In the Blood - Adrian Phoenix

Series: The Maker's Song, Book 2
Genre: Urban Fantasy
352 pages
Published: 2008
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Review:
In the Blood picks up where A Rush of Wings ended. Dante the enigmatic rockstar vampire and Heather the FBI agent had tackled a serial killer and uncovered bits and pieces of Dante's childhood in the previous book.

Dante now knows a lot more about his past, the role of the Government branch and details about this real family (trying not to give away spoilers here) - he's much more than a vampire, and he doesn't yet know what it all entails. He's met up with Heather in Seattle, who has her own problems with her job, family and a cold case that's a touch too personal.
Meanwhile, the government guys are trying to clean up their experiment gone wrong and everyone involved in it - that includes Heather and Dante. Then there's one doctor still left from his childhood experiments who has some tricks up his sleeve to trigger Dante into sociopathic heaven, a pair of crazy twins with their own plan for world domination and an assortment of other psychos to add to the fun that make up the montage of villainous characters.

And that doesn't even include the Bold and the Beautiful drama going on in Gehenna with all the Fallen and their politics and ambition to control Dante.

There really are too many things going on in this book - not to many to confuse you after the first 20-odd pages, but i don't think I've ever read a series that has so many bad guys wanting a piece of the pie - specially when said pie is the guy and not the chick in the book.

Just like the previous book, In the Blood is intense and dark. There isn't much in terms of character development from book 1 and i had a lot of questions that were left unanswered and seem more like plot holes to me than 'coming soon in book 3'. There's a bunch of new characters in this book that will keep you occupied though - Annie, Heathers bipolar sister, her useless father, new set of villains, Dante's band members..they help keep it interesting. My favourite character is still Von, the nomad-turned vampire llygad

This book is definitely more gripping that A Rush of Wings. I read it at one go and couldn't put it down. Mostly because i really wanted to know what would happen next

Verdict: Read this one only if you liked a Rush of Wings and are comfortable with Adrian's writing style and jumble of characters because there's more of that in In the Blood. I liked both books and i look forward to book 3. Beneath the Skin releases December 29th this year.

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A Rush of Wings - Adrian Phoenix

Series: The Maker's Song, Book 1
Genre: Urban Fantasy
416 pages
Published: 2008

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a fairly dark and different paranormal. I say different because there's so many typical vampire novels out there. In a way, A Rush of Wings is one as well, but it has twists and its characters, for a change, aren't the goody vamps changed by a mortal woman or either only good or bad. There's shades of grey in this book, and it'll make you question the meaning of justice, and how different people interpret what is right or wrong, just like it made Heather think.


Dante is a rock star and almost a god to his goth followers. He's also a vampire surrounded by supernaturals who he cares for and care for him. Leather and latex clad, multiple rings, typical goth make up, Cajun French speaking heartthrob. Dante is a conflicted character that takes a while to figure out. At first, he seems like a rebelling kid out to defy everyone and kissing everyone in sight. But then you see him struggling against himself and his pain and his memories and a lot of things start making sense. Who is Dante and what are the painful memories that keep rising within him.? This story connects a serial killer with Dante's past.


And enter lady love. Heather Wallace is a FBI agent chasing said serial killer who ends up being sucked into Dante's world while trying to find the connection between the killer and Dante, and protect him from all and sundry including an internal cover-up that could put him in danger. Heather doesn't have as many facets to her personality as the other characters in this book have. She's a competent FBI agent with her own nightmares and that's about it. The attraction between them isn't really explained very well, but then there's not much romance in this book, its Urban Fantasy more than Paranormal.


I loved the other characters in this book a lot. Lucien, the Fallen, who guards Dante and has his own secrets is one of the more interesting characters who will you reluctantly warm up to; or atleast understand. Then there's Von, and the other vampires who live with Dante. The serial killer and other villainy characters (there's quite a few, but at no point does it get confusing) are pretty villainy in their behaviour, and you'll enjoy them too. There's new concepts in this book i haven't read before - about angels and god and psycho killers.


This is my first Adrian Phoenix book, and i like her writing style. I hope its only this first book that suffers from mini-first book syndrome. I do love her Cajun French and lyrics thrown in. Give this book a chance. And give it time to suck you in as well. At the end, it might not be what you're used to reading, but you won't regret the time spent reading it. I'm off to read the next book, In the Blood

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