Friday, April 10, 2015

*Book Review & Excerpt* Dark Heir by Faith Hunter (UF)


I'm always happy to be invited to one of Let's Talk Promotions blog Tours, especially when
it comes to Faith Hunter and her Jane Yellowrock series. I adore this series! I love Jane, and her family like connection to Eli, Alex, and now Bruiser. I love that everything is connected and the series gets better and better by the book! Today, I am doing a review and an excerpt. Today is also the last day of the blog tour. If you haven't caught up with the other participants yet, the link is below:

See the rest of the tour stops here:


Series: Jane Yellowrock # 9
Format: Paperback, 364 pages 
Release Date: April 7, 2015
Publisher: Penguin/ACE
Source: Publisher
ISBN: 9780451465962
Genre: Urban Fantasy

*Book Blurb*

For centuries, the extremely powerful and ruthless vampire witches of the European Council have wandered the Earth, controlling governments, fostering war, creating political conflict, and often leaving absolute destruction in their wake. One of the strongest of them is set to create some havoc in the city of New Orleans, and it’s definitely personal.

Jane is tasked with tracking him down. With the help of a tech wiz and an ex-Army ranger, her partners in Yellowrock Securities, she’ll have to put everything on the line, and hope it’s enough. Things are about to get real hard in the Big Easy.
 




Dark Heir is the NINTH installment in the Jane Yellowrock series. Jane is a Cherokee skin walker who operates Yellowrock Securities. She hunts down bad vampires and has had her hands full since arriving in New Orleans and learning more about the Mithrans and their long game. Working with Fangheads isn't a job for just anyone, and Jane has gotten into a few deadly scrapes working for Master Fanghead Leo Pellisier who I still can't figure out.

Dark Heir continues the series storyline about the pending arrival of the European Mithran Council in New Orleans and the politics they play. If you are a fan of this series, you will notice that certain threads have a habit of showing up in the next book. On top of all this worry, is the escape of a very powerful vampire who Jane has faced once, and left standing. This vampire has more than an agenda on his mind, and it will take all of Jane's attention in order to bring him down. I dare say that this book has one of the highest bloody counts of the entire series. 

Dark Heir is a book filled with deception, betrayal, dark secrets, politics, and Jane's conscious perhaps getting the best of her. However, I don't see a problem with Jane questioning her actions, or blaming herself for some silly mistakes she's made since working for Leo. She's come to terms with Beast, and now has some nifty abilities, but she now has to accept that not everything she does is going to be looked upon favorably. Roll with it, Jane! She needs to accept fully that she was meant to be a Warrior Woman, and rock some vampires asses! 

Let's talk nitty gritty, shall we? Jane and the Younger Brothers, Eli and Alex have come a very long way in such a short time. At this point, they are as close to a real family as they can be. Their interactions and the way they care for each other is wonderfully done. I love the sarcasm and snark and humor that is written between the characters, especially Eli and Jane. I love that they have also accepted that Jane is different and that she changes into Beast from time to time. I also love that Beast and Jane are connected like never before. This prevents lots of silly angst, and gives Jane/Beast some powerful new abilities.

Shall we talk romance? We shall! Jane has a new-ish beau and his name is Bruiser. If you don't know who Bruiser is, go back and read this series from the beginning! I love the relationship. It is so much more entertaining than Jane and the annoying lamb who needs to be slaughter, Ricky Bo. Yeah, unfortunately Ricky makes a guest appearance. Just enough to get a rise out of me, and Jane. Yet, it is Bruiser who stands alongside Jane, Eli, and Alex to take down Leo's mistake. 

I will say that I am requesting that Hunter remove a few traitorous vampires from this series, ASAP! I do believe that several of them have taken up all the attention span I can afford to give to them. I'll mention Arianna as one of them, and move on. My other concern is what is happening to Molly. Molly has her ups and downs again in this installment, and I do hope with that ending, that Molly is once again on a good track. There is good and bad when you add more characters to the series. You really can't trust any of them not to stick a knife in your back, or try to fry you within an inch of your life.

In closing, I'm very appreciative that Let's Talk Promotions reached out to me for yet another Jane Yellowrock blog tour. They really do come through for bloggers and reviews in the pinch and are easy to work with. Thanks, Ladies! Hopefully I'll see you again when book # 10 comes out!



Excerpt
Dark Heir excerpt #14

Pinkie pulled a ring of keys from a pocket and held them close as she read the labels. Starting at the top, she unlocked each padlock, bending back the metal strips as she worked. The metal wasn’t overly pliable, and it groaned as it was bent, but tiny little Pinkie was a lot stronger than she appeared.
When the door was unlocked, she indicated that it was ours to open. Eli slipped in front of me, knelt, and pulled a small light, checking all around the edges for . . . I had no idea, not in such an old room, but Mr. Paranoid didn’t heal as well as I did, so I let him take whatever precautions he wanted. Once he was assured it was safe, he stepped back and I took the old metal knob in my hand, feeling the lines that had been etched or pressed into the metal when it was made, leaves, I thought, or a fleur-de-lis. Then I thought about a shotgun set up to fire when the door opened, and I stepped to the side. Eli and Pinkie both stepped to the other side, as if reading my mind. I twisted the knob, which made a dry, creaking sound, made much worse as I pushed on the door, swollen into place, wood against wood. I set my shoulder to it, the door groaning like a human dying, still thinking about the possible shotgun. But no gun went off.
The smells that rushed out of the dark, overheated room were mice, damp, mold, old wood, rotten linens, old blood, and . . . dead vamp.



About Faith Hunter:

New York Times Bestselling author Faith Hunter writes fantasy in several subgenres: the urban fantasy Skinwalker series, featuring Jane Yellowrock, a Cherokee skinwalker; the post-apocalyptic Rogue Mage series and RPG, featuring Thorn St. Croix, a stone mage; and the upcoming SoulWood trilogy featuring Nell Nicholson Ingram, a woman who can siphon off the magic of others and is drawn into solving paranormal crimes. Faith writes mystery and thrillers under the name Gwen Hunter. When she isn’t writing, Faith likes to make jewelry, run whitewater rivers (Class II and III), and RV with her hubby and their rescued dogs.
Faith is online - 









2 comments:

  1. Thanks for reviewing this. I love Jane and Beast!

    I'm with you about Arianna; she just won't stay down, because of Leo and his agenda.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for reviewing this. I love Jane and Beast!

    I'm with you about Arianna; she just won't stay down, because of Leo and his agenda.

    ReplyDelete