Blood Debt (Blood 5) [Paperback]

Tanya Huff (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 2, 2004 | Series: Blood 5

It began with a ghost in his bedroom. A tormented soul hungry for vengeance. The sort of nocturnal visitation that even a five-hundred-year-old vampire like Henry Fitzroy found tiresome. It would lead Vicki Nelson, PI into her most deadly investigation yet. The wraith is determined that Henry and Vicki track down its killer - and is prepared to use a little persuasion by way of the innocent inhabitants of Toronto to ensure their support. Forced to investigate, Vicki discovers a host of souls in desperate torment and evidence to suggest that trailing the killer will only lead to further deaths - starting with her own.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'An entertaining blend of warmly idiosyncratic characters, cinematic pacing and sharp-fanged humour' LOCUS 'The perfect vehicle for a diverting evening's entertainment' MYSTERY SCENE 'A fine mix of the detective story with the supernatural' SF CHRONICLE

About the Author

Tanya Huff was born in Nova Scotia, but now has an idyllic rural existence in Ontario.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Orbit (December 2, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1841493600
• ISBN-13: 978-1841493602
• Product Dimensions: 4.3 x 7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,354,384 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Satisfying End to a Fantastic Series!, December 15, 2002

By 

Sophie (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blood Debt (Victory Nelson) (Paperback)

"Blood Debt" by Tanya Huff is the fifth and final instalment in her fabulous "Blood" series. Though "Blood Debt" is my least favourite of the five books, due largely to the drastic change in the relationship between Henry and Vicki, I still loved it, and will greatly miss Vicki, Henry, and Mike now that the series has come to an end. Filled with vivid and fascinating characters, a top-notch mystery, romance, and tons of danger and suspense, "Blood Debt" will appeal to a wide range of readers.

The book revolves around three main characters, Vicki Nelson, a Private Investigator and ex-cop, her lover, homicide detective Mike Celluci, and her ex-lover Henry Fitzroy, 450-year-old vampire, romance writer, and bastard son of Henry VIII. Henry has been living in Vancouver for a year now, while Vicki and Mike have remained in Toronto. Vicki and Henry have not seen each other at all during that year, but when a handless ghost begins haunting Henry, demanding vengeance against those who murdered him, Henry knows he needs Vicki's help to solve the mystery. Especially when the ghost begins playing a deadly game. Each night when Henry awakes he may ask the ghost one question. If the answers is yes, the ghost will leave, but if the answer is no, an innocent victim will die. At his wits' end, Henry breaks the rule he has lived by for nearly five centuries and asks Vicki to come to Vancouver.

When Vicki arrives with Mike, she and Henry have a hard time just being in the same room together, but as time passes, a strange thing happens. The more time they spend together, the easier it becomes for Henry and Vicki to get along, though their relationship is rather violent. So Vicki, Henry, and Mike work together to discover who killed Henry's ghost and why, and end up right in the middle of a perilous and volatile situation. Huff provides her readers with an intriguing and exciting mystery to solve, set amidst the ever-changing and always interesting love triangle of Vicki, Henry, and Mike.

I can't reveal too much of this book because it would ruin the ending of the fourth in this series, "Blood Pact", for those who have not yet read it. "Blood Debt" is a wonderful read that mixes horror, mystery, and fantasy seamlessly, while exploring the fascinating new dynamics of the relationship between Vicki and the two men in her life. I wished for a happier ending for Henry and Vicki (the couple I was rooting for through all five books), but Huff at least leaves her readers with the impression that things will work themselves out in the years to come. Tanya Huff is a very talented writer with a vibrant imagination and I cannot recommend this series enough. "Blood Debt" is a satisfying finale for this series and is a guaranteed page-turner. So buy it today and enjoy!

22 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Okay end to the Series, April 2, 2004

By 

Elizabeth "lking173" (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blood Debt (Victory Nelson) (Paperback)

Excellent Series - This is the fifth novel in Tanya Huff's vampire series. Although this book is my least favorite, it is still an excellent series overall. This is the final chapter involving Vicki, an ex-cop, Mike, a detective who is Vicki's lover, and Henry, a vampire, romance writer who is Vicki's ex-love. (If you have not read the entire series, you must read it, you will not be disappointed. The series order: Blood Price, Blood Trail, Blood Lines, Blood Pact and Blood Debt).

This fifth book begins with Vicki and Mike as a couple. if you have read the series, you know that Vicki and Henry were in love but Vicki was badly hurt and Henry made her into a vampire. There are rules that vampires must follow, and one is that they can't hunt in the same territory. Vicki had one year with Henry while he taught her everything she needed to know to survive as a vampire. She left Henry, and returned to Mike, her first boyfriend.

What makes this fifth book so irritating at times, is Henry and Vicki's new personalities which come out in the fifth book. Before Vicki became a vampire, she was already a little irritating. She was an overbearing loud mouth woman cop, who had temper tamtrums, banged things when she got angry and had yelling matches with her boyfriend Mike to the point they woke the neighbors. This behavior is already a little over the top, now throw in the fact that Vicki is a vampire, and even more aggressive, and she at times can be a downright irritating character. Also my favorite character of all was Henry, a vampire, and romance writer, who with his wealth of years, always seemed calm and in control. Not in this fifth book.

Henry keeps seeing ghosts. The ghosts will ask him a question, and then an innocent person dies. When Henry cannot figure this out on his own, he has to call Vicki to help him. As soon as Vicki arrives, none of the old romance is there, instead, they spend the entire novel snarling at each other like animals (which is so unlike Henry's character in any of the other novels). It's very disappointing. Throw in Mike with his yelling and Italian cop testostrone and the most likeable character in book number 5 is Tony, Henry's roommate.

Basically Henry and Vicki will have to stop fighting long enough to solve the crime. I'm glad there was a fifth book, but I am also glad the series ended here. Otherwise, I could see myself becoming disappointed. Vicki as a vampire is annoying.

Still good series - definitely worth reading.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Vampires are people, too, October 26, 2000

By 

Gray (midwest) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blood Debt (Victory Nelson) (Paperback)

Tanya Huff has managed to create vampires with real feelings, real relationships, real passions. She writes with zest. Her stories hold the interest of her readers. Her characters have feelings. Blood Debt is the fifth book in a series featuring a strange love triangle composed of the vampire son of King Henry VIII, a vampire female detective from Toronto and a human Toronto police officer. In Blood Debt, ghosts seek vengeance, and our three protagonists set out to find the murderer responsible for the ghosts. Ms Huff writes with more than a touch of humor. The police officer, in the midst of an escape attempt gone awry, asks himself: What was that plan again? Let him beat you sensless and then escape in the confusion?....Oh, good plan. As with most well-written series, its most satisfying if the reader starts with the first book in the series (Blood Price) and continues through the series chronologically.