Blood Price

Blood Noun: 1

ISBN: 0-88677-471-3 Order from: Amazon.com

A fast-paced dark fantasy with a hard-boiled female detective, aggressive repartee and supernatural dangers to life and heart.

Reviewed by David on November 25, 1998

Genre: Fantasy (Mystery, Vampires)

Synopsis: In a seemingly common world where vampires and other monsters hide behind the modern and multicultural life of Toronto, Vicki Nelson, a former police detective, becomes involved in solving a series of brutal murders. The crimes, despite all common sense, seem to be committed by a supernatural agency. In the process of detection, Vicki encounters a perplexing and possibly dangerous writer Henry Fitzroy, whose secrets are as perilous to Vicki's health as his attractiveness to her emotional equanimity.

Full Review: Vicki is an interesting character. A bright and capable detective, she is still bitter about the illness which forced her off the police force. Her new career as a private detective is complicated by her intense rivalry and attraction to Mike Celluci, a former colleague, a best enemy, and a lover. When she is hired to investigate one of the murders baffling the police, her relationship with Mike turns predictably stormy, especially as the police officer's resentment of civilian meddling is complicated by his fear for Vicki's safety and his sense of loss of the best partner he ever had.

In the course of the investigation of the mysterious predator, Vicki crosses the path of another night hunter—the writer Henry Fitzroy. As Vicki gets closer to the solution, it will take the help of both men to save her from becoming the latest victim of the murderer.

This series (continued in Blood Trail), is similar in setting to the Anita Blake novels. Huff's supernatural aspects a bit less solid than one might wish, and the histrionic argumentation between Vicki and Mike is slightly overdone.

Nevertheless, Vicki and her friends are well-drawn, behaving with all the passion, courage, pettiness and honesty of good but imperfect people under pressure. There is humor and lust, fear and pride in their actions, and the characters make this book an entertaining joy.

Overall: 6; Plot: 6; Characters: 6.5; Style: 6; World-building: 6; Originality: 7;

ISBN: 0-88677-471-3 Order from: Amazon.com