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Title: Blood Price (BLOOD SERIES) |
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Review of Blood Price (BLOOD SERIES)
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Comments for Blood Price (BLOOD SERIES)
- Posted on 2008-03-14
Vicki Nelson, PI, teams up with a most unusual partner
In Blood Price, the first in Tanya Huff's Blood books, we meet tough-girl Vicki Nelson, who's left the Toronto police force due to failing eyesight, as she hunts a demonic killer terrorizing the streets of Toronto. Along the way, she runs into 450-year-old Henry Fitzroy, the bastard son of Henry VIII, who also happens to be a vampire. The two team up to solve supernatural cases over the next books.
To be honest, I'd never heard of the Blood books before learning about (and becoming dangerously addicted to) the Canadian TV series Blood Ties, based on Huff's Blood books. The two-part pilot, Blood Price, is a stellar condensed version of Blood Price, although naturally, changes were made.
I've read my fair share of vampire novels over the years, including brushes with Anne Rice, Charlaine Harris, Jennifer Colt, and Susan Garrett (Forever Knight), so I'm no stranger to the genre. Huff makes modern-day Toronto come alive, even more so when viewed through the lens of a protagonist who's lived for over 400 years. The historical sidenotes and various flashbacks are well-fleshed out, although Henry's character seemed less solid than Vicki's(kudos to Kyle Schmid for a small-screen Henry that amply makes up for these shortcomings). Huff's take on the vampire mythos both adds and subtracts (Henry's religious, so no problem with religious symbols, and he's able to see his reflection in mirrors).
Much like her small-screen counterpart (played by Christina Cox), Vicki is a take-no-nonsense, physical, don't-pity-me ex-cop who at first has difficulty coming to grips with the fact that her new partner is a vampire who writes lurid romance novels under the pen name Elizabeth. Her on-again, off-again romance with fellow Torontonian cop Mick Celluci becomes complicated by the appearance of Henry, who is also attracted to Viki.
Many battles in the name of good and evil ensue, and Huff's pacing and well-written action scenes carry Blood Price along at a snappy, pageturning pace. The book has held up well since its original 1991 publication; the only things that hint as to its age are a lack of cell phones, Internet, and faxes. This is the TV-tie-in edition, although it appears to be the original version of Blood Price and not the TV adaptation. Fans of the TV show will definitely want to read the original source for many of the plots and characters in their favorite TV shows.
Score: 4
- Posted on 2008-01-31
Blood Price
Another great story from Tanya Huff - just love the series on TV and can't wait for Series 3 - if there is one
Score: 5
- Posted on 2007-08-26
Super Reader
This is a really solid novel. Not even that much of a romance, I suppose it could be thrown in as a ghost buster.
An ex-cop who quit when she couldn't be the star detective anymore because of her eyesight is now a PI, and when a serial killer keeps working, she, her old lover and colleague, and the vampire she runs into have a demon to stop.
I'd happily read more. People that like your standard mystery books, the Night Stalker, things like that would probably find this ok too I think.
Score: 4 - Posted on 2007-06-11
A must read for Vampire fans
I first heard about this book when the series was about to premiere on Lifetime and decided I simply had to read the wonderful books the show was based on.
Ms. Huff creates engaging characters and a first class plot making this title a unique take on the vampire genre. I was hooked within the first few pages and couldn't put the book down until I'd finished it. Now having read all of the books in this series and the three titles in the spin off series I can say without qualification that this is one of the best series of books in the vampire genre today. I highly recommend it.
Score: 5 - Posted on 2007-04-04
Prince Charming meets Lady P.I., macabre style
Since there is a synopsis of the book provided in previous reviews, I'll forego including my own. Blood Price is one step above a guilty pleasure...it's more like an empty pleasure, kind of like empty calories. It's pure amusement. The banter between the principle characters is sassy and entertaining. Vicki Nelson is a short-tempered person, sometimes bewilderingly irritable. But of course, since she is trying to cope with a progressive, incurable eye disease; wounded pride comes with the territory. As for Mike Celluci, her ex-partner and the third player in the love triangle, he has not been given enough time in this first book of the series. He's hardly more than a plot device, spitting out pertinent information about both the case and Vicki's history so the reader will have more than one thing to piece together while waiting for Vicki's next encounter with Henry. And while Henry is supernatural, mysterious, and captivating, he is not invincible. This only adds to his charm. However, his history is explained far too often with flashbacks. They appear suddenly and require some disorientation before the information can be processed.
Together, this trio solves the caper, narrowing in on a rather one-dimensional bad guy who himself seems to serve no greater purpose than moving the plot along rather than be a character in his own right. Then again, the story isn't really about the antagonist. It's how a hard-boiled ex-cop who has a servicable physical relationship with her previous colleague begins to take on a new physical relationship that is even more servicable to her new partner. It keep him alive.
Blood Price is definatley more action driven than character driven, but it's a decent read. Something for lunch breaks and mental health days. It was a book I could put down, but I always came back to it when I left it by my chair.
Score: 3