Thursday 6 May 2010

The Sweet Scent of Blood - Book Review

The Sweet Scent of Blood by Suzanne McLeod

What is it about:
'My name is Genny Taylor. I work for Spellcrackers.com. It’s a great job, pays the rent, lets me do the thing I’m good at – finding magic and cracking it – and the bonus is it’s run by witches, which stops the vamps from taking a bite out of me. Not that vampires are the big bad any more, not since they launched a slick PR campaign – ­ oh, and they brought the goblins on board. Now the vamps are sought-after celebrities, and Getting Fanged and taking the Gift are the new height of all things cool.

But only if you’re human.
And I’m not.
I’m Sidhe fae.
And I know firsthand just how deadly a vampire can be.’

When Mr October, a sexy calendar pin-up vamp, is accused of murdering his girlfriend, an old debt is called in and Genny is forced to help prove his innocence, risking her job and the protection it offers – and threatening to expose her own dark secrets. Searching for the killer plunges Genny deep into the hidden heart of vampire society. It’s not long before she realises that she and Mr October are both unwitting pawns in a centuries-old power struggle between London’s non-human communities . . . and it’s not just her own neck that’s at stake, but the lives of all London’s supernaturals.


What did I think about it:
Quite a decent story. I liked the world building and the characters. I did feel though that McLeod tried to add too much different characters and factions to the story, which made the story feel 'crowded' from time to time and I couldn't help feeling the story could have flowed better if she had dropped some of the characters. And then there was a character that I had wanted to know more about, but who was carelessly abandoned along the way. But those things aside the story and the setting are very intriguing and I will surely pick up the next book in this series to see how McLeod developes this series further.

Why should you read it:
If you like vampires, magic and intrigue I think you'll enjoy this story.

2 comments:

Danielle said...

I agree about the too-many characters thing. In 'The Cold Kiss of Death' she adds even more characters, and HEAPS more plot lines. It can be a bit confusing - and it's hard to get too invested in any one storyline.

I wanted more about certain characters too: Malik Al-Khan, D.I. Helen Crane, Finn and Bobby (Mr. October). I think McLeod lets a few of them fall by the wayside, which is frustrating.

I really like this series though. I think Genny is a great female protagonist, and I love the London setting.

Great review.

Sullivan McPig said...

I really liked it too and will definately read the next book, but I really hope she won't leave me hanging again with certain characters.