Customer Reviews

Bloodstone (MIRA)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I usually shy away from novels written in the first person format and I admit I waited to read this book until I had exhausted my book stash because the premise seemed a little silly. Once I had read the first chapter, I was hooked. The characters are likable and multi-faceted, the storyline fast and furious and it quickly became another "leave me alone, I'm reading" adventure. I was slightly disappointed with the final chapter and had hoped that it would unfold into two, but that is the mark of a great read, you just don't want it to be over so soon.

Tyler St. Clair of Bloodstone Jewelry attends a gem and rock trade show in Asheville when someone assaults her. Later she returns to her hotel room only to find it trashed; nothing is missing. Later her second sight tells her that someone abducted her brother David and not long afterward she receives her first warning that she better give back what he took or else; she has no idea what the caller alludes to her possessing. The police caught David's kidnapping on tape, but Tyler's immediate concern is for her niece Jane. Finally Aunt Matilda calls to tell her to let the cop in as he wants to help her just as Agent Evan Bartlock arrives.

Using her "Gift", Tyler assisted by Evan search for the missing David. However, her unknown opponent seems to anticipate their moves as if he or she also has second sight. She turns to friends and colleagues to also help her especially with the shook up Jane, but whom do you trust with a loved one as each step she and Evan takes leads deeper into a dark deadly diverse conspiracy where the evil medium is money.

BLOODSTONE is an action-packed romantic paranormal thriller starring two wonderful characters; while Tyler learns to stop hating and love her Gift, her champion Evan is with her every perilous step in her frantic rescue effort. The villain in some ways is more her equal than Evan, but he makes up the difference and more with his willingness to risk his life for her. Fans of fast-paced adventure tales with a touch of the extrasensory and a lot of romance will need to hunt no further than this super suspense filled novel.

Harriet Klausner

Tyler St. Claire and most of her family have the gift of second sight. When Tyler's brother is kidnapped, she is forced to use the gift she's tried hard to ignore her whole life. Tyler's business, Bloodstone, is the design and making if jewelry from stone and precious gems. That and the North Carolina mountains in winter make for an interesting backdrop. I've previously read and enjoyed Hunter's books about Dr. Rhea Lynch. I was a little hesitant to give this one a try, but I'm glad I did. The pace never lags. The characters are all life-like and very interesting. The premise is improbable, but highly entertaining. I thoroughly enjoyed this read.

I actually read this book before reading Gwen Hunter's alter ego Faith Hunter's Seraph books. I haven't read any of the other Gwen mysteries but I think fans of the Faith Hunter books will enjoy it.

I love Gwen Hunter, but this book had too much melodrama and too much silly dialogue, and the heroine's "gift" just didn't ring true to me. I skipped to the end just to see how she resolved the mystery, but the book wasn't compelling enough to read cover to cover after I'd struggled through the first third. If you love a good thriller, try _Shadow Valley_, or any of the Dr. Rhea Lynch series, also by Gwen Hunter. They're all top notch.

1. These people were all "St. Claire's" by blood:
Tyler
Tyler's brother Davie
Both of Tyler and Davie's parents
Their Aunt Matilda and her husband
Davie and his wife
Davie's daughter
Evan, the cop
Maybe it's just me but it all sounds on the incestuous side.

2. Tyler's made-up swear words/descriptive phrases were cute, at first, then they were just plain annoying.
"Spit and decay", a "dipsomaniac, douroucouli on Drambuie" which I think was a drunken monkey.

3. The supposed "Roman Trio" was some sort of mafia running illegal gambling in Western NC. Western NC is home to a very large Cherokee Indian reservation, with a very successful, growing legal gambling industry. Illegal gambling would do very poorly in that area.

4. The characters were all cardboard and one dimensional.

5. There was zero chemistry/romance between Tyler and Evan.

Now that I think about it a three is somewhat generous but it's not quite bad enough for a two. Wish we could give ½ stars!

I was somewhat disappointed in this one, and I have enjoyed Hunter's previous writings. Petty as it seems, I was distracted and annoyed with the silliness of the verbiage used by the main character as a substitute for "cuss words". I could have read right on through normal profanity and enjoyed the story a little more.

I really wanted to like this book. I like Tyler and her group of friends. Her neice Jane was a really great kid. I have to agree with other reviews that I was a little creeped out by how couples were from the same bloodline.

What really let me down was the ending, it made me want to give 2.5 stars instead what was leading up to a 3. The whole book we're caught up in who kidnapped her brother and why. The final kidnapper (who should have had by far the STRONGEST reaction from Tyler) gets a 2 second mention on the second to last page. It was completely ridiculous how to all came together. The first half of the book was pretty good but the author ran out steam and then rushed the whole confusing ending.

While this book has some promising aspects it becomes a tedious grind of events as seen and felt by the very self absorbed heroine Tyler St Claire. Using her gift of second sight causes her headaches "Pain like a lance of forge hot steel pierced my forehead over my left eye". The book is littered withwhat are best described as pain and angst paragraphs. Her extreme reaction page to touching Adam Wiccam "Pain exploded in my head, a ricochet of agony - on and on ending with "the pain was a caustic, cutting agony boring through my brain" What will she do when she receives her bothers finger in the box - you may well ask. She is supported in her endeavors by characters far more interesting. I would rewrite this and add more of her brothers perspective and edit out 90% of Tyler's self dialogues.

I am continually amazed at the flawlessness of Ms. Hunter's prose. She is both a master technician and a poet, and one of the best plotters around. I could read her books every day. Also, I live in her region of the country and am very impressed with her sense of place. I'd give her four thumbs up if I had that many; she'll have to settle for five stars.