Blood Law: A Novel
Product Type: Book
Product Price: $7.99
Manufacturer: Dell
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Description
To stop a vampire killer, she’ll have to slay her own demons first.
A provocative and savvy vampire, Alexandra Sabian moves to the sleepy hamlet of Jefferson, Mississippi—population 6,000, half vampires—to escape the demons lurking in her past. As an enforcer for the Federal Bureau of Preternatural Investigations (FBPI), Alex must maintain the uneasy peace between her kind and humans, including Jefferson’s bigoted sheriff, who’d be happy to see all vampires banished from town. Then really dead vamps start turning up—beheaded, crucified, and defanged, the same gruesome manner in which Alex’s father was murdered decades ago. For Alex, the professional has become way too personal.
Things get even more complicated when the FBPI sends in some unnervingly sexy backup: Alex’s onetime mentor, lover, and fiancé, Varik Baudelaire. Still stinging from the betrayal that ended their short-lived engagement, Alex is determined not to give in to the temptation that soon threatens to short-circuit her investigation. But as the vamp body count grows and the public panic level rises, Varik may be Alex’s only hope to stop a relentless killer who’s got his own score to settle and his own bloody past to put right.
Reviews
Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2010-09-03
Summary: "I loved this book! can't wait for the next in the series ~"
If you like vampire fiction, check out "Blood Law" by Jeannie Holmes. I loved it and cannot wait for the next installment in the series.
Great characters, complex storylines and an "easy to escape into" writing style. Looking forward to seeing what Alex Sabian gets into next.
Rating: 2 / 5
Date: 2010-08-16
Summary: "Are we reviewing the same book?"
This book really bored me, and im not usually cynical. I'm sorry , but it's true.
First of all,the the summary on the back was serioly misleading. When it said the heroine (i dont even remember her name) had settled somewhere in Mississippi escaping the 'demons' of her past, i got really intrested . Only to then become seriosly disappointed.
This book was rushed. The main characters are not at all intrsting or uniquie or different from stock characters. And the writting and dialouge is extremly awkward. Also the authour tries way too hard to create the villian.
Don't waste your money on this book like i did. I couldn't even stomach finishing it. Also, i have no idea waht the other reviewers were reading, but it can't be the same book.
Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2010-08-16
Summary: "Dark, complex and fascinating"
review
This compelling and thrilling book captured my interest right from the first page.
Alexandra Sabian is a vampire who is working for the Federal Bureau of Preternatural Investigations (FBPI). She's living in a world where vampires and humans try to coexist in peace but it's not so easy.
When several vampires are killed in Alex's area in a similar way and the suspicion of the humans regarding the vampires get out of control she needs help. However she is not happy when her ex-fiancee is sent to help her investigate and control the situation. Alex hasn't seen Varik for several years, she left him after their relationship nearly ended in a tragedy.
Now Alex has to find a killer, try to make peace with a group of humans who want to get rid of the vampires and she also has to handle the feelings she still has for Varik.
I ususally prefer paranormal romance over urban fantasy because I like the focus on the love story but still "Blood Law" was just great.
I especially enjoyed the characters and the world Jeannie Holmes created. It's a dark and complicated world in which many humans still fear and even hate the vampires although they have been living together in one society for over 40 years. I loved that the characters and the storylines were very complex and that you really had to pay attention to what's going on. Still it was never hard to follow the plot and the book was even easy to read.
Alex is a kick-ass heroine and willing to do everything for the people she loves. Varik is also kick-ass and you definitely don't want to have to fight against him. The chemistry between Alex and Varik was palpable and I loved learning more about their relationship and why they separated. Even though their relationship wasn't the main part of the book it still was important.
I also enjoyed that I was suprised several times by how the story developed. After I started the book I didn't want to stop reading because I just needed to know more - the story was that gripping. Furthermore characters like Tasha, a human police officer, and Alex's special psychic talents added a lot to the story.
cover
Overall I like the cover because it says that the heroine will be kick-ass and that's definitely the case. The outfit is IMO a bit weird but that's just my taste.
final appraisal
You don't have to be a fan of Urban Fantasy to enjoy this book. Jeannie Holmes created a dark, complicated world full of complex characters and she still managed to make this book easy to read and very entertaining.
I want to know more of Alex, Varik and the world they live in and that pretty much tells you how good "Blood Law" is. I will definitely read "Blood Secrets" the next book in the series when it will be published next year.
books in the series
1. Blood Law (2010)
2. Blood Secrets (2011)
Rating: 2 / 5
Date: 2010-08-06
Summary: "Choppy, Unprofessional Heroine, Don't Care Love Interest"
I must say that I was hoping for better of _Blood Law_.
First of all, I did not really like the heroine. I felt that as a cop, she was very unprofessional, and the plot succumbed to the old cop-movie cliche "no case can be solved until the hero is specifically removed from it and told to stay away".
There were also too many elements that didn't really come together well. For instance, the murderer's motive was based on information we were never given until he himself started thinking about it. It would have been much better for the heroine to have some ongoing angst about the unsolved case in her past so and then figure out the clues. (In fact, the whole idea of telling the story in the third person, with multiple viewpoint characters was probably a mistake.) Throwing in the heroine's mother and the whole pointless tie-in with her father's murder (which was almost a complete red-herring) didn't help matters.
The love interest didn't work for me either. Varik was an uncompelling character who didn't seem to be any better a detective than the heroine despite the fact that he was "the best" called back into service from retirement. He didn't win any sympathy points by trying repeatedly to re-kindle things while they both should have been focusing on a serial-killer on the loose.
Perhaps the best character was the ambivalent local (human) cop. Perhaps this should have been *her* first-person story.
Rating: 3 / 5
Date: 2010-08-04
Summary: "Blood Law"
I love this book's realistic approach. What if there was more than one evolution here on earth. What if another humanoid race of folks more powerful than us run-of-the-mill humans existed and thrived right under our noses? This book adds a fresh new take on the vampire evolution. Gone are the days of the one-dimensional vampire with uncontrollable-blood-lust; but instead vampires are fallible, birth, age and die just like regular old Joes.
That being said, yes it's nice to have a more "human" vampire. However, while reading this book, I constantly thought, what's the point of being a vampire if the only benefits are glowing eyes? Jeannie's vampires seemed extremely weak to me. I would have preferred only a glimpse into the ordinary, but instead the story felt like I was reading about ordinary humans who just happen to drink blood.
Regardless of my irritations, I see potential in this new series and have decided to read the next book Blood Secrets. Also, for those wondering what genre this book falls into, I would categorize it as a romantic urban fantasy.
I recommend this book to dark urban fantasy readers, however with a forewarning; this is not a hardcore dark urban fantasy and there is also an air of predictability to this story.
I also recommend:
Frost Moon
Lover Mine: A Novel of the Black Dagger Brotherhood
Ravenous: The Dark Forgotten
Angels' Blood (Guild Hunter)
A Rush of Wings: Book One of The Maker's Song