Bloodshot by Cherie Priest

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)