‘Clean Kill’ a little too muddled and confusing

This week I’m afraid that this week’s book falls into the “don’t bother” category.

“Clean Kill” by Adam Nicholls is book one in his Bloodline series. I selected it with high hopes but it didn’t take many pages to make me frustrated and confused.

Blake Salinger is 37 and a successful salesman working for a big firm. He’s just about to close a very important business deal when the police arrive. He is roughly handcuffed and hauled to an interrogation room.

As he enters the room, Blake notices a silver-haired man staring at him intently. They tell him that he is under arrest for the murder of Jay Salinger. Blake can’t believe his ears. Jay Salinger is his father. Blake and his father weren’t close, but he wouldn’t hurt him.

They proceed to show him the gun and bullet that was used in the murder and insist that his fingerprints are on them. Blake begs them to call Marcy, his stepmom and powerful defense lawyer, but they only laugh.

Suddenly, the silver-haired man slips into the room. In seconds, he has disabled both officers and tells Blake to follow him. Nothing makes any sense, but Blake sees no options.

Soon, they are in a terrifying car chase through busy streets. Suddenly, Silver-hair drops Blake off with instructions to go to a safe place and wait. There he meets Greg, who explains that Jay is actually alive and he will help them both escape. Along the way, Blake will have to learn how to use a gun, fight dirty and never let his guard down. Blake realizes that, if he survives, his life will never be the same.

Their first stop is Blake’s childhood home. How could his quiet father have been a secret assassin calmly killing the targets “the Agency” assigned? They watch Marcy leave then enter to retrieve Jay’s locked box. They’ve just started when Marcy returns. Greg kills her saying that she was the one who framed Blake. Now Blake is utterly confused. Is there anyone he can trust?

At the same time, a man named Charlie is getting the news that Blake Salinger has escaped. Charlie is a small man with vicious temper and love for torture. As head of the Agency, Charlie calls the shots on all kinds of covert activities.

Framing Blake for his father’s death should have been a piece of cake. Now Charlie is furious and determined to make the fumbling officers pay for their mistakes. Charlie knows that Jay Salinger faked his death in an attempt to “retire” from the Agency. The only way out of the Agency is death – real, not faked. Now Charlie needs his operatives to hunt down and kill both Blake and Jay.

As leverage, Charlie has his henchman pay a visit to Blake’s coworker/girlfriend Robin. She is told to tell them when Blake contacts her or die. Robin is smart enough to know that this is no idle threat and does as instructed.

This begins a cat-and-mouse game as Greg and Blake work their way toward Jay. At first, Blake is stunned by the level of violence he must be part of, but eventually comes to accept that it is his only hope for survival.

Along the way they receive help and betrayal from unexpected sources. All Blake wants to do is find his father, go someplace safe and ask him a thousand questions.

When they finally reach Jay’s yacht, Greg’s behavior changes. In the ensuing struggle he shoots Blake and demands the combination to Jay’s secret box. The box explodes, sinking the yacht, and Jay manages to pull Blake to shore where his cop friend stitches up the wound and takes them away before the authorities arrive.

The book ends with Greg climbing out of the water and Charlie vowing to use him to kill Jay and Blake Salinger.