The Blood Books, Vol. 1 (Blood Price / Blood Trail) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Tanya Huff (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
A scary and sexy modern-day vampire thriller. -- Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, authors of Star Trek: Prime Directive

If you enjoy contemporary fantasy, Tanya Huff has a distinctive knack. -- Locus

Product Description
Vicki Nelson is an ex-homicide cop turned private detective. Mike Celluci, Vicki's former parter, is still on the force. Henry Fitzroy is an author of bodice rippers-and a vampire. Together, the trio find themselves caught up in mysteries with a supernatural slant-from demons to werewolves and every otherworldly creature in between.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: DAW (July 5, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0756403871
• ISBN-13: 978-0756403874
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,422 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

91 of 92 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Loved it, April 27, 2007

By	Trixie "cupcakejones" (Ohio) - See all my reviews

Like many of the other reviewers, I came to this series as a result of the series on Lifetime. Yes, Lifetime. I swear it's actually pretty good. But I am also a huge fan of Kim Harrison's Hollows series and, once upon a time, of Laurell Hamilton's Anita Blake series before it went to hell (so to speak.) These books were a natural fit. I'm just sorry I didn't discover them sooner.

There are two novels in this collection-the first two Huff wrote about former Toronto police detective Vicki Nelson whose degenerative eye disease forced her to retire and become a private eye. The first book, Blood Price, is virtually identical to the Blood Ties series pilot. A series of murders in Toronto appear to be the work of a vampire but Vicki, who has been hired by a victim's girlfriend to find the killer, soon discovers a demon is at work. This is the novel that introduces her on-again off-again cop boyfriend Mike Celluci and where she meets vampire and romance novelist (!!) Henry Fitzroy. Who also just happens to be the bastard son of Henry VIII which means he has issues of his own.

The second novel, Blood Trail, takes Vicki out to the Canadian countryside to investigate who is the sniper taking deadly aim at a family of werewolves who just happen to consider Henry a family friend. I think I actually liked the second novel better but maybe that's because I hadn't seen it recently adapated for television.

There is lots of romantic tension between Celluci and Henry and I do enjoy Vicki's relationships with them both but the emphasis in these stories is on the action and detective work which made me very happy. Vicki is a smart character who is angry about her condition robbing her of her independence. She is flawed, smart, real and surprisingly multi-dimensional for a detective in a vampire mystery series. I also like her because while she is tough, she is never unbelievable and she seems like a gal you'd want to grab a beer with. If you like this genre, you absolutely can't go wrong here.

51 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, April 5, 2007

By	ReaderFanatic (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews

I started watching the tv series first, then decided to check out what started it all. And the books are great. The writing is fast paced, the humor is witty and the plots are consistent. Unlike, some authors these days, Tanya Huff didn't need to rely on a bunch of sex scenes to keep the steam or storyline going. As a matter of fact, there are no sex scenes, just pure plot. The vampire in this series is a good guy and he doesn't mind killing the bad guys and I like that. The men are manly and aren' a bunch of pretty boys pining for one woman.

Everyone is capable to smart choices and logical thinking.

It took me no time to breeze through vols. 1-3. I would also recommend D.N. Simmons's Knights of the Darkness Chronicles.

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I wish I'd found this series earlier..., June 19, 2007

By	Lady Atana "lady_atana" (Atlanta, MO USA) - See all my reviews

Like several other people, I bought this book because of the TV show "Blood Ties", which I enjoyed, but found cheesy upon occassion. I expected the books to be similar, but was pleasantly surprised.



These novel focus on the actual mystery/action/conflict. There is some sexual tension and little bit of sex, but it more alluded to than shoved in your face (no detailed sex scenes, YAY!!!). The characters of Vicki, Celluci, and Henry are 3-D and well thought out. There are snippits from Henry's past, which I love. It makes him more of a character than on the TV show where he just shows up, does the vampy thing, and goes on. Vicki is an amazing strong heroine who takes no crap from anyone.



As someone else stated, the first novel follows the TV Pilot exactly. I already knew what was going to happen, so it was a little dull. Not because of the writing though. The second novel was very good, with a family of werewolves who are being killed systematically by silver bullets.



Another thing I like about these novels were the "villians". Instead of just pure evil people, like in so many other novels, these villians are fairly normal people who slowly are tempted into evil. Nice touch and more believable.