The Eldritch Conspiracy

Blood Singer #5

by Cat Adams

Celia Graves was once an ordinary human, but those days are long gone. Now she strives to maintain her sanity and her soul while juggling both vampire abilities and the powers of a Siren.  

Not every bride needs a bridesmaid who can double as a bodyguard. But Celia's cousin Adriana is no ordinary bride: she's a Siren princess, and she's marrying the king of a small but politically important European country. She's getting death threats from fanatics who want to see the whole Siren race wiped out—including Celia herself, who is half Siren.

Luckily, Celia is on duty when a trip to a bridal salon is interrupted by an assassination attempt, so everyone survives. When Adriana returns to the Siren homeland to try to prevent a coup, Celia is free to hunt for the terrorists and the vile mage who is helping them (while keeping her eyes open for the perfect maid-of-honor dress). 

Assuming the bride and groom both live to see their wedding day, this will be one royal wedding no one will ever forget.

http://us.macmillan.com/theeldritchco...

Genres: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Vampires, Fantasy, Demons, Magic, Romance

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 8, 2013

About the author

This 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

Reviews

[Ferdy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Spoilers

Hated it. The plot was okay (mostly) but the blatant character assassination of one of the love interests (Creede) just so the love triangle could be resolved pissed me the fuck off.

Other thoughts:

-Basic plot: Vampire/siren, Celia, agrees to protect her cousin in the weeks leading up to her royal wedding. There's a load of assassination attempts, betrayal, jealousy, explosions blah blah blah.

-I was annoyed that the book began in a middle of an action scene — it was confusing and weird. Not to mention pointless… since the characters and events surrounding that particular scene had no relevance to the rest of the story.

-Celia used to be a decent enough character, but she changed into a full blown boring Mary Sue. It was sickening. I was really put off with her dating Bruno after he treated her like rubbish, and kept dumping her for other women. Was she dumb? It was obvious that he didn't love her as much she loved him. Ugh. She was so desperate and pathetic.

-Bruno was still as rubbish as ever. There was nothing swoon-worthy about him. He was an awful love interest. I hated how he was sleeping around with loads of other girls when he broke up with Celia, yet for some bizarre reason she stayed celibate. Ugh… It just showed that he could easily move on from her… Yet I was somehow meant to believe that he loved Celia loads.

-What the fuck happened to Creede? At the end of book four he was a decent guy, he had strong feelings for Celia, and they both worked together on jobs without difficulty. But at the beginning of book 5 Celia was bitching about him, and how he couldn't handle following her orders. WTF?! He was cool with it before and he'd always respected her opinion. Why the sudden change? I honestly thought I missed a book. We didn't see any foreshadowing or hint that Creede had a problem with working under Celia. So WTF was with the personality change?!
It all just came out of nowhere. Celia and Creede were getting on fine in The Isis Collar but at the start of The Eldritch Conspiracy… Celia out of nowhere says that Creede turned into a douchey-condscending-unprofessional jerk who cared more about his ego than about innocent lives. Huh… you can't have one of the main characters in a series turn into a different person off page or in between books!
I feel cheated that the love triangle between Bruno/Celia/Creede was handled in such a lazy and disrespectful way — instead of writing a proper resolution, one of the love interests turned into a dick off page whilst the other love interest somehow "won" the girl off page. How can I trust the authors of the series after that?

-Why did Bruno give Celia's siren charm to his mum when he knew she hated Celia? He knew that the siren charm could be used against Celia. He knew that she wanted Celia out of his life. Was he dumb or did he just not care that his mum could kill off Celia using her charm?
Why wouldn't Bruno wear the charm in the first place? It made no sense. What was he trying to prove? He knew that Celia's siren abilities meant she could unknowingly attract him to her… So why the fuck didn't he wear it for both his peace of mind and hers?!

-There was way too much female hating going on - Celia looking down at other female characters, other male characters hating Celia for no good reason, jealous ex-girlfriends trying to kill Celia, and secondary female characters being portrayed as petty, shallow and useless.

All this female hating in books is beyond fucked up. This quote irritated the hell out of me:

'I'm not like other women"
"Amen to that"

WTF?! Because all other women bar the heroine and a few select female friends are shallow-whorey-evul-worthless-bitches?! FUCK OFF!!
It's fucked up that so MANY female characters proudly declare they’re not like other girls/women. As if women as a majority are lesser somehow. Why all the hatred for women??

I did enjoy earlier books but this one was a huge disappointment. I LOATHED how Creede's character was completely fucked over for slimy Bruno's. I'll most likely be keeping an eye out on reviews for future books just to see if things are set right between Creede/Celia.

[Liv · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had mixed feelings about this instalment, book #5 in the series.

It was action-packed so things were moving really fast. It kept things entertaining for the most part of the book.

However, there were numerous "undesirable" issues with this book that I couldn't seem to wrap my head around. I'm going to grit my teeth and vent for a bit, so bear with me. If you're reading this review, please beware that my review below will assume you have read the previous 4 books in the series, and there will be spoilers.

Fair warning has been given.

First up, would be John Creede. For a long time, I had been rooting for something real to happen between the protagonist Celia Graves and this mage. Celia's unresolved dating situation with both Bruno DeLuca (her college sweetheart) and Creede had previously been a cause for my frustration with this series - love triangles were so annoying, especially if they were dragged out for too long. Nonetheless, I felt the way the author team had handled the situation was more than undesirable - it was ridiculous. The book started off with Celia on a mission in Mexico. She barely scraped by in terms of saving her life and others'. Upon her return, the readers found out, through narration after-the-fact, that Celia and Creede had broken up, in an ugly way, all because of difference in opinions while they were in Mexico.

To say I was perplexed was an understatement. Not only did I not understand the stuff that actually happened in Mexico, I thought it was a very lousy way to draw an end to a romantic relationship that the authors had been prolonging for multiple books. Creede made very minimal appearances later on in this book. Even when they interacted, it was cold and strictly professional, despite the fact that they both had hurt and unresolved feelings for each other.

I was not happy with the way things were handled with Creede. And Bruno? Well, he now was able to have Celia all to himself without "sharing" with Creede. Truth be told, I never really liked Bruno because of the history he had with Celia. I always felt that Creede would be a better match for her and that he'd be a good fresh start. But NOOOO, the authors decided to end the love triangle in a horrible way, much to my disappointment.

Celia was part human and part siren. Because of her being half-turned, she also had the benefits (and downside-effects) of being a half-vampire. "Abomination" was a term used to describe her by some fanatics in earlier books of the series.

Apparently, a lot of time had passed between the last book and this one. I would have thought that as a character, Celia should have had lots of opportunity to grow - emotionally (as a result of her past traumatic experiences), mentally (strengthening/sharpening her skills as a siren) and physically (dealing with her vampiric tendencies). However, it appeared as though none of these things happened. She was still the same person as before. She needed therapy but was too busy to see her shrink. She had ample time to learn to shield her mind from other telepathic sirens but of course she never learned nor did she advance her siren abilities. Her vampiric tendencies were still the same as before, and that she had to ingest "nutritious" drinks in order to stay sane.

Again, a very disappointing aspect of the book, it was.

Plot-wise, the book was actually very entertaining and its focus was very clear. Although in the beginning it seemed like the request from Laka to look for her daughter Okalani (the siren who had extraordinary teleporting abilities), and the animosity Jan Mortensen (a magical studies grad student whom Bruno worked with at the university) had towards Celia, were unrelated incidents. They all converged and it became obvious that they were all related to the assassination attempts on siren Queen Lapoka, Princess Adrianna and Celia. Against all tides, Celia was able to accomplish her assignment as a bodyguard and maid of honour for Adrianna's wedding with King Dalhmar. The only thing that I'd complain about would be the fact that there were a lot of characters in this book. Some of them were familiar faces from previous books, but others were brand new and at times it was very confusing as to who's-who and what their connections were to Celia. Also, I had a tough time understanding the relevance of the name of this book to the actual plot of the story. Yes, an Eldritch cross was mentioned by the King when he presented a duplicate one to Adrianna as wedding gift. However, the meaning of it wasn't obvious.

Did I miss something here?

Besides, there were still a lot of loose ends that requiring tying up, such as the men whose minds were lost when exposed to Celia's siren abilities, who would ascend the throne after Queen Lapoka etc.

All in all, it was a quick read, albeit a somewhat frustrating one.

I'd give this book 3 stars only.

[Christina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Worst of the series by far! The whole book lacks a decent pace, it's choppy & all over the place & really lacked any real climax or even a build up to a climax. All the supporting characters are very underutilized, especially Creede who has only 3 lines of dialogue for the entire book! The sudden "resolution" of the love triangle was so incredibly sloppy that I am beyond DISGUSTED with the co-authors. The whole story was bland & felt like someone was a little too obsessed with the real life royal wedding & decided to use it as the basis of the book instead of coming up with something original. I would have preferred the book to have been about the job in Mexico & the blow out with Creede & have it end where this one began. Honestly it felt like an entire book was skipped & then compressed into a crappy flashback in an epically crappy excuse for a book. Unless the next book in the series offers an amazing description that involves Creede's return I won't have to worry about adding it to my to read pile!

[Monty Cupcake ☠ Queen of Bloodshed ☠ · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think this was the most boring book of the series. I enjoyed the siren parts of it and Adriana, but the rest was lackluster.

[Experiment BL626 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading book 5, it’s easy to forget things used to be really angsty in the beginning of the Blood Singer series, and I was more than happy to forget it. Celia rocked my world!

+ the heroine

The heroine still battled the same personal issues from the beginning of the series, such as the issue of being a vampire and, on top of it, a Siren. However, she didn’t let the issues get in the way of her life as she often used to. I really liked how far Celia has come in accepting herself. It was about damn time. Better late than never!

I was amazed by how much she could shine when she got a tight grip on her issues. Celia was focused, prepared, and vigilant. She tempered her bleeding heart with pragmatism; there was no stupidly rushing into danger trying to save people when she’s likely to get killed along with the victims let alone saving anyone. She heeded advice and future visions. Yes! She cooperated and adapted. Double yes! Holy shit! Praise to Cthulhu when an Urban Fantasy protagonist actually listens and makes good choices because that shit does not happen often in Urban Fantasies as much it should. The short version of my accolade: Celia was a badass! WOOT!

The only thing I didn’t like about Celia was how she continued to roll in guilt trip shit, and unlike the guilt trips in previous books this one was definitely needless. For some stupid contrived reason, towards the end of the book readers suddenly learn that Celia has stabs of conscience for using her Siren power to psychically attack bad guys at the end of book 2 in self-defense and to save the world. The fuck? It was in self-defense AND to save the world against bad guys. They were PSYCHOPATHS for fuck’s sake! Why was this brought up all the way from book fucking 2? I was peeved by Celia’s double standard with supernatural attacks and human weapon attacks as if shooting a bad guy to death with a gun is better than psychically attacking a bad guy to indefinite coma. No, Celia. NO. Thankfully, the guilt trip shit was limited to a few pages and didn’t have any impact on the plot. Obviously, I shouldn’t reasonably expect Celia to quit guilt tripping cold turkey.

+ the romance

The other thing I didn’t like, the thing most, if not all, reviewers on Goodreads didn’t like, was the romance. Book 4 left Celia and Creede in a really good place, but in book 5 readers quickly learn they broke up between book 4 and 5 and the romance pendulum swung back to Bruno. Say what? On one hand, I recognize romance are messy and never linear. On the other hand, it’s fiction, it’s book 5, and there’s creative liberty on the table. Take it! How long must the love triangle be dragged out? At this point, I don’t really care who Celia ends up with. Creede, Bruno, or some other random dude. I just want the love triangle to go away. It’s tiresome. Stop it.

On the bright side, the romance was a minor plot line so there was little stupid drama. Unfortunately, the catch was that there was no romantic resolution to be had either. The love triangle crap continues!

+ other things to note

I didn’t care much for the happy ending as I would have liked. I found it abrupt and in great need of an epilogue.

The title is a bad one because the Eldritch thing was not relevant and there was no conspiracy to it. In fact, there was hardly any conspiracy to be had, let alone an Eldritch one. Evil schemes, yes. Conspiracies, no.

The issues with the ending and title are trivial but the thing is these were the same trivial issues I had with book 4... Hmm. I hope these issues will be fixed in book 6.

In Conclusion

I rate The Eldritch Conspiracy 4-stars for I really liked it. I wasn’t troubled by the romance crap as other readers were so it had little effect on my rating, which is why the rating is as high as it is.

Unfortunately, as much I liked this book, I get the feeling it’s a fluke and that the next book will put the series back to its usual angsty, stupid self. Here’s hoping not.

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was better than I expected, but I didn't really love the siren wedding storyline. I would have liked something where Celia could have been more proactive instead of just reacting repeatedly. I understand that as a bodyguard that's her gig, but it just felt like she was getting beat up physically and emotionally over and over again and not being the tough woman that I like so much.

And I really don't get Bruno, no matter how often the authors tell me how cute and smart he is, he started out seeming like a jerk and he still seems like one to me, and Creed doesn't seem any better anymore. Not that there was much romance in this book, which is actually fine with me, although I'm sure many people will complain about that. But I do get tired of series that have great characters and action but seem to have forced romances because publishers demand it because they think fans won't read without them. I'm in it for the character development and story, the romance is fine when it makes sense for the story but in this one it isn't the center of her life and I'm glad it's a peripheral part of the tale. Not just because I don't love the guys she's with.

Nevertheless, it was good. There was a lot of siren culture and characters, if you like that part of these books. There was very little vampire-related story other than frequent (very frequent) mentions off Celia's need to eat and what she had each and every time. But that was actually OK, ironically it helped keep her feeling real and human, vulnerable despite her strengths. So was it a bit annoying that Celia was always the only one who saw the big scary thing happening and was able to react and stop it? Yeah, of course. With all of those guards and mages and spies around, only our girl ever noticed the problem time after time, isn't she amazing? But that's fiction for you. But it's basically a fun read and Celia remains a character that I want to follow.

[Jassa Myne · Rating 2 out of 5]

So I am going to admit to reading this book before and giving it a (generous) 2 star rating, but it's been a while and I decided to read it again. Let's just say it's very hard not to give this book 1 star.

I don't like triangles, but I can deal with them. The triangle in this series has been going on for 4 books now. It's tiring, but not horrible. So what do I get in the opening chapters? Creede suddenly has become a jerk and he has been kicked out of the running. Damnit I liked Creede! What is worse, it seems as if Cecilia has already picked Bruno WITHOUT ANY WARNING. Which brings up the problem of the timeline. Simply put...there isn't one. I'm guessing it's been a year but how would I know?! I'm still connecting the timeline between book 3 and 4. Now it seems like years have passed. A long time for Cecilia to keep two men waiting.

So her picking Bruno...not happy. Seriously, if it didn't work when you were in college who says it will now?! As for the plot. Why the kid? So she runs away from home. Why did no one track down the dad? She was gone long enough to get into college. Besides, the main reason she even wanted to go to the mainland was to see him...sort of. Frankly, I was more interested in this than the wedding plot. I'm crying and they aren't happy tears!

[Lady Lioness · Rating 3 out of 5]

Man, was I disappointed by this one. I hate it when critical events occur off screen and I really hate it when those off-screen events impact the main characters' relationships. I'm well-aware that this isn't a romance series, but I would have liked to seen Celia and Creed break up, especially since I spent book four getting invested in their relationship. And I still don't like Bruno. In addition, Adams hit another of my pet peeves by taking a supporting character and using exposition to tell me additional backstory, then using that character as a plot device.

I think I was hoping the story would leap forward, advancing Celia's character development, but instead, it felt like it went backwards and retrod old ground. Bah humbug.

[Rachel-RN · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very abrupt beginning. It felt like I had missed a book. The love triangle is rather abruptly "resolved." Celia and this other person had a misunderstanding/disagreement (whatever) that happened off the pages. Of course that leaves the one I don't like. He treated Celia badly in past.

I am a bit tired of the "must hate/dislike/be jealous" of Celia for (IMO) are stupid or unexplained reasons. I do think Celia finally accepts herself for who she is, but has stagnated when it comes to fully using her abilities.

Overall, this was a bit frustrating read for me. Not sure if I want to bother reading the next and apparently last book (To Dance With the Devil). Anyone read it? Better?

[Readsalot81 · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I still have a healthy like for the series.. all I can is NOooooo, C'mon, more Creede please :)Likeable protagonist that is smart & capable - however the love triangle is beyond frustrating,especially if your guy isn't getting a lot of page time. The fight scene in the beginning of the book had me howling.

While the lead character is well written, she's starting to resemble something of a drama llama. There is *always* someone trying to kill her, boff her, or use her for their own purposes. It's pretty much one thing right after another.. and it is starting to get quite tiresome.

[Kathy Davie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fifth in the Blood Singer urban fantasy series revolving around Celia Graves, a vampire bodyguard in Los Angeles.

My Take
I think Adams is setting us up for a new stage in Celia's life as this was rather dull overall, surprisingly. That's not to say the action is lacking. Between the runaway dramas, the assassinations attempts---physical and verbal, the nasty bits cropping up from some unexpected places, and all the wedding drama, events are full. It just lacked that immediacy and world-threatening proportions I've gotten so used to in this series.

Adams has a sweet cast of characters. Hmmm, sweet in the sense that they're an interesting bunch, not as in granny-in-her-rocker. Thinking back to what I wrote above, I feel as though this story is a shakedown of the characters (and buildings), sorting out who remains, how their interaction with Celia will change, and who gets tossed.

Creede's been a jerk, so is Christopher. And just to keep things even, Olga and Natasha cover the female version of the jerk.

I just love how supportive Lopaka is of Celia! As for Okalani, it makes no sense to me that she gets involved as she does. No, I just don't get it. She's a bright girl… Then there's Griffiths on the day of the wedding. Why? Why would he tell Celia about this when there is absolutely nothing she can do?

It's mostly a lot of crappy things happening in Celia's life, although I did enjoy the comeback Celia had with her insurance company...way to go, Celie!

I feel awash in this sea of changes, and I'm looking forward to the next in the series to discover how the shakedown settles out in To Dance with the Devil .

The Story
It's a tidy-up from The Isis Collar , 4, with Celia clearing out the problems at MagnaChem, at great risk! A risk that looks attractive when Laka from the Serenity Isle appears to ask Celia to find her daughter, Okalani, who has run away to find her father and brother, Ricky.

Worse, Adriana is asking Celia---two weeks before the wedding---to be her maid of honor. Seems Adriana's assistants are being killed off and attacks and threats made against others. Gee...thanks...

The wedding of the decade, in two countries no less, and it's targeted by terrorists.

The Characters
Celia Graves is almost a vampire, with siren blood of the Pacific royal line. Ivy is her ghostly sister, still roaming the earthly planes. Gran, Ms. Peahi, is supposed to be in assisted living, and she's furious with Celia for avoiding her selfish, drunken lush of a mother, who refuses to see Celia. Dr. Gwen Talbert is Celia's therapist. Roberto Santos is her very efficient lawyer. David and Inez are her closest neighbors; they inherited Vicki's mansion while Celia got the guesthouse when Vicki died.

Dottie Simmons is a very powerful, secretive clairvoyant and a friend of Celia's. Dawna Long is the receptionist in Celia's office building, one of Celia's best friends, and engaged to Christopher Gaetano, a medic with the Company. I'm stunned with his position; he's dated Celia! Ron is one of the tenants in the office building. He's a lawyer and a first-class jerk.

Bruno DeLuca, a level nine mage, is on-again as Celia's boyfriend. Some of the graduate assistants Bruno works with are Jan Mortenson, Trudy Cook, and Gary Jefferson. Some very hostile coworkers. They all work under Dr. Aaron Sloan, a professor of demonology. Angelina Bonetti is an old girlfriend of Bruno's who just happens to pop into town. His Uncle Sal was Mob; Joey was Sal's son and heir and Bruno's cousin. Mike is Bruno's brother and working for Sal.

John Creede, a level eight-plus mage, runs Miller & Creede, an extremely reputable security agency. He will be part of the king's security for the wedding. He blew it, big time. Special Agent Dominic Rizzoli, FBI and a level-eight Intuitive, steps in to investigate the assassination attempt. Detective Heather Alexander had been Vicki's lover before she died, and she's still receptive to Celia.

The Sirens include:
The Isle of Serenity is the siren home. High Queen Lopaka is Celia's aunt. Hiwahiwa is the queen's assistant. Chiyoko is the siren queen of the Japanese Islands, who "volunteers" to help out in the emergency. Yeah, right... Okalani Clarke's gift is teleportation; she is able to carry several people at once. Her mother, Laka, is very protective. Agents with the Serenity Secret Service include Helen Baker, Saren Albright will be in charge of security for the visit to the bridal shoppe, and William Griffiths takes over for the dinner and during the wedding. Gunnar Thorsen is the secretary of Serenity Security. Seems his grandad is Odin and Thor is his dad.

Sirens involved in the wedding include:
Princess Adriana Kalino is a siren with a gift for clairvoyance and a relative on Granddad's side---Lopaka is her mother. Feliks is her father and will officiate at the landlocked ceremony. (Anton has been the king's confessor from childhood and he will assist.) She's getting married to King Dahlmar of Rusland. Her remaining bridesmaids include Princess Olga, the daughter of Dahlmar's younger brother, Prince Arkady, and Natasha, "the daughter of a prominent conservative clergy man with major political power"; both are Ruslandic royalty. Real snobs. And they're working hard to undermine Adriana. Milena is Adriana's best friend who was to have to been the maid of honor. Other of Adriana's friends include the twins---Nani and Naneka, and Keohi. Lars Balakan is a spawn who can mimic anybody. He will aid in drawing out the man to whom the traitor was reporting. Sergei is a distant cousin who will partner with Natasha. Igor is a mage and best man. Duchess Irina Turescheva seems to be very unhappy and tries to sabotage Adriana's appearance.

Emma Landingham is a clairvoyant and still one of Celia's best friends, despite what her father, Warren, and brother, Kevin, did to Celia in Siren Song , 2. Oh, man, Emma's moved into a church! I am so jealous…! Seems Father Matteo DeLuca, one of Bruno's brothers and a Catholic priest, has been helping her with it. Ed Winters handles Celia's insurance; Meagan is his daughter and the receptionist during the summer.

Isaac and Gilda Levy run the magic shop where Celia gets most of her toys; Isaac is the wizard who tailors her clothes to conceal all her weapons. ...and Gilda is fluent in Ruslandic.

Just to catch you up...
Mick and Molly Murphy have moved back to Arkansas with their siren-blooded kids, Julie and Bev. They sold their house---Gran's old house---to Bruno.

The Guardians of the Faith are a new terrorist group intent on preventing the wedding. Officer Clarke is part of the I Hate Celia Graves fan club. I suspect Detective Rawlins, who interrogates Celia over the assassination attempt, is also a member. Barnes, the brother of one of the men who had intended to deliver Celia to Eirene, is a would-be assassin.

The MagnaChem people include:
Maria Ruiz Ortega can probably shift into a werewolf, and she's leading them into a trap; Luis is her brother; and, Serena Sanchez is the last employee of the plant. Paulo Oretga is Maria's lover and runs the drug cartel; Raul is his baby brother and right-hand man.

The Cover
The cover is a purple haze with the white-haired Celia in a fancy beaded jacket down on one knee in its center, the knives Bruno bled for on her forearms. She is one determined lady.

The title refers to a short one-off at the end, The Eldritch Conspiracy.

[TinaMarie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Celia survives Mexico and is now trying to keep her cousin alive as a terrorist group has targeted sirens and will go to any length to prevent Adrianna from marrying the Rusland King. Great series, read it straight through.

[Kate · Rating 1 out of 5]

Let me start by saying I love this series. Hell I'm writing a review and I never write reviews! They bring back middle school memories of book reports where I had to be overly analytical and couldn't gush about my love or hate of a book without worrying I'd offend the Lit. teacher and receive a poor grade.

Celia is a total badass with a whole bag of crazy on the side. So naturally I was hooked from the beginning. Books 1-3 were very action packed and picked up right where the previous ones left off, an admirable trait Cat Adams. Not many authors utilize a seamless transitions between books, I tip my hat to you. It was also thrilling that things were finally heating up with John Creede (yeah I'm totally team John; Bruno fans beware)I hate love triangles and Bruno never cut it for me. Nothing will convince me to want him ending up with Celia, please don't try to tell me otherwise. Book 4 was a bit more scattered but you still felt like the plot was rolling along.

Now for book 5: While I severely dislike negative reviews I'm gonna bash a little. Spoiler Alert for the following! Did anyone else feel like this story started off completely wrong? At the end of The Isis Collar we are left with John and Celia going on what seemed like a pretty hot date. Cue the start of The Eldritch Conspiracy....Celia's in Mexico in some tunnel on some guard duty.... solo. I was so surprised by the randomness that I went back to check and see if there was a novella I missed reading. There wasn't. Then Cat Adams drops a bomb John and Celia are no more with no warning. I practically threw the book across the room and almost did not finish reading. Once I got over my shock and outrage I tapped into my eternal optimism and continued reading.

That's all I'm going to say on that subject. Cat Adams you know what you did!

The rest of the story revolves around the wedding between Andriana and Dahlamr. There are terrorist attacks, death threats galore, oh and an old flame is back to mess up Celia's "relationship" with Bruno. Sadly I'm not talking about John. (sigh) I appreciate the fact that Adams is building upon Celia's siren family ties and she is learning to control her vampire urges. However, this book lacked the character dialog between Celia and her merry band of misfits. Yeah yeah she's in a bad place after Mexico but that is no excuse. Clearly something pivotal is going down and new characters are being added. No complaints there I like complex sub-plots that overlap books in a series. But at the end of the day this book failed to leave me feeling warm and fuzzy. There was no baited breath while I desperately scrambled to find out the release date of the next book. I was numb and just acting on autopilot. FYI I'm normally like a schizophrenic chipmunk with series; countdowns, pre-orders e-books, goodreads arc reviews and blog notices. I'm that sucker.

While I've almost reluctantly added book 6 to my to-read list some serious twists need to happen to keep my hopes up. Thankfully the teaser says that there is a slight rift forming between Bruno and Celia.

Cat Adams you had a certain character say "...winning you would be a marathon, not a sprint." Please don't renege on that promise!!!

[Vanessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Celia has been asked to be a bridesmaid at the wedding of the century: her siren cousin the princess Adrianna is marrying the king of Rusland. Celia has been chosen not simply because she's Adrianna's cousin, but also because the bride-to-be has already survived one attempt on her life and Celia's bodyguard experience may just save the day.

You see, not everyone in Rusland is pleased about the upcoming nuptials, and are convinced that Adrianna has bewitched their king using dark siren magic. And they'll do anything to stop the wedding.

But that isn't the extent of Celia's problems: she's on the outs with former co-worker John Creede, her boyfriend Bruno's ex-girlfriend is determined to get him back, and her own gran is hiding an unpleasant secret. Celia does what she can to get by, but it seems that life is ganging up on her.

THE ELDRITCH CONSPIRACY is book 4 of the Blood Singer novel series by Cat Adams, and continues the story of Celia Graves, who does bodyguard work for a living, but as of book 1 being attacked by a vampire changed her life: she's not only part-vampire, but her siren abilities were awakened.

The opening chapter is confusing, and I had to re-check the series order to make sure I didn't miss a book. Her relationship with John Creede has become strained and we find that her relationship with former flame Bruno is back on. I felt like I was dumped into the middle of the story, and the love triangle isn't ever really addressed in this book--here's hoping it will be in the next, because it's the development of such things that lady readers want mapped out in a series like this.

I also had a hard time keeping track of characters, it's been over a year since I read the last book THE ISIS COLLAR and I got lost easily with not only the characters, but also events from past books. A little refresher here and there would have helped, but maybe it's just me.

The good thing about this particular book is that plot itself is handled better than even previous books, the progression of events felt more natural and less arbitrary. Also, Adams' characterization across the series is well done, with Celia's progression and even that of secondary characters: they grow and change, for better or worse.

The series is only now growing on me, and here we are on book 5. It's taken a while to get to this point, when I'm usually the kind of person to drop a series if the first book doesn't pique my interest--but that's the concession we EBR reviews make for our readers. I will be reading TO DANCE WITH THE DEVIL soon and hope that ELDRITCH is a sign of things to come.

Recommended Age: 16+
Language: A handful of instances
Violence: A few fights, nothing gruesome
Sex: Referenced

***Find this and other reviews at Elitist Book Reviews.***

[Michelle Leah Olson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Our Review by LITERAL ADDICTION's Pack Alpha - Michelle L. Olson:
*ARC Received from the Author in exchange for an honest review

I've been meaning to read the BLOOD SINGER novels for quite some time. I've read other series by Cat Adams and the CT Adams/Cathy Clamp duo and absolutely loved them, so I knew I would probably thoroughly enjoy these as well. Unfortunately I just haven't had time to dig in. When I set up an Author Event to promote The Eldritch Conspiracy I was sent an ARC for review and decided to take the plunge even though it's book #5 of the series...

I read it in 2 sittings. This book was intense, action packed, and filled with abundant goodness!

So much happens in this book that it's difficult for me to go into things without spoilers (and I don't do spoilers) so let me just say this: The book takes a kick @$$ heroine who is 1/2 vampire and 1/2 siren, starts up literally in the middle of an insane mission where all involved either die or almost die trying to thwart the bad guys, throw in some immediate betrayal and follow all of that up with a deeply intriguing mystery surrounding the pending nuptuals of a siren princess to the king of a European country (both of which have their share of enemies and secrets and therefore incite multiple assassination attempts), dust the edges with a bit of paranoia, romance, and some family drama and you have The Eldritch Conspiracy. It was like an action/thriller movie on paper and had me riveted from page one. Literally.

My only wish is that I had read the rest of the series first - not that this book doesn't stand well on its own, it absolutely does, but it was just so good that I immediately wanted more of the world of Celia Graves. Good thing I have the other books waiting. ;)


LITERAL ADDICTION gives The Eldritch Conspiracy 4 1/2 Skulls and would recommend it for all Urban Fantasy lovers. It was amazing and from what I've heard from my readers and friends, the rest of the series is just as good. I can't wait to find out for myself!!

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was by far the worst Blood Singer novel yet. It was very boring and not a whole lot happens that is important or exciting. The characters are just as flat and boring. At the beginning of the book, we learn that Celia and Creede were dating for awhile and then all of a sudden broke up. This was the biggest disappointment from this book. At the end of the last book, it was looking like Celia was going to have to choose between Creede and Bruno. I guess that the authors felt that who Celia chose was not important enough to be part of the story, since we just jump in with her and Creede breaking up. I was annoyed with the love triangle, but I felt that it was resolved very poorly in this book. I had a hard time with the fact that Creede seemed to be a good guy with respect for Celia and what she does for a living and then all of a sudden he turns into this big macho jerk and can't handle it when working with Celia? I don't like how his character seemed to completely be opposite of what he was in the last book. Very disappointing since he was the only character that I liked.
Not only was the love triangle handled poorly, the whole plot of this book was fairly boring. I felt that reading about a very expensive royal wedding was pretty boring and would have liked to read about Celia actually fighting demons or vampires. I found myself skimming several paragraphs with descriptions for some expensive guest house or some fancy bridesmaid's dress. In a book that is meant for light entertainment, that many descriptions of stuff was tiring to read and I found myself wanting to be done with this book and reading something else. Hopefully the next book will be me action packed and a little more exciting.
Overall 2 out of 3 stars.

[Dianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Eldritch Conspiracy by Cat Adams

Do NOT attempt to jump into this series with this book. You really must read the whole series to understand what is going on. In fact, I’m very sorry I didn’t re-read the last novel “The Isis Collar” because I had a major problem catching up and remembering enough for me to jump into this book and to understand the first chapter or two. I thought I had missed a prologue or something!

So Celia has managed to pass one more year as a siren Princess/Semi-Vampire and it seems to me that instead of getting easier, it is becoming more difficult for Celia to keep her ‘bat’ tendencies under control.

This time out Celia has been asked to serve a dual role as her cousin Adriana’s bodyguard/bridesmaid. It is a bit difficult for me to see Celia in such a girlie role, but the Adam’s writing team makes it work, to a point It is nice to see Celia mesh these roles – that of kick-butt heroine and girlie girl..

I’m having difficulty also with the multiple plots going on, how the writing team introduces an important character and then never references them again until you are wondering if you misread something – then all of a sudden they pop in at an opportune/inopportune moment - a plot device that I find especially annoying.

Still this novel was written with the usual complicated characters and a mystery that isn’t all too difficult to figure out, and enough action to keep you action/adventure readers interested and this book has enough girlie moments to keep chick fic readers happy too.

[Kathy Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Celia's life just seems to get more and more complicated! After a difficult case rescuing people from drug dealers and vampires in Mexico and breaking off with her boyfriend Creede, Celia arrives home just in time to get involved with her cousin's royal wedding. Celia is the niece of the Siren high Queen but is just getting used to that idea. When she was almost turned into a vampire, her Siren powers manifested too. Now her cousin Adriana needs her because seers have predicted that something would go wrong at the weddings if Celia isn't there.

The problems start early. Who knew that finding the right bridesmaid's dresses would bring on an assassination attempt? Luckily, Celia is there to foil it. Besides the security issues surrounding two weddings - one on the Siren's island home and the other in the groom's home, Celia has to deal with a jealous former girlfriend of her old friend and love Bruno.

The story is packed with action. The fanatics who want to rid the world of Sirens and who have enlisted the help of a demon to do so make really convincing villains. I like the relationship that Celia has with her friends Dawna and Gilda and Isaac Levy. They make good substitutes for her dysfunctional and estranged grandmother and mother. I liked that her relationship with Bruno is being rekindled but I don't think John Creede is ready to fade off into the sunset.

I recommend this fascinating urban fantasy story to fans of the genre.

[Jessie Potts · Rating 5 out of 5]

What it's about: This is the fifth installment in the Blood Singer series, and I recommend reading the first four before this one. The first book, Blood Song, was excellent — and I would start there. For those of you who are caught up: Celia Graves is still striving to maintain not just her sanity but her soul. She's asked to be a bridesmaid/bodyguard for her cousin, who is the Siren Princess. Celia will face assassination attempts, bridal salon time, terrorists, vile mages — and her love life is never boring.

Why you should read it: This series is why I love the urban fantasy genre. A heroine who kicks butt and takes names, and is fighting against/with her nature, depending on the day. Cat Adams is an awesome author, and I've loved every installment of the Blood Singers. If you're looking for action, violence and spicy romance, check out Celia Graves, part-vampire, part-siren, who hunts for a living.

To see what Cat has to say about her Blood Singer series check out the HEA Blog: http://www.usatoday.com/story/happyev...

[Sherie Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is really more like three and a half. I just didn't get into it as much as the previous ones. Spoiler Warning! I think the thing that bugged me the most was how her break up with John Creede was handled. I mean at the end of the last book I was more in favor of him than Bruno. I like Bruno but there is a lot of history there plus I think some of the original reasons they broke up are going to continue to be issues. So I felt like John was a fresh start for Celia. It was hard going from liking John to him being completely out of the picture because of events that happened between novels. I guess it just felt like too significant a development to give it only a half page flash back.

[Blake · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 star review

I wanted to kick something when I know that John Creed had been kicked to the curb, and that story wasn't even part of the book. Really, authors? That's the ending of the love triangle that you give us? I was seriously disappointed. I mean, all things considered, John was a better match for Celia. But he got kicked out of the BOOK (and was given only some lines), because he, what, "undermined Celia's authority"? That's a poor excuse, even for such lenient read like myself. Really not happy.

And I didn't really dig this story. The flow was kind of a little slow, and I couldn't explain the name of the book until there were a handful of pages left. This book could have been better, I think.

[Mike Klein · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was part of series which I did not realize when I picked it up. In my defense there is nothing on the book that would inform the reader of that fact--the book is pretty much stand-alone. So maybe, just maybe I'd have liked the book more if I'd read the previous ones, but my guess is that I would have never made it past the first volume. Here's the problem, the author insists on inserting every possible type of supernatural being in the narrative usually at a moment where it would most help the plot. It feels a lot like cheating. Overall the writing is mundane, but it was strong enough for me to finish the book so it ends up 2 not 1 star.

[Jess · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did get into this book, toward the end.. but ugh.
The start threw me off, like many others I had to look and see if I'd missed a novella somewhere, because the starting place was so awkward.

I hated what was done to Creede, it made no sense and just turned him into Bruno. There was even a great spot or three in the book to work in a mutual apology for both of them, but no.

I hope the next book fixes the douchieness that transpired.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

because I can't believe that she broke up with John, as a background story....she was with him when the last book ended and between books, they broke up!!! WTH And now she's with Bruno, not my favourite of this triangle, and he's treated her badly in the past. Not nearly enough of John Creed in this book for me

[Jessi Overton]

January 8th January freaking 8th 2013....why why whyyyyyy!!!! Ugh I can't wait that long to read about Celia and see if she makes a decision about Creede... and I'm back but 5+ months are so far away :-(

[Shelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genre* Urban Fantasy
Rating* 3.5

*Full Review Shortly*

Published January 29th 2013 by Tor Books

[Gianne Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

sample chapter from here

We were running out of time.
We'd crawled into the tunnels two hours ago, planning to only be underground for only an hour.
We’d planned to use the drug lord’s own ATVs—-- parked in the main tunnel—-- to haul ass across the
border, arriving in the U.S. near Calexico. It wasn't a great plan, but better than waiting for the cartel to
tear apart the village looking for us.
But then things had changed. Roving groups of guards had forced us into the side tunnels. Luis
had assured me they would lead us to went the same place, and that the trip it would only take a little
longer. But we’d gotten turned around twice in the and now there was only an hour left before sunset.
“I need to rest, Celia. Please, can’t we stop and sit down for a second?”
Serena’s whisper made me flinch and I stole a moment to look at her face. She was nearly as
pale as the vampires I was fearing would rise when night fell and I didn’t doubt she was in a lot of pain. I
eased some of my irritation by remembering what it had felt like to walk with a broken leg in a
makeshift splint.
“We don’t have much time, Serena. We have got to get you to safety.” My voice was likewise a
whisper. It wasn’t just that she was a nice person who deserved to get home to her family in Milwaukee,
which she was—but she was the last employee of MagnaChem’s Mexico City plant and if she didn’t
make it out alive, I didn’t get paid my full fee.
She let out a small noise that was part whimper and part swear. She stopped walking cold and I
had to as well unless I planned to drag her. I couldn’t carry her. There simply wasn’t enough room in the
tunnel. There was barely enough room to stand side-by-side. As it was, we had to crouch slightly to keep
from banging our heads on the support beams, and two people barely fit, standing side -by -side. Raising
a hand to push the sweaty hair from her face, Serena began to beg. “I know. I do. But just five minutes.
Please. Don’t we have a charm left?”
Maria turned and looked at me with concern. She knew what I did. We did have one. But there
was a problem. “Yes, but we only have one Blackout charm left and we need it to cancel the noise of
opening the tunnel exit. We’ll be vulnerable when we crawl out if anyone hears.”
Serena nodded and bit at her lip. She took a deep breath of stale air and stepped forward. We
started off again, leaning heavily on me, trying not to drag her shoe through the hard-packed dirt
because noise echoed down here. I could tell she was mulling over the situation. as she continued to
lean heavily on me, trying not to drag her shoe through the hard-packed dirt because noise echoed
down here. I’d carried her in the main tunnel, when I thought we were going to use the ATVs. The main
tunnels were smooth and wide, with concrete floors and excellent lighting. But this branch of the tunnel
was almost claustrophobically narrow, the chiseled stone broken only occasionally by hand-fitted
support beams of raw wood. The only dim lighting was from low- wattage bulbs strung on wires along
the ceiling, only about half of which actually worked. The ventilation wasn’t great, either. I was sweating heavily enough that the blouse beneath my jacket was sticking to my body and my bra was soaked.
Going into the tunnels where local priests told us the vampires live had been crazy. But
desperate people take insane risks. After six weeks in Mexico, “desperate” was definitely a word that
described me.
Ahead of us, Luis raised his hand and stopped cold. I likewise stopped while he listened. If I
weren’t so tired, I could have amped up my hearing. One of the nice things about being partially a
vampire was the having enhanced senses. But I was just so damned tired. It was all I could do to keep
trudging along. Even my adrenaline rushes only brought me back to near normal.
After a long moment, Luis eased backwards and lowered his voice to where he could barely be
heard. “We’re nearing the main tunnel again, but there are guards. If we stay here for five minutes or
so, they’ll pass and then we can re-enter the good tunnel.”
Beside me, Serena let out a relieved breath. So, she would get her rest after all. I took a breath
and helped her to a sitting position, making sure her leg remained as straight as possible. It was swelling
badly but there wasn’t anything we could do until we got to a doctor or healer. I’d long ago expended
every charm in my medkit on the others I’d already gotten to safety, ferrying them one at a time across
the border.
Maria, Luis, and I took up perimeter positions in the near darkness. There would be no rest for
us. At least I’d had the good sense to make sure a priest blessed not only me, but also my weapons and
ammunition. Vampires laugh off regular bullets. They don’t laugh at holy items. They don’t find fire
amusing, either, which was why Luis was wearing a home-made flamethrower.
I really, really, hoped he didn’t have to use it. A blast from the flame thrower would use up
oxygen better left for breathing, and I didn’t relish the thought of a possible cave- in if one of the
support beams got badly damaged.
I shuddered in the dark, painfully aware of the not-quite-corpses “‘sleeping”’ somewhere in the
tunnels. “I'm afraid of vampires.” Serena apparently couldn’t stand the silence but at least she was
whispering. “Present company excluded, of course.”
I turned my head from watching behind us to glance at her. “Any sane person is. I sure am.”
That seemed to surprise her enough that I elaborated. “I've killed my share. I wouldn't be alive
otherwise.” Even though that was only partially true. “And I am still alive. The master vampire who bit
me didn’t finish the job.” Physically I have prominent, pointed canines, death-pale skin, and some
enhanced healing abilities, among other things. But I still have my soul and mind. Most bats don’t. Let's
just say I really wasn’t liking these tunnels. It wasn’t just that I was afraid of feral bats, I was afraid of
becoming a feral bat.
I felt, rather than saw, something in the darkness. Maria stirred next to me, just a little flutter of
the rope that bound us to each other so we didn’t wind up getting separated. “What’'s the problem, Graves?” Maria’'s voice was the barest breath of sound in my ear, a
surprised since she’s . She must be standing on tippy-toe to do it. She's short, under five foot one and
I'm five foot ten in my bare feet. I guessed she was standing on her tip-toes. Luis likewise moved closer
until we were a mass of bodies, like elephants circling around the wounded and vulnerable members of
the herd.
Maria Ruiz Ortega had started out this adventure as my guide. She’d felt she owed me a favor
after I saved her brother Lorenzo’s life (and missed my own flight out of what amounted to a war zone
because of it). Luis was her second other brother. They were both astonishingly good looking, charming
when they wanted to be, and absolutely deadly. Luis seemed like he was probably full human, but
unless I missed my guess, with the full moon, Maria shifted. Werewolves are tough. Very tough.
Between me, her, and a good flame thrower, if there was a way of getting out of this alive, we would.
I didn’t answer, just used my arm to hold her back. Someone was coming. They were moving
very quietly, their footfalls nearly silent on the smooth concrete floor to our left. Sunset wasn’t here yet,
but it was close, and my inner vampire was ready to come out to play. In the past year I’ve gotten much
better at controlling my abilities, and my blood lust and other abilities, but stress makes it harder,
worse. But here and, now, they were useful. I could smell the faint scent of Maria’s soap, her brother’s
sweat, and the rubber inner tube we’d used to secure Serena’s broken leg to the boards.
More importantly, I could hear things. The pounding of their hearts and, the tiny, frightened
gasps from the wounded woman on the floor. And another heartbeat, one that was slow and steady.
The man was close now.
Maria helped me get Serena to her feet without even a whisper of noise. I pulled one of my
knives from my its wrist sheath and cut the rope that connected us. If we had to fight, or run, we could
needed to be able to move independently. Then we waited quietly, breath held.
There was a muffled crackle of radio static from less than a foot away and then a burst of words
in Spanish that my brain mind translated efficiently. “Garcia, do you see them?” Before I came down
here, my Spanish had been minimal, but after days of having to rely on nothing but sign language, I’d
been forced to learn. I learn quick. Now I now understood every word coming over the man’s radio
earpiece and every word he spoke.
“No. I’m only fifty yards from the exit and there’s no sign of them. Either they got away, or
they’re still back in the tunnels somewhere. It’s almost dark. What are our orders?”
A pause while he thought, and we each held our breath. “Two more minutes, then we evacuate
and seal the tunnels. If they’re in here, the bats will take care of them.”
“What about the boss’s whore?”
“If the Abomination hasn’t already eaten her, we leave her. Paulo said he’s tired of her bitching
anyway.” There was a muffled snort of laughter in front of me. Maria stiffened beside me, her lips
peeling back from her teeth in a silent snarl. So, this had been a trap from the beginning. Only the fact that I refused to cooperate, hadn’t
allowed myself to be led where Maria had wanted to go, had kept us alive this long.
There was a soft gasp from Luis as he realized the truth. She had planned to lead him to
slaughter. But his gasp wasn’t soft enough. I felt the air shift , heard as the man turn in front of me
turned.
The moment he was in range, I leapt, bringing my knife up and at an angle. If he was tall, it
would catch him in the guts; if average height, it would come up under the ribs. I put my all of my weight
behind the attack, because if he was wearing a spelled vest, the knife might not get through at all.
He wasn’t tall, and the spells on his vest weren’t a match for my strength, along with the magic
of a knife that qualifies as a magical artifact all by itself. The knife slid in and up, and I felt his weight
start to sag, as wetness poured out over my hand. He fought against the weakness, tried to shove his
gun into me, but I slammed my hand down onto it and his shots went down, ricocheting off of the floor
and into the alcove.
Luis swore in pain and startled anger, and I smelled that he’d been hit by a stray bullet. I turned
to see red sprout from him too. I was just glad none of the ricochets had hit the tank strapped to his
back.
The smell scent of blood was everywhere. My vision sharpened, my canines elongated. Saliva
filled my mouth. I wanted blood. I wanted it like I’ve never wanted anything in my life. I heard the rattling
sound of the bat in a nearby alcove taking his first breath of the evening and I hissed at him on pure
instinct. The vampire part of me that was vampire wanted to bite down on the neck of the man I’d gutted
while the last flicker of life left his body, to taste the warm, salt-sweet flavor that was like nothing else in
this world.
But no. I was human, damn it. I would not feed from a human. Never.
There was a flash of blinding light, a whooshing noise, and flame roared out of Luis’s homemade
flamethrower, filling the alcove, setting the waking vampire ablaze as Maria and her brother stumbled
past me.
The heat was horrendous, breath stealing. I could only whisper a silent prayer of thanks that we
were near enough to the main tunnel that we could still breathe after the blast. I gasped, the nauseating
smell of burning hair and flesh filling my nose and lungs, making me cough ‘till I gagged. As suddenly as
the blood lust had come, it was now gone. My stomach lurched, and I pulled my knife from the guard,
flinging his body to the ground.
I heard distant screams echoing through the rocky tunnels. The vampires were rising, and some
of the human guards hadn’t made it out.
Oh, fuck a duck.
I picked Serena up by her waist and tossed her over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes. She didn’t complain. Then we ran. By the light of flickering flames I could see the fork in the passage that led
leading to the open desert outside. I could smell the sand, different from the rock underfoot. Twenty
yards to the fork, so maybe thirty past that to the outside. We were nearly there. But closing fast from
the other direction were vampires, newly risen and hungry for blood.
Maria stumbled and Luis went down with her. Luis struggled to his knees, trying to get off a blast
from the flamethrower. Then a pair of vamps were on him. They rode him to the ground. Fast, they were
so fast. Serena turned her head, saw him bleeding, and screamed. The bats looked up, eyes glowing. I
didn’t doubt mine were as well because everything was in hyperfocus. I managed to pull my gun, but I
was having to aim carefully so as not to hit the tank, and with Serena kicking to get away in panic, it was
hard. Luis’s scream of agony cut off abruptly as the larger male broke his neck with a single vicious twist
that killed him.
Another pair of bats, two females, surged forward. Maria began firing wildly, not aimed—which
was, useless. Grabbing her arm, I flung her ahead of me.
“Run!” I screamed, as I fired blessed bullets into the vamps to slow them down. It wouldn’t stop
them entirely, but I needed to buy us enough time to get to the cave entrance. Once there, I’d shoot the
gas tank with a tracer round. The explosion would take out the vamps and, if we were lucky, block the
tunnel entrance behind us.
Just a few more steps. I twisted, firing over my shoulder, struggling to stay balanced while
carrying Serena. I pulled the trigger again and again, until my main the gun clicked empty, but they were
gaining on me. I was almost to the exit. I could see the stars above and smell cactus and sage. So
tantalizingly close now—but they were gaining on us.
A bat grabbed at my leg, causing me to trip stumble and nearly spill drop Serena to the ground. I
kicked her the bat in the face until she let go but that gave the others time to get closer. There wasn’t
time to pull out the derringer in my ankle holster and I didn’t have the balance to pull it off.
Thankfully, I didn’t have to. Maria had reached the cave entrance ahead of me. She’d pulled
herself together, and though there were tears streaming down her snarling face, she stood, gun drawn,
feet solid. She wasn’t aiming at me. “Go, Graves! Get Serena to safety. They won’t follow. I swear.”
She waved me past, giving me a final shove in the back with preternatural strength that sent both
me and Serena sprawling a dozen feet from the tunnel exit. I pushed to my feet and screamed, “Maria!
Get out! You can still make it.” Even as I yelled, the bats leapt toward her. Crap.
She didn’t go down when they hit. They hung on her, fangs embedded in her snarling form. One
hand braced over the other, as she took careful aim and sent a tracer round back into the tunnel. I
followed the blaze of fire as it flew straight and true, right into the tank of her brother’s flame thrower. All I could do was throw I threw myself over Serena to shield her from the blast that followed.
But I had to look back. The explosion was pretty spectacular, imprinting red onto my retinas and turning
Maria, Luis, the guards, and a dozen bats into charcoal.
Yes, she’d betrayed us, but Maria Ruiz Ortega had found her path to redemption from Paulo and
his cartel in the only way she knew how.

[Matilde Damkier · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I don't know why I keep reading these books.
I hate, absolutely hate the way everything personal happens off-page. We dive into this book and are simply informed that she and John has broken up (we had never even - on-page - confirmed they were dating in the first place!!), and she is back with DeLuca.
First of all, the events leading to the breakup seems highly out of character for Creede.
Second of all, weren't she wary of DeLuca and didn't trust him? And rightly so?

The individual case of each book are never quite gripping enough for me to overlook the fact that we get none of the saucy details of our heroine's life, despite the fact that they actually exist.

[Heidi Aspesberger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good god, will poor Celia ever catch a break. There is so much action packed in this book and this far into the series I couldn't imagine new scenarios that the MC could possibly be thrown into but the authors find new and interesting things every book. I love how the MC connects with friends and family on a deeper level, and how they keep introducing something new of the world they built without being boring or overly obvious. The only thing still bugging me is Celia's uncertain love life. I need to know what's going to happen because I can't take all this tumultuous uncertainty anymore 😵

Can't wait for the next book!

[Thenia]

The Eldritch Conspiracy on Books On Track


RTC

Previous books:
✦ The Isis Collar (Blood Singer, #4) ~ ★★★ (17/06/2023)
✦ Demon Song (Blood Singer #3)
✦ Siren Song (Blood Singer #2)
✦ Blood Song (Blood Singer #1)