Customer Reviews

The Vampire Legacy #1: Blood Secrets

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

What an entertaining book. Here is a small review of the book. (don't worry, there aren't any spolers here) Deirdre is a vampire, but she's not an evil one. She will never drain her victims, but she does feed. She wants to find out if there are others, and learn from them. The only problem is that there is another vampire that's killing the innocent, and is making sure that all of the guilt is pointing at Deirdre. As the story unfolds, she falls in love with Mitch, who is headng the investagation.

The characters...

Deirdre-What a fantastic vampire. The way that Karen E. Talyor has introduced us to Deirdre, there is so much for us to learn about her. What make is such a fun read is that as Deirdre learns about herself, we will also learn about her. Deirdre has a lot to lean about being a vampire, it will be interesting to see how she turns out.

Mitch-He's an interesting char. as well. I was interested in how he would act when he found out who she was.

Max-Here is one complex and mysterous guy. I saw him as a pimp in a way for Deirdre. He's always finding guys for Deirdre to feed on. I had a hard time putting my finger on Max. Was he good? Is he bad? I couldn't figure out if he wanted to be her lover, her father, a protector? The reader will be guessing that until the end. What a great character.

Larry-He's a guy that wanted to be a vampire, and that's all I'll say about him...he provides a lot of tension through the book.

Overall, I'll tell you to get this book. Taylor entertains the writer with a style of writing that will hold the readers interest. She won't tell the reader to much about Deirdre, Mitch , or Max, and that provides to much for the reader! There is also tension between Max and Mitch that will keep the reader engaged until the last page.

My two favorite scenes are when Mitch gives Max a ticket (I won't say for what). My other favorite scene is when Deirdre, Mitch, and a few others are out for dinner, there are so many inside jokes that Mitch says...*LOL* It's a hoot!!

Take my word for it, if you start this series, you won't be sorry.

Blood Secrets by Karen E. Taylor is the first in a series which introduces vampire, Deirdre Griffin. Griffin is a top fashion designer with a definite style. She's got a good life for a vampire. No one knows her secret except for her one time lover, Max Hunter. Max owns a popular nightclub and sets Deirdre up with a 'blood donor' each week. Things are easy for Deirdre who refuses to kill for blood. Then suddenly her donors start dying and the trail leads to her. She now knows there is at least one other vampire in the city and she hopes it is the one who made her so she can kill him.

However Deirdre, while having a large collection of vampire books and films, seems to know little about the myths and legends and even less about her own powers. She think she knows the people around her but pays them little attention and ignores them to the point of being dangerous to her own survival.

The love interest between Deirdre and the detective working the murder case is a bit predictable. I'm hoping that as the series goes on the dynamics between the characters gathers depth.

Deirdre is a likeable character but frustrating in her willful ignorance. The reader is likely to figure out who the murder is very early in the book and spend the rest of the book wishing Deirdre would catch a clue. The writing is compelling enough that you keep reading to the end. I'm even looking forward to the sequel.

Of all the vampire novels I've read, I like this one the best. As other reviewers have said, this is a cross genre novel. It is a horror novel mixed with romance. It has a noir feel, but also has an upbeat quality to it. Dierdre, the main character, is a reluctant vampire and is searching for the vampire that made her. She is a sophisticated being, but at the same time a little girl lost. Karen Taylor gives us richly defined characters, that make you care about them. This is so rare in horror novels and makes this book well worth reading.

BLOOD SECRETS, scheduled to be reprinted by Zebra in October of 1998, is the first book in Karen E. Taylor's Vampire Legacy series. Marketed as "horror," it would be more accurately described as a dark fantasy-romance that successfully blends genres.

Compared to the "mainstream," genre fiction is sometimes said to be more plot- than character-driven. BLOOD SECRETS was Ms. Taylor's first published novel, but like all well-written fiction it's primarily about the characters -- and about character as well.

Deirdre Griffin, born Dorothy Grey in 1832, is a successful New York fashion designer who happens to be a vampire. She's attractive, wealthy, and immortal as long as she's never caught outdoors at sunrise. She forms few attachments, knows no others of her own kind, and although she must subsist on human blood never kills to obtain it. She chooses instead to frequent a popular night spot called The Ballroom of Romance, where she engages in brief liaisons that allow her to feed harmlessly and are quickly forgotten.

The numbing loneliness of her existence ends when she meets Mitch Greer, a homicide detective investigating the deaths of two men Deirdre had been seen with shortly before their blood-drained bodies were found. A vampire may pass virtually unnoticed in modern-day New York, but Greer's search for the killer threatens to uncover Deirdre's secret.

Unlike the protagonists in many other vampire novels, Deirdre Griffin is fundamentally a creature of conscience. She wouldn't kill Greer even if she didn't find herself succumbing to the most dangerous of all impulses and falling in love with him.

The Vampire Legacy series deals with what grows out of Deirdre's relationship with Mitch and with the enigmatic owner of The Ballroom of Romance, Max Hunter. BLOOD SECRETS and the other novels in the sequence (to date, BITTER BLOOD and BLOOD TIES; more may be forthcoming from another publisher) are about people, both living and undead, who must find ways to solve the dil! emmas and face the consequences of love and the choices it demands.

In reading this novel you may wonder about Ms. Taylor, also the author of a number of short stories and a recent article for aspiring writers entitled "No More Silver Mirrors: The Monster in Our Times" (in WRITING HORROR: A HANDBOOK FOR THE HORROR WRITERS ASSOCIATION edited by Mort Castle). "Know your monster," she advises. "Believability of characters is integral in any story, horror or not." Just how well does Karen E. Taylor know Deirdre Griffin?

There are more than a few similarities between the character and her creator, who was interviewed in the Fall, 1994 issue of DEAD OF NIGHT magazine. Without revealing too much about the novel or its author, I can tell you that both are fond of the poetry of Stephen Crane: "In the desert / I saw a creature, naked, bestial, / Who, squatting upon the ground, / Held his heart in his hands / And ate of it. / I said: 'Is it good, friend?' / 'It is bitter -- bitter,' he answered; / 'But I like it / Because it is bitter, / And because it is my heart.'"

After reading BLOOD SECRETS you'll probably conclude that Ms. Taylor knows her characters very well indeed. She also tells a hell of a good story.

If you look at the reviews, you'll notice you'll either love or hate this book. A fantasy romance with a modern-day vampire. Deirdre, the vampire is a sexy woman who isn't all that bad, but still has to feed to exist. Romance and noir, a very fun book! Definitely cross-genre.

I have read many, many books about vampires, so perhaps I am jaded. This book was slow and dull. There is little plot excitement, little character depth and little originality. Parts of the book read well, but other sections read like the worst pulp fiction. It was a short book, so I was able to force myself through the whole thing, but I don't think I would have bothered if it were any longer. If you absolutely love this genre and have run out of everything else to read, you may find it just ok. If you are new to this type of book that start with almost anything else. I'm hard pressed to think of another vampire as hero/with romance book published in the last ten years that is worse.

Mixing mystery/noir with romance and horror, Blood Secrets is possibly the best vampire novel of the decade, not counting the other two books in the series, Bitter Blood and Blood Ties.

I bought this book because it was recommended by Amazon.com for those who enjoyed Laurell K. Hamilton. What a waste of money! The characters are developed, but they aren't interesting. The plot is weak. Is it a romance? Is it a mystery? Is it horror? I find it hard to believe that after a few brief questions and one date that Mitch and Diedra fall madly in love. The relationship isn't developed just as no other plot thread is truly developed. I finally stopped reading page by page around page 60 and just skimmed the rest. I found it highly disappointing.

Blood Secrets is a fairly entertaining book that finds it's own niche in the Vampire genre by having (1) the Vampire be a female and (2) having her try to fit in to modern day society.

For at least 10 years, our Heroine, Deirdre Griffin, has been a successful fashion designer in New York. She's moving toward the top, is rich, and has managed to keep her secret safe from everyone with the exception of a one time lover, Max. The story begins where her life as she knows it starts to falls apart. Murders begin to happen, and the police, especially Decective Mitch Greer get involved.

The storyline is a combination of mystery and romance wrapped around a modern day Vampire. The book is well written and keeps a certain amount of suspense throughout.

On the negative side, even knowing it is a work of fiction, I still found much of the book unrealistic. It's hard to believe that Dierdre has been and is one of the top fashion designers and has kept her secret safe from everyone for at least 10 years. Also, since she doesn't know that other than her maker (who she doesn't know) she doesn't even know if any other 'of her kind' even exist. She has books on Vampires but still seems to be very uneducated about what she is and the extent of powers that come with being a Vampire. Her strong conscience will not allow her to kill for blood and what we know she has never even come close to bending a law. Her life, lifestyle, beliefs, and education just do not seem realistic in the current time.

However, it is a good book and worth reading if you're into Vampires and especially female ones.

This book is the start of my personal favorite vampire series. Many of my friends and family have enjoyed it and recommended it to others.