Customer Reviews

Bite

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

The five short stories/novellas in this book are all well done. Each represents a different set of expectations concerning vampire lore, and all are entertaining. The only author I was unfamiliar with was Vickie Taylor, whose story "Blood Lust" is a romance set to vampire music. This is a boy loses wrong girl to bad guy, finds right girl, gets right girl, i.e. romance. The only thing I found disconcerting was when the characters uttered typical oaths like "good god" they clearly got a negative physical reaction which implied that they were dammed creatures. The story moved quickly and was funny.

Angela Knight, who writes erotic romances for Red Sage Publishing, has written a cute story set in Arthurian times, with interesting relationships between witches and vampires. Another romance, "Galahad" has a right male vampire and right female witch team, at odds with each other, defeat the bad vampires and unite in spite of mischevious witches and dragons. Cute, fast reading, and lots of graphic sex.

MaryJanice Davidson"s "Biting in Plain Sight" stars a vampire vetrinarian who lives in a small town with a don't ask, don't tell policy. After the death of her long-time human companion, she falls into a relationship with Liam, another mortal who has loved her from a distance for a number of years. She seeks out assistance in stoppping a rogue vampire and Liam goes along with her. We also get another opportunity to see the Vampire Majesties, Betsy Taylor and Eric Sinclair, who first came to our attention in Davidson's 2002 novel Undead and Unwed. This novella is a worth addition to Davidson's vampire writings.

Charlaine Harris gives us another visit with Sookie Stackhouse in "One Word Answer." First brought to us in "Dead Until Dark" and staring in the Southern Vampire Mysteries series, Sookie has the mystery of a dead vampire cousin's death to explain. With snappy dialogue and a few puns, the story moves quickly, and ends well. A well written story.

Finally, Laurell K. Hamilton's "The Girl Who Was Infatuated with Death" is from an earlier period in the Anita Blake series. This strong story, which helps bridge the period between Blue Moon and Obsidian Butterfly, helps us understand the fascination that Anita has for Jean Claude, her vampire lover. The story is about a girl with a fatal illness who wants to become a vampire rather than suffer amputation, and the mother who doesn't want this to happen. Mother hires Anita to find the daughter and stop the process. What the story helps us see is the growing moral ambivalence that Anita has over having a vampire lover, and serves as a good lead to Obsidian Butterfly. A marvelous story, well developed, too short.

Over all, this is an excellent collection of stories, worth every spare reading moment.

I was excited about reading this anthology. After all, it features stories by Laurell K. Hamilton, Charlaine Harris and MaryJanice Davidson. Those are three of my very favorite sci-fi/fantasy authors. I look forward to reading the next installment of their respective vampire books and I figured Bite would be a nice appetizer before the main course. Even though I was disappointed with the fact that Hamilton and Harris's offerings are short stories instead of novellas, I enjoyed this book to the max. Hamilton's "The Girl Who Was Infatuated with Death" is an Anita Blake story that takes place some time around Blue Moon and Obsidian Butterfly. In other words, it takes place right before the series goes haywire. Anita wants to stop a teenage girl with bone cancer from turning into a vampire. But when Anita asks Jean-Claude to help find the vampire who will do the transition, old feelings and intense sexual tension ensue between them. In Charlaine Harris's "One Word Answer," Sookie Stackhouse discovers that a wayward cousin of hers had turned into a vampire and was recently murdered. In an attempt to offer her condolences, the Vampire Queen of Louisiana bestows a rather interesting favor upon Sookie. Davidson's "Biting in Plain Sight" is a fun novella about a vampire veterinarian who discovers she has a long-time admirer. When she finds out that a rogue vampire is responsible for the deaths of various teenage girls, she asks the Vampire Queen (Undead's Betsy Taylor) for help. Angela Knight's "Galahad" is about a young witch who travels to the world of King Arthur -- only that the people there are vampires. And Vickie Taylor's "Blood Lust" is about a fight over a stolen formula for synthetic blood for vampires.

I loved the stories of Laurell K. Hamilton and Charlaine Harris the most. With Hamilton, it was like going back to the time when the Anita Blake novels were still riveting. This story took place before the ardeur and metaphysical contacts began to monopolize the plot and before Micah and other expendable characters came along. The story, albeit short, was a real treat. And Harris's Sookie Stackhouse story is my favorite one in the book. It tells the reader in various levels that Bill is now just a trusted and reliable friend of Sookie's. There is still some tension there though. After all, he still cares for Sookie and tries to protect her at all cost. MaryJanice Davidson's novella is told in third person and it centers on two new characters, but it was fun to read about Betsy Taylor and friends from other characters' points of view. I am not a big follower of Angela Knight, and Vickie Taylor is unknown to me, but their stories were entertaining. The last three stories center more on romance than anything else. As a whole, Bite is an excellent anthology. Read this if you're a fan of any of the big authors in this offering.

For the most part I really enjoyed this book. But I have to warn those not familiar with these authors that if you have not read the previous related novels - Hamilton's Anita Blake series, Harris's Sookie Stackhouse vampire novels, Knight's - Knights of the Roundtable series - you are not going to truly understand what is going on. Since I have read them all it is difficult for me to know whether they could possbily stand on their own, but I think not. Hamilton's story was much too short to even be included as part of the anthology and it added nothing to the series. I feel Harris's story was similar in that it didn't add much to Sookie Stackhouse's adventures. On the other hand Knight's Galahad was a new adventure in her Round Table series that I liked very much and the Taylor story was new to me and worked quite well. I don't think it was part of a series, but if it was it certainly stood on its own. I recommend this anthology especially to those readers who know the authors' series. Even those stories that don't add much contain the characters we know and love, so are therefore still fun reads.

Bite is a collection of five short stories from Laurell K Hamilton (her Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series), Charlaine Harris (a Sookie Stackhouse short story), MaryJanice Davidson, Angela Knight and Vickie Taylor. I was very familiar with the first two authors but had read nothing of the other three.

Overall this collection was disappointing to me. Although the Laurell Hamilton story "The Girl Who Was Infatuated With Death" was OK it wasn't particularly deep (yes, I know it's a short story and so has limited space). It is set in the interval between Blue Moon and Obsidian Butterfly but fortunately hasn't descended, at that point, into the soft porn that the Anita Blake novels have turned into. The story itself is fairly simple and its resolution is really a chance to enable the main characters Anita Blake and Jean-Claude the Master Vampire to meet again. It was a perfectly acceptable story but nothing to get really excited about.

The Charlaine Harris story "One Word Answer" is set at the end of the third or fourth Sookie Stackhouse novel where Sookie and Vampire Bill are just friends rather than lovers. It features a strange night visit to Sookie's house of an unknown vampire who comes bringing news of a legacy left to Sookie by a cousin who, it turns out, was a vampire and was staked the previous month. There's more going on than the story suggests and, for once, Sookie realises this before Bill Compton or Bubba, her two neighbourly vampires. This is a fun little story but doesn't add much overall to this series.

The third story, "Biting in Plain Sight" by MaryJanice Davidson was really good and worked pretty well as a standalone story. I don't know if this author has written anything else on this theme, but if so this would inspire me to read it. Her main character is a vampire vet - all the people who live in her village know she's a vampire but it's not talked about. When she hears of trouble she finds one of the fellow villagers wants to help her and this is the start of an investigation into a rogue vampire who is causing young mortals to commit suicide. Sophie and her new assistant Liam, the friendly but slightly dim-seeming farmer, ride to the rescue and find each other in the process. It was a well-written book and I enjoyed it very much.

On the other hand, Galahad by Angela Knight was a real disappointment. I expect it's part of a wider series as there was an awful lot of stuff thrown at me that I didn't have a full explanation for. But the basic story seemed to be something upon which to hang a steamy sex scene and it didn't work for me at all. The world/environment was very complex, the magic these people wielded seemed far too convenient to help them save the day, and the sex scene didn't feel sexy. A disappointment. And not actually all that Vampiric - Galahad was a vampire but that was a very minor part of the book; it was mostly about witchcraft.

"Blood Lust" by Vickie Taylor was a better story. It's about a man who has invented synthetic blood, only to have a vampire steal his work and his fiancée. Daniel researches vampires, then plans to be made into one so he can gain revenge and rescue his fiancée by killing her (obviously she wouldn't want to be a vampire really). To do this he finds Deadre, the lonely female vampire, at a club and tries to persuade her to turn him into a vampire. Of course he doesn't really know what he's letting himself in for, particularly the requirement for regular blood as a new-born vampire, and things aren't really what they seem. This was a good story although the denouement happened rather easily, as in all of these stories.

Having read the book, it is obviously something than fans of these authors might want to complete their collection, and the stories are OK in their own right, but none of them are really fantastic and the short story formula doesn't quite seem to provide enough depth to make these truly satisfying stories.

"The Girl who was Infatuated with Death" by Laurell K. Hamilton. Ms. Rhonda Mackenzie wants vampire executioner Anita Blake to find the vampire that has bitten her daughter two times and kill. If she is bitten three times she will become a vampire which is what she wants because she will lose one leg, perhaps two if she doedn't changes over. Anita asks the master of the city, Jean-Claude if he will help her find the vampire. After not seeing him for a long time because she was learning to control her powers, Anita realizes her feelings for him have not changed.

"One Word Answer" by Charlaine Harris. Telepath Sookie Stackhouse of Bon Temps Louisiana is visited by Mr. Cataliades and Waldo the vampire to inform Sookie that her cousin, a vampire who was staked, left her estate to her cousin. Mr. Cataliades informs Sookie that Waldo killed her because she was the favorite of the queen of New Orleans and he wants Sookie to stake the vampire Sookie doesn't want to but Waldo makes sure that he will not be returned to his queen to be tortured.

"Biting in Plain Sight" by Mary Janice Davidson: In the town of Embarrass, everyone knows that the vet Dr. Sophie Tourneau is a vampire but they ignore that fact because she takes great care of their animals. Liam is in love with her and when she goes out hunting a serial vampire killer, he insists on accompanying her. He tells her how he feels and she takes him to bed and drinks his blood. She cares about him but she's not sure if she is better off without any emotional ties to a mortal. When they go after the vampire killer, Liam impresses Sophie with his actions and his commitment to her.

"Galahad" by Angela Knight. Caroline was turned by a vampire into a witch with magical powers and immortality. She lives in Avalon in the mageverse where vampires and witches form a symbiotic relationship. Witches need their blood drained every few days to lower their blood pressure and vampires have a willing blood source. Caroline has a vision about humans drinking from a cup and turning into vampires who are the antithesis of the undead in the mageverse. Galahad, pure of heart and a vampire is assigned by Morgana Le Fey to work with Caroline to find the threecups and destroy the evil vampires. Along the way fall in love but Galahad fears Caroline won't want him once she learns all the ugly things he had to do to defeat the bad guys.

"Blood lust" by Vickie Taylor. Garth funded Daniel Hart's research into making synthetic blood but stole the formula, Daniel's girlfriend and his house before revealing himself as a vampire. Daniel asks vampire Deadre Blue to turn him a vampire so he can kill Garth, his girlfriend who is now a vampire and then himself. Deadre doesn't want to do it but when he is accidentally killed, she feeds him her blood and he turns into a vampire. Deadre has fallen in love with Daniel and goes with him to fight Garth the enforcer to the High Matron. The synthetic blood make Daniel Garth's equal and their upcoming battle will leave one of them dead.

All five authors have a different take on the vampire mythos but that doesn't mean one story is better than another. This is one of the best vampire romance anthologies ever produced bringing back cult favorites like Anita Blake and Sookie. The stories by the other authors would make a great series..

Harriet Klausner

I anticipated this book eagerly and was sadly disappointed to find that the "new Anita Blake story" was less than 35 pages of the nearly 300 total pages. I actually really liked the whole book, but the misrepresentation leaves a nasty taste in my mouth. I know marketing, that doesn't mean I have to like it.

Overall, I'd recommend this book, but I'd -also- recommend that you don't get TOO excited about new stuff from your favourite authors. The last two authors (who I hadn't heard of or previously read) got the bulk of the book.

Laurell K. Hamilton's story occurs in the interval between BLUE MOON and OBSIDIAN BUTTERFLY. Of course, Ms. Blake is the main character. She is asked to hunt for a girl who is under age and determined to be changed.

Charlaine Harris, my personal favorite vampire series author, gives us a short story involving the characters from her SOUTHERN VAMPIRE series. Sookie Stackhouse has inherited a legacy from an out of touch vampire kin. Bubba (we all know who this famous, supposedly deceased, rock star is since people still claim to have sightings of him) and Bill are the two vampires helping out in this tale.

Then comes Mary Janice Davidson's Dr. Sophie character. She may be a vampire, but she is also a vet. She protects the people in her area AND cares for their animals. If ever there was a good vampire, Dr. Sophie is it.

Next up is Angela Knight whose character is a witch who must team up with THE Sir Galahad (vampire) and enter a horrible super natural battle.

Last, but not least, is Vickie Taylor's enthralling tale of a man whose invention of synthetic blood, to help millions of humans, is stolen by a strong and nasty vampire. The human man needs to be changed into a vampire in order to get his formula back. He ends up joining with an unwilling female vampire and starting a vampire revolution.

**** Five authors of five vampire series have gotten together to create short stories, spin offs of their own series. I give a glimpse of each story in my synopsis. I purchased this book solely for Charlaine Harris's story. I L-O-V-E her SOUTHERN VAMPIRE series! The other tales are good too and this book is worth your time and money even if you read only one of these authors often. As for me, I've read all the authors and can honestly tell you that all five of these authors are terrific! ****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

Other then Vicky Taylor, I've been a long time fan of all these authors. I really enjoyed all the stories.

The Girl Who was Infatuated with Death by Laurell K Hamilton is a short story (too short!) set in the time period between Blue Moon and Obsidian Butterfly when Anita was taking a break from 'the boys' :-) It's an interlude between her and Jean-Claude as she's working to save a young girl from becoming a vampire. I really enjoyed this story. It fits very well between the two books and it was wonderful to have a new LKH story in an anthology, as previous ones have been excerpts from her other books.

One Word Answer by Charlaine Harris: I've only read the first book in her Sookie Stackhouse series (and loved it), now I'm going to read the ones I've missed. Sookie receives an inheritance from her cousin and helps to solve the mystery of her death. It was funny, also a bit on the short side and featured Sookie's friend Bubba who is actually Elvis and very funny.

Biting in Plain Sight by MaryJanice Davidson is connected to her Undead and Unwed series. I really enjoyed this story of a small town Veterinarian, who is also a vampire and a man from her town who has finally decided to take matters into his own hands and tell her he loves. They are trying to stop a vampire serial killer with the help of Betsy and Eric from Undead and Unwed. Touching and funny too.

Galahad by Angela Knight was excellent. It's a story in Angela's wonderful series that joins Arthurian legend with vampire lore. Caroline is a former English teacher who has only recently become a Magea (a witch) and was heartbroken by the vampire who turned her. Then she has a vision about someone making evil vamps and her and a handsome vamp getting rid of them, and she goes in search of the good guy vamp who turns out to be Galahad. It's another wonderful, yet stand alone, story in Ms. Knights incredible new series, funny and very steamy.

Blood Lust by Vickie Taylor: Daniel is a scientist who has been working to come up with an alternative to blood. The man he works for turns on him, takes away everything and Daniel wants revenge. He meets Deadre a vampire who he wants to help him. Together they find the bad guy and love.

For fan's of Laurell K. Hamiliton, Charlaine Harris, MaryJanice Davidson, and Angela Knight this was a fun read that will wet your appetite for their latest full length. Each of these stories are shoot offs from current series that these authors have already in the works.

For readers that are new to any of these authors this will be a great introduction for you and I'm sure it will compel you to run out and buy any of these author's back lists!

Official Reviewer for www.romancedesigns.com

I too was disappointed with the extremly short Anita Blake story and the short Sookie Stackhouse story. It appears that maybe these were chapters of other books that didn't make the final book. I also agree that the stories really require you to have read the other stories in their respective series in order to understand what is going on with the characters. I snap up anything written by many of these authors and will continue to do so. I recommend you find the back stories before you continue with these.