A Taste of Crimson (Crimson City) [Mass Market Paperback]

Marjorie M. Liu (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2005 | Series: Crimson City

Los Angeles is no longer the City of Angels; dark things haunt its streets - dark, restless things. Bodies have been found, and the tentative peace between humans, vampires and werewolves teeters on the brink of collapse. Keeli Maddox needs to know why. If she and her kin are to survive, she must trust a man as different from her as night from day, as tooth from claw. He's a slayer, a betrayer, an enemy. But nobility lurks in dark places, and Keeli herself is no stranger to shadow. As sure as the moon will rise, Michael was meant for her. Life is about to change. Only three things will remain: the color of blood, the hot joy of skin on skin, and the danger in...A TASTE OF CRIMSON.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Set in a gritty, futuristic Los Angeles inhabited by werewolves, vampires, demons and fearful humans, this follow-up to Liz Maverick's Crimson City, the first book in Love Spell's Crimson City series, delivers a high-tension plot and protagonists so appealing that you might be tempted to invite them over for dinner-despite one being a werewolf and the other a vampire. There's no love lost between the hardscrabbling werewolves and the haughty, affluent vampires, but the two factions soon find themselves joining forces to stave off a possible human attack. All could be derailed, however, by a murderer, apparently a werewolf, who has taken to eating vampires. It's up to Michael, an outcast vampire who metes out justice among his own kind, and Keeli Maddox, the granddaughter of a powerful werewolf clan leader, to keep the peace, but their unexpected attraction may undermine everything. Liu (Tiger Eye) has a knack for making far-fetched circumstances seem feasible, and she draws characters with such precision-down to their dialect and mannerisms-that they practically step off the page. The too tidy conclusion may disappoint, but the fireworks between Keeli and Michael won't.
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Review

"Ms. Liu expertly grabs the reader with her dark and intensely detailed plot. A must read..." -- Affaire de Coeur (Five Stars, Reviewers Pick!)

"Passionate, intense and gritty, this paranormal thriller is a truly enthralling read." -- RTBOOKClub

"Romeo & Juliet meets Bram Stoker...If you're an Anne Rice or Charlaine Harris fan, [this] is just right...." -- Roundtable Reviews

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 372 pages
• Publisher: Love Spell (August 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0505526328
• ISBN-13: 978-0505526328
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,028,761 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Marjorie M. Liu is an attorney who has lived and worked throughout Asia. She hails from both coasts, but currently resides in the Midwest, where she writes full-time.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I hope *this* author writes the next installment., November 16, 2005

By 

BarkLessWagMore (USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: A Taste of Crimson (Crimson City) (Mass Market Paperback)

I realized about 20 pages in that this book is #2 in a series. After I shook off the confusion, I began to fall into the story which is a very kick-butt, action driven paranormal world ALA Buffy the Vampire Slayer except this time the slayer is male and a vampire to boot. He's called "The Punisher" because that's pretty much what he does; punishes the wayward vamps killing em when necessary too. Though werewolves and vampires despise each other in this altiverse they must form a tentative agreement in order to avoid extinction.

Keeli is a werewolf and reluctantly joins forces with Michael. She's dismayed and horrified once she realizes she's also attracted to him.

I enjoyed this one pretty much from beginning to end without ever experiencing an overwhelming urge to put it down to pick up something better. The author has a knack for creating an action packed book with equally well developed characters. The love story is believable but isn't the driving force of the novel. The two main characters both have a lot of crap to overcome and from the look of things a lot of crap to overcome in future books as well. I'm looking forward to the next in this series and may even search out book 1 even though it was written by another author.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More Were's Now!, October 22, 2005

By 

Anna Hope (PA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Taste of Crimson (Crimson City) (Mass Market Paperback)

Michael is the Vendix, the first vampire executioner of other vampires. He was created over 300 years ago and sentenced to his career for crimes he was forced to commit by his creator. Michaels very good at his job and enjoys being a feared outcast of his kind...until the night that Crimson City's vampires decide to negotiate a pact with the city's werewolves and Michael finds himself saving a small pink haired sprite...

Keeli is the only surviving relative of her grandmother, the Grand Dame Alpha werewolf of the entire city. She has fought for her independance and to live down her fathers brawling heritage only to be arrested for saving a woman from some drunken rapists. This could have ended very badly for Keeli, except a strange vampire who is working with the police comes to her aid. Together Michael & Keeli set out to grudgingly aid the negoitation, not to mention the police, in solving some curious murders where vamps are the victims & werewolves look to be the killers.

Can Michael & Keeli set aside their differences to better their respective species? And what happens if they set aside more than that? Say their clothes? Can you have bloodthirsty puppies?!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a compelling urban fantasy, January 25, 2008

By 

Kelley Hartsell "Kelley" (Irving, TX) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: A Taste of Crimson (Crimson City) (Mass Market Paperback)

Courtesy of CK2S Kwips and Kritiques

NOTE: I had the audio version of this book so cannot guarantee all of my spellings are correct.

Vampires and werewolves are bitter enemies until someone starts killing vampires in Crimson City (formerly known as Los Angeles), framing vamps and weres alike. Weres and Vamps are on the verge of signing a peace pact so these murders are adding to the stress already present between the species as they try to meld their different ways.

Keeli Maddox, grand daughter to the grand dame alpha werewolf and Michael, vampire vendix (punisher) team up to investigate the crimes in hopes of finding the killer. Their hopes are to find the killer before the accusations prevent the coming peace treaty from falling apart. Subterfuge is the name of the game with both species scheming to gain the upper hand.

Enemies not eager to work together, Keeli and Michael begin to discover many disturbing facts that bring them ever closer. Soon they begin to wonder... is it possible for a werewolf and a vampire to find love together with A Taste of Crimson?

One nice aspect of this story is that so many of the unfolding events are happening concurrently to the story in the first book, Crimson City. There are little bits here and there talking about events in the previous story while this one is happening in another part of town. Action is never ending in A Taste of Crimson, whether we are in the tunnels underground where the werewolves live, or on the streets mixing it up with the humans. Suspense levels are high as we follow along with Keeli and Michael as they investigate leads and try to find the killer before any more vampires die. The discovery of the killer is not quite as surprising as it could be however for savvy readers who follow the clues.

Keeli is an incredible heroine - spunky and tough with a soft underbelly she protects from all others. Michael is the strong silent, stoic type who's been scorned by his own kind for things beyond his control as a young vampire. These two make a great team and you'll be cheering them on to find the happy ending they both desire... together.

The Crimson City series is a compelling urban fantasy series and I can't wait to see what happens in book 3.

© Kelley A. Hartsell, January 2008. All rights reserved.