The Blood Books, Vol. 1 (Blood Price / Blood Trail) [Mass Market Paperback]

Tanya Huff (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 6, 2007

Blood Price

Vicki Nelson, formerly of Toronto’s homicide unit and now a private detective, witnesses the first of many vicious attacks that are now plaguing the city of Toronto. As death follows unspeakable death, Vicki is forced to renew her tempestuous relationship with her former partner, Mike Celluci, to stop these forces of dark magic—along with another, unexpected ally…

Henry Fitzroy, the illegitimate son of King Henry VIII, has learned over the course of his long life how to blend with humans, how to deny the call for blood in his veins. Without him, Vicki and Mike would not survive the ancient force of chaos that has been unleashed upon the world—but in doing so, his identity may be exposed, and his life forfeit.

Blood Trail

Second in the “scary and sexy” (Judith and Garfield Reeve-Stevens, authors of The Chronicles of Galen Sword) Blood series.

For centuries, the werewolves of Toronto have managed to live in peace and tranquility, hidden quietly away on their London, Ontario farm. But now, someone has learned their secret—and is systematically massacring this ancient race.

The only one they can turn to is Henry Fitzroy, Toronto-based vampire and writer of bodice rippers. Forced to hide from the light of day, Henry can’t hunt the killer alone, so he turns to Vicki Nelson for help. As they race against time to stop the murderer, they begin to fear that their combined talents may not be enough to prevent him from completing his deadly plan.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A scary and sexy modern-day vampire thriller. -- Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, authors of Star Trek: Prime Directive

If you enjoy contemporary fantasy, Tanya Huff has a distinctive knack. -- Locus

About the Author

Although she left Nova Scotia at three, and has lived most of her life since in Ontario, Tanya Huff still considers herself a Maritimer. On the way to the idyllic rural existence she shares with her partner Fiona Patton, six cats, and a Chihuahua, she acquired a degree in Radio and Television Arts from Ryerson Polytechnic—an education she was happy to finally use while writing her recent Smoke novels. Of her previous twenty-three books, the five—Blood Price, Blood Trail, Blood Lines, Blood Pact, Blood Debt—featuring Henry Fitzroy, bastard son of Henry VIII, romance writer, and vampire are among the most popular.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: DAW (March 6, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0756403871
• ISBN-13: 978-0756403874
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #282,940 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

126 of 128 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Loved it, April 27, 2007

By 

Trixie "cupcakejones" (Ohio) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Blood Books, Vol. 1 (Blood Price / Blood Trail) (Mass Market Paperback)

Like many of the other reviewers, I came to this series as a result of the series on Lifetime. Yes, Lifetime. I swear it's actually pretty good. But I am also a huge fan of Kim Harrison's Hollows series and, once upon a time, of Laurell Hamilton's Anita Blake series before it went to hell (so to speak.) These books were a natural fit. I'm just sorry I didn't discover them sooner.

There are two novels in this collection-the first two Huff wrote about former Toronto police detective Vicki Nelson whose degenerative eye disease forced her to retire and become a private eye. The first book, Blood Price, is virtually identical to the Blood Ties series pilot. A series of murders in Toronto appear to be the work of a vampire but Vicki, who has been hired by a victim's girlfriend to find the killer, soon discovers a demon is at work. This is the novel that introduces her on-again off-again cop boyfriend Mike Celluci and where she meets vampire and romance novelist (!!) Henry Fitzroy. Who also just happens to be the bastard son of Henry VIII which means he has issues of his own.

The second novel, Blood Trail, takes Vicki out to the Canadian countryside to investigate who is the sniper taking deadly aim at a family of werewolves who just happen to consider Henry a family friend. I think I actually liked the second novel better but maybe that's because I hadn't seen it recently adapated for television.

There is lots of romantic tension between Celluci and Henry and I do enjoy Vicki's relationships with them both but the emphasis in these stories is on the action and detective work which made me very happy. Vicki is a smart character who is angry about her condition robbing her of her independence. She is flawed, smart, real and surprisingly multi-dimensional for a detective in a vampire mystery series. I also like her because while she is tough, she is never unbelievable and she seems like a gal you'd want to grab a beer with. If you like this genre, you absolutely can't go wrong here.

54 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, April 5, 2007

By 

ReaderFanatic (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Blood Books, Vol. 1 (Blood Price / Blood Trail) (Mass Market Paperback)

I started watching the tv series first, then decided to check out what started it all. And the books are great. The writing is fast paced, the humor is witty and the plots are consistent. Unlike, some authors these days, Tanya Huff didn't need to rely on a bunch of sex scenes to keep the steam or storyline going. As a matter of fact, there are no sex scenes, just pure plot. The vampire in this series is a good guy and he doesn't mind killing the bad guys and I like that. The men are manly and aren' a bunch of pretty boys pining for one woman.

Everyone is capable to smart choices and logical thinking.

It took me no time to breeze through vols. 1-3.

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I wish I'd found this series earlier..., June 19, 2007

By 

Lady Atana "lady_atana" (Atlanta, MO USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Blood Books, Vol. 1 (Blood Price / Blood Trail) (Mass Market Paperback)

Like several other people, I bought this book because of the TV show "Blood Ties", which I enjoyed, but found cheesy upon occassion. I expected the books to be similar, but was pleasantly surprised.



These novel focus on the actual mystery/action/conflict. There is some sexual tension and little bit of sex, but it more alluded to than shoved in your face (no detailed sex scenes, YAY!!!). The characters of Vicki, Celluci, and Henry are 3-D and well thought out. There are snippits from Henry's past, which I love. It makes him more of a character than on the TV show where he just shows up, does the vampy thing, and goes on. Vicki is an amazing strong heroine who takes no crap from anyone.



As someone else stated, the first novel follows the TV Pilot exactly. I already knew what was going to happen, so it was a little dull. Not because of the writing though. The second novel was very good, with a family of werewolves who are being killed systematically by silver bullets.



Another thing I like about these novels were the "villians". Instead of just pure evil people, like in so many other novels, these villians are fairly normal people who slowly are tempted into evil. Nice touch and more believable.