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Victory Nelson's Blood Investigations #5-6
The Blood Books, Volume III
Henry Fitzroy has managed to survive the centuries by obeying the vampires’ code, never invading another vampire’s sanctuary, never slaughtering needlessly. But now he’s being forced to do the unthinkable…A ghost has invaded his home, beginning a dangerous nightly game in which Henry is allowed to ask a single question. If the answer is no, an innocent and unsuspecting person is killed. Henry soon comes to the horrifying realization that this wraith—and the others who join it—is using him to wreak vengeance on the people it holds responsible for its death.
Henry can’t find the source of these murders on his own, so he calls on the one person he trusts to help—private investigator Vicki Nelson, with the small hope that they can stop these otherworldly forces, without losing their lives.
Also includes a brand-new short story featuring Vicki and Henry!
Henry can’t find the source of these murders on his own, so he calls on the one person he trusts to help—private investigator Vicki Nelson, with the small hope that they can stop these otherworldly forces, without losing their lives.
Also includes a brand-new short story featuring Vicki and Henry!
534 pages, Paperback
First published September 5, 2006
2 people are currently reading
664 people want to read
About the author
Tanya Huff
153 books2,449 followersTanya Sue Huff is a Canadian fantasy author. Her stories have been published since the late 1980s, including five fantasy series and one science fiction series. One of these, her Blood Books series, featuring detective Vicki Nelson, was adapted for television under the title Blood Ties.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
December 17, 2024
What a nice way to round out the 3 volumes, one more novel and all the short stories. The writing is consistently good and the storylines do not fall into a rut. At this point adding ghosts, a wight and other beast works well in the setting. Ending with a vampire version of A Christmas Carol just topped everything off.
May 17, 2020
This is the last of the Blood Books by Tanya Huff. This book contains the full length novel Blood Debt and nine short stories collectively called Blood Bank. Blood Debt details how Vicki, Mike and Henry deal with Vicki being a newly minted Vampire while still trying to be a private detective and solve cases. Henry calls upon Vicki and Mike to come to Vancover to help him deal with a ghost that is haunting him and is somehow involved with several bodies found by the local law enforcement. He knows that two Vampires can't normally work together but Vicki convinces him they should try.
Blood Bank is nine short stories from various periods between the other books. The stories are:
"This Town Ain't Big Enough"
"What Manner of Man"
"The Cards Also Say"
"The Vengeful Spirit of Lake Nepeakea"
"Someone to Share the Night"
"Another Fine Nest"
"Scleratus"
"Critical Analysis"
"So This Is Christmas"
This book is a great ending to this series.
Blood Bank is nine short stories from various periods between the other books. The stories are:
"This Town Ain't Big Enough"
"What Manner of Man"
"The Cards Also Say"
"The Vengeful Spirit of Lake Nepeakea"
"Someone to Share the Night"
"Another Fine Nest"
"Scleratus"
"Critical Analysis"
"So This Is Christmas"
This book is a great ending to this series.
May 14, 2019
From start to finish, I couldn’t put this novel down. I’m sad to see the Blood Books series end, but I couldn’t have asked for a better ending!! A must read for everyone who enjoys vampires and/or the paranormal!!
October 16, 2018
Recommend reading the short stories in Blood Bank prior to reading Blood Debt. Loved the three strong characters, their interactions and respect for each other.
April 6, 2021
Full review here:
https://jamesgenrebooks.blogspot.com/...
I'm happy I reread the series. It remains amusing.
https://jamesgenrebooks.blogspot.com/...
I'm happy I reread the series. It remains amusing.
July 15, 2015
Blood Debt - This is the last actual book in the Blood book series. Again, it's the story of Vicki, Henry and Mike Celucci. Tony is also in it, but as with the other books he's a bit of a player.
I had finally gotten the hang of Toronto through Huff's last four books, but for this one she moved the setting to Vancouver, British Columbia. But the setting seemed to matter much less in Blood Debt than in the other books and it didn't seem to matter where it took place. Every city has its own Patricia Chou and semi-bad part of the police force.
On the whole it was a good book, well written, well plotted and I was never bored (definitely more of a thriller than the others), but it just wasn't quite as good as the rest of them. Still, a definite read, especially for those who are vampire romance or mystery lovers.
Blood Bank - I'm not a great fan of short story collections, but I do like Huff's writing, so I gave this one a chance. The stories within told of past events of Henry's history as well as things that happen between Blood Pact and Blood Debt (final two blood series novels) and things that happen after Blood Debt.
One of the stories involves spies, gypsies, another a succubus, and of course, giant ticks. (Huff's writing mind impresses me, apparently there are other slightly almost insane writers out there who think outside the box).
My favorite story though, was, Scleratus. It was a Henry's past story, and better than almost all the other stories and novels except for Blood Pact. There was so much emotion in nearly every word that the story thrummed with it.
That said, all the stories were good and if you're a fan of the novels, the bunch of stories will be fun to read.
I had finally gotten the hang of Toronto through Huff's last four books, but for this one she moved the setting to Vancouver, British Columbia. But the setting seemed to matter much less in Blood Debt than in the other books and it didn't seem to matter where it took place. Every city has its own Patricia Chou and semi-bad part of the police force.
On the whole it was a good book, well written, well plotted and I was never bored (definitely more of a thriller than the others), but it just wasn't quite as good as the rest of them. Still, a definite read, especially for those who are vampire romance or mystery lovers.
Blood Bank - I'm not a great fan of short story collections, but I do like Huff's writing, so I gave this one a chance. The stories within told of past events of Henry's history as well as things that happen between Blood Pact and Blood Debt (final two blood series novels) and things that happen after Blood Debt.
One of the stories involves spies, gypsies, another a succubus, and of course, giant ticks. (Huff's writing mind impresses me, apparently there are other slightly almost insane writers out there who think outside the box).
My favorite story though, was, Scleratus. It was a Henry's past story, and better than almost all the other stories and novels except for Blood Pact. There was so much emotion in nearly every word that the story thrummed with it.
That said, all the stories were good and if you're a fan of the novels, the bunch of stories will be fun to read.
June 5, 2010
Blood Books Vol. 3 includes Blood Debt and Blood Bank by Tanya Huff.
Each of Huff’s novels has some paranormal twist on top of a classic “who done it” mystery. In Blood Debt, ghosts are haunting Henry and he asks for Vicki’s help in removing them. Having lived for over 400 years, one would think Henry would be fine with a little haunting. Unfortunately, these ghosts pose a serious threat to everyone Henry loves.
During the course of her investigation, Vicki learns that the ghosts were victims of an organ transplant for sale operation. Body parts are sold off to the highest bidder and the donor never quite makes it through the operation to get their cut. Much of the excitement in this story arises from the fact that Mike is unwillingly about to be used as a donor. Vicki needs to race the clock to solve the mystery, find Mike and save him. He’s held by a truly sadistic “care giver” and barely survives the ordeal. Once the mystery is solved and they have revenge against the one who killed them, the ghosts release Henry from their nightly visits.
Blood Bank was unique from other Huff volumes in that it was a collection of short stories. Each allows a small glimpse into one of Huff’s characters, but the format doesn’t allow for sufficient build-up. Her characters are so rich that they need more room to work so I wasn’t very impressed with this volume. One story, “So This is Christmas,” was only published in this omnibus. It’s a vampire in “A Christmas Carol” story. It was entertaining but contrived. However, the story does aid in overall character development. Vicki comes to accept that she will outlive Mike and therefore needs to make the most of the time they have remaining.
Each of Huff’s novels has some paranormal twist on top of a classic “who done it” mystery. In Blood Debt, ghosts are haunting Henry and he asks for Vicki’s help in removing them. Having lived for over 400 years, one would think Henry would be fine with a little haunting. Unfortunately, these ghosts pose a serious threat to everyone Henry loves.
During the course of her investigation, Vicki learns that the ghosts were victims of an organ transplant for sale operation. Body parts are sold off to the highest bidder and the donor never quite makes it through the operation to get their cut. Much of the excitement in this story arises from the fact that Mike is unwillingly about to be used as a donor. Vicki needs to race the clock to solve the mystery, find Mike and save him. He’s held by a truly sadistic “care giver” and barely survives the ordeal. Once the mystery is solved and they have revenge against the one who killed them, the ghosts release Henry from their nightly visits.
Blood Bank was unique from other Huff volumes in that it was a collection of short stories. Each allows a small glimpse into one of Huff’s characters, but the format doesn’t allow for sufficient build-up. Her characters are so rich that they need more room to work so I wasn’t very impressed with this volume. One story, “So This is Christmas,” was only published in this omnibus. It’s a vampire in “A Christmas Carol” story. It was entertaining but contrived. However, the story does aid in overall character development. Vicki comes to accept that she will outlive Mike and therefore needs to make the most of the time they have remaining.
January 30, 2008
Blood Debt
Henry Fitzroy lives now in Vancouver together with Tony Foster when he gets hunted by a ghost who wants revenge for his death. Henry decides to call Vicki for help...
This is the last one of Tanya Huff´s Blood Books and the one I liked the most. Vicki seems to have matured and outgrown some of her character flaws although she´s still no easy character and still a very impulsive person. Celluci was more insightful I thought him to be to Vicki´s new state although he has his depressed and dark moments dealing with it. Tony tries to overcome his dependency on Henry and Henry, well he´s still Henry believing in his own knowledge about vampires and their territory. The meetings between Vicki and Henry don´t go very well at first the territory fights between them are not easy to settle but Vicki isn´t our usual vampire and finally they find a kind of truce. The plot was quite interesting venturing into the grey zone of criminal organ transplantation. I think it was a worthy conclusion of this series.
Blood Bank
A collection of eight short stories about Henry and Vicki and their adventures filling in some gaps in the books.
Henry Fitzroy lives now in Vancouver together with Tony Foster when he gets hunted by a ghost who wants revenge for his death. Henry decides to call Vicki for help...
This is the last one of Tanya Huff´s Blood Books and the one I liked the most. Vicki seems to have matured and outgrown some of her character flaws although she´s still no easy character and still a very impulsive person. Celluci was more insightful I thought him to be to Vicki´s new state although he has his depressed and dark moments dealing with it. Tony tries to overcome his dependency on Henry and Henry, well he´s still Henry believing in his own knowledge about vampires and their territory. The meetings between Vicki and Henry don´t go very well at first the territory fights between them are not easy to settle but Vicki isn´t our usual vampire and finally they find a kind of truce. The plot was quite interesting venturing into the grey zone of criminal organ transplantation. I think it was a worthy conclusion of this series.
Blood Bank
A collection of eight short stories about Henry and Vicki and their adventures filling in some gaps in the books.
December 29, 2008
In the intro to this volume, Huff reveals she had originally intended to end the series after "blood pact," and this was a bit of an afterthought. The volume has that feel to it, but its no less well-written for all that,
and we get a bit more filled in as to how the past couple of years have gone for the changed Vicki. The ending of the first part, I think, also gives some hope for the future of Henry & Vicki.. well, I like to think so, anyway. Read it and decide for yourself!
The second half of this tome is a collection of short stories of the intrepid threesome. Although these vary in quality they are mostly pretty solid, and the concluding story, an amusing Christmas parable, is thorougly enjoyable.
I hated finishing this book, however, knowing that it's the very last in the series (as Huff makes very clear in the intro). I don't want to say goodbye to Henry, Vicki and Michael. After enthusiastically finishing all the volumes in under a week, well, I almost feel like they're friends.
and we get a bit more filled in as to how the past couple of years have gone for the changed Vicki. The ending of the first part, I think, also gives some hope for the future of Henry & Vicki.. well, I like to think so, anyway. Read it and decide for yourself!
The second half of this tome is a collection of short stories of the intrepid threesome. Although these vary in quality they are mostly pretty solid, and the concluding story, an amusing Christmas parable, is thorougly enjoyable.
I hated finishing this book, however, knowing that it's the very last in the series (as Huff makes very clear in the intro). I don't want to say goodbye to Henry, Vicki and Michael. After enthusiastically finishing all the volumes in under a week, well, I almost feel like they're friends.
July 21, 2009
First off, I have to say I loved this series with all my heart. Sadly, I feel that after Vicki's 'change' she turned into a whole new character that I felt was harder to relate to. I understand the reasoning behind it, but I didn't feel as connected to the character as I had in previous books.
That being said I still enjoyed the last volume of this series. I'm usually not a huge fan of short stories but I loved the way these managed to flesh out and finalize the books. The only complaint I have is the LACK OF EDITING that seemed to be going on in the short stories. Yes, they're all from different anthology collections but how long can it take to RE-EDIT before compiling them into one set? Honestly, it did take a bit away from the stories as I read them.
I will definitely be reading her Tony spin-off books!
That being said I still enjoyed the last volume of this series. I'm usually not a huge fan of short stories but I loved the way these managed to flesh out and finalize the books. The only complaint I have is the LACK OF EDITING that seemed to be going on in the short stories. Yes, they're all from different anthology collections but how long can it take to RE-EDIT before compiling them into one set? Honestly, it did take a bit away from the stories as I read them.
I will definitely be reading her Tony spin-off books!
May 16, 2010
I dearly love Tanya Huff's vampire novels, the Blood series and spinoff Smoke series. The first part of this omnibuss, Blood Debt, was a reread for me, and I still enjoyed it the second time around. The second half, a collection of stories called Blood Bank, was a real treat as a view into the futures and pasts of the series's characters. I particularly enjoyed "What Manner of Man," a flashback to Henry Fitzroy's life (or more properly, his undeath) during the Regency era, and "Another Fine Nest," a rather silly story where Vicky tracks down and destroys a nest of giant, intelligent blood-sucking bugs in the Toronto subway system.
May 13, 2010
I really enjoyed these books--the whole series. Absolutely LOVE Henry, and if I let my imagination lead me after the end of this last installment, I can see Henry and Vicki being together after her life with Mike is over. Which is a good thing, because I hated the feeling of lonliness I got from Henry. ANYWAY.....4 stars for this one. Hate seeing them come to an end, but it was the right time.
September 24, 2007
I read Blood Debt when it was originally published, but I hadn't read all of the short stories in Blood Bank.
So far I'm enjoying them, some more, some less. I found that I'd already read many of them in other publications.
I didn't really like combination of a book and a bunch of short stories in one book.
So far I'm enjoying them, some more, some less. I found that I'd already read many of them in other publications.
I didn't really like combination of a book and a bunch of short stories in one book.
January 2, 2010
I'm not a big fan of the cover, but I really enjoyed the books. Blood Debt is a great story of Vicki and Henry finding their place after The Big Change, and the short stories do a great job of giving us glimpses of Henry's backstory and both his and Vicki's life after the change. I have heard she's not planning to write any more Vicki Nelson stories, and that makes me sad.
October 24, 2010
Last book and a collection of short stories for the 'Blood' series. Well done without being over done. May be out of print, but worth the effort to track down. Huff has a deft way of telling at story. Good characters, Henry is likable, Vickie is gruff and flawed enough to be interested. Sex is implied not grossly detailed.
August 30, 2007
Not as excellent as #2, but still a good read. I am so sad to see it all end...although now I am devouring the next set of "Smoke" books. I need serious distraction right now from two of my favorite things, vampires and Vancouver.
December 31, 2011
Questo libro mi è parsa più un'operazione commerciale per accontentare le fan che una vera e propria necessità.
A tratti l'ho trovato noioso, il che essendo un libro votato al puro entertainment, non è certo un giudizio lusinghiero. I racconti finali però sono gradevoli.
A tratti l'ho trovato noioso, il che essendo un libro votato al puro entertainment, non è certo un giudizio lusinghiero. I racconti finali però sono gradevoli.
February 19, 2014
In Blood Debt Henry is being haunted by ghosts and calls in Vicky to get to the bottom of things. I think Huff is growing on me. I found this more enjoyable than the first two collections. The short stories were enjoyable giving interesting background and filling in some loose ends.
December 5, 2007
the last in the series and not half bad
September 25, 2008
The first book is the last book of the series, what is called the second is actually a collection of short stories all taking place after the first book.
December 17, 2010
A very nice conclusion to the series. I felt like it was complete and not forced. The short stories were just an added bonus.
March 19, 2011
Eh. Not great but not horrible. Don't like the turn Tanya huff has made with vicki. Overall an ok read
May 21, 2011
"Only" four stars for this edition becuase I only bought it to get the short stories, which I loved, but I would have wished that a single edition for "Blood Bank" had been out at the time.
May 23, 2015
It was nice to read more about Vikki Nelson. :) I read the short stories first since they came chronologically before the last book, and am glad I did. :)
April 24, 2016
Always a good read.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews