Blood Trail (Vicki Nelson, Bk 2)
Author:
Genre: Science Fiction & Fantasy
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
Author:
Genre: Science Fiction & Fantasy
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
Paige M. (onthesamepaige) reviewed on
No one addressed my issues with this book, so I feel compelled to write this. This book was not really to my taste and I'm not sure what all of the other reviewers loved about it. This book kept being suggested as a detective mystery with a supernatural love triangle. It delivers on NONE of that.
First, it is not a mystery for very long. Parts of the book are written from the killer's point of view, just like the first book, and you are given his name pretty quickly. You also get perspective from a second bad guy that shows up, so the mystery is right out the window. If they are instead going for suspense, it is just a frustrating story. Characters don't communicate with each other (I wanted to kick Peter at the end of the story), Vicki (the main character) insists again and again that she thinks that the ONLY suspect she has (who IS in fact the killer) is just too nice a guy to be a killer, and her jealous cop love interest is too busy trying to grill a six year old about Vicki's love life to actually keep anyone safe.
That brings me to the other issue, the love triangle. It's a total dud consisting of not much other than jealousy and male posturing. There is no sex or intimacy actually written about in these pages. There are no words of love, no kissing, Huff just writes that two people walk into a bedroom together at night, and two people walk out hours later to eat breakfast. That's it. That's what every sex scene is like. There is no mention of love or romance either. They all only talk about the case. This really kept me from investing at all in either of Vicki's romantic relationships. Who cares which one she ends up with? Henry is given little personality and all Mike does is yell and get in the way. The only "sensual" scenes are between a pair of twins, a brother and sister werewolf pair that are maturing and going into a animal-like "heat" that the adults are trying to prevent from turning into incest. They talk about it constantly in the book. I found it really gross that Huff would write about how these siblings lusted for each other, but could not write one word about how Vicki felt anything beyond friendship, camaraderie, and frustration for Mike.
Vicki Nelson is a fine character, and she deserves a better book.
First, it is not a mystery for very long. Parts of the book are written from the killer's point of view, just like the first book, and you are given his name pretty quickly. You also get perspective from a second bad guy that shows up, so the mystery is right out the window. If they are instead going for suspense, it is just a frustrating story. Characters don't communicate with each other (I wanted to kick Peter at the end of the story), Vicki (the main character) insists again and again that she thinks that the ONLY suspect she has (who IS in fact the killer) is just too nice a guy to be a killer, and her jealous cop love interest is too busy trying to grill a six year old about Vicki's love life to actually keep anyone safe.
That brings me to the other issue, the love triangle. It's a total dud consisting of not much other than jealousy and male posturing. There is no sex or intimacy actually written about in these pages. There are no words of love, no kissing, Huff just writes that two people walk into a bedroom together at night, and two people walk out hours later to eat breakfast. That's it. That's what every sex scene is like. There is no mention of love or romance either. They all only talk about the case. This really kept me from investing at all in either of Vicki's romantic relationships. Who cares which one she ends up with? Henry is given little personality and all Mike does is yell and get in the way. The only "sensual" scenes are between a pair of twins, a brother and sister werewolf pair that are maturing and going into a animal-like "heat" that the adults are trying to prevent from turning into incest. They talk about it constantly in the book. I found it really gross that Huff would write about how these siblings lusted for each other, but could not write one word about how Vicki felt anything beyond friendship, camaraderie, and frustration for Mike.
Vicki Nelson is a fine character, and she deserves a better book.
