Debbie Viguié

I do a little jig every time I read a book where the vampires don't glitter and have blood lust. Can I get a hell yes for a story that evokes Buffy? I won't lie, I love a good kick ass story. I enjoy a whole lot of action, especially when that action involves stakes.

Crusade by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie is set in the future. Sort of like the Sookie Stackhouse books, vampires have revealed their presence to the world at large. However, the vampires don't want to make nice and they do not show more have an artificial blood substitute like TruBlood. The vamps are known as The Cursed Ones. Some of the humans have decided the acquiesce to the Cursed Ones and let them do whatever they want for the illusion of safety. Other humans, however, have decided to fight back. They are known as hunters. In my mind, I call them slayers. You know why.

There is quite a large cast of characters in Crusade. This has the potential to be confusing, as the book, while told in third person, often jumps in scenery. For example, I was reading about a fight going down in Spain, then the book would jump to a character in New Orleans. I did not really mind the jumping, as I felt it kept the story fresh. As for the characters, it was give and take for me. There is a priest named Father Juan, who is the teacher of the slayers. I thought he was fascinating. Then, of course, there was the main character, Jenn, who I will admit -- I felt was a bit stale. I mean, I have read her character before, girl who thinks she is not unique or special, but it turns out she is a snowflake after all. I thought the side characters were much more engaging. Jamie, one of the hunters, is a former IRA member. He's hot-blooded, quick tempered, and ready to jump into any battle. He's clearly battling with some inner-demons. THEN we have Eriko, who is the Hunter, meaning she got to sip the magic juice. Eriko is Japanese, and the story of why she decides to go to hunter school is fascinating.

As far as the writing goes, the story is very fun and full of action. However, I did not think Crusade was on level with the writing quality of, say, A Northern Light or The Book Thief. Although, I feel when you read a vampire novel, do you really expect a literary masterpiece? I certainly do not. I expect escapism, blood, and perhaps a bit of fun, which is precisely what I got from Crusade. show less

don’t always get to finish series. There are so many books coming out that sequels and series aren’t usually a priority for me. But there are some authors whose work I’ll always read, and some series that I absolutely must finish. Even when they are giant, 500-page tomes.

DAMNED is one of these books — the second book in Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguié‘s CRUSADE trilogy. The series incorporates world religions, often Catholic mythology and Wicca, in building its post-apocalyptic show more world. A world in which vampires — or Cursed Ones — have “come out,” claimed nations, and now have subversively taken over many of the world’s governments — including the United States.

That’s where the Salamancan Hunters come in. Lead by Californian Jenn Leitner, this group is based in Spain, one of the world’s last hold-outs. Having just returned from a difficult mission in New Orleans, Team Salamanca is ready to get back to life as usual (as “usual” as life can be, considering that they are church-sanctioned vampire-hunting mercenaries with a witch, a werewolf, and a repentant vampire on the team). Of course, that’s when they find out that one of the most legendary of vampires is up to no good in Russia, experimenting on humans, vampires, and werewolves, in hopes of creating a super-soldier for the Cursed Ones’ cause. The Salamancan’s old nemesis Aurora isn’t too far out of the picture yet, either, and it won’t belong before she turns Jenn and her companions’ life upside down in a way they never dreamed possible.

Again weaving together romance and action flawlessly, DAMNED is a perfect follow-up to CRUSADE. The large cast and shifting perspectives are tightly written, and as with CRUSADE, the vampire apocalypse is a welcome change from the current cannon. I love these characters, their many complexities, and the secrets they have yet to reveal. I cannot wait for the third book in this series, and I highly recommend checking out the first two as soon as you get the chance!

And, while you’re here…I interviewed Nancy and Debbie when CRUSADE came out last year. To hear their thoughts on vampire bad-guys, religion in books, and writing for franchises (among other things), check it out! show less

Bullet-speed action, taut tension, classic Viguie'

I'm half surprised I survived reading this latest installment of the Psalm 23 series. The angst, the fast paced action, the rapidly changing tide of foe vs. Friend was incredible. Did I say tears? I was hooked from the first sentence!

Jeremiah is being recalled as a former Mossad agent, a side of him he has always kept hidden from Cindy,afraid of her rejection. "In fact, his whole carefully constructed house of cards was threatening to fall show more down around him." What will happen to their relationship as Cindy begins to see Jeremiah for who he really is?

And I love the phrase Debbie uses :"plausible deniability" in referring to Detective Mark Walters. The ironic meaning of the phrase? "What he didn't know couldn't hurt any of them."

An incredible race to stop WW III from beginning as we see whether or not Cindy and Jeremiah may have a future together. Hurry October and book 10!! show less

I am conflicted when it comes to Unleashed. I am a huge fan of the Wicked series by these two authors. It is no secret that I like heroines who aren't perfect and Katelyn McBride is most definitely not perfect. She is a big city LA girl who fully expects the people in Arkansas to be wearing cut off jeans and overalls chewing on hay and there are various references to banjo (which I found funny). She is a city girl snob and I'm fine with it. Kat is a young woman whose life has changed show more drastically and traumatically. It's OK that some of her thoughts and actions aren't always PC or nice, give her a break. Really, perfect heroines are no fun. Let's get to the other characters. Trick (I love this name)...I don't know how I feel about him. His actions are all over the place and are never explained. He is sweet and cares for her sometimes and other times he is a class A jerk whom I wish Katelyn would punch in the face. Now on to Cordelia. I actually liked her at the beginning of the book, but by the end I felt pity for her and wanted Kat to punch her too. Justin, Jesse, and her grandfather were all good characters and I was perfectly happy with them.

Now we get down to everything else. There is a lot of mystery in this book and along with that a lot of unanswered questions in the end. There is a HUGE cliffhanger, but I think a few of the mysteries should have been wrapped up. The massive quantity of unanswered questions going on in the book confused me in the beginning and left me confused at the end. There was just too much. Hopefully the next book will do a better job of wrapping some of this up. I actually didn't see the "big surprise" of what happens in the book coming.(Email me if you want to talk about this) Will I be buying/reading the next book? YES! Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie are just too awesome and this series has too much potential for me not to. I am torn between a 3 1/2 and a 4 rating. It was a good book, but could have used some tweaks. show less