This is not only an eco thriller but also a science book. It's very much science in this and when you're not that interested in the topic on that deep level it tends to get a bit boring. Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for a free e-arc copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Excellent book, love it! Looking forward to more from this author! Apologies for the lateness of my review

An edge of your seat thriller, an ecological disaster is happening and Diane has to race against time to stop the deadly plankton from destroying all life. Though it's an Eco thriller it doesn't preach. Good characterisation and a believable plot. Thanks to Black Rose Writing and Netgalley for this very enjoyable ARC.

I love ecothrillers like Bleeding Sea by K A Kirtland. They scare me, because I believe that is how we will be taken out. By ourselves. How much abuse can mother nature take before she becomes overwhelmed?

Bleeding Sea is an appropriate title, seeing the organism that is killing every living thing, including humans, is turning the sea blood red.

The normal things plague the research Diane is doing, greed, betrayal, lies and deceit.

At times I found myself leaning forward as if I could whisper in her ear, “The danger is right behind you.”

Could you imagine, laying on the ocean floor, knowing the clock is ticking and no one is coming to save you? Take a moment and think about it.

I love when the villain(s) aren’t always obvious, they sneak up on you. Diane, she just kept moving forward, doing what she feels is right and necessary. Sometimes even a good person can make a bad decision.

We have lots of characters and no matter how bad things got, there were still good things happening and good people trying to put things right.

I don’t feel my review did the book justice, but sometimes I just can’t find the words.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of Bleeding Sea by K A Kirtland.

See mo0re at http://www.fundinmental.com

What is a dinoflagellate?

Apparently it's a form of plankton, and something has gone terribly wrong with one of these. For it has mutated, and is now taking over the ecosystem of the Eastern seabosrd of the States. And its toxins killing not just most sea life, but many people who near the sea.

The young and idealistic wenty-five-year old Diane Nelson is delighted to be offered a job within her field of marine biology,, and to work for some of the best and most revered minds within this field. They can find a solution before this ecological disaster destroys the planet..... can't they?

But a world in which profit all-too often comes before safety may be closer to Nelson than she can ever imagine.,and it soon transpires that her colleagues may not be who they seem to be. Nelson is not sure who really can be trusted,even whist there is still the urgent search for a new predator to the parasite turning the sea red, whilst irrevocably poisoning it.
.
This book has a way of keeping the interest of the reader, as always a clear sign that this is a good novel. The writer is good at painting the sense of tragedy in depicting the destruction of the eco system, and how this affects the people caught up in it. The novel therefore has 'heart.' There is romance for the heroine soon, although this one is more about the painful process of coming of age.

Really enjoyed this book, which was creepy and informative all at the same time.
The worse thought is that this really could happen and then what…..
The main character was a strong female and interesting with a good back story and some likeable family/friends, most of the characters were well written and you either hated them or sympathised with them.
Technical enough to explain things but not distracting for the science laymen, the plot was easy to read, self explanatory and steady paced.

Diane Nelson has the job of her dreams. Now she faces a organisam that is spreading. In the ocean. Who can she trust? Fast pace Ocean thriller.

This book is one that is definitely very much what it aims to be. It’s an eco thriller and it checked every box for it- the heavy science element and how today’s world is going, made this story actually not sound so far fetched, so for that it gets 3 starts, it’s very realistic and I usually love that. Some non specific but maybe spoilers ahead…

.
.
.
.

One note for the scientific elements is that they were easy to understand, I had no problems with that but it is heavy on the science. I learned a lot from this book.

The lack of it being a 5 star book comes from the other main bits- the “thriller”. I did not find these parts to be anything particularly gripping, thrilling, or surprising. I figured out how this would go early on. And for that it lost my attention. I saw the outcome from a mile away, specifics and all. Just the typical selfish bad people doing bad things they ruin the world around them in the process type of deal.

Lots of credit to the way the author weaves this story making it sound like an actual possibility of happening. But the rest was a miss unfortunately for me.

Thank you to Black Rose Writing and to K.A. Kirtland for the advanced copy of Bleeding Sea!

Bleeding Sea is a strong Eco-Thriller novel that kept me reading the whole day through. I really appreciated that this story didn't jump around between a ton of characters like many Eco-Thriller stories tend to do. The single narrator keeps the story tight and moving quickly. I enjoyed the many twists and turns, and found the science to be very well explained without losing my interest. The settings were well described, and the novel managed to span a multitude of interesting settings without being overwhelming.

While I enjoyed the characters for the most part, I did find that the primary love interest was not necessary and tended to hold the story back. Frequently, the fast pace would grind to a halt to service the romance. Ultimately, the main characters family and friends tended to provide the necessary human connection/emotional catharsis that rendered the love interest redundant.

Ultimately, nothing could stop this story from being excellent! I really enjoyed the book the whole way through and would love to read more by K.A. Kirtland!

Bleeding Sea by K. A. Kirtland
Received as an ARC.
Diane is doing her post doctorate work at an oceanographic laboratory as a major red algae line bacteria is killing the Gulf of Mexico and spreading to the Atlantic. Toxins it gives off killing all sea life and poisoning the air killing humans.
Diane and her fellow researchers are fighting to find away to eliminate this threat.
As Diane digs deeper she stumbles across a corporate and government cover up of hazardous waste escaping a facility. Is she in the crosshairs by them as a former colleague who mysteriously destroyed proof and killed himself?
Fast paced eco-thriller
4⭐️

I liked the premise of this novel and the authors background in environmental science. As an eco thriller, those readers with a greater understanding than me of the technical language will enjoy but I could not engage with the narrative.

Whenever I get the chance to read a novel about environmental pollution, my interest immediately perks up. When the book is specifically about water pollution, I really get fired up. As a retired water pollution control specialist, this book grabbed me. I could tell that the author had considerable knowledge about water quality issues and the science they involve. She mentioned government programs near and dear to my heart such as TSCA (Toxic Substances Control Act) and NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System). Those of us in the wastewater treatment industry are well acquainted with the alphabet soup of government environmental regulations.
The scary aspect of this novel is that even though the events depicted are extreme, similar disasters can and have happened. Beach closures and fish kills are much more frequent than we'd like. A further fact is that many of the chemical compounds in use today are too new to allow us to fully understand long range consequences of introducing them to the environment. We simply don't know what the results of long term exposure to these compounds will be.
Environmental science aside, I found the story itself compelling enough to stay up late reading. There was a tad more romance than I liked but it fit into later portions of the book. All in all, A good, solid read.

Kept me guessing till the end ….killer nature thriller at its best !
Parents scared of this weird algae , children scared .
Toxic bloom was so intriguing to me…love scientific phenomena gone wrong by the hands of evil scientists

Bleeding Sea is an eco-thriller that had me hooked on page one. Dr. Diane Nelson, a recent PHD graduate of the University of Miami has landed her dream job – only to discover that she will become involved in a series of tragic events contaminating our Ocean and that will cause her and her immediate family to be threatened and physically assaulted by the contamination. I received an ARC from NetGalley, and the opinions expressed are my own.

As an eco-thriller, this book effectively delivers on the genre's expectations. The author's strong knowledge of marine biology is evident throughout the story. While the romance subplot is intriguing, its reliance on Minecraft feels incongruous. Using a generic gaming platform instead of a specific brand would enhance the story's believability. Additionally, a minor typo regarding the spelling of "discs" was noted. Overall, the story is engaging.