Pure Blood by Caitlin Kittredge
Feb. 24th, 2010 11:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
In the shadows of Nocturne City, witches lurk and demons prowl, and homicide detective Luna Wilder must keep the peace – while living life as a werewolf. Now bodies are turning up all over town, the brutal murders linked by a cryptic message: We see with empty eyes ...
To make matters worse for Luna, she can’t get wolfishly handsome Dmitri Sandovsky out of her mind. The last time he helped her with a case, Dmitri suffered a demon bite that infected him with a mysterious illness ... and now his pack elders have forbidden him from associating with Luna. But she’ll need his help when high-level witches start turning up slaughtered. Because a war is brewing between rival clans of blood witches and caster witches – a magical gang war with the power to burn Nocturne City to the ground.
3 months after the events in Night Life, Luna Wilder is finally returning to active duty at the Nocturne City PD. Luna’s endured psychological evaluations, the press revealing her identity and the disappearance of Dmitry Sandovsky, Alpha of the Redbacks, who’s returned to the Ukraine to try and find a cure to the wound given to him by the demon, Asmodeus and not kept in touch.
Luna finds that the PD has changed since her sabbatical. Her new boss - Captain Morgan – wants to drive her from the police and forces her to team with a new partner, Shelby O’Halloran, a vice cop who’s transferred to homicide and who is a member of the most powerful family of caster witches in the city.
When Luna responds to a call to an apparent death by drug overdose she’s pitched into a sinister plot involving illicit drugs and a plan to tip the caster witches and their natural rivals, the blood witches, into a war – a war that has its roots in Nocturne City’s history. The last thing she needs is for Dmitri to return to Nocturne City, bringing a new Russian mate and a requirement from his pack elders that he stay away from Luna.
Whether you like this book turns on whether you like Luna as a character and I didn’t. She’s supposed to be a tough, impetuous, take-no-prisoners woman, her natural impulses heightened by the uncontrollable nature of her werewolf persona. The problem is that all of this prevents her from acting like a believable, professional investigator. Any woman who opposes her is a bitch. Any man who opposes her is punched (except Dmitri, the only man permitted to physically and emotionally hurt her). She makes dumb decisions for stupid reasons, e.g. going into an office without backup, which makes it difficult to cheer her on.
Similarly, the relationship between Dmitri and Luna left me cold. Even allowing for his infection, he’s a brutal, rude and arrogant character who never explains his actions. Kittredge leaves the outcome in no doubt – Dmitri’s forced mate is a bitch and Luna’s emo boyfriend, a wimp.
The mystery itself unveils in a predictable way and the twists are somewhat ho hum. The only saving grace comes from the world-building, with Kittredge building up the City’s history to interesting effect.
All in all, it’s a disappointing read and not one that would make me want to read on.
The Verdict:
The success of the novel turns on whether you like the central character and I didn’t. I found her too unbelievable and too irritating to want to root for her in solving the mystery or empathise with her in her romantic heart ache. The world-building is considered and detailed, but it’s not enough for me to want to read on.
In the shadows of Nocturne City, witches lurk and demons prowl, and homicide detective Luna Wilder must keep the peace – while living life as a werewolf. Now bodies are turning up all over town, the brutal murders linked by a cryptic message: We see with empty eyes ...
To make matters worse for Luna, she can’t get wolfishly handsome Dmitri Sandovsky out of her mind. The last time he helped her with a case, Dmitri suffered a demon bite that infected him with a mysterious illness ... and now his pack elders have forbidden him from associating with Luna. But she’ll need his help when high-level witches start turning up slaughtered. Because a war is brewing between rival clans of blood witches and caster witches – a magical gang war with the power to burn Nocturne City to the ground.
3 months after the events in Night Life, Luna Wilder is finally returning to active duty at the Nocturne City PD. Luna’s endured psychological evaluations, the press revealing her identity and the disappearance of Dmitry Sandovsky, Alpha of the Redbacks, who’s returned to the Ukraine to try and find a cure to the wound given to him by the demon, Asmodeus and not kept in touch.
Luna finds that the PD has changed since her sabbatical. Her new boss - Captain Morgan – wants to drive her from the police and forces her to team with a new partner, Shelby O’Halloran, a vice cop who’s transferred to homicide and who is a member of the most powerful family of caster witches in the city.
When Luna responds to a call to an apparent death by drug overdose she’s pitched into a sinister plot involving illicit drugs and a plan to tip the caster witches and their natural rivals, the blood witches, into a war – a war that has its roots in Nocturne City’s history. The last thing she needs is for Dmitri to return to Nocturne City, bringing a new Russian mate and a requirement from his pack elders that he stay away from Luna.
Whether you like this book turns on whether you like Luna as a character and I didn’t. She’s supposed to be a tough, impetuous, take-no-prisoners woman, her natural impulses heightened by the uncontrollable nature of her werewolf persona. The problem is that all of this prevents her from acting like a believable, professional investigator. Any woman who opposes her is a bitch. Any man who opposes her is punched (except Dmitri, the only man permitted to physically and emotionally hurt her). She makes dumb decisions for stupid reasons, e.g. going into an office without backup, which makes it difficult to cheer her on.
Similarly, the relationship between Dmitri and Luna left me cold. Even allowing for his infection, he’s a brutal, rude and arrogant character who never explains his actions. Kittredge leaves the outcome in no doubt – Dmitri’s forced mate is a bitch and Luna’s emo boyfriend, a wimp.
The mystery itself unveils in a predictable way and the twists are somewhat ho hum. The only saving grace comes from the world-building, with Kittredge building up the City’s history to interesting effect.
All in all, it’s a disappointing read and not one that would make me want to read on.
The Verdict:
The success of the novel turns on whether you like the central character and I didn’t. I found her too unbelievable and too irritating to want to root for her in solving the mystery or empathise with her in her romantic heart ache. The world-building is considered and detailed, but it’s not enough for me to want to read on.
