Christine H. (solarawynn) reviewed Hard Bitten (Chicagoland Vampires, Bk 4) on + 724 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I loved this book. I cried and I laughed,It was amazing.
Karissa E. (ophelia99) reviewed Hard Bitten (Chicagoland Vampires, Bk 4) on + 2527 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This is a hard book to rate. Those whove read it know why and it is going to be a whopper to review without giving away spoilers but I will try. Definitely not my favorite book in the series, in fact after some things that happen in the end I almost decided to completely give up the series. That being said, I guess the fact that it still elicited strong emotions says something.
I listened to this as an audio book and the audiobook was exceedingly well done. This is a series I highly recommend listening to; the narrator does an absolutely stellar job reading it.
Merit is still serving as Sentinel of Cadogan House. Vampires are being picketed against and are in a very precarious political position within in the city. Mayor Tate has reports of rising vampire violence against humans. Tate issues an ultimatum; Merit and Ethan will get to the bottom of the violence and stop it or else. Merit is left to unravel the mystery while Ethan deals with unwelcome visitors from the European Vampire Council. As more violent vampire situations arise and Merit learns of an illegal drug on the streets, things start to spin out of control.
This was a very well done book. It was also a very emotionally wrenching book. As with all of these books all the little things that have happened in previous books are starting to come together. Secrets from Merit fathers past, from Ethans past, and from Mayor Tates past all come to light and they are not pleasant.
We get to spend a lot more time with the Red Guard Jonas; he is an interesting character and was entertaining to read about. We also spend a lot of quality time with Ethan and Merit and their banter continues to be highly entertaining.
This is one of the darker books in this series, that being said there is still a lot of humor here. Merit is as snarky as ever. Mallory is finally back in the story some, if not a ton, and it was nice to have her back. We also meet some interesting new characters.
This book is definitely more of an investigative urban fantasy. Merit spends large amounts of time running investigations and dealing with politics. There are plenty of twists and turns that are unexpected but tie in well with the overall storyline. Lots of great action scenes like the previous books and I continue to enjoy those a lot.
The bad thing thing that happens late in the book bothered me not only because it was bad, but because it was so sudden and seemed so out of the blue. I know there must be more behind it and it is killing me to not know why that happened and how it will be dealt with.
Overall a great book in this series. Highly entertaining with lots of twists and turns to keep the reader guessing. Lots of fun banter between the characters like usual. The ending will rip your heart out and stomp on it though so beware. The fact that this series gets me so emotionally involved really says good things about the writing. I highly recommend this series to all the vampire urban fantasy fans out there. This series reminds of the Night Huntress series by Jeaniene Frost; so if you like that series I think you will enjoy this one as well.
I listened to this as an audio book and the audiobook was exceedingly well done. This is a series I highly recommend listening to; the narrator does an absolutely stellar job reading it.
Merit is still serving as Sentinel of Cadogan House. Vampires are being picketed against and are in a very precarious political position within in the city. Mayor Tate has reports of rising vampire violence against humans. Tate issues an ultimatum; Merit and Ethan will get to the bottom of the violence and stop it or else. Merit is left to unravel the mystery while Ethan deals with unwelcome visitors from the European Vampire Council. As more violent vampire situations arise and Merit learns of an illegal drug on the streets, things start to spin out of control.
This was a very well done book. It was also a very emotionally wrenching book. As with all of these books all the little things that have happened in previous books are starting to come together. Secrets from Merit fathers past, from Ethans past, and from Mayor Tates past all come to light and they are not pleasant.
We get to spend a lot more time with the Red Guard Jonas; he is an interesting character and was entertaining to read about. We also spend a lot of quality time with Ethan and Merit and their banter continues to be highly entertaining.
This is one of the darker books in this series, that being said there is still a lot of humor here. Merit is as snarky as ever. Mallory is finally back in the story some, if not a ton, and it was nice to have her back. We also meet some interesting new characters.
This book is definitely more of an investigative urban fantasy. Merit spends large amounts of time running investigations and dealing with politics. There are plenty of twists and turns that are unexpected but tie in well with the overall storyline. Lots of great action scenes like the previous books and I continue to enjoy those a lot.
The bad thing thing that happens late in the book bothered me not only because it was bad, but because it was so sudden and seemed so out of the blue. I know there must be more behind it and it is killing me to not know why that happened and how it will be dealt with.
Overall a great book in this series. Highly entertaining with lots of twists and turns to keep the reader guessing. Lots of fun banter between the characters like usual. The ending will rip your heart out and stomp on it though so beware. The fact that this series gets me so emotionally involved really says good things about the writing. I highly recommend this series to all the vampire urban fantasy fans out there. This series reminds of the Night Huntress series by Jeaniene Frost; so if you like that series I think you will enjoy this one as well.
Helpful Score: 1
Hard Bitten is the fourth book in the Chicagoland Vampires series. This has been one of the better, more consistent, vampire series out there and this book is no exception.
Chicago vampires have been accused of killing humans at 'raves' and the slick Mayor Tate is threatening Ethan Sullivan, Master of Cadogan House, with arrest if he doesn't do something about it. While Ethan is furious at what's happening, and with Tate's threat, he knows something must be done. The former Head of House Navarre, the treacherous Celina, is loose in the city and Merit, Sentinel of Cadogan, has a personal interest in getting her recaptured.
Compounding the vamps problems is human backlash against the vampires. They went from the latest trend to top of the scary things list when open warfare broke out at Cadogan between the two factions werewolves. Tate instituted a 'no humans' rule for all houses, so the vamps have been slowly rebuilding on the their own. So with their property entrance surrounded by picketing humans, out of control vamps killing, and some would be para-military hate group threatening vamps, Ethan and Merit have a lot to deal with, and that gets worse when Darius West, head of the vampire ruling Presidium, shows up with just a few hours notice.
Merit gets a tip on a rave and goes with another vamp that wants to recruit her for the secretive Red Guard (an ancient order of vamps that keeps that keeps all of them in line). What seems like a run of the mill rave turns ugly when the vamps gets uncontrollably aggressive and leak magic all over. They barely get out alive and the human girl they rescue gives them the next clue, pills marked with a 'V'.
As Merit works to unravel what's going down, Darius West seems to be going out of his way to threaten Ethan. The ending of this story was full of surprises, a few that readers won't like at all (and frankly shocked even me), and they send plot line into some darker territory. It was the ending that will cause dissension among readers and leave many unhappy. It will be interesting to see where the next installment, due in November, takes it.
This whole series is above average and each book has built on the last, but never dull or boring. Ms Neill keeps the pace moving and creates some excellent characters along the way. Written with verve and feeling, this book earns a rare A- from me. But readers be warned, this story does NOT go where you expect it to.
Chicago vampires have been accused of killing humans at 'raves' and the slick Mayor Tate is threatening Ethan Sullivan, Master of Cadogan House, with arrest if he doesn't do something about it. While Ethan is furious at what's happening, and with Tate's threat, he knows something must be done. The former Head of House Navarre, the treacherous Celina, is loose in the city and Merit, Sentinel of Cadogan, has a personal interest in getting her recaptured.
Compounding the vamps problems is human backlash against the vampires. They went from the latest trend to top of the scary things list when open warfare broke out at Cadogan between the two factions werewolves. Tate instituted a 'no humans' rule for all houses, so the vamps have been slowly rebuilding on the their own. So with their property entrance surrounded by picketing humans, out of control vamps killing, and some would be para-military hate group threatening vamps, Ethan and Merit have a lot to deal with, and that gets worse when Darius West, head of the vampire ruling Presidium, shows up with just a few hours notice.
Merit gets a tip on a rave and goes with another vamp that wants to recruit her for the secretive Red Guard (an ancient order of vamps that keeps that keeps all of them in line). What seems like a run of the mill rave turns ugly when the vamps gets uncontrollably aggressive and leak magic all over. They barely get out alive and the human girl they rescue gives them the next clue, pills marked with a 'V'.
As Merit works to unravel what's going down, Darius West seems to be going out of his way to threaten Ethan. The ending of this story was full of surprises, a few that readers won't like at all (and frankly shocked even me), and they send plot line into some darker territory. It was the ending that will cause dissension among readers and leave many unhappy. It will be interesting to see where the next installment, due in November, takes it.
This whole series is above average and each book has built on the last, but never dull or boring. Ms Neill keeps the pace moving and creates some excellent characters along the way. Written with verve and feeling, this book earns a rare A- from me. But readers be warned, this story does NOT go where you expect it to.
Jamie S. (2lilmonkees) -
Helpful Score: 1
Ok first things first, I did read the reviews on Amazon before starting this book, bc i *heard* about the ending. 2ndly, i ran over to Ms. Neills blog and read her "TRUST ME" comment & Her BIGHUGS to us all. Then finally, I sat down to read the next installment.
All I have to say is, that it was a little slower til 2/3 of book, not fave of series, & the ending I cried, cried some more & then cried again, and went 2 bed thinking about our new dilemma and how it will be fixed.
Im not DYING for the next book bc I think since I had time to have it sink in & read her blog that I do completely 'Trust Her' on our next adventure together. & Im just anxiously awaiting the next book. Great last 1/3 of book. & Def. read in order :)
4*s bc WOW the end just exploded!
All I have to say is, that it was a little slower til 2/3 of book, not fave of series, & the ending I cried, cried some more & then cried again, and went 2 bed thinking about our new dilemma and how it will be fixed.
Im not DYING for the next book bc I think since I had time to have it sink in & read her blog that I do completely 'Trust Her' on our next adventure together. & Im just anxiously awaiting the next book. Great last 1/3 of book. & Def. read in order :)
4*s bc WOW the end just exploded!
Robin M. (robinmy) -
Things in Chicago are not going well for Supernaturals. Humans are protesting against the vampires, going so far as to demonstrate outside of Cadogan House. Merit and the other inhabitants hope they will soon go away. But when Chicago's Mayor tells Merit and Ethan about a vamp attack at a rave that left three humans dead, he orders Ethan to get his vampires under control. Infiltrating a rave, Merit starts investigating immediately. She finds magic in the air and the vampire acting aggressively. As violence between the vampires breaks out, Merit must find out what is behind aggressive behavior before the Mayor throws Ethan in jail.
This is the fourth book in Cloe Neill's Chicagoland Vampires series and there is a lot going on. Along with Merit's usual snarky attitude, we have vampire politics, an underground drug ring, a mayor putting pressure on the vampires houses, and a visit from a member of the Greenwich Presidium, the ruling body of vampires. Merit spends much of the book tracking down clues as to who is behind the sudden change in the vampire's behavior. She recruits Jonah, an operative with the Red Guard and a member of Grey House, to help her out. He is an interesting character and I'm hoping to see more of him in the series.
The book moves along quickly with a good combination of mystery and romance, showing Merit and Ethan's on-again, off-again relationship. But there is a twist at the end where all momentum comes to a screeching halt. I don't want to give away spoilers, but I wasn't happy. I am hoping the author hasn't written herself into a corner with this twist in the series. Anyway, it was a 5 Star book until I got to the end. Not sure what to make of it.
This is the fourth book in Cloe Neill's Chicagoland Vampires series and there is a lot going on. Along with Merit's usual snarky attitude, we have vampire politics, an underground drug ring, a mayor putting pressure on the vampires houses, and a visit from a member of the Greenwich Presidium, the ruling body of vampires. Merit spends much of the book tracking down clues as to who is behind the sudden change in the vampire's behavior. She recruits Jonah, an operative with the Red Guard and a member of Grey House, to help her out. He is an interesting character and I'm hoping to see more of him in the series.
The book moves along quickly with a good combination of mystery and romance, showing Merit and Ethan's on-again, off-again relationship. But there is a twist at the end where all momentum comes to a screeching halt. I don't want to give away spoilers, but I wasn't happy. I am hoping the author hasn't written herself into a corner with this twist in the series. Anyway, it was a 5 Star book until I got to the end. Not sure what to make of it.
Angela H. (AngelaDionne) reviewed Hard Bitten (Chicagoland Vampires, Bk 4) on + 55 more book reviews
******* My reaction to this book is a spoiler *********
3 1/2 stars.....
What in the effing hell just happened? I can't even believe this book ended like that. I'm so incredibly depressed. Ms. Neill said on her facebook page to trust her... but I'm having a hard time with that.
I'm an emotional reader, I get attached to characters and deeply invested in their stories. Sometimes an author will do something to a character I love that will upset me into putting down a series until I can get over it. Remember Kim Harrison killing off Kisten in the Rachel Morgan series? I STILL haven't picked up that series again, even though I have all the books stacked in my TBR stack. The ending for Hard Bitten was like that for me. I was like.... NOOOOOOOOOOO! Now we have to wait until NOVEMBER to find out what kind of devious plot device will be used to make it all better.
I did love the storyline up to that point. I'm in love with the secondary characters, all of them. The dialouge was,as ever,witty and charming. Merit seems to be coming into her own and watching her grow into her new vampire self was satisfying. Ethan will steal your heart and whether or not you've thought he was an asshat in previous books you will appreciate him in this one. All in all I truly enjoyed Hard Bitten, until the end when I was left gaping like a fish with a hard, tight feeling in my chest.
3 1/2 stars, ,mainly because I still love this series and it's characters. I'm hoping the next book Drink Deep that releases in November will be a truly awesome revelation in the series and everything that upset me (and will you too) will be miraculously fixed.
3 1/2 stars.....
What in the effing hell just happened? I can't even believe this book ended like that. I'm so incredibly depressed. Ms. Neill said on her facebook page to trust her... but I'm having a hard time with that.
I'm an emotional reader, I get attached to characters and deeply invested in their stories. Sometimes an author will do something to a character I love that will upset me into putting down a series until I can get over it. Remember Kim Harrison killing off Kisten in the Rachel Morgan series? I STILL haven't picked up that series again, even though I have all the books stacked in my TBR stack. The ending for Hard Bitten was like that for me. I was like.... NOOOOOOOOOOO! Now we have to wait until NOVEMBER to find out what kind of devious plot device will be used to make it all better.
I did love the storyline up to that point. I'm in love with the secondary characters, all of them. The dialouge was,as ever,witty and charming. Merit seems to be coming into her own and watching her grow into her new vampire self was satisfying. Ethan will steal your heart and whether or not you've thought he was an asshat in previous books you will appreciate him in this one. All in all I truly enjoyed Hard Bitten, until the end when I was left gaping like a fish with a hard, tight feeling in my chest.
3 1/2 stars, ,mainly because I still love this series and it's characters. I'm hoping the next book Drink Deep that releases in November will be a truly awesome revelation in the series and everything that upset me (and will you too) will be miraculously fixed.
Stacy W. (whatstacy) -
****spoiler alert***
I only so-so liked it for different reasons than most other reviewers. I am not shocked by Ethan's death, but I did feel that it was too simple. Celina and Ethan's deaths as vampires should have been "more" in some way, not just a one page event. Which leads me to believe this is not the true end of Ethan. I do not fault Neill for killing off a beloved main character, sometimes it is needed for the growth of the series. After all immortality can be boring without some kind of change. The middle of this book dragged for me, the "hunt" was not as exciting as previous installments. And overall I feel like this was just a bridge to a better, more exciting book to come (at least I hope so). Jonah looks like a promising character to watch, and now that Merit is embracing her anger and getting out of bed, I'm sure more exciting things are to come. Not my favorite of the series, but it will not leave me dropping the series. Can't wait for the next one......
http://texasreader-stacy.blogspot.com
http://www.goodreads.com/whatstacy
I only so-so liked it for different reasons than most other reviewers. I am not shocked by Ethan's death, but I did feel that it was too simple. Celina and Ethan's deaths as vampires should have been "more" in some way, not just a one page event. Which leads me to believe this is not the true end of Ethan. I do not fault Neill for killing off a beloved main character, sometimes it is needed for the growth of the series. After all immortality can be boring without some kind of change. The middle of this book dragged for me, the "hunt" was not as exciting as previous installments. And overall I feel like this was just a bridge to a better, more exciting book to come (at least I hope so). Jonah looks like a promising character to watch, and now that Merit is embracing her anger and getting out of bed, I'm sure more exciting things are to come. Not my favorite of the series, but it will not leave me dropping the series. Can't wait for the next one......
http://texasreader-stacy.blogspot.com
http://www.goodreads.com/whatstacy
I'm warning you there's a bit of a spoiler here. Not a full spoiler, more of, this is going to happen be ready for it.
I hate when about half way through a series one of the main/regular characters gets killed off. Here we are, book 4 of the Chicagoland Vampire series, and boom, there goes one of the main characters. You've invested 4 books, you've gotten to know all these characters, the likeable ones and the villians. but you get to know them... It's like losing a friend when an author does this. Actually I don't read reviews, so I didn't see this coming, wasn't expecting it...so I'm pretty much blindsided by it. So here I am at lunch reading this, and we lose our character and my heart breaks along with all the characters in the book. I said after 4 books you're invested in what happens and where the story is going to take us. Think I sniffled and wiped my eyes for 5-10 minutes.
So now where do we go from here and whenever a character gets killed off there's the why, so onward to Book 5, Drink Deep and maybe some of our questions will be answered. Despite the tears, or maybe because Ms. Neill made me feel something reading her story, I really did enjoy the story. It keeps you on the edge of your seat and turning pages. But don't say I didn't warn you, it's going to blindside you when it happens.
I hate when about half way through a series one of the main/regular characters gets killed off. Here we are, book 4 of the Chicagoland Vampire series, and boom, there goes one of the main characters. You've invested 4 books, you've gotten to know all these characters, the likeable ones and the villians. but you get to know them... It's like losing a friend when an author does this. Actually I don't read reviews, so I didn't see this coming, wasn't expecting it...so I'm pretty much blindsided by it. So here I am at lunch reading this, and we lose our character and my heart breaks along with all the characters in the book. I said after 4 books you're invested in what happens and where the story is going to take us. Think I sniffled and wiped my eyes for 5-10 minutes.
So now where do we go from here and whenever a character gets killed off there's the why, so onward to Book 5, Drink Deep and maybe some of our questions will be answered. Despite the tears, or maybe because Ms. Neill made me feel something reading her story, I really did enjoy the story. It keeps you on the edge of your seat and turning pages. But don't say I didn't warn you, it's going to blindside you when it happens.
I'm warning you there's a bit of a spoiler here. Not a full spoiler, more of, this is going to happen be ready for it.
I hate when about half way through a series one of the main/regular characters gets killed off. Here we are, book 4 of the Chicagoland Vampire series, and boom, there goes one of the main characters. You've invested 4 books, you've gotten to know all these characters, the likeable ones and the villians. but you get to know them... It's like losing a friend when an author does this. Actually I don't read reviews, so I didn't see this coming, wasn't expecting it...so I'm pretty much blindsided by it. So here I am at lunch reading this, and we lose our character and my heart breaks along with all the characters in the book. I said after 4 books you're invested in what happens and where the story is going to take us. Think I sniffled and wiped my eyes for 5-10 minutes.
So now where do we go from here and whenever a character gets killed off there's the why, so onward to Book 5, Drink Deep and maybe some of our questions will be answered. Despite the tears, or maybe because Ms. Neill made me feel something reading her story, I really did enjoy the story. It keeps you on the edge of your seat and turning pages. But don't say I didn't warn you, it's going to blindside you when it happens.
I hate when about half way through a series one of the main/regular characters gets killed off. Here we are, book 4 of the Chicagoland Vampire series, and boom, there goes one of the main characters. You've invested 4 books, you've gotten to know all these characters, the likeable ones and the villians. but you get to know them... It's like losing a friend when an author does this. Actually I don't read reviews, so I didn't see this coming, wasn't expecting it...so I'm pretty much blindsided by it. So here I am at lunch reading this, and we lose our character and my heart breaks along with all the characters in the book. I said after 4 books you're invested in what happens and where the story is going to take us. Think I sniffled and wiped my eyes for 5-10 minutes.
So now where do we go from here and whenever a character gets killed off there's the why, so onward to Book 5, Drink Deep and maybe some of our questions will be answered. Despite the tears, or maybe because Ms. Neill made me feel something reading her story, I really did enjoy the story. It keeps you on the edge of your seat and turning pages. But don't say I didn't warn you, it's going to blindside you when it happens.
I'm warning you there's a bit of a spoiler here. Not a full spoiler, more of, this is going to happen be ready for it.
I hate when about half way through a series one of the main/regular characters gets killed off. Here we are, book 4 of the Chicagoland Vampire series, and boom, there goes one of the main characters. You've invested 4 books, you've gotten to know all these characters, the likeable ones and the villians. but you get to know them... It's like losing a friend when an author does this. Actually I don't read reviews, so I didn't see this coming, wasn't expecting it...so I'm pretty much blindsided by it. So here I am at lunch reading this, and we lose our character and my heart breaks along with all the characters in the book. I said after 4 books you're invested in what happens and where the story is going to take us. Think I sniffled and wiped my eyes for 5-10 minutes.
So now where do we go from here and whenever a character gets killed off there's the why, so onward to Book 5, Drink Deep and maybe some of our questions will be answered. Despite the tears, or maybe because Ms. Neill made me feel something reading her story, I really did enjoy the story. It keeps you on the edge of your seat and turning pages. But don't say I didn't warn you, it's going to blindside you when it happens.
I hate when about half way through a series one of the main/regular characters gets killed off. Here we are, book 4 of the Chicagoland Vampire series, and boom, there goes one of the main characters. You've invested 4 books, you've gotten to know all these characters, the likeable ones and the villians. but you get to know them... It's like losing a friend when an author does this. Actually I don't read reviews, so I didn't see this coming, wasn't expecting it...so I'm pretty much blindsided by it. So here I am at lunch reading this, and we lose our character and my heart breaks along with all the characters in the book. I said after 4 books you're invested in what happens and where the story is going to take us. Think I sniffled and wiped my eyes for 5-10 minutes.
So now where do we go from here and whenever a character gets killed off there's the why, so onward to Book 5, Drink Deep and maybe some of our questions will be answered. Despite the tears, or maybe because Ms. Neill made me feel something reading her story, I really did enjoy the story. It keeps you on the edge of your seat and turning pages. But don't say I didn't warn you, it's going to blindside you when it happens.
I always have this hope that behind a cheesy cover actually lies a rollicking good tale.
Alas, such is often not the case.
I picked this up from the 'free' shelf at work, saying 'ooh! sexy vampires!'
Sadly, it did not deliver.
Firstly, it was strikingly unoriginal. Basically, the author cribbed the whole scenario from Charlaine Harris, just moving the story from the South to Chicago. It's like a True Blood fanfic writer said, "well, while Sookie was having her adventures, this is what was happening elsewhere." Unfortunately, the book lacks Harris' humor and wit.
It's the fourth in a series, and around the first fourth of the book was spent in (re)introducing the characters. It was pretty boring, but I figured that the story had to get started soon... any time now.
When it did, it was a totally forgettable plot that reminded me of an episode of a cop TV show. There was also some lackluster romance. What struck me the most about it, though, was that although there were characters named as vampires, fairies and werewolves, the supernatural aspect was completely unnecessary to the plot. It was almost like, "well, paranormal is trendy right now, so make your characters vampires." You never got a good sense of the characters actually being supernatural, or acting any differently because of it.
Alas, such is often not the case.
I picked this up from the 'free' shelf at work, saying 'ooh! sexy vampires!'
Sadly, it did not deliver.
Firstly, it was strikingly unoriginal. Basically, the author cribbed the whole scenario from Charlaine Harris, just moving the story from the South to Chicago. It's like a True Blood fanfic writer said, "well, while Sookie was having her adventures, this is what was happening elsewhere." Unfortunately, the book lacks Harris' humor and wit.
It's the fourth in a series, and around the first fourth of the book was spent in (re)introducing the characters. It was pretty boring, but I figured that the story had to get started soon... any time now.
When it did, it was a totally forgettable plot that reminded me of an episode of a cop TV show. There was also some lackluster romance. What struck me the most about it, though, was that although there were characters named as vampires, fairies and werewolves, the supernatural aspect was completely unnecessary to the plot. It was almost like, "well, paranormal is trendy right now, so make your characters vampires." You never got a good sense of the characters actually being supernatural, or acting any differently because of it.
