Half-vampire
Catherine Crawfield is going after the undead with a vengeance, hoping
that one of these deadbeats is her father - the one responsible for
ruining her mother's life. Then she's captured by Bones, a vampire
bounty hunter, and is forced into an unholy partnership.
In
exchange for finding her father, Cat agrees to train with the sexy night
stalker until her battle reflexes are as sharp as his fangs. She's
amazed she doesn't end up as his dinner - are there actually good
vampires? Pretty soon Bones will have her convinced that being
half-dead doesn't have to be all bad. But before she can enjoy her
newfound status as kick-ass demon hunter, Cat and Bones are pursued by a
group of killers. Now Cat will have to choose a side . . . and Bones is
turning out to be as tempting as any man with a heartbeat.
My Review:
My
book of the year so far! (when I originally reviewed it) Cat is half vampire half human,a result of her
mother being raped by a newly turned vampire. Now she is out seducing and
staking vampires in revenge, hoping to eventually kill her dad-until
the night that one is too fast and captures her. Bounty hunting vampire
Bones soon realises what Cat is and that they would make a good team in
hunting the evil vampires together. He decides to train her and harness
her skills to kill the evil vampires. When their relationship changes
Cat fears her mother's reaction and Bones fears for Cat's safety as they
come up against very dangerous vampires.
This was just
brilliant! Cat is a great fiesty, kickass, smart mouthed half vampire
who has been taught to hate her vampire side by her angry mother Justina. She is
a great character. She is troubled by her family history and wants her evil father dead but is afraid to use her vampire skills for anything other than death-and she barely knows what she is doing when she tries to attack the latest vampire she meets. As plans go, it isn't the best in the world and Cat senses that if she dies doing this, her mother won't be greatly upset that the abomination is dead.
Bones is wonderful-sexy, smart, witty and the
perfect match for Cat. When I see him in my mind I get an instant picture of Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and he is so like him! Maybe that's why I love him so much! He is funny, snarky, smart and resourceful and determined to train Cat despite her obvious weaknesses. The ups and downs of their relationship had me
hooked and I normally shy away from the PNR side of vampire books, as
too much love and sex bores me in novels. The fact that I loved their
steamy romance shows how well written it was. There was plenty action to
keep UF fans happy and lots of vampires. The side characters were also
well written and were a perfect fit for the plot. Bones best friend Spade is a good character and I liked him instantly.
The humour was
superb-Timmy's impression of a God fearing demon hunter (“We're going to knock those demons out and slay them with the power of Jesus. Hallelujah, can I get an amen?)
and Bones 'dirty
talk' lecture had me in stitches. Cat's mother was entertaining as well
in her own way as she has plenty to say when disapproving of her daughter. There were a lot of laughs through the book, usually
when Bones was getting annoyed with Cat for messing up! It kind of reminds me of the Riggs-Murtaugh relationship in Lethal Weapon with Cat accidently killing everyone and driving Bones mad.
"Lucifer's bouncing balls kitten, not again!"
There is lots of kickass action and vampire hunting going on which is perfect with the humour and the character development that the author does so well. It is one of the best urban fantasy series that I've read-and I've read it a good few times now. This book is sexy, full of action and adventure, witty, funny and sad. The perfect vampire read! I recommend this book to fans of kickass urban fantasy and paranormal romance.
First Read April 2010.
I do love a good vampire film or TV series! There is such a wide range of vampires to enjoy, whatever your particular taste is! Whether you like them seductive and shiny or scary and evil, there is nothing quite like the vampire!
Lets take a quick look at the historical vampire, those iconic images of the vampires I remember seeing on TV when I was young. We have that seriously creepy piece of film of Nosferatu that freaked me out every time I saw it, the Dracula that I loved on the TV played by Christopher Lee, and the creepy Mr Barlow from Salems Lot. *shudder*
The Hammer Horror Dracula films really got me interested in vampires and I grabbed books that interested me to feed this obsession. Ironically two of the best loved vampire books did not grab my interest when I read them-Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' and Anne Rice 'Interview with the Vampire'. I never lost my film love and in the 80's and 90's I watched a lot of vampires!
But of course the BIG vampire event for me was Buffy the Vampire Slayer! I didn't think much of the film as I think the casting was badly wrong but I quickly became addicted to the TV series. I loved season 2 as it had so many great episodes and then I loved the plot at the end of season 5. Season 4 had a few guff episodes but 7 is the one that I felt was the let down season with Buffy being a bitch all the time. Favourite episodes include Hush, The Wish, Once more with feeling, Halloween, Bewitched Bothered and Bewildered, Band Candy, The Body, Tabula Rasa, The Gift, Intervention. Fave characters-Giles, Xander, Anya, Cordelia and Spike! I liked the first couple of seasons of Angel until it did angry Connor and evil Cordy. I never much liked Fred either! I did love Wesley and Lorne though...
After Buffy and Angel, there were more vampires everywhere which was great but not all lived up to expectations! I was very disappointed in the Twilight films which just seemed bland and boring to me. I didn't watch beyond the third film. I never took to the True Blood series either. There are some TV series with vampires that I hope to catch up with at some point:
What are your favourite vampire films and TV series? Have you watched any of these? Any other recommendations for us?
After three hundred
years of unlife, vampire Zara Lain has seemingly done it all, and she's
now making a living as a successful thief-turned-assassin. Her newest
assignment seems simple enough--kill the aging leader of the O'Connor
Coven and his only heir, and she'll have another ten million in the
bank.But in the dangerous world of the supernatural, few things are ever
"simple."
When a massive assault decimates the continent's population of
powerful witches and warlocks, and its orchestrator has vampires being
hunted down and captured, Zara realizes the tables have turned and now
she'll be playing the hero. Forced to join with a smart-mouthed fellow
vampire, a demonologist who's also a fan of hers, a recently
widowed--and frequently brooding--warlock, and her best friend's mom,
Zara's grudgingly willing to do what she can to save the day.If only
people would stop ruining all her outfits...
My Review:
Zara
is a kickass vampire who is making a living as a thief and assassin.
Her best friend hires her to kill a warlock and his son during a party
at their house but when it goes pear shaped, Zara realises she is in the
middle of something bigger where magical people are being killed and
vampires kidnapped.
I really enjoyed this book. Zara is arrogant,
vain, kickass, snarky, witty and you can't help loving her attitude.
She expects men to lust after her and it is a big shock when one in
particular doesn't. To Zara, humans are a lesser life form and she has a
lot of funny thoughts about them. From the moment she has to deal with
the would be rapist in the first chapter, I loved Zara. She is never
without a snarky comment or amusing observation. I also liked the way
the author had her as a vampire who is not invincible. Zara makes
mistakes, she gets hurt, she makes bad decisions sometimes, which makes
the character more real. The side characters werte interesting too.
Peter the geeky Zara fan was sweet, Jamie was a slimy arrogant git(a bit
like Ian from the Jeaniene Frost Night Huntress series)and Nate who
struggles to deal with Zara's attentions and his own magic was the
brooding one.
The book is a great mixture of humour, action and
emotions which I thought the author got just right. The story flows
along at a nice pace without a ton of world building and info dumps.
This story is about the characters and they are nicely developed through
their interactions with each other and the situations they find
themselves in. The action scenes are exciting, well written and easy to
follow and there are plenty of them to enjoy. We have fights with demons
and vampires and warlocks to enjoy. I also liked that Zara's back story
was gradually introduced in snippets as we progressed through the story
instead of just one big info dump. Each revelation about her helped you
to understand why she is like this and like her more.
Zara
develops a lot as a character, becoming more human as she hangs out with
them to solve the case. I like the fact that she starts as a bitch and
then develops human emotions as the story unfolds. There is a romance in
the book but it is slow building, enjoyable and does not slow the story
down. I'm not a huge fan of romance in my urban fantasy but I did enjoy
this one because it's not that damn instalove crap. The story was put
together in a way that keeps you guessing what is going to happen next
and I have to admit that I didn't see the twist coming in the attack on
the witch house. That took me by surprise and I was kicking myself for
not seeing it coming! And the ending was a shocker as well! I do like to
be surprised by a book!
My only disappointment was to find that
Zara doesn't narrate the next two books in the series which is a bummer!
I imagine I will read them anyway as she does feature in them-if I can
find paperback versions of the books which appears to be pretty
difficult. If you like tough female characters and enjoy urban fantasy,
give this book a try.
NB Since I wrote this review, the books have been re-released. Yea!
Read April 2014.
A DYING MAN’S GREATEST TREASURE…
Mortimer
Moorecook, retired Wall Street raider, avid collector, is losing his
fight against cancer. With weeks to live, a package arrives at the door
of his hillside mansion—an artifact he paid millions for…a hominoid
skull with elongated teeth, discovered in a farmer’s field in the
Romanian countryside. With Shanna, his beautiful research assistant
looking on, he sinks the skull’s razor sharp fangs into his neck, and
immediately goes into convulsions.
OPENS THE DOOR TO AN ANCIENT EVIL...
A rural hospital. A slow night in the ER. Until Moorecook arrives strapped to a gurney, where he promptly codes and dies.
WHERE DEATH IS JUST THE BEGINNING.
Four
well-known horror
authors(Jack Kilborn, Blake Crouch, Jeff Strand and F Paul Wilson) pool
their penchants for scares and thrills, and tackle one of
the greatest of all legends, with each writer creating a unique
character and following them through a vampire outbreak in a secluded
hospital.
The goal was simple: write the most intense novel they possibly could. Which they did.
A Word of Warning:
Within
these pages, you will find no black capes, no satin-lined coffins, no
brooding heartthrobs who want to talk about your feelings. Forget
sunlight and stakes. Throw out your garlic and your crosses. This is the
Anti-TWILIGHT.
My Review:
I always get nervous when I see authors getting together to
co-write a book, especially four! I always wonder if the styles and
ideas of the authors are going to clash and turn it into a pure mess.
But my fears were unfounded as soon as I got into this book.
It
starts with a bang and goes on at breakneck speed in an orgy of violence
and gore, with some pretty funny bits as well. Each author-Jack
Kilborn, Blake Crouch, Jeff Strand and F Paul Wilson, create characters
who are inside the secluded hospital when a vampire outbreak begins.
There are no fluffy bunny moments or a break in the action, no waffle or
endless descriptions, no classic literature or critically acclaimed
writing...this is just vampire action on speed. And I loved it!
Mortimor
is a rich man who is dying of cancer and has an extreme idea to cure
it. He purchases a vampire skull with horrific fangs and stabs himself
in the neck with it, infecting himself. His collapse is immediate and
his nurse Jenny and assistant Shanna have to get him to the hospital
where he swiftly dies. But Mortimor is going to come back very quickly
and is very hungry and eager to infect as many people as he can. Chaos
and death are about to reign in the hospital as the uninfected try to
escape or hide and the vampire hordes hunt them down.
We follow
Jenny and her ex husband Randall who is in hospital after an unfortunate
chainsaw accident, the obnoxious Dr Lanz who had Jenny fired from the
hospital, Shanna and her redneck cop boyfriend Clay, Adam in the labour
ward with wife Stacie, Benny the Clown at the ER after being bitten by a
child at a birthday party who is stuck to him by the braces on her
teeth and Carla the nurse on the labour ward. There are also a lot of
people at the hospital for various reasons who are about to become a
walking and screaming buffet!
It is Lanz who manages to get a
call in to the police to alert them while all hell is breaking out
around him. Victims are growing fangs as their own fall out, the sign of
infection, and a full scale bitefest is under way. Hospital staff are
trying to close wards and protect the vulnerable patients as monsters
stalk the dark corridors. Shanna comes back from a coffee to find
Mortimor had died, reanimated and is chewing on people. Benny the Clown
discovers that being chomped by a child is going to be the start of a
really bad day. Jenny begins to see the now sober Randall in a new light
as the injured man uses his chainsaw to protect her and a ward full of
kids. Oasis is discovering that being a child vampire makes it kinda
tough to get a decent meal. Adam's wife needs blood after the delivery
but does he really want to venture down to the basement to get it?
As
well as the gore, then is some seriously inappropriate humour which I
really enjoyed. Without a doubt, my favourite character was Benny the
Clown with his squeaky shoes. As he arrives on the children's ward where
others are hiding...
"Benny the Clown had torn open the man's
abdominal cavity, his claws cradling several loops of glistening
intestines. But rather than gorging on them, the clown was stretching
and pulling the bloody loops, twisting the organ into knots. Familiar
knots.
'Is that...a flamingo?' asked the old woman."
LOL! I
was laughing when I read that! Comedy and horror are great when put
together well, like in Evil Dead 2, and that was one of the highlights
in this book. It was so refreshing to read a book where the death toll
gives 24 a run for it's money, where the plot is just a crazy bloodbath
and where you are totally entertained from start to finish.
If you like gory horror with a few chuckles in it which is not to be taken seriously, and a B movie type plot, then Draculas is for you!
Read September 2015.
Top Ten Tuesday
is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of
lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists
with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!
Please note that I do not allow third
party companies like DISQUS access to my blog or social media so if you
use that, I can't follow you or comment on your blog or posts. Sorry!
This week is Top Ten Debuts of 2017...well, I'm not greatly waiting on many books and I have no idea what debuts are out this year so it's time to do something different. As it is Vampire Week at The Book Cave, l wanted to do something fang related. So how about Top Ten Vampires you might not have read!
1) F Paul Wilson-The Keep
A Jewish mythology expert is brought in to aid a Nazi unit whose people are being murdered at a remote castle in the mountains. Nazis, vampires and WWII setting? Intriguing!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62571.The_Keep
2) Michael Rowe-Enter, Night
A sleepy old mining town is about to face a 300 year old vampire that has arisen. Regarded as old school vampire novel like Salems Lot.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11515975-enter-night
3) John Steakley-Vampire$
This is the book that John Carpenters Vampires was based on and I loved that film so I'm certainly going to read this one!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/843588.Vampire_
4) Philip Henry-Vampire Dawn
I read the second book in the trilogy thinking it was standalone so want to read it in order now. Vampires battle against vampire hunters seeking to destroy them.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7130820-vampire-dawn
5) George RR Martin-Fevre Dream
A vampire in the steamboat era seeks to reunite his race with the humans.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/382450.Fevre_Dream
6) Robert R McCammon-They Thirst
Legions of vampires start to slowly take over Los Angeles. My dad owned this but I never got round to reading it!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/462658.They_Thirst
7) Tanya Huff-Smoke and Shadows
In a spin-off series from her Vicki Nelson books, Tony Foster teams up with Henry Fitzroy, vampire, to take on evil monsters.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/338121.Smoke_and_Shadows
8) Catherine Jinks-The Reformed Vampire Support Group
Every Tuesday a vampire support group meets to discuss their issues until one is killed. Now the most useless vampires ever need to stay alive and solve the crime.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5266733-the-reformed-vampire-support-group
9) John G Hartness-A Hard Days Knight
Two somewhat hapless vampire detectives find themselves in a world of trouble during their latest case. I read and liked this but need to re-read so I can review it.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17218099-hard-day-s-knight
10) Jenna Maclaine-Wages of Sin
A woman pursued by a relentless vampire calls on the help of a group of warrior vampires to protect her. A historical setting but feels urban fantasy.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2658545-wages-of-sin
