores profound Christian themes, particularly the struggle between moral good and evil, mirroring epic literary battles between divine forces. Ultimately, "Blood Ties" presents a complex portrait of human frailty and the pervasive nature of evil, while highlighting the redemptive potential of love and resilience.
Blood Ties by Sigmund Brouwer
First published: Dallas, Tex.: Word, 1996
Genre(s): Novel
Subgenre(s): Evangelical fiction; mystery and detective fiction; thriller/suspense
Core issue(s): Good vs. evil; Native Americans; redemption
Principal characters
Kelsie McNeill , the protagonistTaylor , Kelsie’s sonClay Garner , Kelsie’s husband, a former FBI agentThe Watcher , the antagonist, who is stalking KelsieGeorge Samson , Clay’s Native American friend and spiritual companionDoris Samson , Samson’s granddaughterFlannigan , Clay’s FBI forensics colleagueRuss Fowler , the sheriff of Kalispell, MontanaNick Buffalo , a ranch hand and friend of Kelsie
Overview
In a brilliant follow-up to his medical thriller Double Helix (1995), Sigmund Brouwer creates in Blood Ties a world where physical evil lurks around every corner and where metaphysical evil confronts the good in the small town of Kalispell, Montana. In 1973, Clay Garner, an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), is called to Kalispell to investigate a suspicious train derailment on property that abuts the federal reservation land where Native American George Samson lives. When George’s granddaughter, Doris, is found dead in a local hotel, Clay’s assignment takes on new dimensions. Although the local sheriff, Russ Fowler, ridicules Clay and his urban training, he reluctantly allows Clay to work on the case after Clay threatens to report Fowler for obstruction of justice. Clay believes the clues that he finds at Doris’s murder scene—especially an eagle feather that the murderer has left as a calling card—indicate that a serial killer may be at work in the community.
Meanwhile, Kelsie McNeill has troubles of her own. The daughter of one of the town’s wealthiest ranchers, she is headstrong and beautiful, especially as the 1973 teenager first presented to the reader. She has a crush on Nick Buffalo, one of her father’s ranch hands, but someone else is watching and pining for Kelsie from afar. This stalker leaves Kelsie notes about his love for her, and an eagle feather accompanies each note. Sheriff Fowler is no more help to Kelsie than he is in finding Doris Samson’s murderer, so Clay and Kelsie’s father, along with some other men in the town, set a trap to try to catch the stalker, who is called the Watcher. During this botched attempt, the Watcher shoots and wounds Clay. Kelsie visits him in the hospital every day, falls in love with him, and marries him.
Readers learn about the Watcher’s life through his interior monologue and stream-of-consciousness reflection on his past life. At a young age he was physically and sexually abused, and his abuser sliced off the head of the Watcher’s beloved kitten. From that day forward, the Watcher killed his share of animals, drawing power and ecstasy from the act of killing. He soon graduated to humans: He killed Doris Samson, watching her die a slow death and reveling in the excitement and power he felt. The Watcher has plans for Kelsie McNeill.
Twenty years later, Kelsie and Clay’s marriage is on shaky ground and starts to fall apart. Kelsie leaves Clay to start a new life in Denver, but she leaves behind their son, Taylor, with his father. Once in Denver, she is vulnerable to the ways and wiles of the Watcher, who has not left her alone since his early notes to her. One day after work, she opens the glove compartment of her car and a rattlesnake lunges at her. Inside the glove box are another love note and an eagle feather. In Kalispell, Taylor disappears, and a worried Kelsie and Clay get back together momentarily. When she returns to Denver after this night with Clay, the Watcher is waiting for her in her apartment and kidnaps her. Although bound in the trunk of his car, she manages to free her hands to use a cell phone to call Clay and leave a message for him before the phone loses its signal.
The Watcher whisks Kelsie and Taylor to a house that he has specially prepared for them. In his misguided love for Kelsie, the Watcher believes that she loves him and wants to be with him as much as he wants to be with her. Frantically putting all the clues together, Clay, with the help of his friend George Samson, frenetically searches for his wife and son. When he discovers the Watcher’s hiding place, Clay rushes in to rescue his family and defeats the Watcher in a life-and-death struggle.
The novel’s surprise ending reveals a small Montana town full of corrupt political and legal officials that provided an opportunity for the development of the Watcher’s evil ways. Although good trumps evil in the end, Clay’s spiritual goodness fails to be as interesting or as convincing as the Watcher’s evil.
Christian Themes
One of the great themes of Christian literature is the monumental struggle between moral evil and moral good. The earthly conflict between good and evil stands as a symbol for the cataclysmic battle between metaphysical forces of evil and good; thus, God and the sons of light battle against Satan and the sons of darkness in catastrophic skirmish out of which the forces of God emerge triumphant. Dante, John Milton, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and other great poets and writers depicted this struggle in their epic works, and many other writers have addressed this theme—whether in an explicitly Christian context or not. Brouwer’s novel captures the very real conflict that every person experiences in choosing good over evil.
Clay Garner is a good man repulsed by the evil in the world around him. He struggles with spirituality, asking questions about why God allows suffering in the world. Although he acts as a force for good in the novel in his actions toward Kelsie and Taylor, his good is more moral than spiritual. He is unconvincing as a force of God’s goodness in the world. His name, Clay, indicates this in two ways. God is shaping him like clay in the struggle with evil, and his clay feet make him human in his failures.
The Watcher, much like Milton’s Satan and Goethe’s Mephistopheles, is powerfully attractive in his evil ways. He is utterly convincing as a soul consumed by evil and in his commitment to acting out his moral evil in the community. It is only in the last moments—and not entirely because Clay is a good man—that good triumphs over evil in the novel. The Watcher stands as a symbol for Satan, and Clay Garner stands as a symbol for the frailty of humankind and its need to be constantly in God’s presence in order to overcome evil.
Sources for Further Study
Carrigan, Henry L., Jr. “Blood Ties.” Library Journal 121, no. 14 (September 1, 1996): 163. In this positive book review, Carrigan compares Brouwer’s novel to John Grisham’s thrillers and points out Brouwer’s brilliant storytelling skills.
Mort, John. “Blood Ties.” Booklist 93, no. 1 (September 1, 1996): 65. In this generally positive book review, Mort points out that Brouwer effectively uses suspense to capture his readers and to produce an unusual Christian novel.
Schriefer, Kirk. “Mystery Novel Disappoints.” M.B. Herald 36, no. 14 (July 18, 1997). In his mostly negative book review, Schriefer observes that Blood Ties lacks sufficient suspense and mystery to be an effective thriller.