Reviewed by Taylin
TITLE: Seeing Blood
SERIES: The Augur #2
AUTHOR: LM Somerton
PUBLISHER: Entwined Publishing
LENGTH: 262 Pages
RELEASE DATE: December 30, 2025
BLURB:
Some truths were never meant to be spoken.
Augur Bryn Ashton’s touch reveals truth and in a world where genetic mutations grant enhanced abilities that makes him both indispensable and a target.
After a rare day off is cut short, Bryn and his lupine detective partner Gunnar Ericson are assigned to investigate Thanacrine, a synthetic drug that boosts gene-enhanced abilities but causes violent psychosis and death. The trail leads to mob boss Salvatore Russo and a biotech company with a suspicious agenda. To infiltrate their network, Bryn must team up with the enigmatic sanguine Giles Delacourt, his nemesis and former trainer, to pose as investors at a fundraising business event.
As the operation unfolds, the team uncovers illegal experimentation and possible federal involvement. A raid on a lab ends in tragedy, and a mission in Philadelphia nearly costs Bryn his life. With the body count rising, the emotional toll deepens, and so does the bond between Bryn and Gunnar.
The final showdown at a high-profile memorial turns Boston’s Cathedral of the Holy Cross into a blood-stained battleground. With tension mounting and a serial killer resurfacing, Bryn must rely on Gunnar and confront the cost of chasing truth when enemies are everywhere and nothing is as it seems.
Pulse pounding and tense, this second installment in The Augur series raises the stakes and leaves Bryn treading a delicate line between survival and the vulnerability that comes with opening his heart to love.
REVIEW:
The MOB are trying to create a breed of super soldiers from the gifted. However, their experiments are causing more to die than live. Bryn, along with the last person he wants to work with, Giles, are sent in to bring them to justice. Bryn’s partner, Gunnar, wants Bryn to stay alive. But there’s more than one player, and each one wants something different.
Seeing Blood is the second book in The Augur series, which contains traditional cops versus bad guy elements, and has the twist of DNA-gifted individuals. Some organizations train the gifted to help; others want to exploit them. In this instalment, Bryn must face his past to thwart the users. The result was a story that differed from the first book in that it followed one case through to conclusion instead of many, yet it contained the high-octane elements that I have come to expect from this super author.
The story is told in the third person solely from Bryn’s viewpoint, whose sarcasm I adore and whose conversations spark witty comebacks alongside levity in serious situations. It’s part of Bryn’s soul, used as a form of protection and as a way of delivering a message. The world in which Bryn operates was established in book one. However, characters, dynamics, and relationships evolve and expand. It feels like everyone has a story to tell about how they ended up where they were, including hidden secrets that I hope will become apparent over time. What this does for a story is give it unpredictability, which occasionally left me wondering what could have been possible earlier, and what answers lie in future books. All we currently know for certain is that Gunner would sacrifice his life for Bryn and vice versa. In the greater scheme of things, who knows who is working for good or bad, knowingly or unknowingly?
Seeing Blood contains multiple criminal and personal angles, and targets are aplenty. Various MOB-related factions have more than one target, of which Bryn is often one of them. This makes for an interesting read as different unions have opposing agendas. Let’s not forget the overarching story of the psychopathic serial killer targeting Bryn that constantly lingers in the background.
In some respects, Seeing Blood suffers from what I call sequelitus. Some things aren’t a surprise because of what I read in book one, but it doesn’t detract from the fact that this is a well-written book and there is more to come in book three – Seeing Evil, of which one can read an excerpt at the end of Seeing Blood.
RATING: 
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