Review: Blood Cross by Faith Hunter

Back Cover Blurb:

Jane Yellowrock is back on the prowl against the children of the night...

The vampire council has hired skinwalker Jane Yellowrock to hunt and kill one of their own who has broken sacred ancient rules-but Jane quickly realizes that in a community that is thousands of years old, loyalties run deep...

For fans of: Ilona Andrews’ Kate Daniels series,

early Anita Blake series

Prequel: Kits, a free online story, Signatures of the Dead, a short story in the anthology Strange Brew, and Skinwalker, her debut novel.

I read Skinwalker a few months ago and fell in love with Jane Yellowrock, a kick-ass vampire hunter who spends her days as a woman and her nights as a mountain lion with a separate but shared soul called Beast. Jane has a great dry sense of humor and she’s got a ton of secrets. Jane has no memories from before the age of twelve, when she walked out of the woods with no apparent knowledge of any language. Now she’s all grown up and using the supernatural skills Beast gives her to hunt down rogue vampires who murder innocents. For a price, of course. In Skinwalker, the vampire council of New Orleans hires Jane to track down and kill a rogue vampire who is killing other vampires. Jane has to deal with the convoluted political scene of the vampires, the New Orleans police department, the gruesome murders and powerful yet impossible-to-exist murderer, and the romantic interest of three different men: Leo, the magnetic vampire leader, Bruiser, his hot right-hand human, and Rick, a shady character with a lot of charm. By the end of Skinwalker, I was more than ready to read the next installment in the series.

I got Blood Cross the day it came out and sat down with it as soon as I got home. I finished it in record time because I just couldn’t put it down. Leo, who has become unstable from grief (can’t give more away or it’d completely ruin Skinwalker), now wants Jane dead and tries to off her in different, painful ways, ignoring the vampire council’s wishes. The vampire council has re-hired Jane to find out which vampire master is creating new vampires and setting them free before they complete their required ten years of being chained in the basement to regain sanity and control. As the new vampires are nothing more than ravening monsters, Jane has to kill them before they attack any humans and find the master before any more new vamps are made. To complicate matters, Molly, Jane’s best friend and a powerful witch, has come to New Orleans to visit Jane with her two young children in tow. Angelina and Little Evan both have magic, which makes them targets for certain evil magical beings, so now Jane also has to help Molly protect the kids as the danger rises and political unrest threatens the city.

On the plus side, the romance heats up as Bruiser and Rick start trying to woo Jane (read: get in her pants). Bruiser and Rick both seem to genuinely care about Jane. Bruiser is tough and knows the supernatural world as well as Jane does and the fact that he’s Leo’s blood-servant adds an edge of danger that Jane and Beast both like. Not to mention, he’s also a sexy kisser. In Skinwalker, Rick is a player and not the most responsible (or safe) person, but in Blood Cross he grows up a little and gains responsibility. He’s definitely interested in Jane and he doesn’t mind showing it. Jane is now stuck in a love triangle (square?) because, while she’s got the hots for Bruiser and Rick is fun to be with and cute, she can’t help being attracted to Leo (when he has sane moments).

This has to be one of the best urban fantasies I’ve read in a long time. The action was fast-paced and engaging. Everything flowed smoothly and there were no gaping holes in the plot. The hunt progressed in a believable manner and the surprise twist was beautifully done. All the story lines come together by the end to make a cohesive whole. I really enjoy the way Faith Hunter differentiates Jane’s point of view from Beast’s through their character’s voice. Jane speaks in complete sentences and thinks about relationships between events, people, and objects. Beast focuses on her physical senses and speaks in short, choppy sentences. I loved the writing style! I have to recommend this (read: squee like a fangirl and gush about it) to everyone I know; it’s fantastic! My only disappointment was that I read it so quickly (Darn you, my lack of a social life!) and now I have to wait months for the next book. I am definitely going to be reading this again, and I strongly recommend reading it if you like great urban fantasies.

My Grade: A+