Review- Angels' Blood

I'm not sure what rock I've been under, but I had never heard of Nalini Singh until Julie at Yummy Men and Kick Ass Chicks asked if I enjoyed the Guild Hunter series (assuming that I'd read them).  When I responded "what's the guild hunter series" she demanded that I march to my local bookstore and purchase Angel's Blood right away.  Because I'm scared of Canadian women, I did as I was told.  


Elena Deveraux is a vampire hunter.  But not like you're thinking.  Vampires are created by angels (who also reside on earth) and are tasked with 100 years servitude to said angel for being granted the gift of immortality.  But a lot of vampires don't want to serve for 100 years after they're made so they run, thinking they can just sneak away.  This happens a lot.  Elena and her fellow hunters are employed to safely capture these rogue vampires and return them to their masters, their angel.  Elena is the best. So when Raphael, the archangel of New York, has a dangerous mission he needs completed only Elena's unique skills will do.  


I've only read a few books involving angels, and none of them wowed me.  Angel's Blood did.  In Elena's world angels are terrifying and powerful, with little patience or respect for humans.  They've been around for a thousand years or more and bore easily.  I found this new take on angels fascinating.  I love when an author takes a stereotype and turns it on it's face. These archangels are god-like, with enough power to turn humans into their minions. They're not evil, just scary powerful.   


Elena and Raphael's character interactions are explosive.  He's the most feared creature on this continent and yet Elena won't stand down.  She's confident enough in herself to understand she's just as powerful, just in different ways.  This story isn't just about Elena though.  It's also equally about Raphael's struggle with maintaining some level of humanity.  He's been around for more than 500 years, and he's forgotten the balance of the human struggle.  The hero/heroine story-line is top notch.


There are several secondary characters in this story, but Singh did a brilliant job of using each one to tell us more about our hero/heroine.  Every character is unique and most of all purposeful.  From Elena's best friend, and Guild director, Sara Haziz to Dmitri, Raphael's head of security, there wasn't a single person out of place.  


I also loved how that the POV was always third person, but changed views between Elena and Raphael.  This gave the story so much more depth. The switches between views were subtle and lent real purpose to the story.


Bottom line: Singh's world of vampires and angels is original and complex and should be a part of every paranormal lover's library.


5 stars