Helpful Score: 3
I got an advanced reading copy of this book through Librarything's early Reviewer program. I was soo excited to read this. I love pretty much everything I have read by Cherie Priest (I've read all her Clockwork Century series and of course the first book in this series, Bloodshot). Well I loved this book too. It was so much fun to read; definitely not as serious as her Clockwork Century series but a very fun, fast paced urban fantasy series with a lot of humor.
Our favorite OCD vampire thief, Raylene, is back with more hijinks. Raylene gets a call from one of her contacts asking her to steal some very valuble magical baculum (penis bones..uh yep that's what baculum are). It looks to be a simple snatch and grab, of course things aren't ever simple. Along with this snatch and grab gone wrong, Raylen's housemate Ian has problems of his own. The head of Ian's House has died and Ian would be next in line, except with his blindness he isn't suited for the position and is being hunted down instead. So Raylene and Adrian (the drag queen ex-Navy Seal) go over to Ian's House to try and fix things up for him; along the way they may even find out more about Adrian's sister.
This book has three plot lines going on: the stealing of the baculum, Ian's problems with his house, and the search for Adrian's missing sister. These plots are neatly and efficiently woven together making for a fast-paced, action packed urban fantasy that is hard to put down and fun to read.
The characters are part of what make this book wonderful. Raylene is quirky, hilarious, and very good at what she does. Adrian is another wonderful quirky character, that is a load of laughs, but also very bad-ass. There pretty much aren't any characters in this book that I don't like; they are all interesting, engaging, creative and...did I already mention fun?!
The dialogue throughout is also witty. The banter between Raylene and Adrian is hilarious. I absolutely love Raylene's snarky attitude and enjoy her constant digressions to only slightly related topics. Just beware there are numerous sexual references (but no sex) throughout and a crapload of swearing. I enjoyed it, but it is not for younger readers.
I love where this series is going, some big things happen right at the end of the book that make me excited to see where this series is headed to. The main plotlines are nicely wrapped up. You could probably read this book as a stand alone; good background is given in the beginning of the book. Why would you want to though when Bloodshot was such a fun read too?
Overall I absolutely loved this book. The plot and action are well done, the characters quirky and funny, it is fast-paced and lots of fun. I love love Raylene and her snarkiness. I love where this series is going and am so excited to read the next installment. I pretty much loved everything about this book. Is this book for everyone? Probably not, the humor is a bit off-the-wall and dark, there's a lot of swearing, and pretty much no romance. But, if you love fast-paced action-packed urban fantasy with a biting sense of humor you should definitely check this series out.
Our favorite OCD vampire thief, Raylene, is back with more hijinks. Raylene gets a call from one of her contacts asking her to steal some very valuble magical baculum (penis bones..uh yep that's what baculum are). It looks to be a simple snatch and grab, of course things aren't ever simple. Along with this snatch and grab gone wrong, Raylen's housemate Ian has problems of his own. The head of Ian's House has died and Ian would be next in line, except with his blindness he isn't suited for the position and is being hunted down instead. So Raylene and Adrian (the drag queen ex-Navy Seal) go over to Ian's House to try and fix things up for him; along the way they may even find out more about Adrian's sister.
This book has three plot lines going on: the stealing of the baculum, Ian's problems with his house, and the search for Adrian's missing sister. These plots are neatly and efficiently woven together making for a fast-paced, action packed urban fantasy that is hard to put down and fun to read.
The characters are part of what make this book wonderful. Raylene is quirky, hilarious, and very good at what she does. Adrian is another wonderful quirky character, that is a load of laughs, but also very bad-ass. There pretty much aren't any characters in this book that I don't like; they are all interesting, engaging, creative and...did I already mention fun?!
The dialogue throughout is also witty. The banter between Raylene and Adrian is hilarious. I absolutely love Raylene's snarky attitude and enjoy her constant digressions to only slightly related topics. Just beware there are numerous sexual references (but no sex) throughout and a crapload of swearing. I enjoyed it, but it is not for younger readers.
I love where this series is going, some big things happen right at the end of the book that make me excited to see where this series is headed to. The main plotlines are nicely wrapped up. You could probably read this book as a stand alone; good background is given in the beginning of the book. Why would you want to though when Bloodshot was such a fun read too?
Overall I absolutely loved this book. The plot and action are well done, the characters quirky and funny, it is fast-paced and lots of fun. I love love Raylene and her snarkiness. I love where this series is going and am so excited to read the next installment. I pretty much loved everything about this book. Is this book for everyone? Probably not, the humor is a bit off-the-wall and dark, there's a lot of swearing, and pretty much no romance. But, if you love fast-paced action-packed urban fantasy with a biting sense of humor you should definitely check this series out.
Excellent 2nd book, maybe even better than the first. Ms. Priest does an awesome job on character development. Fun spunky characters that you want to know better. Humor mixed in as well. Good plot too. Hope Book 3 is soon.
Raylene continued to have her sarcastic humor in this one. There was less Pepper and Domino. I'd say less Ian too, but he is central to the plot in this one, even if he didn't have much page-time. More Adrian though. He was definitely Raylene's competent sidekick which I liked to see. Good story and action. I like how Raylene, always the loner in the past, now has a habit of picking up "strays," both of the human and other variety.
This is the last book, I don't think this series sold enough. The villain that was introduced in Bloodshot is still at large and nothing happened on that front in this one. Maybe at some point in time this will get another installment for the finish. One thing that I did find out was the fate of Adrian's sister, Isabelle.
This is the last book, I don't think this series sold enough. The villain that was introduced in Bloodshot is still at large and nothing happened on that front in this one. Maybe at some point in time this will get another installment for the finish. One thing that I did find out was the fate of Adrian's sister, Isabelle.
