Review: Bloody Bones by Laurell K. Hamilton

Publisher: Headline Publishing Group (UK)
Pages: 464
Format: Paperback
Source: Bought
Release date/year: 1996, this edition in 2010

















A gripping and thrilling Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, novel 'When the monsters are involved, it's never just one dead body. One way or another the dead multiply.' First, there were the dead in the graveyard, two hundred years dead. I'd been hired to raise them to settle a dispute over who owned the land they were buried in. Then there were the three dead teenagers in the woods, slaughtered in a way I'd never seen before. And then they found the dead girl, drained of blood and left in her bed. I knew what that meant of course. It didn't take a degree in preternatural studies to figure out that something was wrong. And I was right in the middle of it. My name is Anita Blake. Welcome to my life...


Entertaining and sexy.
Bloody Bones is your typical Anita Blake - novel with loads of action, supernatural elements, vampires and sexy scenes.

A couple of teenagers are discovered in the woods, dead, and Anita must assist the local police. There is not easy to say who, or maybe what, is behind the deaths. More people turn up dead and a boy is kidnapped. Anita must ask Jean-Claude for help to get to the bottom of this. She is also called upon to raise some dead corpses, to establish who owns the rights for a certain piece of land.

Bloody Bones is not the best book in the Anita Blake - series, but still a very entertaining read and a real must - read for the fans. The book is easy to read, entertaining, really funny at times (I love Anita Blakes cynical humour) and there is some surprises too.

The murders and the kidnapping is the main focus in the book, or so it seems, But the real focus is actually on the relationship between Anita and Jean-Claude. There is a development here, that I am really curious to read about in future books. I think Hamilton is so good at building up her characters personality and they are never onedimensional, but change and develop throughout the stories.

Other reviews for this book:
Escape Between the Pages

Review: Feast of Fools, Rachel Caine

Publisher: Allison & Busby
Pages: 325
Format: Paperback
Source: Bought











" In the town of Morganville, vampires and humans live in relative peace but Claire Danvers has never been convinced - especially with the arrival of Mr Bishop, an ancient, old-school vampire who cares nothing about harmony. What he wants from the town's living and its dead is unthinkably sinister."

Background:
"Feast of Fools" is the fourth book in Rachel Caine's series about the Morganville Vampires. The book came out in the uk in february 2009.

The Story:
A new, sinister vampire has arrived in Morganville. Mr Bishop is Amelie's father, and he is not fond of the humans. Claire, together with a doctor in town, has found a cure that may make Myrnin sane, at least that is what she thinks. And her parents have arrived, and gets to see for themselves what Morganville really can offer. Mr Bishop is arranging a Feast of Fools, and almost everyone in town is invited. Tensions rise between Eve and Michael, when he decides to invite Monica, instead of Eve, to the party.

Main character:
Claire Danvers has had a great progress and development since the first book in this series. She is not so shy anymore and stands up for herself. Monica and her gang of girls does not frighten her, the way they used to. I like the new Claire, she grows from book to book.

The book:
This is the weakest book in this series. It takes too much time before there is any action and dramatic events. The book was kinda slow and I was waiting for something more interesting to happen. The cliffhanger in the end was ok, but I am not rushing to read the next installment ( which I off course will).

I actually enjoyed most reading about Amelie in this book. She is a facinating character and I think Helen Mirren would have done a great job playing her in a movie. He hear Mirren's voice, when I read Amelie's words.


Other reviews:
YaVampireBooks
The Bokette
Chrissie's Corner

Review: Dark Touch: The Hunt by Amy Meredith

Publisher: Red Fox
Format: Paperback
Pages: 263
Source: Review Copy










" Something is hunting. Something that will kill to get what it wants. And it isn't human. Eve knows that her supernatural powers are called for, but she'd rather focus on dating than demons and gorgeous Luke is, frankly, pretty distracting. He's already a friend - but could he be something more? Do Luke and Eve really have a future? And with demons on the hunt, will either of them live long enough to find out? "
(Description from Amazon.co.uk)

Background:
This is the second book in a series aimed at the pre-Twilight age group. The author, Amy Meredith, lives in California, but she has also lived and worked in New York and the Hamptons where the main characters in the Dark Touch - series are from. She has always been fascinated by the supernatural. I rated the first book in this series "4 books" and labeled it "gothic glamour".

Story:
Something evil and dangerous is preying on the people in Deepdene, something that can kill. The first victim is a football player. He has been drained of blood and torn to pieces. Soon, there are other victims. The town is in shock and Eve must again use her supernatural powers in order to protect her friends and the town.

Main Character:
Eve Evergold has grown a lot since the first book in this series. She is still a happy, and at some times a carefree girl, but the events in the first books has really affected her. Her character has gotten more depth and there is a seriousness about her that was not there in the first book. She is still likeable and a great main character, and I love her humour.

The Book
Dark Touch; The Hunt is an entertaining and a scary read, I had a hard time putting the book down. Eve is trying to figure out how to control her powers - with good help from her friends Jess and Luke. Eve soon discovers that Luke means more to her than just being a friend. A reporter comes to town to write about the death of the football player, but Eve and her friends thinks that he is hiding something.

Even though I could see it coming, I liked the fact that the author has picked Luke as Eve's new love interest. And I also liked the fact that it isn't quite obvious what Luke actually is feeling. The author has done well with the balance between the love story and the horror story. The mystery about who or what are responsible for the killings, is always at the centre of the story. The love story just adds a little spice to the mix.

We get to know Luke a lot better in this book, and he is an interesting character. The more I read about him, the more I want to know.

This books is much more scarier than the first one, and the author uses a lot of the teqniques you could find in the movies. The beginning could be the opening scene in a horror movie. And the thrill does not end there. Everytime you are about to finish a chapter, something new happens that keeps you reading on and on, and the plot is not so obvious as in the first book. The author has really stepped it up a notch.

The ending was a big surprise for me, and I read as fast as I possibly could to find out what was going to happen next.

Dark Touch: The Hunt has everything I like in a book: it is about the supernatural, is thrilling, hard to put down, engaging and with interesting characters. I loved it. Now I am eagerly awaiting the release of the next installment in this series, Fever, which comes out in January.

Read this book if you would like a taste of the TV show "Supernatural" mixed with a hint of Gossip Girl.

Other reviews:
I was a teenage book geek