Distant Blood

Imagine Jordan Poteet's surprise when Bob Don Goertz--not the man he called ""Daddy"" for 30 years--turns out to be his father. In this fourth in the series that began with Do Unto Others, Jordy finds a passel of supremely dysfunctional new relatives disinclined to welcome their long-lost progeny. At the initial family dinner on aptly named Sangre Island off the Texas coast the patriarch's announcement that he is dying of brain cancer is followed by murders attempted and realized. After a strong start the story bogs down with Jordy's incessant soliloquies. Occasional zingers, a fine understanding of how relationships can suddenly change from godawful to wonderful, two exciting fights and some evocative descriptions barely hold their own against the heavy melodrama. (Nov.)