Jeanne C. Stein

Though Anna is the Chosen One, things have actually settled down in her life. Anna has been able to work a steady schedule, start dating a new man and basically live the life of her choosing. For the first time in a year since she has become a vampire, everything is normal. Unfortunately for Anna, this is not destined to last. Anna returns home to fine Chael, the representative of Middle Eastern vampires sitting on her couch. Her instinct is to kill him because he represents a threat to her, show more until he dangles a carrot that she cannot cast away out of hand - the chance to regain her humanity. When Chael brings up Frey's son John John, Anna knows that she must investigate, if not for herself, then to ensure that John John is safe. What Anna does not realise, is that trip to the Navajo reservation, is going to change her life forever. Once there, she must confront her White privilege and decide whether or not she can accept the vampire she has become.

Crossroads is easily the best book in this series since The Becoming. Anna has been very busy running around and kicking ass for most of the past year but while doing so, she has become completely self involved. While Anna has been concerned about the loss of her mortal life, she has done little to sustain the relationships she has developed. I loved that Frey pointed out that she would have known about him breaking up with his girlfriend had he bothered to call. Anna is forced to accept that she only turns to her supposed friends when she needs them and has not been there for them otherwise.

For the majority of this series Stein has seen fit to erase people of colour, and in Crossroads, she seeks to rectify this by setting the book on a Navajo reservation. This is a nice change of pace. Anna continues to be filled with privilege, racism and ignorance, and it is up to Frey to attempt to reign her in. Anna views the Navajo people initially as ridiculously superstitious for their instant distrust of her vampire nature and refuses to acknowledge that vampires do indeed present a legitimate threat to humanity, despite knowing that members of the vampire council seek to enslave humanity. For much of the novel, Anna exotifies the people of colour she interacts with but by the end of book she develops a sort of reverence, which to me, really still reads as false. Part of the problem is that she is on the reservation to seek out the council of an elder. It reads too much like wise person of colour directing the clueless White lady.


I am further concerned by the re-introduction of Chael as a character. Though he was described as a power hungry coward, I fear that he is going to be set up as the antagonist. This would make Anna, The Chosen One, battling against a male of colour for supremacy. When placed into context of the current political divide, it's hard not to see this as demonizing Middle Eastern people. Anna is described as the progressive one because she believes in protecting humanity whereas; Chael would have humanity reduced to little more than cattle. It reads as though Whiteness and of course a Western identity, represents not only morality but civilization and once again casts Middle Eastern people as sadistic, hopelessly backward and animalistic.

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I've been an Anna Strong fan ever since I started reading these books earlier this year, so when Retribution, the fifth book in this series released, I dropped what I was reading to read it instead.

In Retribution, Anna Strong is still dealing with her two sided nature, her vampire and human sides and trying to accept her new life as a vampire, which I think she starting to come around to, evident in her new-found relationship with another vampire who is also a super hot underwear model, show more Lance. Warren Williams, San Diego's ex police chief and her ex-mentor now the leader of the local supernaturals, is pressing Anna to help find the person responsible for draining newly turned vampires of their blood. Anna is resistant at first because she still feels a boat load of resentment towards Williams for having a part in her family move to a winery in France, even though it's the safest place for them to be, away from the dangers surrounding Anna's supernatural world.

As a bounty hunter, Anna has to be cunning and part sleuth in finding criminals on the run. These skills as a bounty hunter come in handy while she tries to track down Belinda Burke, a very powerful black witch who has put a death spell on one of her close shape shifting friends, Culebra. Culebra owns Beso de la Muerte (Kiss of Death), a bar in the deserts of Mexico that caters to the supernatural and when he shows up at his own bar near death with Belinda Burke's name the last words he speaks, the clock starts ticking for Anna to find Belinda.

Anna has always been a cocky, hard-edged gal with a strong stubborn streak, who has always been quick to speak her mind and never takes any bull from anyone but she's always had a soft heart inside the tough exterior she shows world.

Anna speaking to a bail jumper:
"Save your breath, sweetie," I whisper in her ear. "The last glimpse I had of Hank, he was hopping in the back of a pickup. He's long gone."
I reach down and haul her to her feet. I use one hand as if she weighs twenty-five pounds instead of two-fifty. "Looks like it's just you and me."
Hilda is looking at me bleary-eyed with confusion and alcohol. "How did you —? What did you—? Where did you—?"
I pat her head and push her toward my own car. "Don't try to figure it out, Hilda. You'll hurt yourself."

I've enjoyed reading about the situations she always seems to get herself into but this time there was a spot in the story line that really bothered me and I didn't like Anna's reaction, which I can't say anything about without giving out spoilers. I felt her behavior wasn't inline with her character. It was the only low spot in the book for me.

I love the characteristics of the witches in this book and their ability to conjure magic with just a wave of a hand. The witches here can be very powerful beings and they have a whole world of possibilities and dimensions. One of the witches in Retribution has a short story in the anthology Many Bloody Returns, the story gives a insightful look into the world of witches that live in Anna's world. It's not necessary to read it before Retribution but it would give you a better understanding of the witches here and it's a good quick read.

I really enjoy Jeanne Stein's writing style, her words easily flow off the page bringing you into her world of paranormals. The paranormal world she has created around Anna Strong is unique one with many surprises, that has intrigued and entertained me throughout reading the Anna Strong Vampire Chronicles. Ms. Stein always adds an occurrence with an element of harsh realism in her books, they always leave me with deep thoughts on these matters. I like it when an author is not afraid to add an element that could shock and make me think long after I have finished reading a book.

Overall, I enjoyed the mystery and the fast pace set in Retribution. The main plot line gets tied up real nice with subtle hints into Anna's role in the supernatural world as the chosen, the one. I liked this book with the exception I noted and I'll be looking forward to the next book, which I hope will shed some light on Anna's role as the one. I think fans of the Anna Strong Vampire Chronicles will happy with this latest installment, aptly named Retribution. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes stories based in an urban, supernatural world with an air of mystery. show less

Culebra was a big part of HAUNTED. We get to dig into his past and help him out with the problems that his past is now causing.

Anna is one of my favorite heroines. I always enjoy seeing others underestimate Anna and her coming in to kick their asses. I do miss seeing Anna doing her bounty hunting. She is hunting someone in HAUNTED but I miss her working with her partner and I hope he is back to being by her side at some point in the next book. Anna's love life is kinda wonky in HAUNTED. She show more starts off happy in a relationship only to have that end. Then at the end of the book she makes a decision that will hopefully make her happy again with someone I really want her to be with. I'm excited about that decision and what it might bring in book 9. The action as always is non stop with non stop heart racing situations. We get visits from Anna's parents and niece, Frey and his son as well as an ex boyfriend who ends up being a big help in taking down Culebra's enemies alongside Anna. The ending was sad but It felt right.

I have enjoyed following Anna's journey from the time she was attacked and turned until now. Book 9 will be the final book in the Anna Strong series and I'm excited and sad to see what will become of Anna and the rest of my favorite characters from the series. show less

I don't normally say this, but... People! Aim higher! Not the authors, although that goes for them too. No, I'm talking readers. Ilona Andrews, as always, has an interesting blog post about the 'Cheap, Fast, and Good' phenomenon in publishing (link). You should read it, as I think she offers some excellent insight, particularly the comment, "Research has shown that if a person wants a particular movie or book, they would rather settle for a mediocre book on their preferred topic than buy a show more better quality book in a different genre." (April 12, 2017). The jacket copy on Hexed claims that all four authors are 'bestselling,' two of them from the NYT Bestseller list. Which leads me back to my point, that readers need to demand better, not more, because if this is bestselling, these short-form writers really need to read more [a:Peter S. Beagle|1067608|Peter S. Beagle|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1360970921p2/1067608.jpg] or [a:Roger Zelazny|3619|Roger Zelazny|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1207671346p2/3619.jpg]. I suggest you do too.

The first story 'Magic Dreams' is set in Andrews' Kate Daniels universe, about Dali, a brilliant Indonesian woman who is called upon when her crush is exposed to deadly magic. It's a solid story, although I feel like Dali's personality doesn't come through well; she mostly seems like a young, awkward girl with a giant crush on a powerful man. This is in contrast with the confident woman of the Daniels' series, who volunteers for death matches and pretends she's a professional race-car driver. Still, it has fun mythology and gives a little more insight into another corner of Atlanta. Three stars.

The second story, 'Ice Shards' by Yasmine Galenorn is utterly incomprehensible, over-wrought, over-written drivel of the sort a clever fifteen-year-old who reads too much Juliet Marillier might write. Twenty pages was enough to make me swear off reading for the evening, poisoned by the language sinking into my brain. In an effort to purge it, I'll share: "I stared at Grandmother Coytoe's portal. We were standing in the middle of a snow-shrouded wood, in the Belles-Faire district of Seattle, a few miles from home. But we were about to travel through the veil, to the Otherworld, the land of Camille's birth. From there we would journey to the Northlands, the world I'd left behind so long ago, when I'd been branded a murderer, stripped of my strongest powers, and cast out of the order of Undutar, the Goddess of the Mist and Snow." That's on page three, in case you were wondering. No, you don't get more explanation that makes sense.

How about our heroine? "Most people thought I was a pushover, an easy mark, since I was so short and petite. Some assumed I was mild and delicate; others thought I was a cozy maid. But I'd seen too much to ever be mild or cozy or an easy mark. I hid my memories well, but they were always there to fuel the need to fight." Gack. What is a 'cozy maid?' Why are we bringing memories into it? And believe me, in twenty pages, there wasn't any fighting, just a tear or two, a meeting in a bar and etc., etc., yawners. One star.

The third story, 'Double Hexed,' by Allyson James, is a fun urban fantasy and will probably appeal to fans of Kate Daniels. A hotel owner, her boyfriend, a couple of staff members and others are trapped in the hotel by a hex. The protagonist is a no-nonsense heroine that is looking out after her friends. James has a straight-forward writing style with interesting magical-being building, although I could have passed on the tantric magic. Interesting integration of Southwest Native mythology with conceptions of withcraft, vampires and black magic. Three stars.

The final story, 'Blood Debt,' by Jeanne C. Stein feels a little knock-off-ish and unfinished, but with potentially interesting bones. A woman who was recently made a vampire is called to account for killing a murderous witch by powers from the other world. Straight-forward prose. Choppy with partial sentences. Love-at-first-sight love interest (see what I did there?) Two stars.

Overall, definitely don't buy. Worth picking up only if you want to see a novella by one of the authors you enjoy. show less