Book Review: Dying Bites by DD Barant (Bloodhound Files #1)

Her job description is the “tracking and apprehension of mentally-fractured killers.” What this really means in FBI profiler Jace Valchek’s brave new world—one in which only one percent of the population is human—is that a woman’s work is never done. And real is getting stranger every day…

Jace has been ripped from her reality by David Cassius, the vampire head of the NSA. He knows that she’s the best there in the business, and David needs her help in solving a series of gruesome murders of vampires and werewolves. David’s world—one that also includes lycanthropes and golems—is one with little knowledge of mental illness. An insane serial killer is a threat the NSA has no experience with. But Jace does. Stranded in a reality where Bela Lugosi is a bigger box office draw than Bruce Willis and every full moon is Mardi Gras, Jace must now hunt down a fellow human before he brings the entire planet to the brink of madness. Or she may never see her own world again…

My Review: 
Jace Valchek is an FBI profiler with a proven track record for hunting psychopaths. When a possible mentally ill human starts killing supernatural beings in their world, vampire NSA head David Cassius takes Jace from her world to come to his and solve the case. If she fails, she may never see her own world again. But the human she seeks offers to be her ally instead-does she ally with a fellow human to overthrow the government who brought her here by force and cause humans to live in fear, or does she betray her rebelling species instead?

Jace is a tough agent who deals with scumbags on a daily basis and her life isn't exactly full of joy in her own reality. She drinks too much, throws everything into her work and has no real friends who would care if she vanished forever. She is naturally angry at being kidnapped  but soon realises that it is in her best interests to cooperate and get the job done. Now she has to get her head around a world with no guns, limited numbers of humans and a dominant population who are capable of killing or turning her. She is unwilling to rely on her new allies, unsure if they are telling her the truth and soon she becomes aware that they are keeping details from her. I like that she is angry about her situation, confused by her very different surroundings and makes quite a few mistakes. Who wouldn't in those circumstances? And the doubts she had about what side she was really on gave it an interesting twist.

I liked seeing a different version of our world where the population is 37% vampire, 43% lycanthropes, 19% golem and 1% human. A great war destroyed the human population who ended up killed or turned against their will in Nazi concentration camps and now a group of angry humans are fighting back, determined to bring down those who rule. You can certainly understand why the humans want revenge but it is their methods that are questionable and this is what leads to Jace being unsure what side is right. In this world there are no guns except what Jace has. All objects and creatures have a spirit within them that can generally communicate with those trained to talk to them, meaning that a patch of moss or piece of stone at a crime scene can perhaps have useful information. I found this to be a really interesting twist and it certain makes crime scene examination more interesting. Jace is constantly finding differences in music and TV too, and some of the popular programme are twists on things that a lot of us watch. Knowing that Bram Stoker was also Jack the Ripper in this world, killing vampire prostitues was a fun addition.

The characters were really interesting. There is Cassius who is cool, attractive and just a little sinister if you get on the wrong side of him, but I liked him. He has a soft spot for Jace but has not done anything about it, at least in this book. Gretchen is a vampire on the case who acts as liason for Jace. She is like a sort of snarky grandmother who tries to watch out for Jace and Jace thinks of her as a predatory Mary Poppins. I liked Gretchen's comments and observations. There is also the nerdy forensics man Damon Eisfanger, a hybrid dog wolf shifter. He is smart enough to do forensics and talk to the variety of witnesses on the case ie the moss, but he is hopeless at talking to his colleagues. He is kind of endearing and awkward. Smooth werewolf Tanaka, their Japanese werewolf liason and werewolf Dr Pete are also interesting characters. My favourite had to be Charlie, the part T Rex Golem bodyguard with his sand jokes, smart suits, fedora and alligator shoes! He is snarky and funny and won't take rubbish from Jace. I kinda had an image of The Thing from Fantastic Four in my head!

“I look over at him. He stares straight ahead. "So," I say. "Golem, huh?"
   "I prefer the term 'Mineral-American.”

This book has a bit of everything really-Japanese Yakuza, werewolf bikers in Alaska, human serial killer, alternative history, twisted murders, entertaining world-building, magic, Irish shape-shifters, Gods, humour,and a group of interesting colleagues working together in a group dynamic, something I always enjoy. It was interesting for the human to be stranded in a world where she is in the minority and in constant danger, which has Jace on edge the whole time. I also liked the way the people of the two worlds were fascinated by each others technology and strange ways. The book cleverly mixes our world history into a supernatural context ie what happened to vampires, humans and werewolves in Nazi style camps, plus we had the serial killer story as well. For those who like a bit of romance, there was a one night stand for Jace that was off camera so to speak but there are several potential love interests for Jace in future books. I very much enjoyed this book.

Re-Read November 2019
4 or 5 stars?