Hellbent

I picked up Hellbent for one sentence on the back cover. “Her Seattle home is already overrun by a band of misfits, including Ian Stott, a blind vampire, and Adrian deJesus, an ex-Navy SEAL/drag queen.” I mean, doesn't that sound like fun to you? Hellbent is actually the second book in a series about Raylene Pendle, a vampire thief; Bloodshot being the first. I've not read Bloodshot, but I didn't need to to follow the action in Hellbent.

Raylene is contracted to recover a box of bacula - penis bones. (Snicker.) Not just any penis bones, but penis bones of various supernatural species. Lycanthropes, Basilisk, Sasquatch, to name a few. Supernatural bacula have a lot of magical punch, and will sell for a few million dollars apiece in Raylene's world. Along the way to recovering the bacula, Raylene also has to keep her blind vampire friend from getting dusted by his old House, and solve the mystery of his sire's murder.

It's a fun read, and Raylene is a sarcastic, intelligent protagonist. There's an undercurrent of romance between Raylene and Ian, AND Raylene and Adrian, but it's never overt or a main part of the plot. From a drag show to penis jokes to outrunning a tornado, Raylene the vampire thief sails through her problems, collecting stray people to her as she does so. I admit I would have liked to see more ass-kicking; there was only one real action scene in the book, and it was very short. I was also a little surprised at how quickly an enemy turned into a friend, that seemed a little sudden. Overall, a fun, light-hearted vampire romp that doesn't get bogged down by too much romance or politicking.

I found this a far more rewarding experience that [b:Bloodshot 8140731 Bloodshot (The Cheshire Red Reports, #1) Cherie Priest http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320449931s/8140731.jpg 12937194] was, and I think part of that has to do with timing and expectation. Cherie Priest has a body of work that is quality, but the Cheshire Red Reports are not really sophisticated literature. But they're not really supposed to be. When I went into Bloodshot, I wasn't anticipating the loose plot and scatterbrained narrator. This time, I was looking for some lighthearted action, and this as it turns out was exactly what I needed.What sticks out about this book as opposed to its predecessor is that Raylene Pendle feels more like a vampire in this one. She's no impenetrable goddess, for sure, by a big chunk of the story has to do with vampire society, and there's a lot more time spent discussing Raylene's limitations, strengths, not to mention needs as an undead citizen. It gave the story the bit of mystery it needed.The rest was fast-moving action. There are multiple agendas Raylene has to juggle – her own efforts to help her friend and love interest Ian Stott, as well as make a pretty chunk of change by stealing a set of supernatural monster bacula. That is, penis bones, in case that one was not in your vocabulary (don't worry, it wasn't in mine either). The dick jokes were endless, let me tell ya. In the way is a schizophrenic witch bent on undoing the past using magic and quantum physics, and a whole of loony vampires and their precious red tape. It's a marvel of Cherie Priest's skill with pacing that this book didn't end up five hundred pages long. Even with Raylene's slightly ADD rambling (which there was considerably less of this time around), little time is wasted.Speaking of the author, if you've read her blog, you might've noticed that she rescues a lot of strays. She doesn't necessarily keep them all, but man the woman has a soft spot for lost creatures. I'm guessing this part of her leaked into her character, because even with her home filled with her blind lover, two runaways and a drag queen/former Navy SEAL, Raylene still can't stop adding to the roster. Perhaps she's like me and loves to have a little chaos in the house, makes it feel a little more like a home. Honestly I'm a sucker for stories that involve makeshift families, and all the strange pieces of Raylene's family puzzle seem to fit together quite well. There's even a kitten.Things also wrap up nicely, not a deus ex machine happy ending, but a smart, clever one that makes you feel good. So if you're looking for something not too emotionally draining, that doesn't require your soul per passage, but still you want something exciting and fun, this comes highly recommended.

Forgot how much I enjoyed this voice! A fun (w/o being ridiculous or being any less kick-ass) vampire...just what we needed. I was really surprised by the direction this novel went–I expected more of a continuation to the storyline from the first, but instead Priest focused on the characters (not that the storyline was ignored, but it was a background player)–their growth, their development, their lives.

Great choice.

Hellbent was my first foray into the world's of Cherie Priest. I've heard wonderful things about her steampunk series, the Clockwork Century, but of her vampire series, beginning with Bloodshot, I'd heard very little.

Let me put that to rest.

If you're just looking for all that glitters, this isn't the spot. Nor is Priest's take on vampires entirely horrific, though. What she is is blunt and snarky and very engaging.

You can almost forget that Ray (Raylene) is a vampire, except maybe when she's rescuing a kitten that's tracked through a crime scene because its paws smell so good, what with all that fresh blood. Ray is a thief. A very, very good thief, who's hired to track down some magical artifacts and relive their current owner of them. The maniac witch that's threatening to bring down heaven and hell with them is just a complication in the plan, right?

The other major plot threads of the novel center around blind Ian (another vampire) and his former House, and Adrian's (a human) search for what happened to his sister. While a lot of the historical details to these plots is left unsaid, enough context was given (and even an outright “This is what happened before” blurt) that you didn't feel lost if you hadn't read the first book. It also didn't feel like Priest overly did the recap, as most of it was up front early on, letting the story progress on its own from there.

Hellbent was a splendid mix of action and comedy, and of course magic, vampires, ghouls, and some tasty, bloody kitten paws. Probably a few too many jokes about the objects Ray is hired to steal (I'd hate to be the one to reveal that spoiler), but other than that a solid, fun read.