Bam,

When you sent that email from Nalini Singh, I thought, “Ooh, another installment in the Psy/Changeling series, yipee!” Imagine my disappointment at seeing the words A Guild Hunter Novel below the title of the awesome (and slightly prescient) cover. Well, that disappointment was very short lived. I admit that I’m hesitant to start any new series, regardless of genre (television, books, a class, a hobby, what have you). I have major commitment issues. But I pressed on, and with some trepidation began to read. Then within the first two pages the Death Star Tractor beam moment happened, and I just couldn’t put the damn thing down.

Angels’ Blood is a brand-spankin’ new twist on two genres: Vampires and Angels. I feel like we’ve seen plenty of both, but leave it to Nalini to turn the whole concept on its ear. In the Guild Hunter series, Angels create Vampires to serve them (service is required by contract) and Hunters are employed by Angels to track down those Vampires that have tried to skip out on their contracts. On top of all of this, the Angels aren’t pure beings of “good” so to speak.

The Plot: Elena Deveraux is a Hunter. The Hunters have their own Guild, are government and Angel sanctioned, and perform an important function for humans (saving them from Vampires trying to go off the grid) and Angels (getting their indentured servants back). Of course, this ain’t a cakewalk - you gotta be born into the profession or have nerves of steel to be successful at it. Elena has been hired by Archangel Raphael, who is master of New York and the surrounding territories (i.e., the US and Canada). Raphael is beautiful, powerful, and can make you shit your pants just by meeting his gaze. The job is a hunt, but Elena will be hunting another archangel and Raphael will be her partner. To me, this seemed like a dead-end job from the get-go, but we’ll go there later.

The Heroine: Elena is tough from years of training, hunting and true family trauma. Of course, she still has a feminine side, complete with soft spots for all the wrong people. Her family treats her like shit and they’re a bunch of assholes, I can’t wait to hear more about them in upcoming novels…and I’m assuming they’ll show up ’cause they’re powerful with a capital P. Because of her past, Elena has a serious lack of self-preservation, which gets her into all sorts of trouble with Raphael, but makes her an excellent match for him. She knows he can crush her with a thought, but she’s unable to censor her mouth or her actions around him, consistently leading her into trouble. Her confidence (read: not overconfidence) in her ability to do her job is reassuring without being Mary Sue. She fights her attraction to Raphael with every weapon in her arsenal. Why? ‘Cause he’s an Archangel, for fuck’s sake, one of the most (if not the most) powerful beings in the world.

The Hero: Raphael is no angel, and I mean that in the most colloquial way. At the outset of the book he’s removed almost to the point of being inhuman. As the story evolves, his character grows the most through the book. Nalini’s pacing with Raphael is slow and subtle (and phenomenal), which serves two purposes: it keeps Elena on her toes and makes Raphael think through everything, making the reader privy to his changing thoughts and feelings without an information download. Initially I was surprised that the story was going to focus on Raphael and Elena’s relationship since Raphael was so remote. But if there was a visual to go along with their initial meeting, I would have been seeing a lightning storm. I admit that was an unexpected plus of not having a cover blurb and getting something out of the blue. One of the things I loved about Raphael is his need to know why he’s so attracted to Elena. That he finally simply accepted it, rather than trying to explain it was marvelous and well done.

The Secondary Characters: It is no surprise that Nalini’s second characters are crisply drawn and engaging. Elena’s friends are people that I’d like to be friends with. They stand behind her when she’s in trouble and look after her, even when they’ve been warned off by the Archangel of NYC. The other archangels and the members of the Seven (vampires and angels that protect Raphael) are all fascinating. I seriously hope we get to hear Ransom, Dimitri and Illium’s stories quickly. See what I mean about commitment? And it’s not like I’m the most patient person either…

Shuzluva Says: Angels’ Blood is structured so that the reader gleans information about both the characters and the world that supports them within the construct of the plot, which makes it an enjoyable, easy and super fast (damn) read, yet leaves plenty out there that is yet to be explored. The plot is paced extremely well; slow when necessary, with near misses and excitement that had my heart rate go up. Note that there are descriptions of graphic violence in this book. They are definitely not for readers that want their violence behind closed doors (as well as their sexual encounters). Nalini does not skimp on the slow buildup (with moments of excitement as well) between Raphael and Elena, and when they come together it is memorable. This gets an A- for me. I can’t tell you why; I’d spoil the whole book. Let’s just say that there was one thing that felt like a bolt out of the blue which kept me from giving it an A. The Angel/Vampire world is a place I’m looking forward to visiting again…SOON…what a great start to a new series!

Love ya babes!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 24th, 2009 at 8:19 pm and is filed under Books, Grade: A, Romance: Paranormal, Shuzluva's Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.