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Blood Singer #4
The Isis Collar
A clairvoyant’s vision sends Celia racing to evacuate a local elementary school before a concealed magical bomb goes off. She gets almost everyone out but is caught in the explosion!
Amazingly, the bomb seems to cause no damage…until two weeks later, when a stubborn bruise on Celia’s leg turns out to be the first sign of a magical zombie plague. Schoolchildren and their parents are the next victims. The cure is both painful and in extremely short supply.
Worse, it soon becomes clear that there are more explosions to come. But helping the FBI track down the bomber isn’t Celia’s only problem. Her abusive, alcoholic mother has broken out of prison on the Sirens’ island; her ghostly little sister has possessed a young girl; and one of Celia’s boyfriends has mysteriously disappeared in the middle of a casting.
Amazingly, the bomb seems to cause no damage…until two weeks later, when a stubborn bruise on Celia’s leg turns out to be the first sign of a magical zombie plague. Schoolchildren and their parents are the next victims. The cure is both painful and in extremely short supply.
Worse, it soon becomes clear that there are more explosions to come. But helping the FBI track down the bomber isn’t Celia’s only problem. Her abusive, alcoholic mother has broken out of prison on the Sirens’ island; her ghostly little sister has possessed a young girl; and one of Celia’s boyfriends has mysteriously disappeared in the middle of a casting.
384 pages, Paperback
First published March 13, 2012
30 people are currently reading
2010 people want to read
About the author
Cat Adams
18 books729 followersThis is the pen name of Cathy Clamp and C.T. Adams (co-authors of the Thrall trilogy and the Sazi series published by Tor). They created this name to write under to make it easier for new fans (or old) to find them on the book shelves.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/catadams
http://us.macmillan.com/author/catadams
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 154 reviews
August 24, 2016
I have an ear infection right now and I just can't care enough to expend oodles of energy on a review, so this is going to be quick and lackluster.
These books are good, but not great and I almost instantly forget the whole thing when I'm done reading. I'm having to really try to remember what this book was about and I finished it a few hours ago. Sure, I remember the big bad and ending, but I'm kind of hazy on the rest. All the books are like this after the first and second. I remember the first best, the second because it's about sirens, but the third and fourth books went by quickly. I liked them while I read them, but they don't leave a lasting impression and I doubt I'd recommend them because of that. So while I am reading the fifth book, it's not because I'm love or like with these books, they're more like those late night shows you watch because nothing else is on and you want something for your eyeballs to look at. I'm sick and don't have a lot of energy to expend = these books work. They're simple, pretty good pace, I'm not attached to any of the characters, and there are a variety of mythological beings. It works for the moment. And even though there's a love triangle, which I detest, there's barely any flirting and no sex, so it's background noise. Somehow this doesn't make me think YA, but I do wish the romance was either more present or not at all. Stop hedging. The end.
These books are good, but not great and I almost instantly forget the whole thing when I'm done reading. I'm having to really try to remember what this book was about and I finished it a few hours ago. Sure, I remember the big bad and ending, but I'm kind of hazy on the rest. All the books are like this after the first and second. I remember the first best, the second because it's about sirens, but the third and fourth books went by quickly. I liked them while I read them, but they don't leave a lasting impression and I doubt I'd recommend them because of that. So while I am reading the fifth book, it's not because I'm love or like with these books, they're more like those late night shows you watch because nothing else is on and you want something for your eyeballs to look at. I'm sick and don't have a lot of energy to expend = these books work. They're simple, pretty good pace, I'm not attached to any of the characters, and there are a variety of mythological beings. It works for the moment. And even though there's a love triangle, which I detest, there's barely any flirting and no sex, so it's background noise. Somehow this doesn't make me think YA, but I do wish the romance was either more present or not at all. Stop hedging. The end.
February 29, 2012
I read an ARC copy of this book obtained through First Reads.
While I really disliked this book, I can at least recognize that most of what bothered me is a matter of personal opinion. Style choices and plot points that, while I hated them, others would probably like. If you read through my review and think "Why is she whining about that? It sounds fine," then you'd probably like the book. I cannot, in good conscience, call it a bad book, because it's not. But it's not good, either.
First of all, there are some things I really like about this book. The zombies, for one. Even though zombies are overplayed these days as the monster, Adams gives them a fun twist and actually plays with it. There's no "Our zombies are different, except we're going to treat them like they're not" in this book. I loved that.
The urban fantasy world in this book is delightful. I love the 'magic meets bureaucracy' feel to it, and it's clear Adams put a lot of thought into how her system works. She comes up with some clever stuff. People who have read previous books and liked the setting will not be disappointed.
The characters are engaging, the mystery is suitably mysterious, and while I wasn't shocked by the final reveal of the bad guy, I was at least kept properly in the dark until the right time.
And then we get to the problems this book has. The writing, frankly, feels very childish to me. Celia's narration reads less like a grown woman, or even a fully-realized and developed character, and more like the blog of a hyper 15 year old girl. There are a lot of phrases and word choices that just seem...juvenile. I had a hard time throughout the book imagining Celia as anything besides very, very young. To be honest, through the first part of the book, I thought it was marketed to teens instead of adults.
The pacing in this book is very odd. There's a lot of moving parts in this plot, and they all move in fits and starts. Celia's illness drags on over weeks, and then as soon as it's convenient to the plot, all of a sudden it's an immediate concern that could kill her if it's not fixed right away. Another one of her problems features prominently through the whole book, and at the end is fixed in half a page so that it can be brushed aside in favor of the finale. On the other hand, there are multiple points in the book were seemingly routine things get absurd amounts of detail that grind the narrative to a halt. One section spends three pages on someone feeding Celia while she can't use her hands. Three pages to describe pouring broth in her mouth, an operation that went off without any mishap and then was promptly forgotten. Why was it important enough to get three pages? It wasn't, the pacing is just wonky.
The worst pacing problem of them all: The titular Isis Collar doesn't even get a mention until page 330 out of 384, and even then it barely plays a role in the plot. It's a very interesting concept, and it's effects are hinted at throughout the book (by confusing the cast and keeping them from identifying the main bad guy) but they're never really played with or explored. Considering this object is the title of the book, I expected it to have much more of an impact on the plot and/or characters. (And despite the picture on the cover, Celia never wears the thing. She only even touches it once.)
And my final problem with this book is Celia herself. She's not an exceptionally poor character. A little bit bland, but that's par for the course when it comes to main protagonists. (Of every gender and every genre; I'm not trying to pick on anyone here.) No, my problem is that she sails through this book unaffected by the events. There's a lot of trauma going on here, some of it personal and some of it cataclysmic, and yet it never trips her up in any way. At most, her physical afflictions bother her, but we're only every told that she's bothered, they don't really affect her actions. At one point she even sees her therapist -- something we're told is a regular event -- and she breaks down crying and spilling out everything that's happened...in a single paragraph of narration. She talks about how she's 'overwhelmed.' "There was so much seething anger, fear, and pain rolling around inside me that I didn't even realize it until it all came out." Except for one problem. This is a first-person narrative. We are literally hearing all of Celia's thoughts throughout the book. Outside of this single line, we don't hear her talk about her 'anger, fear, and pain.' It doesn't affect her. It doesn't bother her. It doesn't slow her down. It doesn't have any impact at all on her ability to function, solve the case, and save the day. There is nothing there for her to overcome. It's just a throwaway line right before they introduce some new problem that will also not affect her in the least. It's a cheap gimmick mean to solicit sympathy that ends up feeling hollow and, by extension, makes Celia feel hollow as well.
While I really disliked this book, I can at least recognize that most of what bothered me is a matter of personal opinion. Style choices and plot points that, while I hated them, others would probably like. If you read through my review and think "Why is she whining about that? It sounds fine," then you'd probably like the book. I cannot, in good conscience, call it a bad book, because it's not. But it's not good, either.
First of all, there are some things I really like about this book. The zombies, for one. Even though zombies are overplayed these days as the monster, Adams gives them a fun twist and actually plays with it. There's no "Our zombies are different, except we're going to treat them like they're not" in this book. I loved that.
The urban fantasy world in this book is delightful. I love the 'magic meets bureaucracy' feel to it, and it's clear Adams put a lot of thought into how her system works. She comes up with some clever stuff. People who have read previous books and liked the setting will not be disappointed.
The characters are engaging, the mystery is suitably mysterious, and while I wasn't shocked by the final reveal of the bad guy, I was at least kept properly in the dark until the right time.
And then we get to the problems this book has. The writing, frankly, feels very childish to me. Celia's narration reads less like a grown woman, or even a fully-realized and developed character, and more like the blog of a hyper 15 year old girl. There are a lot of phrases and word choices that just seem...juvenile. I had a hard time throughout the book imagining Celia as anything besides very, very young. To be honest, through the first part of the book, I thought it was marketed to teens instead of adults.
The pacing in this book is very odd. There's a lot of moving parts in this plot, and they all move in fits and starts. Celia's illness drags on over weeks, and then as soon as it's convenient to the plot, all of a sudden it's an immediate concern that could kill her if it's not fixed right away. Another one of her problems features prominently through the whole book, and at the end is fixed in half a page so that it can be brushed aside in favor of the finale. On the other hand, there are multiple points in the book were seemingly routine things get absurd amounts of detail that grind the narrative to a halt. One section spends three pages on someone feeding Celia while she can't use her hands. Three pages to describe pouring broth in her mouth, an operation that went off without any mishap and then was promptly forgotten. Why was it important enough to get three pages? It wasn't, the pacing is just wonky.
The worst pacing problem of them all: The titular Isis Collar doesn't even get a mention until page 330 out of 384, and even then it barely plays a role in the plot. It's a very interesting concept, and it's effects are hinted at throughout the book (by confusing the cast and keeping them from identifying the main bad guy) but they're never really played with or explored. Considering this object is the title of the book, I expected it to have much more of an impact on the plot and/or characters. (And despite the picture on the cover, Celia never wears the thing. She only even touches it once.)
And my final problem with this book is Celia herself. She's not an exceptionally poor character. A little bit bland, but that's par for the course when it comes to main protagonists. (Of every gender and every genre; I'm not trying to pick on anyone here.) No, my problem is that she sails through this book unaffected by the events. There's a lot of trauma going on here, some of it personal and some of it cataclysmic, and yet it never trips her up in any way. At most, her physical afflictions bother her, but we're only every told that she's bothered, they don't really affect her actions. At one point she even sees her therapist -- something we're told is a regular event -- and she breaks down crying and spilling out everything that's happened...in a single paragraph of narration. She talks about how she's 'overwhelmed.' "There was so much seething anger, fear, and pain rolling around inside me that I didn't even realize it until it all came out." Except for one problem. This is a first-person narrative. We are literally hearing all of Celia's thoughts throughout the book. Outside of this single line, we don't hear her talk about her 'anger, fear, and pain.' It doesn't affect her. It doesn't bother her. It doesn't slow her down. It doesn't have any impact at all on her ability to function, solve the case, and save the day. There is nothing there for her to overcome. It's just a throwaway line right before they introduce some new problem that will also not affect her in the least. It's a cheap gimmick mean to solicit sympathy that ends up feeling hollow and, by extension, makes Celia feel hollow as well.
June 15, 2012
Before I go on to the review proper, let me just say that this novel has one of the worst covers I have ever had the misfortune to lay my eyes on. Her costume, her pose and the colours – they are all so tacky and such a far cry from the classy covers of the last three or so volumes that I wonder what major changes occurred in the Arts department to cause such a disparity in the continuity of the cover art. I’d replace the current art director with a new one. Or bring the old one back because wow, I wouldn’t be caught dead reading this one in public.
Anyway, moving on to the meat of the matter. I’m afraid that the cover was a very good indicator of the latest installment in the Blood Singer series. The last book was strong, fascinating and addictive and I was eagerly waiting a return to the world of Celia Graves. However, I was profoundly disappointed at what I found within the pages of The Isis Collar. Celia spends most of the book sick and being helped by various men to cure her illnesses. People get sick, I get that but you know what? It doesn’t make for very interesting reading when the protagonist of a series that works because of the actions of the protagonist becomes a story about invalids. And the times that Celia is not lying prone in pain, she is waffling between her two men. Okay, I am sort of disgusted by Celia’s decision or rather confidence that she will get back with boyfriend one who used to be her fiance until he ended up throwing her to the dogs for a woman who was Celia’s nemesis and determined to end Celia in all the ways that mattered. I don’t like that and perhaps it’s just me but yeah.
Also, the intentional delaying of a very crucial plot element never fails to drive me crazy as it did in this novel. One of the main characters goes missing and no one seems to be paying much attention to it and him for a very long while. I knew that whatever had happened to him was pivotal to the novel but no one except me screaming outside the world of the novel seemed to be caring all that much until, you know, the end when voila, everyone’s like WHERE IS HE?
So yeah, I didn’t enjoy this novel as much as I had wanted to. In fact, my enjoyment was probably very faint. I still am going to try reading the next installment whenever it comes out but with a whole lot less anticipation than before. The romantic entanglements are getting old as is the never ending love triangle or um whatever poly-relationship they have going on.
Anyway, moving on to the meat of the matter. I’m afraid that the cover was a very good indicator of the latest installment in the Blood Singer series. The last book was strong, fascinating and addictive and I was eagerly waiting a return to the world of Celia Graves. However, I was profoundly disappointed at what I found within the pages of The Isis Collar. Celia spends most of the book sick and being helped by various men to cure her illnesses. People get sick, I get that but you know what? It doesn’t make for very interesting reading when the protagonist of a series that works because of the actions of the protagonist becomes a story about invalids. And the times that Celia is not lying prone in pain, she is waffling between her two men. Okay, I am sort of disgusted by Celia’s decision or rather confidence that she will get back with boyfriend one who used to be her fiance until he ended up throwing her to the dogs for a woman who was Celia’s nemesis and determined to end Celia in all the ways that mattered. I don’t like that and perhaps it’s just me but yeah.
Also, the intentional delaying of a very crucial plot element never fails to drive me crazy as it did in this novel. One of the main characters goes missing and no one seems to be paying much attention to it and him for a very long while. I knew that whatever had happened to him was pivotal to the novel but no one except me screaming outside the world of the novel seemed to be caring all that much until, you know, the end when voila, everyone’s like WHERE IS HE?
So yeah, I didn’t enjoy this novel as much as I had wanted to. In fact, my enjoyment was probably very faint. I still am going to try reading the next installment whenever it comes out but with a whole lot less anticipation than before. The romantic entanglements are getting old as is the never ending love triangle or um whatever poly-relationship they have going on.
April 10, 2012
Some spoilers
Half vampire-half siren Celia Graves is instructed to evacuate the local school by her clairvoyent friend Dottie. On arriving at the school, Celia finds a magical bomb and rushes to save the kids and stop the bomb. Celia narrowly escapes with her life but is shocked that her bruises aren't healing as they should, that she has a headache that won't go away and that she's lost some memories. Celia becomes more and more ill, and she soon realises that's she's not the only one. The children and teachers at the school are experiencing similar symptoms, things go from bad to worse when those experiencing the symptoms start dying. When other schools are targeted with the same magical bomb which result in the same sickness, Celia and her friends rush to invesigate before a pandemic occurs.
Celia can be frustrating, she constantly gets pushed around and seems to think every person's welfare is her sole responsibility.
I dislike heroines that act like martyrs, are overly self sacrificing and think it's their job alone to save the day.
Creede is by far the best character - he's charming, successful, hard working, he's loyal to Celia and and for some reason is happy to wait for her. My only complaint about him is that he wasn't in it enough.
The storyline was a bit messy and it mainly consisited of Celia going from one disaster to the next. The action was well done but there were far too many things were going on - Celia's mother escaping, Celia's illness and vampirism, Creede's disappearance, the zombie like virus, Celia being attacked several times and Celia's love life..it just needed some order.
The Isis Collar only turns up in the last 15% of the book and it wasn't really all that significant to the overall story.
The amount of people who've betrayed and abandoned Celia is ridiculous. Her father left, Bruno chose another woman over her, Kevin and Warren betrayed her, her mother hates her and treats her like dirt and her grandmother turned her back on her..give the poor girl a break. Celia complains about how the people she loves let her down and hurt but instead of cutting them out of her life, she just takes all their BS. Making the heroine compassionate and forgiving is different from making them weak and doormat-y..Celia needs to start sticking up for herself more and not let people treat her like crap.
There was no development AT ALL in the love triangle, Celia was stringing along both Bruno and Creede. I really can't understand what she sees in Bruno, he dumped her twice, betrayed her and hurt her - yet she still wants him. She's not been with anyone in years because she still has feelings for him, whereas Bruno had no problem whatsoever moving on and finding someone else..that alone should make it clear to Celia that he doesn't feel as much for her as she does him. I wish Celia would just get over Bruno, he's such a rubbish love interest. I'm hoping the love traingle is resolved in the next book..because it's getting beyond annoying and tiresome.
Even though the Isis Collar was pretty enjoyable overall, I'm losing my patience with the series - it just seems to be plodding along, there's no big changes, character development or plot movement..apart from Celia not being human anymore. I hope Celia cuts ties with her mother and grandmother, so they can realise how much she does for them..I can't take another book of them talking down to Celia. What I'd most like to find out about is Celia's father, his other kids and why he left. If the next book is still the same with Celia getting pushed around and betrayed and her being wishy-washy about her love life, I won't be continuing with the series.
Half vampire-half siren Celia Graves is instructed to evacuate the local school by her clairvoyent friend Dottie. On arriving at the school, Celia finds a magical bomb and rushes to save the kids and stop the bomb. Celia narrowly escapes with her life but is shocked that her bruises aren't healing as they should, that she has a headache that won't go away and that she's lost some memories. Celia becomes more and more ill, and she soon realises that's she's not the only one. The children and teachers at the school are experiencing similar symptoms, things go from bad to worse when those experiencing the symptoms start dying. When other schools are targeted with the same magical bomb which result in the same sickness, Celia and her friends rush to invesigate before a pandemic occurs.
Celia can be frustrating, she constantly gets pushed around and seems to think every person's welfare is her sole responsibility.
I dislike heroines that act like martyrs, are overly self sacrificing and think it's their job alone to save the day.
Creede is by far the best character - he's charming, successful, hard working, he's loyal to Celia and and for some reason is happy to wait for her. My only complaint about him is that he wasn't in it enough.
The storyline was a bit messy and it mainly consisited of Celia going from one disaster to the next. The action was well done but there were far too many things were going on - Celia's mother escaping, Celia's illness and vampirism, Creede's disappearance, the zombie like virus, Celia being attacked several times and Celia's love life..it just needed some order.
The Isis Collar only turns up in the last 15% of the book and it wasn't really all that significant to the overall story.
The amount of people who've betrayed and abandoned Celia is ridiculous. Her father left, Bruno chose another woman over her, Kevin and Warren betrayed her, her mother hates her and treats her like dirt and her grandmother turned her back on her..give the poor girl a break. Celia complains about how the people she loves let her down and hurt but instead of cutting them out of her life, she just takes all their BS. Making the heroine compassionate and forgiving is different from making them weak and doormat-y..Celia needs to start sticking up for herself more and not let people treat her like crap.
There was no development AT ALL in the love triangle, Celia was stringing along both Bruno and Creede. I really can't understand what she sees in Bruno, he dumped her twice, betrayed her and hurt her - yet she still wants him. She's not been with anyone in years because she still has feelings for him, whereas Bruno had no problem whatsoever moving on and finding someone else..that alone should make it clear to Celia that he doesn't feel as much for her as she does him. I wish Celia would just get over Bruno, he's such a rubbish love interest. I'm hoping the love traingle is resolved in the next book..because it's getting beyond annoying and tiresome.
Even though the Isis Collar was pretty enjoyable overall, I'm losing my patience with the series - it just seems to be plodding along, there's no big changes, character development or plot movement..apart from Celia not being human anymore. I hope Celia cuts ties with her mother and grandmother, so they can realise how much she does for them..I can't take another book of them talking down to Celia. What I'd most like to find out about is Celia's father, his other kids and why he left. If the next book is still the same with Celia getting pushed around and betrayed and her being wishy-washy about her love life, I won't be continuing with the series.
March 23, 2012
Waaaaay to long way way to long!!
I hope theres two in 2012
So...you know i was wondering ...may i get an ARC??
AAAAH its here!!!
Not enough romance, felt a little rushed tooo. Whats happening!!
I hope theres two in 2012
So...you know i was wondering ...may i get an ARC??
AAAAH its here!!!
Not enough romance, felt a little rushed tooo. Whats happening!!
June 26, 2017
The isis collar is an amazing book. One of my favourite series I wish creede was in them more though 😄
October 8, 2012
Fourth in the Blood Singer urban fantasy series revolving around Celia Graves, a bodyguard-turned-vampire in Los Angeles.
My Take
Eeek, this one was filled with drama and tension with all the worry about the children and the creeping necrosis as well as many of the cops whom Celia used to go drinking with who want her dead and they keep doing their best to trip her up. Adams created a tricky story here. Hard-to-find clues that just didn't add up until Adams pulled it all together at the end.
It cracks me up when Adams refers to a couple of bad guys as "hired wands". A quirky restatement of a standard phrase.
OH! What kind of jerk agrees to perform horrible spells on children, but sends his own kids into hiding?!!
Okay, I still don't get why Celia taking that job for the chemical company down in Mexico would make a difference…
Fascinating to read about Rizzoli's intuition and how it works. Boy, talk about trust.
I do love what Adams has created in this series. Such a range of characters and then taking that twist with the vampire and making Celia part siren. Then her issues with her mother and the spillover onto her Gran.
It's a complex life Celia leads, and it's full of friends who care for her. I'm certainly enjoying the romances that ebb and flow in this. With the ending in this story, it looks like it could become extremely interesting in the next installment, The Eldritch Conspiracy . I can't wait!
The Story
Just like real life, the authorities don't always know everything and the school's refusal to take her seriously is driving Celia mad. Still she's there when the bomb does go off, only it's having some serious, long-term effects and her damned health insurance refuses to cover her. They claim she's dead!
She thought this was all bad enough. Until Rizzoli comes to get her and explains just how bad it really is and the Center for Magical Disease Control has to get involved.
That's the easy part. What's hard is that children are dying. Someone is setting off bombs in the schools. Good thing Creede's specialty is offensive magic.
The Characters
As part of a plot, Celia Graves was almost completely turned into a vampire. Then she learned she has siren blood. Now she battles the state of California, insurance companies, demons, and a psychotic witch. Ivy is her ghostly sister, still roaming the earthly planes and worried about their alcoholic mother, Lana. And Ivy discovers the joy of overshadowing. Gran is in assisted living and quite the active enabler.
Dottie Simmons is a very powerful, secretive clairvoyant and a friend of Celia's; she helps Dawna out at the office to supplement her pension. Dawna is the receptionist in Celia's office building. And a friend who gets some gory lessons in self-defense from Alex and Celia. Ron is one of the tenants in the office building. He's a lawyer and a first-class jerk---I am just dying for him to find out that Celia inherited the building!
Bruno DeLuca is a several-times former boyfriend of Celia's and a level nine mage while John Creede who runs an extremely reputable security agency, Miller & Creede, is a level eight-plus. Both are very interested in Celia. Andrew is John's assistant; Gillian is his sister. Both are extremely worried that John has been out of touch. Glinda Miller is George Miller's daughter. The dead George that John and Celia killed in self-defense.
Detective Heather Alexander had been Vicki's lover before she died and it was through Vicki that Alex and Celia were friendly. Now, Alex is under intense scrutiny for what contact she does have with Celia. Terrance Harris is a Santa Maria de Luna cop and a six-level mage. His daughter, Willow, is attending the school. Officer Bob Danson has it in for Celia and his partner hasn't a clue. Danson and Gerry, a guard at the clinic, are cofounders of the "Celia Graves Must Die" Club.
Special Agent Dominic Rizzoli is FBI and needs Celia's help on a case; turns out he's a level-eight Intuitive. His son Mikey has a bruise on his hip that his wife Karen just discovered. Gail Jones is FBI and is normally based at Quantico. She only comes in on high-profile cases. The negative is that her father is a magical hit man who has forced Celia to work for him in the past. Agent Indira Matumbo is half-demon, half-witch and can impersonate anyone.
Julie Murphy and her sister Bev have siren blood. Mick and Molly are their parents. Dr. Gwen Talbert is Celia's therapist. Dr. Thomas Gaetano is with the Center for Magical Disease Control and he's Christopher's father. Baker and Natura are siren guards looking for Celia's mother who escaped.
Warren "El Jefe" Landingham, the head of Paranormal Studies at the university, and his son Kevin, a werewolf, betrayed Celia so she's not so friendly with them anymore. Emma, his daughter, is a clairvoyant and still one of Celia's best friends. Dr. Aaron Sloan is frequently consulted for his knowledge of curses and the demonic.
Principal Sanchez is within her rights to refuse to evacuate; you just know it's gonna turn out bad. R. Jamisyn is the school security guard who is sympathetic, but determined. Dr. Jean-Baptiste is a medical doctor specializing in Orvah magic, so don't be surprised by the live goats and chickens wandering the office.
Isaac Levy is her magical tailor---hmmm, I wonder what he could do for me??; he and his wife Gilda also do the best artifact work.
Gavrail is one of the hired wands---the one with kids! G. Linda Thompson owns MagnaChem and is overbearingly pushy about hiring Celia as a bodyguard. The same Thompson who married a Jamisyn.
The Cover
The cover is feels like an explosion of light with Celia at its center in her black leather pants, knee-high boots, and very low-necked scoop black tank top. She has knives in forearm sheathes, but it's the Egyptian-style collar around her neck, framed by all that white-blonde hair blowing back from her face, that really grabs your attention.
The title is the trauma in this installment---The Isis Collar has the potential to wreak havoc on the world.
My Take
Eeek, this one was filled with drama and tension with all the worry about the children and the creeping necrosis as well as many of the cops whom Celia used to go drinking with who want her dead and they keep doing their best to trip her up. Adams created a tricky story here. Hard-to-find clues that just didn't add up until Adams pulled it all together at the end.
It cracks me up when Adams refers to a couple of bad guys as "hired wands". A quirky restatement of a standard phrase.
OH! What kind of jerk agrees to perform horrible spells on children, but sends his own kids into hiding?!!
Okay, I still don't get why Celia taking that job for the chemical company down in Mexico would make a difference…
Fascinating to read about Rizzoli's intuition and how it works. Boy, talk about trust.
I do love what Adams has created in this series. Such a range of characters and then taking that twist with the vampire and making Celia part siren. Then her issues with her mother and the spillover onto her Gran.
It's a complex life Celia leads, and it's full of friends who care for her. I'm certainly enjoying the romances that ebb and flow in this. With the ending in this story, it looks like it could become extremely interesting in the next installment, The Eldritch Conspiracy . I can't wait!
The Story
Just like real life, the authorities don't always know everything and the school's refusal to take her seriously is driving Celia mad. Still she's there when the bomb does go off, only it's having some serious, long-term effects and her damned health insurance refuses to cover her. They claim she's dead!
She thought this was all bad enough. Until Rizzoli comes to get her and explains just how bad it really is and the Center for Magical Disease Control has to get involved.
That's the easy part. What's hard is that children are dying. Someone is setting off bombs in the schools. Good thing Creede's specialty is offensive magic.
The Characters
As part of a plot, Celia Graves was almost completely turned into a vampire. Then she learned she has siren blood. Now she battles the state of California, insurance companies, demons, and a psychotic witch. Ivy is her ghostly sister, still roaming the earthly planes and worried about their alcoholic mother, Lana. And Ivy discovers the joy of overshadowing. Gran is in assisted living and quite the active enabler.
Dottie Simmons is a very powerful, secretive clairvoyant and a friend of Celia's; she helps Dawna out at the office to supplement her pension. Dawna is the receptionist in Celia's office building. And a friend who gets some gory lessons in self-defense from Alex and Celia. Ron is one of the tenants in the office building. He's a lawyer and a first-class jerk---I am just dying for him to find out that Celia inherited the building!
Bruno DeLuca is a several-times former boyfriend of Celia's and a level nine mage while John Creede who runs an extremely reputable security agency, Miller & Creede, is a level eight-plus. Both are very interested in Celia. Andrew is John's assistant; Gillian is his sister. Both are extremely worried that John has been out of touch. Glinda Miller is George Miller's daughter. The dead George that John and Celia killed in self-defense.
Detective Heather Alexander had been Vicki's lover before she died and it was through Vicki that Alex and Celia were friendly. Now, Alex is under intense scrutiny for what contact she does have with Celia. Terrance Harris is a Santa Maria de Luna cop and a six-level mage. His daughter, Willow, is attending the school. Officer Bob Danson has it in for Celia and his partner hasn't a clue. Danson and Gerry, a guard at the clinic, are cofounders of the "Celia Graves Must Die" Club.
Special Agent Dominic Rizzoli is FBI and needs Celia's help on a case; turns out he's a level-eight Intuitive. His son Mikey has a bruise on his hip that his wife Karen just discovered. Gail Jones is FBI and is normally based at Quantico. She only comes in on high-profile cases. The negative is that her father is a magical hit man who has forced Celia to work for him in the past. Agent Indira Matumbo is half-demon, half-witch and can impersonate anyone.
Julie Murphy and her sister Bev have siren blood. Mick and Molly are their parents. Dr. Gwen Talbert is Celia's therapist. Dr. Thomas Gaetano is with the Center for Magical Disease Control and he's Christopher's father. Baker and Natura are siren guards looking for Celia's mother who escaped.
Warren "El Jefe" Landingham, the head of Paranormal Studies at the university, and his son Kevin, a werewolf, betrayed Celia so she's not so friendly with them anymore. Emma, his daughter, is a clairvoyant and still one of Celia's best friends. Dr. Aaron Sloan is frequently consulted for his knowledge of curses and the demonic.
Principal Sanchez is within her rights to refuse to evacuate; you just know it's gonna turn out bad. R. Jamisyn is the school security guard who is sympathetic, but determined. Dr. Jean-Baptiste is a medical doctor specializing in Orvah magic, so don't be surprised by the live goats and chickens wandering the office.
Isaac Levy is her magical tailor---hmmm, I wonder what he could do for me??; he and his wife Gilda also do the best artifact work.
Gavrail is one of the hired wands---the one with kids! G. Linda Thompson owns MagnaChem and is overbearingly pushy about hiring Celia as a bodyguard. The same Thompson who married a Jamisyn.
The Cover
The cover is feels like an explosion of light with Celia at its center in her black leather pants, knee-high boots, and very low-necked scoop black tank top. She has knives in forearm sheathes, but it's the Egyptian-style collar around her neck, framed by all that white-blonde hair blowing back from her face, that really grabs your attention.
The title is the trauma in this installment---The Isis Collar has the potential to wreak havoc on the world.
November 24, 2013
Isis Collar- by – Cat Adams
Holy Moly---I have been following this fantastic series since the start and these books just keep getting better and more exciting with every new addition. Leave it to these women to come up with a heck of a combination of plots to keep us enthralled! Hey! Could they be weaving some kind of magic spell into the book?
Well no matter how they do it, this one was a doozy! This book opens with Celia storming up the steps of a school to be in time to rescue all the children inside from what seems to b e a magical series of bombs. Soon Celia is in horrible pain with a bruise that hurts like knives being stuck into her and headache from Hades that will not go away. Add to that that she seems to be forgetting a lot of things and her vampyness seems to be more sensitive than usual and you have a recipe for disaster; a At least for Celia. Until we realize that this is happening to more people than just her and a lot worse.
Her life is complicated enough but don’t worry they actually get worse since John Creede a level 8 or 9 mage who is helping her goes missing, Zombies seem to be springing up, and a persistent client is bugging her. Her Mother is missing from the island, her sister’s ghost tries to take over the body of another child and things just go downhill from there! Oh, and people keep trying to kill her too.
When all is said and done we are left with a tiny bit of a cliff hanger and a lovely new relationship with TWO of her men. It seems that both John Creede and Bruno want to court her.
The actual Isis collar doesn’t show up until almost the end of the book, but I loved how “Cat” has managed to incorporate it.
The characters are as usual, richly drawn leaving very little for you to have to wonder about, the story is complex without turning into “War and Peace”, there is enough evil and horror happening to keep even jaded readers happy. The mystery aspect is well done and had me looking in the wrong direction, so I was happily surprised when all of the machinations came to light.
This is truly a heck of a ride, and I didn’t want to get off.
Holy Moly---I have been following this fantastic series since the start and these books just keep getting better and more exciting with every new addition. Leave it to these women to come up with a heck of a combination of plots to keep us enthralled! Hey! Could they be weaving some kind of magic spell into the book?
Well no matter how they do it, this one was a doozy! This book opens with Celia storming up the steps of a school to be in time to rescue all the children inside from what seems to b e a magical series of bombs. Soon Celia is in horrible pain with a bruise that hurts like knives being stuck into her and headache from Hades that will not go away. Add to that that she seems to be forgetting a lot of things and her vampyness seems to be more sensitive than usual and you have a recipe for disaster; a At least for Celia. Until we realize that this is happening to more people than just her and a lot worse.
Her life is complicated enough but don’t worry they actually get worse since John Creede a level 8 or 9 mage who is helping her goes missing, Zombies seem to be springing up, and a persistent client is bugging her. Her Mother is missing from the island, her sister’s ghost tries to take over the body of another child and things just go downhill from there! Oh, and people keep trying to kill her too.
When all is said and done we are left with a tiny bit of a cliff hanger and a lovely new relationship with TWO of her men. It seems that both John Creede and Bruno want to court her.
The actual Isis collar doesn’t show up until almost the end of the book, but I loved how “Cat” has managed to incorporate it.
The characters are as usual, richly drawn leaving very little for you to have to wonder about, the story is complex without turning into “War and Peace”, there is enough evil and horror happening to keep even jaded readers happy. The mystery aspect is well done and had me looking in the wrong direction, so I was happily surprised when all of the machinations came to light.
This is truly a heck of a ride, and I didn’t want to get off.
May 17, 2012
I have been slacking off with my review writing. I read this book almost 2 weeks ago and I’m finally sitting down now to write my thoughts on it. I feel as though I have already forgotten some stuff about it.
Damn. I shouldn’t do this anymore!!! Focus, focus!!
All right, where should I start?
Overall speaking, the Blood Singer series as well as its female protagonist, Celia, have been growing on me. I would openly admit that I didn’t care much for the first instalment. However, I was glad that I stuck it out and continued on. It got better each time.
This particular instalment started off with a mysterious, unknown threat that Celia’s part-time secretary (a powerful Clairvoyant) foresaw at a local school, to which Celia went to conduct her investigation. She happened to be at the right place at the right time and she saved a lot of people. However, nothing seemed right thereafter. Celia apparently suffered from some unknown illness/pain that would be considered unusual for someone with vampiric abilities and attributes. At the same time, she was approached by the FBI, Rizzoli, for assistance, on attacks across different states which were similar to what she experienced at the school. As a result, she embarked on a journey to discover the sources of the attacks, as well as to seek help in curing her illness/pain.
The storyline was pretty rich and action-packed. The magical attacks targeting schools, with the intent to was pretty intriguing. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time, and sometimes I even felt like yelling at Celia for being so stupid with not taking better care of herself in seeking medical attention sooner!!!!
Anyway, towards the latter half of the book, the culprit behind the magical shenanigans started to shape up and it slowly became obvious who it could be. However, I thought the author didn’t do a good job in tying up loose ends in her storyline. As an example, Furthermore, the whole premise of the Isis Collar came out of nowhere, which was a bit surprising. I knew this was relevant (well duh, that was the title of the book) but who would have guessed?!? It just didn’t seem realistic to me that a magical artefact like the Isis Collar would remain hidden and unused until now?!
As mentioned in my previous reviews, Celia didn’t pose well as a bodyguard at all. For some reason I could think of her in any other profession, may be even a private investigator, but not a bodyguard. She just didn’t have the sleekness and badassness that I’d expect from a bodyguard at all, and this perception has not changed.
From a story/plot perspective, there wasn’t much content on Celia’s siren side of heritage, which was a bit disappointing. Also, the guys didn’t quite seem to be as enthralled by Celia as in previous books. I couldn’t figure out the whys. It seemed a little odd that in the previous book, there was a lot of focus in discussing Celia’s innate ability in drawing the attention of the opposite sex due to her siren blood. In this book, however, this aspect was not further explored, which seemed a bit disconnected to me. Oh, and the mysterious ghost-like entity assisting Celia? That came out of nowhere and who knew what that was. I supposed it was thread for the next novel.
As for love interests, Celia continued to be undecided between John or Bruno, which drove me nuts to no ends. It’s been four novels by now and she still couldn’t make up her mind!!!! It appeared as though she was stringing them along. What baffled me was the fact that two amazingly skilled and hot mages like John Creede and Bruno De Luca would actually stick around and put up with this crap. Any guy with a hint of alpha-male character wouldn’t take this from a woman, but I supposed this didn’t apply to these guys since they weren’t really alpha-males. I really wish that this will get resolved in the next book.
Damn it!! Just pick a guy already!!!
If you ask me, I’d choose John over Bruno any day anytime. After Bruno’s previous “betrayals” in their relationship, I couldn’t understand why Celia would still consider him in the running. Perhaps it was old habits die hard - he was that one guy whom she couldn’t seem to have a happily-ever-after with. So she always reserved a corner of heart for him. On the other hand, she couldn’t deny the chemistry between John and her. She was slowly starting to acknowledge her developing feelings for John, which made me really happy!! Let’s wait and see if this progresses further. It’d be entirely frustrating for fans following this series that this love triangle takes forever to settle.
A girl can only hope.
I give this book 4 stars overall. It probably was just worthy of 3.5 stars, but I am giving it 4 for its sheer entertainment value. It was a quick read and I found myself looking forward to the next instalment. Can’t wait!! :)
Damn. I shouldn’t do this anymore!!! Focus, focus!!
All right, where should I start?
Overall speaking, the Blood Singer series as well as its female protagonist, Celia, have been growing on me. I would openly admit that I didn’t care much for the first instalment. However, I was glad that I stuck it out and continued on. It got better each time.
This particular instalment started off with a mysterious, unknown threat that Celia’s part-time secretary (a powerful Clairvoyant) foresaw at a local school, to which Celia went to conduct her investigation. She happened to be at the right place at the right time and she saved a lot of people. However, nothing seemed right thereafter. Celia apparently suffered from some unknown illness/pain that would be considered unusual for someone with vampiric abilities and attributes. At the same time, she was approached by the FBI, Rizzoli, for assistance, on attacks across different states which were similar to what she experienced at the school. As a result, she embarked on a journey to discover the sources of the attacks, as well as to seek help in curing her illness/pain.
The storyline was pretty rich and action-packed. The magical attacks targeting schools, with the intent to was pretty intriguing. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time, and sometimes I even felt like yelling at Celia for being so stupid with not taking better care of herself in seeking medical attention sooner!!!!
Anyway, towards the latter half of the book, the culprit behind the magical shenanigans started to shape up and it slowly became obvious who it could be. However, I thought the author didn’t do a good job in tying up loose ends in her storyline. As an example, Furthermore, the whole premise of the Isis Collar came out of nowhere, which was a bit surprising. I knew this was relevant (well duh, that was the title of the book) but who would have guessed?!? It just didn’t seem realistic to me that a magical artefact like the Isis Collar would remain hidden and unused until now?!
As mentioned in my previous reviews, Celia didn’t pose well as a bodyguard at all. For some reason I could think of her in any other profession, may be even a private investigator, but not a bodyguard. She just didn’t have the sleekness and badassness that I’d expect from a bodyguard at all, and this perception has not changed.
From a story/plot perspective, there wasn’t much content on Celia’s siren side of heritage, which was a bit disappointing. Also, the guys didn’t quite seem to be as enthralled by Celia as in previous books. I couldn’t figure out the whys. It seemed a little odd that in the previous book, there was a lot of focus in discussing Celia’s innate ability in drawing the attention of the opposite sex due to her siren blood. In this book, however, this aspect was not further explored, which seemed a bit disconnected to me. Oh, and the mysterious ghost-like entity assisting Celia? That came out of nowhere and who knew what that was. I supposed it was thread for the next novel.
As for love interests, Celia continued to be undecided between John or Bruno, which drove me nuts to no ends. It’s been four novels by now and she still couldn’t make up her mind!!!! It appeared as though she was stringing them along. What baffled me was the fact that two amazingly skilled and hot mages like John Creede and Bruno De Luca would actually stick around and put up with this crap. Any guy with a hint of alpha-male character wouldn’t take this from a woman, but I supposed this didn’t apply to these guys since they weren’t really alpha-males. I really wish that this will get resolved in the next book.
Damn it!! Just pick a guy already!!!
If you ask me, I’d choose John over Bruno any day anytime. After Bruno’s previous “betrayals” in their relationship, I couldn’t understand why Celia would still consider him in the running. Perhaps it was old habits die hard - he was that one guy whom she couldn’t seem to have a happily-ever-after with. So she always reserved a corner of heart for him. On the other hand, she couldn’t deny the chemistry between John and her. She was slowly starting to acknowledge her developing feelings for John, which made me really happy!! Let’s wait and see if this progresses further. It’d be entirely frustrating for fans following this series that this love triangle takes forever to settle.
A girl can only hope.
I give this book 4 stars overall. It probably was just worthy of 3.5 stars, but I am giving it 4 for its sheer entertainment value. It was a quick read and I found myself looking forward to the next instalment. Can’t wait!! :)
May 14, 2012
2.5 stars. This book is really just more of the same. I still like Celia quite a bit. And for the first half of the book I had my hopes up that the authors had improved their writing a bit, because I hadn't rolled my eyes at all at any silly coincidences like I was so irritated by during the first three books. But it was all downhill from there.
Rizzoli's gift being intuition smacks of lazy storytelling to me, not a cute plot idea. It's too much like Dottie's clairvoyance. Both end up being excuses for the authors to get the characters in the right places at the right times with a handy voilà instead of just writing a tight story.
And then there were the coincidences. Everyone in the book turned out to be related to someone from a previous book, even the minor characters. The doctor was Chris Gaetano's dad, the mage is was Jones's daughter, the kid that gets sick is Julie, and on and on. It's kind of cute once, but after a while it's just annoying, how many people that Celia has met can possibly keep coming back into her life in different ways? There wasn't any big, fated reason reason for it, it was just supposed to be cute, so it got really irritating.
And then the plot just deteriorated. It went from four stars in the middle, to three as it got pretty mixed up with just too many elements going on, to just a total mess in the end. The level of coincidences were staggering. The woman who was kidnapped was explaining one aspect of the story about the collar to Celia couldn't even believe the story herself, even she knew it sounded ridiculous. That whole plot turned out to be so absurd. The stuff with the collar felt tacked on and like a real let down.
And then there's just the love triangle. No real effort was put into it this time. I don't think it works anyway because John has been developed as sexy and mature and just cool and Bruno hasn't been developed as anything other than a powerful mage who keeps leaving her. Just because she keeps saying that she thinks she'll end up with him doesn't mean that I see what his appeal is at all, they have to show me.
Celia's just a bodyguard, a regular person that this extraordinary stuff happened too. That's what makes me relate to her. So when they make her life seem even more ridiculous than necessary it alienates me. I liked the stuff with her mom, with Dawna, and with her dealing with the changes in her life. I wish they'd try to keep things a bit more grounded. And I wish they'd stop relying so much on easy outs when it comes to storytelling. They sell a lot of books so it's obviously working for them, but I'd never pay for one of their books.
Rizzoli's gift being intuition smacks of lazy storytelling to me, not a cute plot idea. It's too much like Dottie's clairvoyance. Both end up being excuses for the authors to get the characters in the right places at the right times with a handy voilà instead of just writing a tight story.
And then there were the coincidences. Everyone in the book turned out to be related to someone from a previous book, even the minor characters. The doctor was Chris Gaetano's dad, the mage is was Jones's daughter, the kid that gets sick is Julie, and on and on. It's kind of cute once, but after a while it's just annoying, how many people that Celia has met can possibly keep coming back into her life in different ways? There wasn't any big, fated reason reason for it, it was just supposed to be cute, so it got really irritating.
And then the plot just deteriorated. It went from four stars in the middle, to three as it got pretty mixed up with just too many elements going on, to just a total mess in the end. The level of coincidences were staggering. The woman who was kidnapped was explaining one aspect of the story about the collar to Celia couldn't even believe the story herself, even she knew it sounded ridiculous. That whole plot turned out to be so absurd. The stuff with the collar felt tacked on and like a real let down.
And then there's just the love triangle. No real effort was put into it this time. I don't think it works anyway because John has been developed as sexy and mature and just cool and Bruno hasn't been developed as anything other than a powerful mage who keeps leaving her. Just because she keeps saying that she thinks she'll end up with him doesn't mean that I see what his appeal is at all, they have to show me.
Celia's just a bodyguard, a regular person that this extraordinary stuff happened too. That's what makes me relate to her. So when they make her life seem even more ridiculous than necessary it alienates me. I liked the stuff with her mom, with Dawna, and with her dealing with the changes in her life. I wish they'd try to keep things a bit more grounded. And I wish they'd stop relying so much on easy outs when it comes to storytelling. They sell a lot of books so it's obviously working for them, but I'd never pay for one of their books.
March 18, 2012
The only thing that saves Celia Graves from the same fate as others after a couple of magical bombs go off at a school she’s trying to evacuate is the fact that she’s got super healing from both her vampire and siren DNA. And that’s only enough to slow the necro-disease down. There’s a race against time to figure out what and how in time to prevent a full-out pandemic as more of these bombs go off around the country.
There’s plenty of action, magic and some sexual tension in this fourth book about a bounty hunter who was half-turned into a vampire and is considered an abomination. It hasn’t been all that long ago that she learned she’s also a siren. The magical community is mostly in her corner as they learn more about her, but there are still a lot of problems with the perception and prejudices the police have of her.
Not only is the disease creepy, the authors have come up with an interesting delivery and source of the magic being used. The story delivers emotion on a number of levels including Celia’s struggles with her attraction to both Bruno and John, the relationship with her alcoholic mother and her own vampire urges to name a few.
This was definitely a good solid story with characters it’s easy to care about.
There’s plenty of action, magic and some sexual tension in this fourth book about a bounty hunter who was half-turned into a vampire and is considered an abomination. It hasn’t been all that long ago that she learned she’s also a siren. The magical community is mostly in her corner as they learn more about her, but there are still a lot of problems with the perception and prejudices the police have of her.
Not only is the disease creepy, the authors have come up with an interesting delivery and source of the magic being used. The story delivers emotion on a number of levels including Celia’s struggles with her attraction to both Bruno and John, the relationship with her alcoholic mother and her own vampire urges to name a few.
This was definitely a good solid story with characters it’s easy to care about.
February 26, 2012
The Isis Collar started with two magical bombs going off at an elementary school. Celia Graves got caught trying to evacuate the school unsuccessfully. With her being half-siren and half-vampire, Celia noticed that her body was not healing as it should. As she dug deeper to find out why her bruise on her leg and her headache wouldn't go away, Celia found that there were a lot going on with the bomb incident. She discovered that the bomb left some kind of magical plaque that were turning children and parents caught who were caught in the aftermath, were turning into zombie.
She also found herself involved with the FBI investigation and of course, her own dysfunctional family drama happening.
This book has suspense, paranormal, and the romance of two guys who are completing for Celia's affection. Celia's own personal issues will appeals to any readers since it is keeping her character real and the readers are able to related to them.
She also found herself involved with the FBI investigation and of course, her own dysfunctional family drama happening.
This book has suspense, paranormal, and the romance of two guys who are completing for Celia's affection. Celia's own personal issues will appeals to any readers since it is keeping her character real and the readers are able to related to them.
April 23, 2012
I was so excited to get this book in the mail since the author had sent me a signed cover of the book before it even came out. Sorry if this is not real good since my previous review was eated by the computer.
I really loved Celia and I am a big fan of her and Bruno. Celia is the kick ass now and ask questions later someone I could be good friends with since I think so much like her. Bruno is so sweet that I could see him and Celia married he is good for her and she needs someone like him that she can trust completely and worry about stabbing her in the back. The storyline is really good. There was funny parts and sad parts. I have been reading a lot of paranormal books with a zombie in it and I think Isis Collar has been the best so far. It is a book that once you pick it up you cannot put it down until it is done. I am so looking forward to next book in Celia story.
I really loved Celia and I am a big fan of her and Bruno. Celia is the kick ass now and ask questions later someone I could be good friends with since I think so much like her. Bruno is so sweet that I could see him and Celia married he is good for her and she needs someone like him that she can trust completely and worry about stabbing her in the back. The storyline is really good. There was funny parts and sad parts. I have been reading a lot of paranormal books with a zombie in it and I think Isis Collar has been the best so far. It is a book that once you pick it up you cannot put it down until it is done. I am so looking forward to next book in Celia story.
February 16, 2012
I got the Arc of this book early thanks to a contest Tor books had. Great book! I love this series and this hook did not dissapoint. This book kept me interested and it was hard for me to put it down. I'm not going to go into specifics because I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but I believe this is the best book so far. I'm curious to see what the next book has in store for us. Can't wait to continue this series!
December 9, 2011
I was lucky enough to win an ARC from the Authors-very generous ladies indeed. It was an excellent addition to the series. Now I just have to wait twice as long for the next one in the series. Although according to the author's newsletter #5-The Eldritch Legacy will be released in November of 2012 I believe.
March 20, 2012
I really enjoyed reading about Celia and her friends. Strange but I feel like not much happened compared to what went on in the other books. Celia is an interesting and likeable character despite of (or maybe because of) her issues. I'm looking forward to getting to know more about Creede (I hope in the next book) and the other characters.
March 22, 2012
I absolutely loved this one. Especially because Celia is starting to accept somethings that she has just been in denial about. However unfortunately what I want to happen hasn't happened yet :-( I'm still holding out hope though. But overall I'm still enjoying the series and I can't wait for the next one to come out later this year (I believe).
March 20, 2012
I really enjoyed this book! I had my reservations about this book. I was like ZOMBIES!? No way! But the way they wrote it was brilliant. I love Celia!
In this book you got to learn a little more about John(sexy as hell) Creede. Which I love. He's genuinely cares about Celia and wants the best for her. What girl wouldn't want that? I can't wait to see what's in store next.
In this book you got to learn a little more about John(sexy as hell) Creede. Which I love. He's genuinely cares about Celia and wants the best for her. What girl wouldn't want that? I can't wait to see what's in store next.
August 9, 2015
Really enjoying this series now, except for the romance. There's a love triangle and I obviously have my favourite, but she's kissing both of them within minutes of each other at times, and they both know!! I honestly can't see two grown men being ok with that. If this was young adult, I might be able to come to terms with it better.....
January 29, 2018
celia is always finding trouble or she likes to believe it finds her.
This tale tells us of powerful goddess artifacts that witches shouldn't have and when they do everything goes wrong! To make things worse our hero has been spelled she can't remember much she can't heal i mean what good is being half vampire if you can't super heal?!
She has no idea why she's a target or who is targeting her she thought she cleared out most of her fri-enimes. When her close personal "friend" a powerhouse himself goes missing she would love to dwell and find him but she simply can't afford anytime to think about where creede is or why he seems to have disappeared when she needs him most. As if the chaos the witches spell and the normal people trying to kill her all the time isn't enough her mother has escaped and she needs to find her in time before she loses her forever but to do that she needs to face off with the one person who scares her most ... her gran! Plus you know; face off against a super powerful witch, find her friend, stop the spread of a highly contagious disease and do all this while fighting her own aliments and injuries.
The attacks keep coming against her and those she's close to, will she remember in time? will she ever heal? Can you defeat an enemy you don't know?
It's going to take all her skills to get through this one and stop the B...uh ... Witch with the isis collar.
This tale tells us of powerful goddess artifacts that witches shouldn't have and when they do everything goes wrong! To make things worse our hero has been spelled she can't remember much she can't heal i mean what good is being half vampire if you can't super heal?!
She has no idea why she's a target or who is targeting her she thought she cleared out most of her fri-enimes. When her close personal "friend" a powerhouse himself goes missing she would love to dwell and find him but she simply can't afford anytime to think about where creede is or why he seems to have disappeared when she needs him most. As if the chaos the witches spell and the normal people trying to kill her all the time isn't enough her mother has escaped and she needs to find her in time before she loses her forever but to do that she needs to face off with the one person who scares her most ... her gran! Plus you know; face off against a super powerful witch, find her friend, stop the spread of a highly contagious disease and do all this while fighting her own aliments and injuries.
The attacks keep coming against her and those she's close to, will she remember in time? will she ever heal? Can you defeat an enemy you don't know?
It's going to take all her skills to get through this one and stop the B...uh ... Witch with the isis collar.
October 23, 2021
I really enjoyed it! When I picked this up at a library book sale, I had no idea it was part of a series; I would have if I'd read the reviews on the ACTUAL book, LOL, but I saw the title and said "What the heck?", but it stands alone. There are some things that I'm sure would make more sense if I had read the previous three books, but they aren't a necessity to reading this one.
I was pleasantly surprised by the writing. I don't know of many authors who can write a book with someone else, so I wasn't holding out hope it would make for a good book. It did! I don't know if it's really a spoiler, but I found it very interesting that neither Isis nor her collar are mentioned until almost the end of the book; made me wonder if it was just a title.
This one is a spoiler, so I'll mark the spoiler box. I am disappointed that we didn't get an answer about the identity of the entity. It wasn't Isis throughout the book because it was male, but who the frack is it?! Does anyone have ideas? I'd love to know!....Oh maybe it was El Jefe??
I am excited to read the rest of the series and will probably read this one again and again.
I was pleasantly surprised by the writing. I don't know of many authors who can write a book with someone else, so I wasn't holding out hope it would make for a good book. It did! I don't know if it's really a spoiler, but I found it very interesting that neither Isis nor her collar are mentioned until almost the end of the book; made me wonder if it was just a title.
This one is a spoiler, so I'll mark the spoiler box. I am disappointed that we didn't get an answer about the identity of the entity. It wasn't Isis throughout the book because it was male, but who the frack is it?! Does anyone have ideas? I'd love to know!....Oh maybe it was El Jefe??
I am excited to read the rest of the series and will probably read this one again and again.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 15, 2022
I had to think about this one for a bit before I could write a review.
I’m going to say this is more a 3 1/2 star book. I definitely didn’t like it as much as the first 3, but I’m going to read the next one so…
I have to say that the love triangle thing just doesn’t work for me. How Bruno can still even be in the running is beyond me. Beyond that, it’s a plot device that I really dislike.
Celia seems to just careen wildly from disaster to disaster, but without adequate learning and growth to go along with it. As a reader, this is getting frustrating.
Finally, this is a book filled with dysfunctional relationships that are either presented as being unhealthy but that’s okay, or as if they aren’t unhealthy.
I’m hoping things get better in the next book.
I’m going to say this is more a 3 1/2 star book. I definitely didn’t like it as much as the first 3, but I’m going to read the next one so…
I have to say that the love triangle thing just doesn’t work for me. How Bruno can still even be in the running is beyond me. Beyond that, it’s a plot device that I really dislike.
Celia seems to just careen wildly from disaster to disaster, but without adequate learning and growth to go along with it. As a reader, this is getting frustrating.
Finally, this is a book filled with dysfunctional relationships that are either presented as being unhealthy but that’s okay, or as if they aren’t unhealthy.
I’m hoping things get better in the next book.
June 8, 2017
Kinda spoilery
-Plot holes
-A really shitty love triangle where she dates both guys??? (If a guy did this to 2 girls, we'd have a riot)
- Almost interesting plot that could have been amazing
- One of the "love interests" goes missing for a while and lovely Celia just sits on her ass??
- Celia kisses both guys multiple times to be "fair". No honey, if you really wanted to be fair you'd go out with one or neither of the guys- not both.
Why did I stick with this.
-Plot holes
-A really shitty love triangle where she dates both guys??? (If a guy did this to 2 girls, we'd have a riot)
- Almost interesting plot that could have been amazing
- One of the "love interests" goes missing for a while and lovely Celia just sits on her ass??
- Celia kisses both guys multiple times to be "fair". No honey, if you really wanted to be fair you'd go out with one or neither of the guys- not both.
Why did I stick with this.
July 2, 2017
I'm not sure what to feel about this series anymore. I should be excited to continue but I just feel disinterested in learning what happens next so I'm putting this series on hold. The love triangle has gotten old and I'm not liking it. The way the flip flops is not for me and I just have a general feeling of *ugh*. I still gave it 3 stars cause there were some things I really liked (like the plot itself) but for now? Continuing on to something else.
February 13, 2022
This book is filled to the brim with character development and relationships being better defined. I like how both the MC as well as side characters are becoming more rounded and the various relationships also becomes clearer. Like all the other books it is fast paced and filled to the brim with action. It also gives some more information about how magic works in this world. Really enjoying this series.
March 17, 2020
Celia does it again! An epidemic is sweeping her city and she's determined to find out why, and how it can be stopped. But evil doesn't play by the rules. So when the impossible suddenly becomes the only possible answer, Celia and the few people she can count on will save the day. Or die trying!
September 18, 2017
YES!
Development in the romance department!
January 27, 2018
Celia survived a bombing, but isn't healing right afterwards. As she works to solve the puzzle her two love interests are back in the picture. Very engaging, did not want to put it down.
May 16, 2018
Another great Celia Graves book. This poor woman gets pulled through the wringer every time. This book her mom and grandma really made me mad though. She really needs a vacation.
December 23, 2020
Nice mix of characters, vampire, werewolf, demons, mage, siren, all rolled into one series.
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