Blood and Bullets (Deacon Chalk: Occult Bounty Hunter) [Mass Market Paperback]

James R. Tuck (Author)

Book Description

Release date: February 1, 2012 | Series: Deacon Chalk: Occult Bounty Hunter

Since hunting down the monster who took the lives of his wife and children five years ago, occult bounty-hunter Deacon Chalk has lived by only one rule.

He does not work for the monsters. He kills them.

So why would a vampire try to hire him as protection against another monster hunter? After enforcing his only rule Deacon goes to meet the target, a vampire slayer named Nyteblade. Professional courtesy demands he tell this Nyteblade the vampires are hiring people to kill him. Deacon finds the vampire slayer waiting in an alley.

Waiting to stake him.

He discovers that Nyteblade is a bumbling, fumbling, wanna-be instead of a badass vampire hunter. Someone who needs saving from monsters instead of the other way around. This is proven when a horde of vampires descend and he has to escape while trying to keep Nyteblade alive.

Someone has set Deacon up. Someone wants him dead.

Someone should have sent more vampires.

Bound and determined, Deacon will find out who tried to kill him no matter how many bloodsuckers, were-spiders, cursed immortals, undead strippers, or insanely powerful hell-bitches he has to wade through.

It's going to be a long night.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A dark, damaged, lonely man takes on the undead underworld and the monsters who live in it. Deacon Chalk kicks monster ass!"
Faith Hunter -NY Times bestselling author of the Jane Yellowrock series and the Rogue Mage series

"Tuck's Deacon Chalk is one bad-ass vampire killer with an arsenal to rival a small nation's and an unlikely posse--a priest, an Immortal and a lycanthrope. Blood and Bullets will keep you on the edge of your seat page after page. I loved it."
Jeanne C. Stein - author of the Anna Strong Chronicles

"Tuck gets back to basics in a world where monsters are evil and someone has to kill them. Enter the hero: a tattooed and tortured gun-slinging, vampire-slaying bad ass. If Dirty Harry and Anita Blake had a love child, he would be Deacon Chalk. I was hooked from the beginning to the end!
Jenna Maclaine- Author of the Cin Craven series

"Rapid fire action never stops, and Deacon's irresistible voice propels you along for the ride. When I finished this book I was out of breath!"
Annabel Joseph- Bestselling author of Club Mephisto and many other fine titles.

"Blood & Bullets delivers thrills, chills, and kills with a rock-steady hand, unblinking eye, and no mercy for the things that go bump in the night. Deacon Chalk is the Charles Bronson of urban fantasy, guaranteed 100% BS-free.
Matt R. Jones- Author of the Hollywood Vampires series.

From the Author

WELCOME TO THE DEACONVERSE.

When I sat down and began writing the book that became BLOOD AND BULLETS I had a fully fleshed out idea of who Deacon was, a tortured man who had a death wish but would do what needed to be done because, at the end of the day, he is a "big damn hero".

I was so tired of reading about urban fantasies that were supposed to be dark, were supposed to be action-packed, were supposed to be scary and absolutely kept disappointing time after time. I'd had enough and so had my character of Deacon Chalk.

He walked into my head and said to me "Point me at the monsters, I am here to kick some ass."

And he did.

I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Kensington; Original edition (February 1, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0758271476
• ISBN-13: 978-0758271471
• Product Dimensions: 1 x 4.1 x 6.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (67 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #715,214 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

James R. Tuck was born and raised in The South. Brought up on a steady diet of good southern cooking, country music, Jesus, and guns; he has always been a little weird. For over 15 years he has been a professional tattoo artist and owns Family Tradition Tattoo in his hometown of Marietta, Ga. Now he writes yarns about monsters, guns, hard-eyed men, and tough as nails women.

He puts the DARK in Dark Urban Fantasy.

His Deacon Chalk: Occult Bounty Hunter series is a thrill ride spilling over with violence and mayhem.

Here there be monsters.

Strap up, arm yourself, and hang on for the ride

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Dark & Gritty Urban Fantasy February 10, 2012

By Jen D.

Format:Kindle Edition

This review was hard for me to write because I really enjoyed the story and I wanted to blab all about it but, for obvious reasons I won't. So I'll start by saying that I am really loving me some Deacon Chalk. The man is a bad ass, loyal to those closest to him, fierce yet kind and totally hot, in a scary and rugged way. James Tuck has created a character that has gone through hell and back and carries that burden like a backpack. No matter how heavy that burden is, he still manages to go out every day (or night) and kill off the scary monsters that go bump in the night. Believe me when I say these things are friggin' scary. He's also created an awesome cast of secondary characters. They range from awkward and geeky to so ruthless they'll backhand you if you so much as give them side eye. The villains are dastardly and evil which is just how I like them.

James does a great job of world building. You get a pretty clear vision of what his Atlanta, the places he hangs out at, kicks ass at and visits are like. I thought the mythology he created with regard to his vamps, some secondary characters and background info was unique and interesting. And OMG I love it when scenes involve Deacon's car. What can I say? I like muscle cars. I also loved all the music he mentions during the story. It gives you a better feel for Deacon and sets the tone for certain parts of the story.

The only negative thing I can say is that the writing was a little rough around the edges. That said, it wasn't so rough that it distracted me from enjoying the book. So if you're the type of reader that likes your Urban Fantasy on the darker, grittier and slightly bloodier side you definitely need to give Blood and Bullets a try.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Deacon brings a heavy dose of testosterone that the female dominated urban fantasy genre has been waiting for February 9, 2012

By Abigail TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Mass Market Paperback

Talk about a book that delivers on its cover! BLOOD AND BULLETS kicks off a brand new urban fantasy series featuring a wicked cool protagonist who's a cross between Batman and Snake from Escape From New York. Deacon Chalk, monster bounty-hunter, packs every type of heat known to man (and some that aren't). His arsenal is seriously impressive but no more so that Deacon himself. After name dropping a few uber famous UF characters like Anita, Cat and Bones, and Sam and Dean, Deacon's debut proves he's more that capable of hanging with the big boys.

I did have a few grumbles with Deacon. He's a little too perfect, almost like a Saint. He owns a strip club full of girls he has rescued from one heinous situation or another and every last one of them adores him to a degree that borders on worship. They prance around him in g-strings, but he's oblivious to them sexually. No straying eyes, no wandering thoughts that he has to battle. He treats them like an indulgent grandfather, bending down for kisses on the cheek and dispensing proud smiles. And that's pretty much the way he is with every other non evil character in the book. He's rescued them in the past and now they revere him like a savior. Yes, he was still in mourning over the murder of his wife and kids, but apart from one very random and uncomfortable breakdown in a club, it didn't seem to have damaged him a whole lot. I wanted one flaw, one vice, one thing that he battled with and, at least occasionally, succumbed to.

Another thing that grew a bit tedious was the number of little lectures from Deacon. They started out very cool, almost like little side notes explaining various mythologies or Deacon's well honed methods for killing, but they started happening too frequently and for everything. There was a whole page describing the take out he got from a Sushi restaurant, the merits of one song on the radio over another, or he' started repeating things he'd already told us like how fire could kill most supernatural creatures, except for Demons. These weren't huge problems, but I did notice them and they did slow down the story for me.

Those complaints aside, I really liked BLOOD AND BULLETS. Deacon brings a heavy dose of testosterone that the female dominated urban fantasy genre has been waiting for. He carries a big gun, drives a beast of a car, and blows a fist sized hole into anything that gets in his way. The action scenes are plentiful and adrenalin fueled, and we get lines like, "...vampires never sparkle unless they just ate a stripper." That's reason enough to earn the next Deacon Chalk book, titled BLOOD AND SILVER and scheduled for publication on August 1, 2012, a spot on my To Be Read list.

Sexual Content:
References to rape. A scene of sensuality

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars The Main Character Takes Away From a Rather Decent Idea June 7, 2012

By Lauren

Format:Mass Market Paperback

Decon Chalk has lived to hunt monsters since one killed his family. When a vampire tries to hire him to kill another hunter, Chalk is interested. He takes the bait and barely survives an ambush and the inexperienced kid he finds himself saddled with. Now he's got everything from shape shifters and vampires to immortals after him all lead by a nightmare trying to turn the loss of his family against him.

James R. Tuck's Blood and Bullets is a mix of urban fantasy and action movie with a main character who is a study in over done manly man-ness. Chalk is a larger than life, gun toting, monster slaying badass and he's going to tell the reader about it at every chance he gets. This gets old really quickly. Chalk is supposed to be the big tough monster hunter who shows up and gets things done, the problem is he reads a lot like a bad self insert from a kid who wants to be the tough guy that solves problems. This could have still worked out alright if the story had been in third person, the plot itself is fairly solid if a bit underwhelming. The book is in first person though with the world's most talkative know it all narrating everything that he does no matter how insignificant it is. Even with that I would have been alright were it not for the repeat descriptions, Chalk describes his guns and himself at least three times. His apparent effect on some women is also brought up repeatedly. I don't know if Tuck ran out of things to write with these descriptions or just didn't trust his readers to remember any of it.

The plot, as I said before, is fairly decent. Good guy gets attacked by more vampires than any of the major players in the city should have been able to put together, discovers the big bad's existence, and has to figure out how to beat her without losing his rag tag team of monster hunters. It's been done, but that doesn't stop it from working here. To my mind the things that bring down the plot are, yet again, Chalk's reiterating things too much, the big bad's throwing logic out the window because she wants to have sex with Chalk, and the deus ex machina character that shows up towards the end. I'd have really liked to have seen more of the secondary characters doing what they're supposed to be good at rather than just taking Chalk's word for it, it seems like most of them could do pretty well as protagonists on their own.

At the end of the day, the blurb for the next book sounds interesting but this seems like more of a series to borrow from the library than one that I would purchase the rest of. I'm giving Blood and Bullets a three out of five for decent premise but a miss with the main character.