Customer Reviews

Blood Lines (The World of the Lupi, Book 3)

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Magic appears to be returning to the world and wreaking havoc while demons are striking out at the Lupi. Cynna Weaver fears her old teacher, Jiri, is behind the recent demon activity and will have to face her own fears about her past. Rule Turner is under attack on several fronts and the Lupi politics are about to get very hairy. Cullen Seabourne, Lily Yu, Rule, and Cynna will have to work together to face the darkness that threatens them all.

BLOOD LINES is the third book in Eileen Wilks' tales regarding the Lupi. Readers unfamiliar with the two previous novels, as well as the two short stories in anthologies, should read these tales before attempting BLOOD LINES. I had to refer back to the previous stories on more than one occasion while reading BLOOD LINES as the plot is very complex and ties together several loose ends from the prior stories. In particular, the events from MORTAL DANGER and the short story "Originally Human" play a huge role in this book. BLOOD LINES is not a stand alone novel and will leave you completely bewildered if you haven't read the rest of the series.

Eileen Wilks has crafted a world that is multilayered and requires readers to really pay attention to details. BLOOD LINES is not an easy read but it is a very satisfying one for fans of urban fantasy. The intricate details are cleverly interwoven into the fast paced plot that delves deeply into the fantastic supernatural world created by Ms. Wilks. Readers looking more for romance may be a bit disappointed as the romance between Cynna and Cullen is only just in the beginning stages and is not a focal point of the story, although it appears that their relationship will develop further in the next book.

BLOOD LINES is a very intense and compelling story. The sheer depth of the novel is commendable and leaves open so many exciting future possibilities for the characters. The world building is simply incredible as all the various threads are beginning to tie together to form a very intriguing picture. I will be waiting anxiously for the next installment!

COURTESY OF CK2S KWIPS AND KRITIQUES

I am a fan of Eileen Wilks, who I think has great ideas and great command of the language. Her characters are interesting and engaging, too. Unfortunately, I had a huge problem with this book's pacing.

The first two novels in the series, Tempting Danger and Mortal Danger, moved along swimmingly. The short story that set the stage (in the anthology Craving, and very useful prereading for this book) riveted me. This one moved from cliffhanger to cliffhanger in a way that I think was meant to make it a page-turner, but which in my particular case only disengaged me from the action. Just when I was on the edge of my seat with one character or situation, we'd switch to another. I'd lose the urgency of the situation with character a, and by the time we'd get back to it, it would be just a mildly pleasant sense of closure rather than a nail-bitingly tense revelation. I know that this response is at variance with most of the reviews here (and fully expect to be spanked for it), but while I usually read Wilks' novels in a day, this one took me four...and I didn't tremendously enjoy the experience. I'm not giving up on her. I think she is one of the more promising authors in the paranormal adventure field. But I hope that she changes the pacing in her next book. I prefer a graceful arc to the sudden jerk of changing scenes.

A final word to first-time readers: don't be a first-time reader with this one. Wilks will not hold your hand as she weaves older characters and suplots into this story. If you haven't fulfilled the prerequisites, you are likely to be very confused.

Eileen Wilks is rapidly becoming one of my favorite fantasy writers. Her characters are fresh, fascinating, well fleshed out. She doesn't follow a tried and tired formula in her writing, sometimes its difficult to keep up, simplicity is not her style. I truly enjoy the challenge. I never know exactly where she's going, and the journey is wonderful.

The insight into wolf politics was fascinating, the background of Cynna explained her character beautifully, Rule's grief over the lost part of Lily was poignant. As for Grandmother... every scene that included her was gold.

Four and a half stars rather than five only because this story needs the first two books in the series to really appreciate who the characters are, how they came to this point, and why following this story to its conclusion is a must.

Better - no cliffhangers, just an incredible need to play in this world again.

Note: The "Dear Reader" section at the front of the novel needs to be read, it's from the character, Lily, not the author, and reminds you of the details you need to remember from the other books. A nice touch, actually.

Wilks gets better with every book she writes. She's created a fascinating and original universe that never fails to surprise. As to the "hodgepodge" comment -- I've been reading romance for 20 plus years. It's NICE to be able to read something different, where you don't know exactly where the plot is going because you've read umpteen romances just like it. Eileen is an autobuy for me, and I can't wait to read her next one.

-- Angela Knight,
USA Today bestselling author

Lily Yu and her werewolf (lupi) bondmate, Rule, may have escaped Hell, but they are not through with demons. While some may in jest suggest that demons run the government, when officials are truly making deals with devils, the Secret Service turns to Lily and Rule to help put a stop to it. They, in turn, enlist the help of a sorcerer, Cullen Seabourne, and former "dizzy," Cynna in dealing with the magic. Making matters worse is the fact that Rule is suffering from a magical wound that will not heal and is making him lose control of his inner wolf. The four allies find themselves in a deadly contest to keep an ancient demon from acquiring dangerous lore, threatening life as we know it.

**** The world Ms. Wilks overlays against the one we know is an exciting one that becomes more fascinating as layers of it are revealed. Seeing the continuing evolution of established relationships is intriguing and only makes you want to know the characters more. Adding new faces and plots is done in such a way as to enhance the old, not detract from, or ignore it. Moreover, Ms. Wilks shows just enough sensuality to give us romance to go along with the fast-paced, tense action, but does not go into excessive graphic detail. For these reasons and others you can only discover by experiencing the novel, Ms. Wilks is a true master of her craft. ****

Amanda Killgore

Blood Lines I think was the best so far in the series. This is not a stand alone book, read Tempting Danger and Mortal Danger before Blood Lines. I enjoyed all three of these books, they are excellent contemporary fantasy, with interesting well developed characters. The females are intelligent and strong, but not ballsy to the point of stupidity. If you like these books you should also read Patricia Briggs, Moon Called and Blood Bound.

I had picked up Mortal Danger on a whim. After reading MD I was hooked. I wanted to see what Ms. Wilks came up with next. Her books are very, very detailed but not in that overly heavy descriptive or perhaps I should say repetitive way. You know what I'm talking about the two paragraphs of "It was hot, hot like an August day, hot like the stove top after cooking Top Ramon, hot like..." Yeah, you catch my drift. This isn't how Ms. Wilks writes. I don't find myself scanning paragraphs because at times the story has slowed down and I need to get to an exciting part.

Like I said, I had read MD liked it and went out in search for Blood Lines. I expected a story about Cullen and Cynna. I figured that Rule and Lily would be in it but more as supporting characters. They certainly are in this book! By no means do I want imply they aren't! However, rather than diving into a different characters story I really felt more like I just picked up where I was left off in Mortal Danger, which I really liked! This might be in part due to the "Dear Reader" by Lily at the beginning. In Blood Lines we really do get to learn more about the mysterious Cullen and the strange Cynna...but we aren't left wondering "But what about Lily and Rule!" They are firmly written in as well.

This book wasn't what I expected, but again I found myself really enjoying Ms. Wilks writing. She firmly plants you into her stories and frankly you don't want to leave any time soon.

I loved Blood Lines from beginning to end. I think Eileen Wilks is one of the freshest and most interesting voices out there writing paranormals and reading her books is a pleasure.

I won't waste time with a plot recap, you can read the blurb above for that. But I will say I think Rule Turner ranks up with Roarke on the best hero ever list.

Lily is strong but not so strong she doesn't have room in her life for help but she needs to be strong to keep Rule from taking over her life. I like the balance they've achieved and I love the emotional tension as they recover from what they endured as they were separated in the last book.

The action is all well written and fun and I can't say I found the book confusing as a standalone at all. Frankly, I quite liked the multiple storylines at once and the two sets of hero/heroine - it kept me interested and as I love Rule and Lily, I was quite happy that they featured strongly in the book.

In a sea of books that sometimes bleed into each other plotwise, Wilks rises above the pack (no pun intended) and gives readers something to really sink their teeth into (okay so that one was, LOL) I highly recommend Blood Lines and I can't wait for the next installment.

WOW! I just finished "Blood Lines" and words are hard to come by. That was an incredible experience. That Book would NOT be put down - it was QUITE insistent! You really should read the series from the beginning though, things are happening too quickly to both follow and get up to speed on the characters and their world.

The author has the same total confidence that I first noticed with Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. There is no fear, at all, of leaving a scene quickly, no matter how much it took to set it up. Many authors, having put in a tremendous amount of work making a scene perfect seem to fear their ability to do it again and therefore linger for too long there. Not Wilks, she knows that she can do the next one better and the next better still and is eager to. Too eager sometimes. . . many scenes are so wonderful that you wish they wouldn't end, but we're only there for the time that is necessary, even if we think its far too short.

So, be prepared for a very exciting journey through magical storms, romantic storms, demon riders and even some extremely high level negotiations.

This book is the third in the series and it is better to do the series in order; although I read this first. Very nicely done characters, some humor as when the tenor at "The Messiah" turns into a wolf. Werewolfs, sorcerers, evil sorceresses, etc. The plot starts out looking to be quite linear but has a bunch of nice twist at the end. Very interesting alternate world as well. Nicely written and a very good read. One brief erotic scene but not really in the erotic romance genre.