I hadn't read anything by Cherie Priest since Four and Twenty Blackbirds, which was way back in 2008. I have no idea why - her books have been on my list for ages, but somehow I just hadn't gotten around to any others till now. This one looked like fun, so I thought I'd give it a try. I'm glad I did, because it was exactly the kind of book I was in the mood for at the time. It's a surprisingly literary supernatural mystery, with a vampire heroine who's just different enough from most of the overwhelmingly large number of vampire books out there, a vampire who's way more human than she'd like to admit.
Raylene is a vampire who keeps to herself, particularly when it comes to other vampires. She has made a good living stealing valuable artwork and artifacts - she's a sort of heist queen, which keeps her life interesting on an intellectual, if not emotional, level. All that changes, though, when she accepts a job for a fellow vampire. This time it's not artwork that she's looking for - it's confidential files on the vampire, who had been abducted and seriously injured when his captors performed a series of invasive medical experiments on him. Despite Raylene's resolve to maintain a distance from those around her, as she is drawn into the mystery, other people are inextricably drawn into her life as well.
This was an excellent read - and beautifully written, too.
Books in the Cheshire Red Reports series:
1. Bloodshot
2. Hellbent
Bloodshot (#1 in the Cheshire Red Reports series) by Cherie Priest (Random House, 2011)
I haven't read any books by Cherie Priest, but this sounds good. I'm going to add it to my books I want to read!
ReplyDeleteJan - That's great! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Please stop back and let me know what you think!
ReplyDeleteI checked on Bloodshot and it costs over $10.00 for the e-book (more expensive than the paperback which I don't understand). Anyway, I decided to try a less expensive e-book by her for the first time to see how well I like her voice. So I bought Dreadful Skin which looks interesting and is a good price.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read that one - I'll be interested to hear how it goes. That is one expensive ebook! I checked Bloodshot out as an ebook from my library's digital catalog. Does your library have anything like that? It sure helps me keep the book cost down.
Delete