Review- Blood Law

Blood Law is set in a slightly familiar world but is filled with a fresh set of characters and has a heart thumping plot.  Vampires have walked among us for 40 or so years, and "racism" still runs rampant, and there's synthetic blood, and a serial killer is terrorizing a small-ish southern American town.  Like i said, slightly familiar.  But hold on, our heroine, Alexandra Sabian, is a kick-ass vampire federal agent who's smart, head strong, and for being a vampire, is somehow very relatable.  She has a human liaison police officer side-kick who's secretly frightened of vamps, a bad-boy brother who runs the only "blood bar" in town, and an ex-fiance who she hasn't seen in 6 years come back to push all her buttons...not so similar.   


One of my favorite things about this book is that the POV changed hands constantly, and the story is told through numerous sets of eyes. This was a first time experience for me, and I enjoyed the depth it created. The continual bouncing around did a great job of setting a fast paced story, but it did distract things...just a little.  One of the most interesting things about this approach is that we even get to see things through the killer's eyes.  And I must admit that even though it was slightly creepy, it was kinda cool. I found myself even saying at one point, "Oh no, you're going to get caught!  What are you going to do?!" Don't worry, you don't like the killer, but it made the drama very real for me.  


Another aspect I found unique was the layout of the story.  Throughout the book you become aware, that there are actually a few mini-plots attached to a delicately crafted central plot. It felt like I was watching one of those movies where you're not really sure why everything is happening, and then something changes and it all comes together... I love those kinds of movies.  Sure there's a serial killer on a rampage, but that's only one part of what's really going on. Each side-story was interesting, and kept me wondering how this can effect the ending and in-turn everyone else. In the same breath though, since there is a lot happening with (and to) our characters we don't get to really see them ease into daily routines, or interact with one another outside of a heightened situation. I hope that next time around they have a little "time off".


The last 80 pages were a complete adrenaline rush.  Much like how a director uses a heavy amount of cuts in an action scene to help the action come alive, Holmes cuts to different POVs often; keeping the story tight and the intensity high. Surprisingly though, Holmes created a rather jaw-dropping reveal (from left field I might add) and she kind of buried it.  It got like 2-3 pages in the book.  There wasn't any foreshadowing created for it, nor was it really picked up on again and elaborated on.  It had me scratching my head a little, because it was a total shocker and could have really made the story.  


Bottom Line: A good first book in a new series that is non-stop, from beginning to end.


3.5 stars