The year is 2020. Vampires not only exist, they control the government, the pharmaceutical industry and the world.My Thoughts: I had a tough time getting through the first part of this book. There is a virtual wealth of information thrown at you involving how the world has changed since vampires came out into the open and I was overwhelmed by it. While the foundation of this new world order is helpful later on as you begin to meet the different elder vamps that make up the council, I spent a good portion of the beginning of the book trying to figure out how everything fit together and whether I'd need to remember what the various acronyms stood for. That said, I can definitely say that Danielle Blanchard put a lot of time and effort into her world building. The different strata of vampires and how they view humans, werewolves, and various other supernatural creatures was given a lot of thought.
Manon Mourey is a Let It Ride card dealer at Transylvania Hotel, Spa & Casino in Summerlin, a suburb of Las Vegas, when Mikkel Damgaard enters her life. Sparks fly and as the body count begins to rise, Manon begins to suspect that their meeting was not entirely coincidental, and that perhaps something more sinister is at work.
As Manon accepts her position as one of the elite undead, her very existence sparks a war that begins to consume the International Vampire Council and could soon engulf the human population as well. Werewolves and warlocks notwithstanding, a new breed of vampire sits at the top of the food chain and they’re hungry for something different than mortal blood.
Unfortunately, I never got a real handle on either Manon or Mikkel. I originally thought Manon was considered special by Mikkel because she was a half-vamp. Then suddenly there seemed to be half-vamps coming out of the woodwork, including one of Mikkel's own children, and I was left wondering why her half-vamp status made her so special. Incidentally, if I found out that I was basically ordered up (like a deli sandwich) by a father who happened to be a powerful vampire as a means to get closer to another vampire that he thought would be the woman of his dreams, I would be rightfully pissed. I don't know if I would have been able to grow up knowingly being BFFs with a woman who was later going to be making mad monkey love with my daddy.
I also had a few issues with Manon's emotional flip flopping. She goes from hating people to cozying up to them (and vice versa) in the blink of an eye. I was a bit confused as to whether this was a side effect of her transition to full vampire as she tried to adjust to her suddenly changed senses or if I had missed something vital in the story.
While the idea behind the story was intriguing, the lack of connection with the characters left me waiting for that big moment that would draw me in and engage me fully.
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Death Wish was provided for review.
The premise sounds interesting. Too bad it didn't quite work for you.
ReplyDeleteI needed a little less explanation in the beginning, I think.
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