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Laws Of The Blood #1
Laws of the Blood 1: The Hunt
From the New York Times bestselling author of Primal Heat. In the first book of the series, readers are introduced to the Enforcers, an elite group of vampires who must serve and protect their secret community-and uphold the Laws of the Blood.
292 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 1999
16 people are currently reading
977 people want to read
About the author
Susan Sizemore
116 books606 followersSusan Sizemore's life and interests include such varied activities as medieval costuming and embroidery, being a chef, and working in the defense industry.She is owned by her spoiled rotten, beloved mutt dog, rather than the other way around, and this is just fine with her.Current hobbies include hiking and studying t'ai chi. She travels whenever she can, loves history, loud music, movies, good coffee, and writes constantly.She hopes readers enjoy her stories as much as she enjoys writing them.She has won the Romance Writers of America's Golden Heart Award and has been nominated for two Romantic Times awards.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
May 2, 2020
'The Hunt' is a tremendously odd vampire horror book. Most vampire books have hooks into some type of human hunger: power, vengeance, authority, sex, anger, with the greatest hook of all being complete freedom from almost all human cares and worries. Vampires usually are above all human fears. They don't worry about money, houses, jobs, status, rules. They kill for all of that, if they want it. Not this one. This book is kind of a gangland ghetto story.
The vampires are very unappealing on almost all levels. They are into senseless violence with each other caused by a set of rules they enforce on each other that in the end should be, ought to be, truly meaningless to a vampire.
This novel's world is much more like the human ghettos where illegal and unjust rules are created by gangs for making money so that they control their trapped neighboring human inhabitants for purposes of robbery, haven and power. In this vampire universe, the vamps live in a hierarchy of status based on age (which equates to personal physical strength) as well as class (this is the part that should make absolutely no sense to a vampire if you are a vampire).
The vampires need slaves to earn money (why would a vampire need to earn money?), or companions for sex (with enforced rigid rules of behavior - again, why on earth would rigid rules of behavior be needed for creatures that only need blood to exist and have the power to take sex whenever they want it from whoever they want?). I don't know which is in the worst circumstance - the slaves who provide the house and the money through jobs, or the companions who are sexual slaves like in a sultan's harem.
These vampires are more like people who happen to eat people similar to zombies, but they also need houses, jobs, money, clothes, slaves, food, a neighborhood of entertaining stuff to do like go to clubs, restaurants and shopping. Plus, despite all of the problems involved, they need neighboring vampires. It simply doesn't make sense, especially since almost the entire community is psychic on top of it all.
They can go dream walking in the daytime, and they can control people through a thousand ways. It simply doesn't make any sense at all that if they have all of this power and control over humans and housing and money, then why all of the barbaric rigid societal rules of what a vampire household should be, what kind of slaves to have, how many companions to have, who to sleep with and who to eat, and who to be friends with.
In 'The Hunt', the only difference between the good vampires and the bad vampires is the number of enslaved people they have as part of their nest and whether they treat them right or not, and whether they eat good people or bad people. But even the good vampires mistreat and drive insane their slaves. In the end, all of the vampires mistreat their humans, and they mistreat each other a lot too.
In human societies, hierarchical classes are about wealth and power and control of other humans because the top dog humans want slaves and servants and nice stuff. People do not want poverty or starvation or living in a hovel or dying. These vampires want all of the good stuff wealth brings too, but why get it like it is done in this novel? It makes no sense for a vampire to want a medieval-style ghetto neighborhood by creating a vampire world of rigid group-house rules and different classes of slaves.
None of the vamps are likeable. The vamps are all slavers, and the human characters are simply pathetic whether they are companions, fledglings or slaves. It is a ridiculous society, but I made the mistake of buying 4 of these books in this series (fortunately paperbacks), and I'm curious enough to see where such a senseless cockeyed society ends up, so I'll finish at least one more. But the entire setup simply makes no sense at all.
The biggest failure in this world is why do all these vampires live together in a city? In this book, it's Los Angeles. Why? These kind of vampires, since they want society and houses and money and shopping, should live in places like Idaho or Colorado or elsewhere as long as they are far apart from each other, rather than congregate in one area where they freely mingle to hate each other over their status and class while following strict rules of class, status and hierarchy which make all of their lives hard, brutal and cruel. I can see vampires making life for humans really awful, but why on earth would they make each other's lives so awful with a horrific controlled 1984 Orwellian class-structured society, when they all have the power to move on and live wherever they want? It IS a horror book, but it also is a stupid, ridiculous, not well-thought out world.
The vampires are very unappealing on almost all levels. They are into senseless violence with each other caused by a set of rules they enforce on each other that in the end should be, ought to be, truly meaningless to a vampire.
This novel's world is much more like the human ghettos where illegal and unjust rules are created by gangs for making money so that they control their trapped neighboring human inhabitants for purposes of robbery, haven and power. In this vampire universe, the vamps live in a hierarchy of status based on age (which equates to personal physical strength) as well as class (this is the part that should make absolutely no sense to a vampire if you are a vampire).
The vampires need slaves to earn money (why would a vampire need to earn money?), or companions for sex (with enforced rigid rules of behavior - again, why on earth would rigid rules of behavior be needed for creatures that only need blood to exist and have the power to take sex whenever they want it from whoever they want?). I don't know which is in the worst circumstance - the slaves who provide the house and the money through jobs, or the companions who are sexual slaves like in a sultan's harem.
These vampires are more like people who happen to eat people similar to zombies, but they also need houses, jobs, money, clothes, slaves, food, a neighborhood of entertaining stuff to do like go to clubs, restaurants and shopping. Plus, despite all of the problems involved, they need neighboring vampires. It simply doesn't make sense, especially since almost the entire community is psychic on top of it all.
They can go dream walking in the daytime, and they can control people through a thousand ways. It simply doesn't make any sense at all that if they have all of this power and control over humans and housing and money, then why all of the barbaric rigid societal rules of what a vampire household should be, what kind of slaves to have, how many companions to have, who to sleep with and who to eat, and who to be friends with.
In 'The Hunt', the only difference between the good vampires and the bad vampires is the number of enslaved people they have as part of their nest and whether they treat them right or not, and whether they eat good people or bad people. But even the good vampires mistreat and drive insane their slaves. In the end, all of the vampires mistreat their humans, and they mistreat each other a lot too.
In human societies, hierarchical classes are about wealth and power and control of other humans because the top dog humans want slaves and servants and nice stuff. People do not want poverty or starvation or living in a hovel or dying. These vampires want all of the good stuff wealth brings too, but why get it like it is done in this novel? It makes no sense for a vampire to want a medieval-style ghetto neighborhood by creating a vampire world of rigid group-house rules and different classes of slaves.
None of the vamps are likeable. The vamps are all slavers, and the human characters are simply pathetic whether they are companions, fledglings or slaves. It is a ridiculous society, but I made the mistake of buying 4 of these books in this series (fortunately paperbacks), and I'm curious enough to see where such a senseless cockeyed society ends up, so I'll finish at least one more. But the entire setup simply makes no sense at all.
The biggest failure in this world is why do all these vampires live together in a city? In this book, it's Los Angeles. Why? These kind of vampires, since they want society and houses and money and shopping, should live in places like Idaho or Colorado or elsewhere as long as they are far apart from each other, rather than congregate in one area where they freely mingle to hate each other over their status and class while following strict rules of class, status and hierarchy which make all of their lives hard, brutal and cruel. I can see vampires making life for humans really awful, but why on earth would they make each other's lives so awful with a horrific controlled 1984 Orwellian class-structured society, when they all have the power to move on and live wherever they want? It IS a horror book, but it also is a stupid, ridiculous, not well-thought out world.
September 29, 2008
I’ve read a couple of other books by Sizemore and really liked them. This one was a real disappointment though. I kept feeling like I was missing some important information on some other characters, like I needed to read a book prior to this one. Trouble is…this is the first of this series. I discovered a glossary of terms in the back about half way through which helped a little but the feeling was still mainly focused around the secondary characters. I struggled to finish this book. Funny thing is the last eight pages were the best part for me. Of course the story shall continue in the next book of the series, but even the last few pages weren’t enough to entice me to pursue it. I’m going to stick with her Prime series. Giving this an extra star for the ending though.
January 23, 2008
A truly horrible book. I didn't finish it. I don't recommend it.
August 12, 2010
In 1999 Susan Sizemore started a series of books about vampires. It became on of my favorite series although I haven't enjoyed her other vampire books as well. I've started rereading the series and I'm truly enjoying it.
There were only 5 books. I don't know why. There is a more or less acceptable series ending in the last book, but I would have liked to have seen more books in that universe. Each book has a different couple as focus, but the story that starts in this book, which is book 1, continues through the entire series and I like that.
This is an unusual paranormal universe. The vampires aren't classic vampires. They mostly live in nests consisting of a head vampire, a group of fledglings, companions (who are going to be vampires when they "grow up" and slaves who might or might not become companions in time. There is also a second kind of vampire who controls the nests, and this book is about one of those kinds of vampires and Los Angles, the city he controls.
Recommended to people who enjoy either UF or Paranormal Romance because it is a bit of both.
There were only 5 books. I don't know why. There is a more or less acceptable series ending in the last book, but I would have liked to have seen more books in that universe. Each book has a different couple as focus, but the story that starts in this book, which is book 1, continues through the entire series and I like that.
This is an unusual paranormal universe. The vampires aren't classic vampires. They mostly live in nests consisting of a head vampire, a group of fledglings, companions (who are going to be vampires when they "grow up" and slaves who might or might not become companions in time. There is also a second kind of vampire who controls the nests, and this book is about one of those kinds of vampires and Los Angles, the city he controls.
Recommended to people who enjoy either UF or Paranormal Romance because it is a bit of both.
June 13, 2016
First, the story was not what I thought it was going to be, then I had such a hard time following along. Rules and some of the terminology were confusing. I just pushed through and, in the end, I got the gist of it but I have no interest in moving on in the series.
April 13, 2018
Still an OK read.
June 17, 2014
From the New York Times bestselling author of Primal Heat.
In the first book of the series, readers are introduced to the Enforcers, an elite group of vampires who must serve and protect their secret community-and uphold the Laws of the Blood.
Prologue
When the blood fever rises, it is the Enforcer who names the time, the place, and the prey.
April
DAVY
(Kneeling in the alley, surrounded by dead bodies. Blood everywhere.) Stares at Sam:
What happened?
SAM
Bares fangs:
Nothing you're going to remember.
"That sucks!"
Valentine snorted at the irony of what she'd said and hit the delete key in disgust. She was very good at irony. Her dialogue usually fairly dripped with it. Right now, this script didn't drip with anything, not even the fresh blood she was hoping to inject into her take on a vampire story. Everybody in town was looking to make Scream-alikes; even she was in on it. Teen horror with a cynical twist was staying hot. She could do cynical.
"What I don't do is horror," Valentine told her agent when he first suggested the production package. "Especially not vampires." But it was a sweet, sweet deal. After she thought about it for awhile, Valentine decided, Oh, what the hell. There couldn't be any harm in it.
"And it's so? ironic," she muttered and went to get herself a cup of coffee.
The kitched wasn't far away. Valentine was never far away from a cup of coffee. Her condo was expensive, but it wasn't big. Just a bedroom, kitchen, and a living room that doubled as an office.
There was a basketball game on the large-screen television in her living room. She glanced at it, saw the Lakers were down by eight points, and decdied it was best to work and continue to keep the game on as background noise. Problem was, she didn't want to work. The night was flying by, and she hadn't yet put down a word that was worth keeping. "Discipline," she told herself. "You can do this."
There was a terror inside her that told her she couldn't, that she was empty at last.
She noticed the blinking light on the answering machine as she returned to her desk. She had three phone lines, but only one person had the number to the phone hooked up to the machine. She didn't want to talk to him. She didn't even want to listen to his messages. There had been a time? She almost reachd for the Play button. No. It would just be recorded pleas and demands. "Reruns," she grumbled. "And I'm talking to myself again."
"Came from being alone too much, she supposed. But everyone knew she was eccentric and reclusive. It added to the mystique to make people come to her. To make them want something that was hard to get. You had to use every trick you could to survive in this town.
"Get's boring, though, doesn't it?" she complained and marched right past her desk and onto the balcony. She could feel the accusing glow of the empty computer screen at her back. "I can't help it," she complained to it. "The words just won't come." She'd always been a storyteller. But lately?
The balcony was full of flowering plants and was surrounded by a high, stucco wall. She leaned her elbows on the familiar rough surface and looked at the view beyond the walled garden that surrounded the building. The air smelled of jasmine and car exhaust, just as it walwyas did. It was beautiful here, peaceful at this late hour. For all of its location near what passed for a heart in this splayed-out city, the building where Valentine lived conjured the charm and luxury of a different era. The Bunker Hill neighborhood was an old one; urban renewal had simply caught up with it and forced it to redecorate. She had preferred it before it became trendy but supposed the newfound popularity would pass, too. She'd still be here.
"I'm not bored," she told herself. "I'm not lonely. I'm not desperate."
She was all those things and knew it. It was time for a change. There was something going on, it was pervasive as the smog around her. This restlessness was not her way. If there was one thing she hated, it was change.
She sipped coffee and listened to the song of a night bird for awhile, hoping for inspiration. Behind her, the game was getting noisy. The Lakers were making baskets. She had to get back to work. She had to put something resembling a story on disk soon, even if it was shit. She wandered to stand in front of the television, coffee cup clutched tightly in her hands. Shaq was on a rampage. Cool.
After a few seconds, Valentine sat down on the couch, attention riveted on the screen. She sat back. She relaxed. A camera panned across the crowd near the floor for reaction shots after a particularly beautiful pick and roll. Valentine sat up at the speed of light. The coffee cap dropped from her hands to crash into shards at her feet. Hot liquid splashed her legs.
"What? Show him again!"
But the camera had moved on to a close-up of a whooping Tom Cruise. Valentine snorted derisively. She'd actually liked the boy in Interview, but it wasn't pretend vampires that interested her just now. She desperately wanted the camera to move left again, to give her another chance at viewing someone she hadn't seen in years.
"Had to be him," she muttered. "What's he doing in town? Can't be. And who was that pretty little red-haired thing with him? How long's he been in L.A.?" She pounded a fist on the arm of the couch. "And why don't I ever keep up with what's going on around here?"
Valentine smiled and rose slowly to her feet. She kicked aside broken china and ran to her desk. And what difference did any of her questions make when an idea was finally tapping on the back of her brain?
"I can do this," she muttered, then laughed wickedly as her fingers moved over the keyboard. "Can and will. Let's try this again, shall we, gentleman? Davy and? what do I call him? How about??"
SULEIMAN:
What I just did was against the Law.
DAVY:
(Kneeling in the alley, surrounded by dead bodies, blood everywhere):
Kill a half dozen people? I'd say that's pretty illegal.
SULEIMAN:
That's not the Law I'm talking about.
DAVY:
Then what?
Stares at something in Suleiman's hand? is that?
Suleiman holds up a short dagger. It glitters in the glow from a streetlamp.
SULEIMAN:
Silver? Yes.
(Smiles.)
Doesn't hold an edge worth a damn.
Moves forward, teeth bared to show fangs.
But I don't use the dagger on mortals?
Valntine had to take her hands away from the keyboard because they were suddenly shaking too much to type. She barely stopped herself from looking over her shoulder. There were no accusing eyes in the night behind her, but she could feel them anyway.
"This is wrong. I can't do this."
Then again? She sat back in her chaird and watched the words on the screen as if she waited for them to scramble, change, fly away, or catch on fire. The cursor just kept blinking, but the words didn't change. She didn't like the words particularly. They still weren't right, but that was because she was trying to tell the wrong story, wasn't it?
"But I don't have a story."
You know where to get one, an insidious voice in her head told her.
Valentine shook her head. "I haven't been there or done that for a long time." She hugged herself and wished for a cup of coffee. Somehow, even the short distance to the kitched seemed like a dangerous journey. She wanted to hide here in her quiet corner, unseen and unnoticed, while she quietly contemplated treason, betaryal, death, and destruction.
"The box office could be enormous."
That is, if she found the right Dream to ride. She knew where to go to do her Dreaming, now, didn't she? There was a reason she'd seen him sitting in the audience of the basketball game. There was always a reason when their paths crossed. Right now, she needed a savior. Maybe it was his turn to get her butt out of trouble. It was just a story. A movie. Her job. Her life. Of no importance to anyone but her.
Valentine noticed the clock on the bottom of the computer screen. It was hours until dawn. Too bad. For the first time in ages she was anxious to get a good day's sleep.
Reprinted from Laws of the Blood #1 by Susan Sizemorer by permission of Ace Books, a member of Penguin Putnam Inc. Copyright ? 1999 by Susan Sizemore. All rights reserved. This excerpt, or any parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
May 5, 2017
The conversations were somewhat confusing as to who’s speaking. In fact I felt like I wasn’t getting all the info I needed to understand what was going on. There’s too many unexplained vampire rules thrown into the mix.
There are two storylines going on, but nether stood out over the other. In fact, they were so weirdly blended that it was hard to tell which one was going on at the time. Which made it very confusing.
A third of the way through I found myself growing less confused and more bored, skimming through some section as I just wanted to get through. Decided not to read rest of series.
The ending was OK. I liked the way everything was wrapped up and worked out for (almost) all concerned. But still not my cup of tea.
Fave scenes: the food court and Siri leaving Selim on the floor.
There are two storylines going on, but nether stood out over the other. In fact, they were so weirdly blended that it was hard to tell which one was going on at the time. Which made it very confusing.
A third of the way through I found myself growing less confused and more bored, skimming through some section as I just wanted to get through. Decided not to read rest of series.
The ending was OK. I liked the way everything was wrapped up and worked out for (almost) all concerned. But still not my cup of tea.
Fave scenes: the food court and Siri leaving Selim on the floor.
March 13, 2022
Written by Susan Sizemore, The Hunt is the first book in the Laws of the Blood series, about vampires and their companions. Specifically, the Enforcers who keep vampires in check.
The Hunt was engaging, ADULT THEMED (got to get that in there early), and very engaging. Selim is a fantastic, stoic enforcer with everyone but his love and companion, Siri, but strange things are happening in their town.
If you are looking for a fun urban fantasy read, and the start of a series that can be read with the series or as a standalone, this is a good option.
If you don’t like romance, or a bit of blood, or action, or mystery, keep looking for your next book.
The Hunt was engaging, ADULT THEMED (got to get that in there early), and very engaging. Selim is a fantastic, stoic enforcer with everyone but his love and companion, Siri, but strange things are happening in their town.
If you are looking for a fun urban fantasy read, and the start of a series that can be read with the series or as a standalone, this is a good option.
If you don’t like romance, or a bit of blood, or action, or mystery, keep looking for your next book.
August 1, 2018
It took me a long time to read this one and even then I never did connect with the story or the characters. I thought the premise was great, but the story was told as if it came later on in the series. However, this was the first book in the series. So I felt lost. Like I was missing the preceding tale and that feeling only got worse as the story went on. I did like the author's Primal series, but this one or at least this first book in the series, read like book two or three.
September 29, 2019
This is the original cover of the book I have with same ISBN.
December 29, 2018
Not a major fan but i enjoyed this read even though it seemed to drag on and on.
May 5, 2020
Weird. But good. Intense. Might look into the rest of the series
July 16, 2013
YOU GUYS. YOU GUYS.
Okay, So, there's actually so much going on in this book that I felt vaguely like I'd picked up book two. One sub-plot is "Oh noes, the half-human (gypsy? wut? That is not a species!) half vampire child of these other characters might turn out to be a monster! (Unlike us, who are just law-abiding people-eating vampires.)" That's usually a book three type problem, yanno?
But the very first thing that happens in this pulp vampire book is that we are introduced to an writer who is trying to write a pulp vampire plot and is suffering writer's block. (It is almost universally a bad sign when your characters are suffering writer's block; generally it means the author has utterly run out of ideas about what to write.) It eventually develops that our writer is a vampire. For those following along: A vampire in my vampire novel is trying to write a vampire story.
Then, on page 24, her agent calls her up and tries to convince her that no one will ever want a story where there's a romance with the vampire protagonist, and I nearly fell out of my chair. Then I checked the frontmatter, and discovered that this book was published in 1999, which although it is a solid five years before Twilight, is at least two years after Buffy, five years after Interview with the Vampire was adapted to film, and ten years after Forever Knight. I don't know what world her agent is living in. In the end, she has to use her vampire-psychic powers to get her script approved.
The recursive vampire writing is actually a bizarre sort of framing narrative for the actual story. Our vampire writer is using her vampire-psychic powers to spy on the vampire enforcer of Los Angeles as he goes about his duties, and then writing it down. Although the structure of the book suggests that this is the main conflict of the novel (Oh noes, someone is going to make a movie revealing the truth about vampires!) the actual vampire heroes remain mostly ignorant of this fact until nearly the end, when our vampire writer reveals herself, reveals
Wut.
Okay, so more on the actual plot. The Vampire-enforcer stuff is kind of interesting, as is the actual mechanics of vampire society and biology. In this book, making a vampire is a long process that starts with taking a human 'companion' (a lover) and ends with secret vampire rites. But the law is that vampires can only be intimate with humans, not with other vampires, so the change is always the end of your love affair, and after they become a vampire they are sent away to be fostered by another vampire line, so as to remove the possibility of vampire-incest.
Much of the book is about the vampire enforcer, Selim, and his human companion, Siri, and Selim's desire to prolong their love affair by keeping it chaste and Siri's frustration with this.
Vampires in this book are a bit like addicts, addicted to slaughter. Every so often, the enforcer comes in to town and allows them to hunt a set number of humans. They gruesomely kill whomever, and then they calm down for a while; if they don't get a hunt, there is a real danger they'll go insane and slaughter indiscriminately.
This makes it a bit difficult to really feel any identification with the vampires. There are basically no humans in this book who aren't at least partially Renfield-ified, and although Siri is pretty upset when she discovers that the vampire lifestyle requires a dedication to serial murder, she eventually decides it's okay because Selim kinda tries to only murder gross people, and besides, he's super hot.
Also, the real villain was writer's block. I'm not over that.
Okay, So, there's actually so much going on in this book that I felt vaguely like I'd picked up book two. One sub-plot is "Oh noes, the half-human (gypsy? wut? That is not a species!) half vampire child of these other characters might turn out to be a monster! (Unlike us, who are just law-abiding people-eating vampires.)" That's usually a book three type problem, yanno?
But the very first thing that happens in this pulp vampire book is that we are introduced to an writer who is trying to write a pulp vampire plot and is suffering writer's block. (It is almost universally a bad sign when your characters are suffering writer's block; generally it means the author has utterly run out of ideas about what to write.) It eventually develops that our writer is a vampire. For those following along: A vampire in my vampire novel is trying to write a vampire story.
Then, on page 24, her agent calls her up and tries to convince her that no one will ever want a story where there's a romance with the vampire protagonist, and I nearly fell out of my chair. Then I checked the frontmatter, and discovered that this book was published in 1999, which although it is a solid five years before Twilight, is at least two years after Buffy, five years after Interview with the Vampire was adapted to film, and ten years after Forever Knight. I don't know what world her agent is living in. In the end, she has to use her vampire-psychic powers to get her script approved.
The recursive vampire writing is actually a bizarre sort of framing narrative for the actual story. Our vampire writer is using her vampire-psychic powers to spy on the vampire enforcer of Los Angeles as he goes about his duties, and then writing it down. Although the structure of the book suggests that this is the main conflict of the novel (Oh noes, someone is going to make a movie revealing the truth about vampires!) the actual vampire heroes remain mostly ignorant of this fact until nearly the end, when our vampire writer reveals herself, reveals
Wut.
Okay, so more on the actual plot. The Vampire-enforcer stuff is kind of interesting, as is the actual mechanics of vampire society and biology. In this book, making a vampire is a long process that starts with taking a human 'companion' (a lover) and ends with secret vampire rites. But the law is that vampires can only be intimate with humans, not with other vampires, so the change is always the end of your love affair, and after they become a vampire they are sent away to be fostered by another vampire line, so as to remove the possibility of vampire-incest.
Much of the book is about the vampire enforcer, Selim, and his human companion, Siri, and Selim's desire to prolong their love affair by keeping it chaste and Siri's frustration with this.
Vampires in this book are a bit like addicts, addicted to slaughter. Every so often, the enforcer comes in to town and allows them to hunt a set number of humans. They gruesomely kill whomever, and then they calm down for a while; if they don't get a hunt, there is a real danger they'll go insane and slaughter indiscriminately.
This makes it a bit difficult to really feel any identification with the vampires. There are basically no humans in this book who aren't at least partially Renfield-ified, and although Siri is pretty upset when she discovers that the vampire lifestyle requires a dedication to serial murder, she eventually decides it's okay because Selim kinda tries to only murder gross people, and besides, he's super hot.
Also, the real villain was writer's block. I'm not over that.
March 7, 2013
This book was okay. I've enjoyed the other works I've read by Susan Sizemore from her Primes series, so I was very disappointed that this one didn't live up to my expectations of a good story from her. It was very confusing at the beginning and hard to get into:
Thankfully, I read a review that mentioned the glossary at the end of the book. The glossary helped to answer the questions I had about the terms in the text (strig being one of the most confusing). Understanding the terms helped me get through the story, though it never really got better. Regarding the two main characters: I liked Selim, but never really felt much for Siri. I thought Valentine was more interesting than her.
I think I'll read book 2 (Partners), though, before making a final decision on whether or not to give up on this series.
Thankfully, I read a review that mentioned the glossary at the end of the book. The glossary helped to answer the questions I had about the terms in the text (strig being one of the most confusing). Understanding the terms helped me get through the story, though it never really got better. Regarding the two main characters: I liked Selim, but never really felt much for Siri. I thought Valentine was more interesting than her.
I think I'll read book 2 (Partners), though, before making a final decision on whether or not to give up on this series.
July 11, 2015
Bought this series a long time ago, but just now getting around to reading it.
Yet another unfortunate story told from multiple points of view, making it not as enjoyable. I skipped the other points of view, but even that couldn't save this book from being bad.
Since I don't normally write reviews unless I have something specific to say, here's the break down of how I rate my books...
1 star... This book was bad, so bad I may have given up and skipped to the end. I will avoid this author like the plague in the future.
2 stars... This book was not very good, and I won't be reading any more from the author.
3 stars... This book was ok, but I won't go out of my way to read more, But if I find another book by the author for under a dollar I'd pick it up.
4 stars... I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be on the look out to pick up more from the series/author.
5 stars... I loved this book! It had earned a permanent home in my collection and I'll be picking up the rest of the series and other books from the author ASAP.
Yet another unfortunate story told from multiple points of view, making it not as enjoyable. I skipped the other points of view, but even that couldn't save this book from being bad.
Since I don't normally write reviews unless I have something specific to say, here's the break down of how I rate my books...
1 star... This book was bad, so bad I may have given up and skipped to the end. I will avoid this author like the plague in the future.
2 stars... This book was not very good, and I won't be reading any more from the author.
3 stars... This book was ok, but I won't go out of my way to read more, But if I find another book by the author for under a dollar I'd pick it up.
4 stars... I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be on the look out to pick up more from the series/author.
5 stars... I loved this book! It had earned a permanent home in my collection and I'll be picking up the rest of the series and other books from the author ASAP.
March 12, 2008
I don’t know what it was about this book, but I just couldn’t connect with it. There were two different story view points that left me bewildered and detached; until about the last 6 chapters of the book when they finally meshed together. I couldn’t seem to feel any empathy for the characters, and I had to grit my teeth and force myself to finish the book.
I hope the next book in the series of five is better. Unfortunately I bought the complete series thinking it was going to be as good as her “Primes” series. It’s not unusual that sometimes a first book in a new series is lacking and the second has a much better footing and takes off, well we shall see.
I hope the next book in the series of five is better. Unfortunately I bought the complete series thinking it was going to be as good as her “Primes” series. It’s not unusual that sometimes a first book in a new series is lacking and the second has a much better footing and takes off, well we shall see.
March 31, 2009
I really tried to read the whole entire book but I just couldn't do it. I got it from the library (thank god) and got the second one too. The second looks awesome and I think I'm going to start on that one.
I couldn't connect to either Selim or Siri and I felt the plot of the story was full of potholes and not enough exposition at some points and way too much weirdness bogging it down.
I don't know how important this particular story is yet but since I more or less skimmed the entire book, I have to hope it's not that important.
I couldn't connect to either Selim or Siri and I felt the plot of the story was full of potholes and not enough exposition at some points and way too much weirdness bogging it down.
I don't know how important this particular story is yet but since I more or less skimmed the entire book, I have to hope it's not that important.
May 3, 2008
not a fun read I had a hard time getting through it to many plots way confusing! I would not recommend this book. to many characters to keep track of and the hero was so very dull not enough fire. Way to much dialog not enough action. I was so disappointed. So far this is the only book about vampires that I did not enjoy to some extent. I was truly sad because Susan Sizemores Primes series was so wonderful I read the first four books in 3 days.
February 12, 2009
For some reason I really can not get into this book Is it just me or is something ....now I'm only through the first 50 pages does it get better.
I just couldn't do it any more....I kept thinking I missed something somewhere and that bothers me so I stopped reading it maybe I will come back to it just not now.
I just couldn't do it any more....I kept thinking I missed something somewhere and that bothers me so I stopped reading it maybe I will come back to it just not now.
March 3, 2009
Complex, action-packed vampire novel, first in a series. Interesting world-building, but unclear in explanation. Not the best series out there, but a step or two above the "vampire romance" type books. Characters are pretty solidly written with decent dialogue - it's the major plotting that I had trouble with.
March 10, 2014
This book was a real hard for me to follow. I kept feeling like I was missing some important information on some other characters, like I needed to read a book prior to this one. Trouble is…this is the first of this series. I struggled to finish this book. Gonna try the next book in the series though to see if it will prove worth my while to read the whole series.
January 5, 2016
Dnf. In the twenty pages I read we get introduced to like 15 different people yet no explanation of who any of them are. No explanation of the world and I shouldn't have to read a glossary before starting a book. The writing was also awfully lofty for the genre and was filled with inane details. I didn't feel like wasting the rest of my day in the hopes it might get better.
March 8, 2015
I classify it as paranormal romance because apparently there is a new couple in each book in the series, but the book structure and emphasis is not really typical of a paranormal romance. It is more like an urban fantasy series, but from multiple points of view. It had some fascinating aspect (including the genre unorthodoxy), but it seemed not very well executed in many ways.
Read
October 8, 2010I wasn't certain this was a series I wanted to continue halfway through this. By the end I had decided to try book 2. It's rougher and bloodier than my usual, but the characters were heading in a direction I might be able to follow by the end. I'd like to see how they go on.
January 18, 2011
I made it thorough the first book and i have the 4 other books sitting on my shelf... They have been their for over 4 years and i have not even attempted to read the other ones yet. Maybe one day i will finish this series. But i LOVE her other series, Primes
November 17, 2013
Quite disappointing. I expected so much but sit here with an empty feeling. The idea was great but somehow went wrong, well not the idea but the way it was told. I doubt I'll pick up another book by this story teller.
Read
September 30, 2013Really didn't get into this book. I started to read it, got bored , skimmed through it, got even more bored and finally looked through the rest of the series to see what happened. I decided not to read them. To be fair I'm not giving a rating.
February 1, 2016
Okay book, plot was fairly predictable. Not a bad read but certainly nothing new. Hopefully the series goes more in depth into their world.
June 14, 2007
looks like a promising start to a new vampire series. pretty cool.
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