Back from the Undead (The Bloodhound Files, Book 5) by DD Barant

 

It's taken me a while to get around to reading Back from the Undead, and I wish I'd gotten to it sooner. Of course, it ends in a cliffhanger, so perhaps it's a good thing there's only around three months until Undead to the World comes out. Here's the blurb for Back from the Undead:

Another work day, another case for the Bloodhound Files. But this time, Jace is truly stumped: How is she, a mere human, supposed to penetrate the dark heart of a child-trafficking ring of pire orphans—one that turns out to be part of a blood-farm operation, in the crime-ridden border city of Vancouver, British Columbia? Jace is in over her head. But with the help of her former lover, Tanaka—whose family is one of the last samurai clans left in Japan—she stands a chance at seeking justice for the condemned children… Until the Yakuza tries to put an end to Jace’s investigation. Jace risks more than death—this time, it’s the fate of her very soul that’s in danger . . .

I both enjoyed and didn't enjoy Back from the Undead. It was another wild ride, but there were some pacing issues this time that had me pushing forward, hoping things got better. Also, I expected some things to be answered from the previous book, and those things were put on hold, so we'll have to wait for another book (or longer, perhaps never) to get those answers. As for the writing elements:

• The plot was once again original and thought provoking.
• Pacing had some serious issues in a few places, but was fine for the most of the book.
• Prose and dialogue were very well done. Love the humor in this series, as well as the off-the-wall descriptions. Well done.
• Character development continues to be well done.
• World-building continues to be exceptional.

I'm back and forth on giving this one an 8 or a 9, but because of the cliffhanger, I'm settling at an 8. I'll leave the series at a 9 of 10, though.

• Book Rating: Back from the Undead: 8 of 10
• Series Rating: 9 of 10

The books in this series are:

1. Dying Bites
2. Death Blows
3. Killing Rocks
4. Better Off Undead
5. Back from the Undead
6. Undead to the World  (Nov 27, 2012)

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Better Off Undead (Bloodhound Files book 4) by DD Barant

 

Since Jace seems to be the only Human in law enforcement, and one of the rare humans on the planet she is now inhabiting... I've wondered if the author may eventually need to make her a supernatural. I didn't expect it to come this soon, but the title of the book,Better Off Undead, made me think it was going to happen.

I did not read the blurb before I read the book. And I'm glad I didn't.  I'm posting the blurb here, but I'll warn it is kind of a spoiler, so if you don't want to have a good idea of what is going to happen, you may want to skip below it.


Dark magic, unknown enemies, monsters of every stripe--FBI profiler Jace Valchek has seen it all. In this bizarre parallel universe, shape-shifting werewolves and blood-thirsty vampires don't even warrant a raised eyebrow. That is, until Jace has to face what life might look like as one of them ...

It starts off as just another run-of-the-mill assignment: to track down the rogue don of a mafia werewolf family before he upsets the delicate balance of the underworld. But Jace wasn't counting on being bitten...and soon she's fighting the growing wolf inside her with a startling antidote--vampirism. Stopping a bloody gangland war won't be easy when Jace is feeling some new, and very inhuman, desires ...

As for the writing elements:

• The plot was a good one. Closely tied to previous books without being a rehash of old stuff.
• Pacing was fine.
• Prose and dialogue were fine.
• Character development was a big focus of this book -- both for Jace and for several other characters.
• World-building continues to be detailed and creative and in some cases rather mind bending as you work around the metaphysics of it all.

I'm not sure how I feel about the ending. Something happens that I think was probably intended to happen since the beginning, but it's something I didn't want to see happen. I think it's going to cause complications later on, but I can also see how it might be good for Jace in the short term. Maybe.

I'm going to give Better Off Undead a 9 of 10, and I will raise the series rating from an 8 to a 9. There were no major time jumps or dimension surfing in this book, and I appreciated that.

• Book Rating: Better off Undead: 9 of 10
• Series Rating: 9 of 10

 

Killing Rocks (Bloodhound Files book 3) by DD Barant

 

Killing Rocks came out last year, and once I began reading it I realized I had already read it, but I couldn't remember what happened until I read it. So, I suppose it's a good thing I read it again. I have no idea why I didn't review it when I originally read it, either. It's a mystery.

The premise of this series is intriguing, but I worry that as we begin exploring alternate universes, realities happening on a different timeline, swords that can go back and forth in time, and multiple instances of the same person from different realities, that at some point the books will get too bogged down in complications.

Here's the blurb:

FBI profiler Jace Valchek's ticket home from the twisted parallel universe where she's been called to duty hinges on the capture of serial killer Aristotle Stoker--and an alliance with a sorcerer known as Asher. The problem: Asher has joined forces with some of the most dangerous creatures Jace has ever encountered. The solution: There is none, without Asher's help... Jace's goal seems simple enough--to get her man, like always. But just hours after she arrives in Vegas, she's abducted...and she isn't even sure who the real enemy is. Now Jace has to wonder if she's the predator or the prey in a very dangerous game that could change not only her fate, but the world's...Meanwhile, a serial killer is still on the loose. And time has already run out...

As for the writing elements:

• The plot is twisted and intriguing, though it's the characters that lead the story, I think.
• Pacing had some issues but was mostly fine.
• Prose and dialogue were fine. 
• Character development is gradually getting there, the problem is that so many people apparently don't appear to be as they are. Too many characters are too much of a mystery, so there is no way to know who to trust. And in this book, those we are sure she can trust, end up not being trustworthy.
• World-building continues to be detailed and imaginative and pure genius.

I'm going to give Killing Rocks a 9 of 10, though I started out thinking it should be an 8 of 10. In the end, the characters, the dialogue, the world building, the metaphysics, and the entertainment factor make it a 9.  I will keep the series at an 8 of 10 for now. I'm about to delve into the fourth book, so we'll see how the series rating looks when I've finished it.  Considering that the titles would have us believing that Jace will be turned into a Pire in book four, and then in book five she somehow becomes becomes human again, I have serious concerns that the author may be using the whole time travel thing as too much of a plotting mechanism, and that will most likely send my ratings downhill. I hope I'm wrong about what those titles are telling us.

• Book Rating: Killing Rocks: 9 of 10
• Series Rating:  8 of 10

1. Dying Bites
2. Death Blows
3. Killing Rocks
4. Better Off Undead
5. Back from the Undead


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Death Blows (Bloodhound Files book 2) by DD Barant

 

Death Blows follows shortly after the end of the first book in this series, Dying Bites. I'm not sure how to explain the events of this one, so I'll start with the blurb:

FBI profiler Jace Valchek was pulled into this parallel realm to hunt for Aristotle Stoker, a human serial killer who preys on vampires and werewolves. Now she works for the National Security Agency of the Unnatural States of America—and her boss is a vampire.

At a bizarre crime scene, Jace finds a bloodsucker murdered by magic, fried to the bone and dressed in the costume of the comic book hero the Flash—a character who isn’t supposed to exist here. Comic books have been outlawed for their powers, including crossover spells like the one that transported Jace to this world. Soon, she’s following a trail of dead bodies into the sinister underworld of black-market comics—where a deranged madman gives new meaning to the term “super-villain”…

I wish I could say the second book was as good as the first. I loved the first book. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for Death Blows.  I believe this was a case of the plot being too discombobulated... too twisted... too complex. 

I still enjoyed spending time with Jace, and I appreciate that her relationships in this world are growing deeper. Not romantic relationships, but work relationships. People she can consider friends.

I also loved the humor. I've typed up explanations for two of the things that I laughed out loud at, but when I explain them they aren't funny... so I deleted what I typed.  I'll just say that I laughed out loud at least a half a dozen times during Death Blows and silently chuckled another couple of dozen times, and leave it at that.

As for the writing elements, the plot didn't work in book two. It had a good start, but it took several leaps that were just too big.  It felt like the author wrote herself (himself?) into a corner and only had so many words left before reaching the maximum allowed so the author just had the character suddenly get a flash of intuition that solved everything, and then had her run off for the final confrontation. The concepts behind the plot, that of a comic book, with so many eyeballs reading it, could fuel magic... it was a brilliant concept, but it was simply taken too far. Perhaps if I were more familiar with comics of the 1950's and 1960's it would have meant more to me, but I'm not, and it didn't.

Pacing had some rough spots, but wasn't terrible. Prose and dialogue once again kicked ass, character development was well done, and the details given to world building continue to enchant.

Dying Bites got a 10 of 10 from me, but Death Blows is only going to get a 7 of 10. That puts the series at an 8 of 10. I hope the next book, Killing Rocks, can recapture the magic of Dying Bites.
 

• Book Rating: Death Blows: 7 of 10
• Series Rating: 8 of 10

1. Dying Bites
2. Death Blows
3. Killing Rocks (Dec 28, 2010)

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Dying Bites (Bloodhound Files book 1) by DD Barant

 

Dying Bites takes place on an alternate earth. If you’ve seen Howard the Duck, then you have a bit of an idea of what I’m talking about – that was another world where the birds evolved instead of the apes, but they still spoke English, used condoms, had the same form of government, had TV and Lazy Boy chairs, etc.

The alternate universe in Dying Bites originally had humans as the top of the food chain, but instead of the Chinese inventing gunpowder and fireworks (and thus, guns and nuclear weapons as a primary weapon source centuries later), in this world the Chinese tapped into magic, creating clay “men” who fought with magic. And this brought out the vampires and lycanthropes, who are now the majority, with humans making up a fraction of one percent of the earth’s population. Humans are part of the food chain here, they are not the dominant species. Slang for a human is "OR" - original recipe. (Yes, apparently this universe also has KFC.)

There was a Jack the Ripper in this universe, a Hitler, Stalin, etc. Language is exactly the same, she can tell where someone is from by their accent (Texas, London, etc). They still speak Japanese in Japan, there are still secret research facilities at the south pole, there is an FBI and an NSA, and a computer taken from our earth can get on the internet in this other reality.

Once you get beyond that, and get into the story on this alternate world, it’s actually a very good story. A very, very, good story.

I like Jace, and I like most of the decisions she makes. She’s quite literally like a fish out of water, but she hits the ground running without totally freaking out. And I love her smart assed replies.

I am way curious about how the series is going to progress from here.

Here's the blurb:

Her job description is the “tracking and apprehension of mentally-fractured killers.” What this really means in FBI profiler Jace Valchek’s brave new world—one in which only one percent of the population is human—is that a woman’s work is never done. And real is getting stranger every day…

Jace has been ripped from her reality by David Cassius, the vampire head of the NSA. He knows that she’s the best there in the business, and David needs her help in solving a series of gruesome murders of vampires and werewolves. David’s world—one that also includes lycanthropes and golems—is one with little knowledge of mental illness. An insane serial killer is a threat the NSA has no experience with. But Jace does. Stranded in a reality where Bela Lugosi is a bigger box office draw than Bruce Willis and every full moon is Mardi Gras, Jace must now hunt down a fellow human before he brings the entire planet to the brink of madness. Or she may never see her own world again…

I can see that there is the possibility for lots of food for thought as the series progresses. The three dominant species are Vampires, Lycanthropes, and Golems. The humans are having to basically act as terrorists in order to be heard, and Jace has been trained to have zero respect for terrorists. But... she's human, and so are they. I don't want to say much more because I don't want to give spoilers, suffice it to say that I loved the first book and can't wait to read the next one.

As for the writing elements, the plot is brilliant. Twisted, but brilliant. The pacing is good, prose is skillfully done, dialogue is kick-ass, character development has a depth that I really appreciated, and world building is top notch. I loved some of the details given in the world building - beautifully done.

The debut book in the series gets a 10 of 10 from me. I won't rate the series after one book.

• Book Rating: Dying Bites: 10 of 10

And now I'm getting started on Death Blows. Can't wait to see what happens next.






1. Dying Bites: The Bloodhound Files
2. Death Blows
3. Killing Rocks

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