Customer Reviews

Legacy (Anna Strong Vampire Chronicles, Book 4)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

While reading this book I had the feeling something was missing and when I got to the end of the book I realized it was the PLOT! Anna is again coming to grips with her loss of humanity and accepting she is a vampire. The main plot was about Gloria, who is her partner David's girlfriend, who is accused of murder. Then there are two women werewolves that she meets in Mexico and one of them turns out to be Avery's, ex-wife, Sandra. Avery was Anna's vampire lover in book one that she killed. Now Sandra is possessed by Avery. Neither plot was fleshed out. The most exciting part of the book was told in the last few pages and frankly I spent the whole book wondering what this book about. The book was entertaining enough. I like Anna and I like the authors writing style but compared to the first three books, this book lacked umph! If you skipped it, I don't think you would have missed anything as far as progression of Anna's character.

This novel was horribly disappointing, mostly in that it lacked a viable premise. I have been an avid reader of the Anna Strong series, and in fact had written down the release date of this book months in advance, only to be almost disgusted by the negligible way the author cobbled this story together. Instead of an enjoyable mystery for the heroine to solve, we are instead treated to Anna bumbling about, doing one act of stupidity after another. Half of the book contains many varied lines of characters ( including Anna herself) acknowledging her stupidity in one way or another. One of the most ridiculous (SPOILER ALERT) is that she goes to confront 2 hostile werewolves without bothering to bring a silver weapon along to protect herself, even though she had just recently finished reading a werewolf handbook, for Pete's sake!! Plus, the ending was so anti-climactic, I was pounding my head in deep frustration. This book makes me feel like the author just churned out a half-baked novel just to make some quick cash, not caring that it might hurt her fan base in the process. Ive always been a subscriber of the " If you are going to do something, then do it well" club, and this definitely was NOT it.

I really enjoyed the first three novels in this series, and if you haven't read them, I absolutely would recommend them. I pre-ordered this book ages ago, and was very excited to read it. Unfortunately it was... eh. Just kind of eh. I was happy to read more about Anna, follow the characters and plot along, but all throughout the book, I kept feeling like Stein perhaps was under the gun owing the publisher a new book, and slapped this together quickly. The plot is not all that interesting, and never really gets totally resolved (at least not enough for me). Also, you don't learn much about the characters you already know, there isn't much character development, it's all just sort of in stasis.

I was disappointed in this one, though I know I'll read the next, but might end up getting it from the library, rather than pre-ordering it.

Bounty hunter Anna Strong has been a vampire for six months since she was attacked and changed against her will by the evil vampire Avery, who obsessed over her. She killed him and struggles to adapt to being a creature of the night in a human world especially since she refuses to kill for her sustenance.

As a bounty hunter her partner is the mortal David, who remains blissfully ignorant of her supernatural world. Anna finds herself willing to help his girlfriend Gloria beat a murder rap in exchange for her keeping away from David. With the help of Gloria's stepson who hates his stepmother, he allows Anna access to his home where she finds evidence to give to the police so they can capture the real killer.

Anna meets and is attracted to werewolf Sandra, who asserts she is Avery's widow. She is contesting Anna's claim to his estate. Anna is uninterested in Avery's estate but Sandra warns Anna that the holdings belong to her and her pack. Anna realizes those she cares about like David could be in danger from an apparent scorned female demanding her blood as much as the estate.

Readers will enjoy the latest Anna Strong urban fantasy in which the paranormal world and its species seem natural especially living alongside humans. Anna is a ferociously independent individual used to fighting her own battles even when she was a mortal and with her vampiric skills more so. Even she knows life as she knew it is dramatically changing and her loved ones are in danger from whom and what she is. Fans of Kelly Armstrong and Kim Harrison will appreciate Anna's dispute with a female werewolf as alpha as she is.

Harriet Klausner

Anna Strong, a bounty hunter and newly formed vampire with attitude, is back. The more she comes into her own as a vampire, the more she resists the expectations being placed upon her to fully embrace her vampiric side. For Anna is not like any other vampire.

In the meantime, Gloria Estrella, a successful model/actress/co-owner of a high class restaurant in San Diego (who is also the girlfriend of her colleague) is implicated in a murder and enlists Anna's help to find the real killer. Anna (who despises Gloria) reluctantly takes on the case. In the process, she will find herself facing an enemy who could destory her and all that she holds dear. This a thrilling story with lots of twists and turns that will hold the reader's attention til the last page.

Don't know why I keep reading this series. I guess I keep thinking that Anna's character would stop being so stubborn, and foolish. Her character is too high strung, she has little to no wisdom. So I guess I will read the next book to see if she gets any better. Hmmm..

I have been enjoying all of the Anna Strong Vampire Chronicles and I will read the next one that comes out. However, this one was just really tough for me to get into early on. I would say that I had to get about 3/4 of the way into the book before I felt really 'hooked'. The last quarter of the book really got me though, tied some things together and *finally* Anna is not hinging everything she does on the 'newness' of her 'being'. 'Legacy' is my least favorite in the series so far on one hand, but on the other I think Anna has turned some corners in this novel so I look forward to seeing how the next one goes as she seems to have made great strides now in accepting who she has become.

Legacy is the 4th book in the Anna Strong Vampire series, and she is still one tough chick - and she isn't afraid to let you know it. Anna, a bounty hunter, and vampire has only a few soft spots that are reserved for her family and her friendship with her bounty hunter partner David. She will go to the ends of the earth to protect those she loves, without ever letting them know her secret.
The book starts out with Anna being emotionally defenseless when she accidentally meets up with Max her DEA ex boyfriend. It's not often we see her in this vulnerable situation, but from that point on she is determined to move on, only to find out that she is being targeted by the wife of the vampire who made her, a vampire she killed not all that long ago, and is probably the only one she is actually afraid of.
Anna is not alone in her paranormal world either, she has an uneasy alliance with other vampires, shape shifters, and supernaturals, and although there are very few she trusts she has managed to make a few friends such as Daniel Frey, a teacher by day, and shape shifter by night.
Each character is developed in a way that makes you actually feel as if you know them. The relationship between Anna and Chief Williams is so on edge you can almost feel the tension in the air and after four books you don't quite know if he's trustworthy or not, and neither does she.
I have devoured each Anna Strong book as it came out and this one was no different. True to her name, Anna is a strong and compelling character, and you get the feeling that even if she weren't a vampire she could still kick some serious butt.
I had a hard time putting this one down, yet didn't want it to end too soon. I finished it in less than a day, and it left me wanting more. I'm anxiously awaiting the 5th book in the series.

This is the fourth book in the Anna Strong Chronicles by Stein. I think the best thing this book has going for it is that it is a quick read.

Anna finds herself in the middle of a soap opera in this book. David's girlfriend Gloria has contacted Anna for help. Gloria's business relationship with the co-owner of her restaurant has gone south and Gloria wants Anna to help we sort it out. Shortly after this things really get out of hand for Gloria. Other than that there is a pack of werewolves in town that has an interest in Anna. Anna is still struggling with maintaining her human ties.

I mean seriously, Anna is caught in the crossfire of Gloria and David's relationship, Daniel Frey's new relationship with his girlfriend, troubles with a werewolf pack, and trouble with continuing the facade that she is human with her family. Events are mish-mashed together and so many things are thrown at you so rapidly that at times it makes you sigh and think "Okay one more personal issue for Anna to deal with." I felt like I was watching a bad paranormal soap opera. There doesn't seem to be an overlying story here. Anna, to be quite honest, is a bitch through this whole book. Anna has a lot of excuses to explain her bad interactions with people; it comes down to the fact that as a character she is not changing, she stays stubbornly the same.

We really don't find out a whole lot more about the supernatural community either. Maybe a little about werewolves but that's it. There is no more about the Watchers; Max is gone again from the plot. He makes a brief appearance in the beginning to add to Anna's angst (as if she doens't have enough emotional crap to deal with) and then is visibly absent for the rest of the book. What is with Max anyway? Out of all the significant others I've read about, he has got to be the one with the least ever amount of page space ever. I thought that the whole deal with the witch introduced in the last book could have served for some very interesting material in this book, guess I was wrong there was almost no mention of it in this book.

I am beginning to wonder if Stein plans out her series at all or just free-flow writes whatever pops into her mind. The positive for this series is that it is fast-moving, engaging, and a super quick read. I think it took me, at tops, three hours to read this book. Stein continues to keep her sex scenes tasteful and brief, which is a relief.

I also was also disappointed that there weren't many fight scenes, I mean where's the action and adventure here? I don't know if I will keep reading this series. I have been borrowing the books from a friend...so if I can keep reading them for free I might. I would never invest money in them though...
karissabooks.blogspot.com

I was very disapointed in this book. I have really liked the first 3 books but this one was disjointed and followed to many paths and did not focus enough on one. Not too mention it seems to becoming a bad soap opera. It is tiring that she doesn't trust anyone and what the author does with Max was just wrong to me. I am not sure even morbid curosity will get me to read the rest.