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    Bleed for Me
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    Bleed for Me
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    Bleed for Me
    Audiobook11 hours

    Bleed for Me

    Written by Michael Robotham

    Narrated by Sean Barrett

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    She's standing at the front door. Covered in blood. Is she the victim of a crime? Or the perpetrator?

    A teenage girl--Sienna, a troubled friend of his daughter--comes to Joe O'Loughlin's door one night. She is terrorized, incoherent-and covered in blood.

    The police find Sienna's father, a celebrated former cop, murdered in the home he shared with Sienna. Tests confirm that it's his blood on Sienna. She says she remembers nothing.

    Joe O'Loughlin is a psychologist with troubles of his own. His marriage is coming to an end and his daughter will barely speak to him. He tries to help Sienna, hoping that if he succeeds it will win back his daughter's affection. But Sienna is unreachable, unable to mourn her father's death or to explain it.

    Investigators take aim at Sienna. O'Loughlin senses something different is happening, something subterranean and terrifying to Sienna. It may be something in her mind. Or it may be something real. Someone real. Someone capable of the most grim and gruesome murder, and willing to kill again if anyone gets too close.

    His newest thriller is further evidence that Michael Robotham is, as David Baldacci has said, "the real deal--we only hope he will write faster."
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHachette Audio
    Release dateFeb 27, 2012
    ISBN9781611135701
    Unavailable
    Bleed for Me
    Author

    Michael Robotham

    Michael Robotham is a former investigative journalist whose bestselling psychological thrillers have been translated into twenty-five languages. He has twice won a Ned Kelly Award for Australia’s best crime novel, for Lost in 2005 and Shatter in 2008. His recent novels include When She Was Good, winner of the UK’s Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award for best thriller; The Secrets She Keeps; Good Girl, Bad Girl; When You Are Mine; and Lying Beside You. After living and writing all over the world, Robotham settled his family in Sydney, Australia. 

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    Reviews for Bleed for Me

    4/5

    234 ratings34 reviews

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    • 4/5
      My god this guy can write. Not one dragon, ninja, alien or zombie and I still loved it!Crime/thriller/suspense/mystery is not something I read a lot, but when I do, it's Michael Robotham. I feel like I know every character in the book personally. Like they're real people out there somewhere.
    • 4/5
      Another outstanding entry in the series. In this one psychologist Joe O'Loughlin defends his daughter's best friend who is thought to have murdered her father. The plot itself becomes pretty complicated and involved so many characters I actually lost track of who was who by the end. I really enjoyed reading this book but I did have a few problems with it.

      I don't know if it's just me, but the author seemed to be punishing Joe in this novel. Why does the author expect the reader to understand and sympathize with Joe's actions but have every other character in the novel get angry with him over these same actions? I really didn't understand his wife and his daughter's resentment toward Joe. And to be honest I'm really tired of reading about passive-aggressive women in crime novels.

      I would caution those of a sensitive nature that this book includes issues of incest,underage sex, and a very disturbing attack on a pet.
    • 1/5
      Badly edited. Author ignorant about technology and psychology. Which is appalling when it's the two main themes. A psychologist (with the sloppy flaw of Parkinson's disease) investigating a crime, what a joke. CBT is Behaviour not 'Behavioural' .
      Lazy, sloppy, creepy. Seems like the author is projecting his fantasies on to the men of the story. The theme of justice was lacking, it was more about the egos of men in midlife crises. Waste of 2 days reading this.
    • 5/5
      Sienna and Charlie, Joe O'Loughlin's daughter, are best friends. An ordinary night turns out to be anything but ordinary when Sienna shows up at Charlie's house covered in blood but takes off running, scared before anyone can speak to her. When she is found she is traumatized, won't even speak and then it is confirmed that she's wearing her father's blood. One thing leads to another and she is charged with her dad's murder. Joe wants to help Sienna. What he's put through in his attempts to prove her innocence is maddening.I've already said, "I don't know who I love more Joe O'Loughlin or Michael Robotham for creating him" but I can not overlook Ruiz in this equation - I love when Ruiz and Joe work together.This was not a predictable outcome and I highly recommend Michael Robotham to anyone who will listen to me!
    • 4/5
      This is a beautifully written, harrowing story of corruption, perversion, abuse of power, and murder. The book opens powerfully and is immediately engaging. A teenage girl, Sienna Hegarty, runs away from the home of her best friend, and is found by the river, covered in blood. Joe O'Loughlin is the psychologist who finds her, and when he tries to get her to talk, she is mute.As the story unfolds, O'Loughlin probes deep into Sienna's world, uncovers terrible secrets and learns his own daughter may be at risk by the same predatory character he suspects tried to kill Sienna. The book has several subplots and new suspects emerge as the plots weave together. The writing is compelling and the story filled with action. Teenage girls are drawn into a world for which they are not prepared, lured by those in positions of trust. The message is sickening and all too true.
    • 3/5
      This was my first introduction to Joe O'Loughlin, Michael Robothoam's main character. Joe is a psychologist suffering from the onset of Parkinsons's disease, an unwelcome visitor in his life that has left him with a shattered marriage and a life slowly coming apart. Into this stumbles his daughter's best friend, covered in blood... the results of the murder of her father. Joe procedes to attempt to untangle what has happened to Sienna and determine whether she is guilty of murdering her father and hopefully during the process to connect with his daughter who is entering her teens and slipping away from him.An enjoyable read with insights into lives unraveling but trying to keep it together.
    • 5/5
      I love the Joe O'Loughlin series so it was only natural for me to read the latest in the series. This book exceeded my expectations and made me even more attached to Joe than I already am. In this book Charlie's best friend, Sienna, shows up at the O'Loughlin residence covered in blood on the night her father is murdered. Joe goes on a mission to prove Sienna's innocence.This was probably tied with Shatter as my favorite of the series. It was a great psychological thriller with great plot twists, action that kept me on the edge of my seat, and was filled with all my favorite returning characters and some new intriguing characters.I have to say though that my feelings towards Julianne have not changed since Shatter. I still dislike her, probably even more so now that she gave Joe divorce papers. There is just something about her that really irks me, probably the way she treats Joe. It was nice to see Ruiz back helping Joe again. I am growing as fond of Ruiz as I am of Joe. They make a great team too.Overall I loved this book and would recommend it and the series to others.
    • 4/5
      I went into this book having no expectations for, as I was unfamiliar with the author and had never before read the previous entries in the series. What a delightful surprise! Not only is the prose snappy and engage, the characterization are lovely. Most impressive is that the mystery component is competent and marvelously executed. Robotham is absolutely an author to watch, and I certainly plan to read the rest of his catalogue. Highly recommend.
    • 4/5
      I picked this book up and was unable to put it down. The deeply flawed main character (Joe O'loughlin) is likeable and for the most part believable. You get the feeling that he has been involved in previous police investigations, but seems (at points) to be clueless as to procedure. It was definitely a page turner and I'd recommend it to other friends who enjoy crime novels and psychological thrillers as the subject matter may be a little dark for others. Thanks for the ARC LibraryThing!s
    • 5/5
      Psychologist Joe O'Loughlin suffers from Parkinson's Disease. His life seems falling apart. His wife, Julianne has left him and his elder daughter, Charlie, age fourteen, is showing a rebellious spirit.Charlie's best friend, Sienna, shows up at Julianne's home covered with blood. Before Julianne can ask what happend, Sienna runs away.Joe finds her by the river bank, "huddled between the roots of a teee like a discarded doll."Sienna is unresponsive and doesn't remember what happened but when police check her home, they find her father's body. He had been murdered.This is only the start of this heart stopping story. We learn of Seinna's relationship with her father and something about the person she is seeing.The momentum builds as Joe confronts someone only to have new doors open and new suspects discovered.This is a powerful novel that shouldn't be missed, not only for the excellent story but the message about adults taking advantage of naive girls.
    • 5/5
      When Sienna Hegarty, Joe's teenager daughter's best friend, shows up one might, covered in blood and totally uncommunicative, it is clear some terrible thing has happenedAnd without question, it is soon clear that something very bad was going on the Hegarty home, even if the police are a bit reluctant to believe what starts to become apparent about her father, a well respected co-worker. They are a family that just seems to have been overwhelmed with tragedy in the past and now it seems that their youngest may go to prison for murder, if O'Loughlin, a psychologist with a unique connection, can not help Sienna remember what really happened.O'Loughlin is a wonderful character and a large part of what makes this book so very good. Yes, he is a psychologist, but he is also a troubled man. Diagnosed with Parkinson's and spending a large part of his day obsessively noting every tic and twitch, he is a very sad man, trapped in more than one way by his illness. He has given up his private practice, only teaching part time, and is also separated from his wife, on the verge of divorce.But his being a psychologist is also a huge plus for the story, because through his eyes, we get to explore below the surface of so many people involved in the multiple treads of the book, including some very, very evil people. All the minor characters are excellent too, especially his friend, retired police detective Victor Ruiz and Detective Ronnie Cray. It would almost be easy to dislike his separated wife, Julianne, to blame her for leaving Joe when he is sick, but Robotham is not going to let us off that easy. Joe is not a perfect guy and sometimes they just want to slap him, and so might you, but in his heart he is a very decent man, in a very difficult situation, just trying to do his best, day by day.The plot is very good, seeming to meander off at time, but all wrapping up in a very satisfying and believable way. The story is always very intelligent, very well paced and very well written.I don't want to give too much away, but this is certainly the type of book you may have a problem putting down, it just flows along so well and draws you in so completely.This is the fourth book in the series, but don't let that stop you from reading this one for one minute. Everything you will need to know about the past is explained to us and while, once again, it may make you want to go back and read the previous ones, it is not at all necessary to love this one.And I did!If you like a great thriller, a great mystery, a well written novel with some great characters, you will enjoy this one.Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      Joseph O'Loughlin in a psychologist in Bristol, England. His daughter, Charlie has a good friend, Sienna. Sienna, is actually a bit more than a friend, since she spends lots of time with the O'Loughlin family, so it's not surprising that Joe O'Loughlin comes to her defence when she's accused of murder.I can find only one fault with this book, the title, I think someone should have come up with something much better. But back to the book. Extremely well written prose, which even becomes almost poetic when the author (Michael Robotham) writes a section describing how a parent feels about the death of a child. Poignant doesn't come close, but it's the best I can come up with.Enough twists and turns to keep you guessing, blind alleys, too. But done in a more gentle tone. O'Loughlin is a less than perfect hero, facing marital problems, and Parkinson's disease to boot. Read it, you won't be disappointed.
    • 4/5
      I have read all this author's books and not a one has disappointed me. Love the character of psychologist Joe O'Loughlin and his struggle with Parkinson's. These books are psychologically dark but so very interesting. Always fast paced and with wonderful handling of difficult subject matter. Definitely kept me riveted and turning the pages. Thank you LibraryThing for this ARC.
    • 4/5
      This was a very good story, but I would have enjoyed it much more if it had not been written in present tense. However, the present tense in this book was less annoying than I have found in other books.
    • 4/5
      Bleed for Me is the first book by Robotham I've read and the fourth in this series. I had no problem catching up with the characters and it reads perfectly as a stand-alone. This one has a fairly slow pace and a lot of insight into the characters and events. I felt the slower pace fit the writing style and the plot, and didn't find it dull at all. The one thing that makes this a 4-star read for me, rather than a 5-star, is the overall tone of sadness. Joe, the main character, narrates the story in first person. We're in his head the entire time and the essence of his character is sad. Because of this, I drifted into sadness with him. I kept hoping for a point in the story where his mood would lift and he would, for at least a short time, find happiness. That didn't happen and I closed the book still feeling sad.
    • 5/5
      I won this book from Goodreads First Reads in exchange for an honest review. I love a good crime novel. The key factor is having a winning protagonist who is fascinating, likeable and flawed so that we want to read more about him. Joe O'Loughlin is exactly that character. When we are introduced to him, it is revealed he has Parkinson's and we are immersed in a world that contains tremors, shuffling gait, and uncontrollable jerks that are mostly embarrassing when he can't get to his pills. He is devoted to his work, so much that he has created a divide between himself and his family. And yet, we like him. He's a good, decent man who loves his family and wants to do the right thing. Furthermore, he's smart in the ways a good psychologist should be. It's been a while since I've been so deeply invested in a character.The story is strong. Contains believeable and strong cast of characters including Sienna, the girl covered in blood, his wife, his friend Ruis. The pacing was exactly right. I never felt bored or that I would have a hard time finishing the novel. When the story was over, the ending was perfect. But it almost made me want to read all of the other novels. I can't wait to meet Joe again. One of the best books I've read in the past year!
    • 5/5
      This is a extremely well written murder mystery involving two adolescent girls that are best friends, Charlie O'loughlin & Sienna Hegarty. Charlie is 14, the daughter of a clinical psychologist Professor Joseph which has Parkinson's disease and Sienna the same age, her dad is a retired constable in England. Then one day Sienna shows up at the doorstep of the O'loughlin's cottage covered in blood, shortly thereafter her dad is found dead in her bedroom with a bruise on the back of his head that probably knocked him out, with his throat slached from ear to ear. Now the mystery begins, the characters start developing, a relationship arrises between a male teacher and, adolescence female students and his fondness for underage girls, the struggles of love in families and the investagation begins. The analogies that he uses too describe circumstances and life issues are remarkably subconciously very interesting too the point, which brings us to the old saying "what an evil web that people weave." I will be reading more of Michael Robotham's novels, I'm leaving right now to go to my local library to search for one, hope it's half as good as this one !!!
    • 4/5
      This is another excellent Joe O'Loughlin story. I love this flawed character, but it's a wonder he's still alive after all the trouble he gets into. Great pace, fabulous characterisation and completely compelling. There is one element of these books however that really bothers me; the way the police treat Joe. There are a couple of times when he is prevented from taking his medicine for his Parkinsons and another, when he is detained without access to his phone, potentially endangering his daughter. All of which could be avoided if the the police didn't continually jump to the wrong conclusion and display callousness. Am I naive to believe this should not go on, or is the author deliberately portraying the police force in a negative manner?
    • 4/5
      Very well written, and although some of the subject matter (child abuse) quite grusome, he makes it readable. I would read another book written by him as it is not dislike Cracker. However, found the ending rushed which was a bit of a dissapointment.
    • 4/5
      His wife is starting to annoy me but the story is solid.
    • 2/5
      Fans of Australian writer Michael Robotham will always be waiting with baited breath for the next instalment from him. Be it a book that features (now) ex-cop Victor Ruiz, psychologist Joe O'Loughlin, Sikh detective Alisha Barba or a combination of those characters. BLEED FOR ME is another Joe O'Loughlin book, with a hefty appearance from Ruiz as well - and these two are particular favourites of this reader anyway.If you've never read a Robotham book before it won't take you long to get up to speed with Joe's back story. A psychologist, he doesn't practice any more, now teaching instead. A sufferer of early onset Parkinsons, his physical frailty is something he struggles with on a daily basis. As he struggles with his separation from wife Julianne. A separation he is consistently unable to accept, his lose of close and regular contact with the woman he continues to love deeply is made even worse by his longing to be back living in the same house as his daughters - baby Emma and teenager on the verge Charlie. When Charlie's best friend Sienna is embroiled in the death of her father - ex-cop in his own right Ray Hegarty Joe is there from the very start. Searching for Sienna on the night that Ray is murdered; trying to help Sienna; trying to help his own daughter deal with the impact of the upheavals in her friends life; trying to restore his marriage; trying to stay in good with the police; trying to find the real killer. Joe seems to spend a lot of his life trying - and he tries the patience of a lot of people around him in the process. Calling in a favour from Ruiz, Joe and Victor seem to be the only people who don't believe Sienna killed her father, even when revelations of what has been going on in that family start to surface.Joe's family have been through a lot in earlier books, and those circumstances, and his increasing Parkinson's symptoms seem to have made Joe more of a hero and Julianne, in particular, somewhat of a villain as their marriage has crumbled. BLEED FOR ME definitely is going someway towards explaining the relationship - the tensions and the difficulties between these two people. A lot of those difficulties play out as the pressure, this time albeit one removed from Joe's own family, acts on everybody in this book. Joe is as alternatively driven, bumbling, well meaning and blind stubborn as he's ever been; Ruiz is closed, measured and somewhat ruthless by comparison. Julianne is defensive sometimes, at other points she's open and caring and protective - and there's some explanation of why she has done what seemed so heartless in earlier books.Along the way, the personal is balanced well against a story of human perversity and cruelty that is often profoundly confrontational. Perhaps it is that idea of confrontation that made Robotham step over one of those lines for some readers of crime fiction. Whilst I have struggled with, and sometimes been able to see and understand the reason for animal cruelty in some books - as a way of instigating some reaction / affecting a character or illustrating a character's flaws, in BLEED FOR ME it's not just that the depiction goes beyond cruelty and steps into explicit suffering, it's because I struggled from then on to find a context for it - a reason if you will. Despite the fact that I found this story of manipulation and cruelty balanced against understanding and care good, and the balancing of the relationship between Joe and his wife fairer and more balanced than before, since finishing the book I'm still confronted by that animal suffering incident. With the passage of time, the details have faded, but I'm still puzzled by the reactions (or lack thereof) of all the characters around that poor animal and increasingly discomforted by extrapolations of why it had to be so graphic. So confrontational. So unexplained, unnecessary. Certainly the last O'Loughlin book I read was the one that Robotham quipped his wife was worried might stop them from being invited to dinner parties. I hope that the bar didn't need to be raised.
    • 5/5
      I started several times to write my own blurb for this latest book from Michael Robotham and then decided I couldn't really do any better than the teaser on the back cover.Ray Hegarty, a highly respected former detective, lies dead in his daughter Sienna's bedroom. She is found covered in his blood. Everything points to her guilt, but psychologist Joe O'Loughlin isn't convinced.Fourteen year old Sienna is the best friend of Joe's daughter and he has watched her grow up and seen the troubled look in her eyes. Against the advice of the police, he launches his own investigation, embarking on a hunt that will lead him to a predatory schoolteacher, a conspiracy of silence and a race-hate trial that is captivating the nation.Although he and his wife are living apart, his family, his two daughters Charlie and Emma, are of prime importance to Joe O'Loughlin. That's why they are separated really - his work with the police in Bristol has a way of backlashing into their lives.There's a theme running through BLEED FOR ME which I feel must come straight out of Michael Robotham's own heart. The following extract comes from the final pages.Parenthood is a lot like being a trapeze artist, knowing when to let go and watch your child tumble away in mid-air, reaching out for the next rung, testing herself. My job is to be here when she swings back, ready to catch her and to launch her into the world again.After SHATTER which topped the charts for me two years ago, I wondered whether Michael Robotham could ever do as well or better. These days I rarely read a book in one sitting, but BLEED FOR ME just kept me reading.The prime POV is Professor Joe O'Loughlin, clinical psychologist, but ex-detective Vincent Ruiz who has been present from the beginning of the series, and DCI Ronnie Cray whom we first met in SHATTER both play primary roles. By the end of BLEED FOR ME they are really working as a team.If you've never read any Robotham before then this one will send you looking for more. And where better to start than at the beginning: * The Suspect (2003) * Lost (2005) (aka The Drowning Man) * The Night Ferry (2007) * Shatter (2008) * Bombproof (2008) * Bleed For Me (2010)I'm seriously wondering whether the Ned Kelly Awards for 2010 will have to consider joint winners again this year. For me BLEED FOR ME just pips Peter Temple's TRUTH by a nose.
    • 5/5
      Absolutely beautifully written book. I laughed, I cried and was on the edge of my seat until the end. I want to read the book 10 more times, because I can never get enough!
    • 2/5
      My least favorite of the series so far, I thought this dragged.
    • 5/5
      I had never heard of this author but his book was on sale so what the heck. I'm generally not a fan of British mystery fiction but this guy sucked me into his story right away and kept me there solidly until the end. A flawed psychologist with Parkinson's is not my idea of a great protagonist. Shows how wrong I am! Robotham (who, totally coincidentally was in Seattle last week promoting his latest book) is solidly on my to-read list now.
    • 4/5
      Robotham is an assured writer; good characters, strong hooks and unique twists. I do see the critiques of him being somewhat misogynistic, though. Pity.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed reading this book. This is the story of Joe O Loughlin a psychologist who sometimes works for the Police. One of his daughters friends is accused of killing her father but Joe has his doubts. He tries to help her and also uncover the truth. Joe has problems of his own he has split from his wife and has Parkinsons. The truth comes out in the end there are a few dodgy characters and all links together in the end. Well worth a read.
    • 5/5
      I requested this book from Netgalley to read and review. Shortly afterward I noticed that it was part of a series. For some reason Netgalley doesn't ever mention if a book is part of a series or not, so I had no idea. So I thought, well, if this is book four, then perhaps I should just decline it, since I haven't read the previous installments. But then I re-read the summary and was left with the impression that the plot of the story wouldn't depend on previous events.
      Fortunately for me, that held to be true.
      I was glad I made the decision to read it, because even though the book was lengthy, it proved to be entertaining and really good. It didn't lose my attention throughout the whole time. The mystery and suspense were on a really high level that kept me wanting to turn the page again and again.

      "Bleed for me" is not a murder story, although there are more than a couple of corpses for investigation. It isn't the story of a psychopath who lures nothing suspecting girls into his schemes, though there's plenty of that. Nor is it the story of racial inequality in the UK.

      "Bleed for me" is rather the story of Joe O'Loughlin - a college professor in psychology - post the time when he and his wife got separated and moved out to live in a village near Bristol. He's suffering the Parkinson's disease, taking medications that seem to become less and less efficient. Still, Joe keeps his sense of humor, dark it may be, and jokingly refers to his illness as Mr. Parkinson.

      He's also passionate about knowing people in the depth of their psyche. And he's really good at it. It doesn't take him long to cut and paste a personality from just a couple of encounters and he's admirably accurate in his patient profiles. That's why he's well respected and sought after by the police.

      I was pleasantly surprised by all the effort Joe put into his work. He'd go to any lengths to prove a person innocent or guilty. Sometimes he puts his own life at stake and others suffer for it. But in the end, no criminal or victim could escape his eagle eye.

      The loyalty of his friends was striking. For who would ever mortgage their house just to pay a friend's bail? Surely, the candidates aren't many. Still, even one is enough when it's the right person.

      I was really sad about Joe's circumstances. Not only because of his illness, but also because of his family situation. He missed his children and his wife, spent hours outside their house just to watch them and make sure they were alright. And he got nothing in return. I got the feeling that his wife abandoned him because he got sick. Aren't wedding vows sacred? Don't they state "in sickness and health"? And still she decided to protect herself from the pain it would cause her to lose him, rather than have him by her side for as long as he's alive. That's just plain wrong. She really, truly irritated me. Playing all saintly and caring, when it was herself that she wanted to protect. It was selfish and despicable. And truth is, he still loved her.

      My favorite character had to be Vincent Ruiz. The friend in need, who really is a friend indeed (in deed as well). A retired cop, he's still got his mojo. A brilliant detective with a knack of things, he's definitely someone to want to be on the good side of. He's gentle and passionate, but can be ruthless as well. I loved him. Especially when I saw how caring he was towards a murder victim's parents.

      Sienna was a broken little thing. I bled with her as she retold her story. A 13 year old, abused at home, then a teacher takes full advantage of her weakened mind. That was beyond anything I'd read so far, and it really stirred me. I wonder, how many children suffer things like that? How many enter life emotionally broken and dysfunctional? What if a child next door is one of them???

      This was a happy end story, though through it all, does the death of one murderer, or the jail sentence of another, really mean a happy end for the victims? Some are dead, some are damaged for life. So, where is the happy end?
    • 5/5
      This is the first book I have read by this author. He is good, very good. Characters, especially Joe are so well drawn. Setting and finally a plot with enough twists and turns to keep you reading. Not sure I'll do the priors since the reviews lead me to think they worked up to this book.
    • 4/5
      A Joe O’Loughlin & Vincent Ruiz novel. Joe becomes involved in a pedophilia case when his daughter’s best friend, Sienna, is missing, beaten and almost drown after her father is found murdered. The police believe she killed her father and Joe is called in for a psychological profile. Joe needs Ruiz’ help investigating while while struggling with his Parkinson’s disease and being separated from his wife. A page turner.