Customer Reviews

Hunting Memories: A Vampire Memories Novel

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Following the concluding events in Blood Memories, the ruthless vampire Julian Ashton has fled back to Europe. And Eleisha Clevon has forged a new life with fellow vampire Phillip and the psychic human Wade. But she has been secretly corresponding with another vampire. Eleisha and Rose have a vision to provide a safe haven for vampires that don't want to kill humans, safe from Julian. It seems there are other vampires out there that have escaped Julian's killing spree.

Barb Hendee has created a different world of vampires, where the vampires are the hunted and live in hiding. Each character is given a dramatic backstory, with complex relationships and motivations. Incredibly suspenseful and eerily vivid, this sequel is once again fast-paced and hard to put down.

This dark fantasy series continues to impress me. I enjoyed this installment even more than the first. It wasn't quite as dark and bleak, with Eleisha and Rose's idea of a better life for everyone. With powerful characters and an impressive storyline, vampire and urban fantasy fans shouldn't miss this unique series.

HUNTING MEMORIES tells of Eleisha, who receives a communication acknowledging her status as a vampire and letting her know there are others like her in the world. The difference is - she's learned a way to draw blood from her victims without killing them - and her discovery will divide the existing vampire community in this tense thriller, recommended for any fantasy holding.

Eleisha is one of my favorite vampires. Even in her undead state she cares deeply for others and hopes to create a community for herself and her small group. The characters in this novel are all so engaging and interesting. Even Julian is delightfully complex. And the stories these vampires discover about one another are interconnected in strange, wonderful and sometimes contradictory ways. These are vampires with human problems (as well as supernatural ones), which makes them easy to relate to, worry about and spend time with enjoying a laugh.

Awesome boook. if you read blood memories you"ll blow through this book. great read finished it in two days.

Hunting Memories closely follows the events of Blood Memories, but if you can follow an out of sequence episode of your favorite TV show, you should be fine if you pick up this one first. And if you are a fan of The Noble Dead Saga, you will probably want to - follow the author!
Julian Ashton is a vampire who lacks the telepath abilities that let vampires adjust the short term memories of their food supply. Resenting this, he resolved to kill off all telepathic vamps so that he could be the master, instead of a freak. It was Julian who issued in the era of killing humans while feeding, and all the vampires he makes think this is the norm - the law. One human he turned, Eliesha, was given a unique assignment: to be caretaker for his immortal but helpless father, a once proud Lord of an estate in Wales condemned to endless senility.
But, far away from the watchful eye of Julian, Eliesha's latent telepathy emerges, and she rediscovers the possibility of feeding without murdering.
Now Eliesha becomes the leader of a small but growing number of vampires and their friends who want to come out of hiding but fear discovery by Julian.
One vampire, Philip, is tormented by bloodlust which jeopardizes the fragile new order. Perfect love casteth out fear, but in Philip's case, this is reversed. Fear of losing Eliesha has to overturn his love of killing.
I have one major objection to this book, so if you are a Hendee fan please skip the rest of this paragraph. This is chick fic. The estrogen is so thick that virtually all the xy chromosome characters are unmanned and demasculated. They're what some females think men ought to be: domesticated; and the ones that don't play well with others must be either tormented or psychotic. Fair enough; something has to balance out all the publicized male wish-fulfillment fantasies that abound. But here's a secondary problem I had with the storyline: personally, if I were a vampire with a conscience, I seriously doubt that would stop me from going vigilante. It seems to me these characters do more harm not killing their socialized victims than they ever did when they were reducing the ranks of recidivists. Hey, if I were a vampire, I'd be the next Lone Ranger, taking a serious bite out of crime.

This was a great follow up to the 1st book and I'm thoroughly pleased. The characters in this book jump right off the page; you can't put the book down once you start.

The story picks up where the last one left off. Elisha is looking for other Vampires like herself and living in Seattle with Phillip and Wade when she gets a letter from a Vamp in San Francisco named Rose who says she needs help.

She talks Phillip and Wade into taking a trip to San Fran to bring Rose back to Portland and start a sort of safe haven for lost Vampires.

Meanwhile Wade is struggling with his jealousy over Phillip and Elisha's relationship as well as his own purpose in this scheme. Where as Phillip is trying his best to console Elisha by feeding off of mortals with out killing them, but finding it extremely difficult. The author eludes to an attraction between Phillip and Elisha in this installment as well, and their relationship grows considerably.

When the 3 of them get to San Fran and find Rose she is not alone, but living with a Ghost (her dead nephew). Things are brought to light when they all share memories like they did in the 1st book by telepathy.

When Rose introduces Elisha to a elder Vampire named Robert it rocks the boat. One Phillip is threatened, two Robert is used to being in charge, and 3 Robert has a whole mess of rules that he believes all Vampires should live by. Roberts character is a great addition to the story, but Robert brings us back to Julian (the bad Vampire from the first book) who has banished himself to his old manor in Wales.

Julian lives in fear that the old rules will be reestablished and therefore he would be killed. In return he has taken it upon himself to behead every elder Vampire in existence, when he discovers that Elisha has brought one out of hiding he gives chase.

There is so much more to the story which I don't want to give away, but there are plenty of surprises and if you liked the first book this one will not let you down. Each character is highly developed . When the author goes into flashbacks I don't even mind, this usually drives me crazy in other books, but you become so attached to her characters that you love it. I really enjoyed the dynamic between Elisha and Phillip this time around. You can't help but find yourself extremely attracted to Phillip's character which is odd considering he's a cold blooded killer. Yet, the author is that good!

I will say though that these books are not like most paranormal romances in this genre, if you are looking for any erotica which you find in most Vamp books you won't find it here. I'd compare it to Patricia Briggs (Mercy series)or Some Girls Bite. Its more about charater development and story line. Its not like Kresley Cole, JR Ward, Laura Adrian, or Christine Feehan --- just a warning to anyone looking for something like that. I love those other authors and this book isn't the same animal.

Just a few centuries ago, the vampires had rules that let them go undetected by humans and the most important one was to drink mortal blood without killing the source. The blood diner would use hypnotic telepathy to erase all memories of the encounter. The second rule is that a vampire could not create more than one vampire per century. When the powerful Angelo created three sons in one century; two of whom were flawed. One of the offspring Julian Ashton had no psychic powers and his blood meals brought attention to himself that led to vampires wanting him euthanized. Instead he killed the psychic vampiric rivals; which violated vampire rules.

Julian created Eleisha Clevon, but her psychic skills manifested on their own thanks to the mortal telepath Wade. She fought her sire and won forcing Julian to flee to his Cliffbracken in Wales with his tail between his legs. Eleisha and another vampire Rose de Spenser exchange letters about forming an underground vampire movement for vamps hiding from Julian. He learns of their plot and comes to the United Sates to stop Robert, an elder who knows the rules, unlike the made vampires of today from making contact with his enemies. He intends to kill Robert and anyone else in his way; however his opponents are gaining in strength, resolution, and conviction as they plant to take him down.

This sequel to BLOOD VAMPIRES is an enjoyable and creative (not just of new vampires) cocktail cleverly blending urban fantasy mixed with strong horror elements. Eleisha is teaching Phillip how to drink blood without killing the prey; he, the son of Angelo would do anything to keep her safe because she gave him a reason to live. HUNTING MEMORIES is a thriller of a vampire tale as Julian is coming to take care of his enemies.

Harriet Klausner

I managed to get hold of an early copy of this, and I read it in one night. I could not put it down.

This is one of the most engaging, emotionally moving novels that I've read in a long time.

It's difficult to talk about the book without giving away spoilers, but one thing I loved was that main female character is strong without being a "[...] heroine. She has a true inner strength.

I'm also madly in love with Philip. He's sexy one minute and hysterically funny in the next.

Oh, and the villain here is genuinely frightening.

Anyway, this book is moving, action-packed, funny at times, and the characters are richly developed. I can't wait for the next one.

Barb Hendee is one of the best! I have ever read every book of hers that I have been able to find and never regretted a single page! The depth and breath of her creativity is a joy to read! This Vampire series leaves me yearning for the next book. If you have the chance, check out her Noble Dead series too! All I can say is.....WOW and Thank you Barb for sharing your talent with your readers!

I enjoyed the 2 books of this little series. I wish there was another book to tie it up, though.