Blood Lines

Una mummia millenaria che scatena l'inferno.

Sembra il pessimo inizio del classico libro dell'orrore che imperversa nelle nostre librerie.

Ed invece come sempre Tanya Huff ha saputo far volgere quello che potrebbe apparire come scontato e/o noioso a suo favore.



Abbiamo una mummia che vuole restaurare il suo Dio nel XXI secolo e che per far ciò, come ogni buon rivoluzionario che si rispetti, comincia a sottomettere le forze armate.



Abbiamo un vampiro sempre più umano, che sbaglia, si spaventa e si apre nei confronti della donna che ama.



Abbiamo una Vicki sempre più dura e ferrea ma che ha una crisi di nervi quando Henry non torna. Si accorge di amarlo. Ma allo stesso tempo si rende conto che per quanto dura possa essere è già da tempo show more che gioca con chi è in grado di spezzarla con un niente. E questo la fa incazzare ancora di più.



Abbiamo un Celucci che apre gli occhi e si accorge che non è più l'unico a gareggiare per prendersi il cuore di Vick e che forse è già troppo tardi.



Abbiamo un buon libro, scorrevole e coinvolgente condito con il solito stile leggermente più freddo ma pur sempre sarcastico della Huff che mi affascina e mi cattura ogni volta di più.



(serve questa maledetta quista stellina =_=) show less

'So, what we're trying to find is the reanimated wizard-priest of a god who may or may not live on the life force of others, who can twist the minds of those near to it, and who can magically kill at a distance.'

Suspension of disbelief is getting harder and harder to maintain with this series - not because of the vampires, demons, werewolves and now Egyptian mummies that Toronto PI Vicki 'Victory' Nelson is called on to investigate, but just how ridiculously arrogant she is! She has two men on the go, an old flame from the police force and the 450-year old undead bastard son of Henry VIII, and it's all treated as a big joke. Oh that Vicki, she's so wonderfully talented/independent/determined/spirited, that Mike Celluci and Henry Fitzroy show more will suffer any amount of polygamous time share just to be near her (Celluci during the day, Henry at night, of course). Henry, like all fictional vampires, is smooth and sophisticated, although his fits of 'I am Vampire' temper are getting a little old already, but I think I'm in Camp Celluci. The poor man keeps hanging on, even though Vicki constantly rubs his face in her passionate attachment to Henry, and I can't help but feel incredibly sorry for him. Why would anybody put up with that 'no strings' bullshit? Henry I can understand, because even though he loves Vicki (of course he does, it's in his contract), he is also the son of Henry the Eighth, and has already lived through four centuries on his own. But Celluci is a normal man who wants to settle down - dump her and leave town, Mike, before it's too late!

Anyway, aside from my issues with Vicki 'Free Love' Nelson, I also struggled to get through the story. Huff's writing is fast paced and witty as always, taking on Egyptian legends with a smirk and a wink, but starting the mystery with secondary characters/plot devices, burdening the sceptical detective with a lot of unconvincing exposition, and then forcing the ending made this a less than inspiring instalment. The dialogue was also crammed with too many cliches, however knowingly quoted - when Vicki thought to herself, 'You can fall down when this is over, not before', I think I groaned out loud. Also, can Vicki please get some glasses that fit her face, and Mike Celluci cut off that pesky curl that he keeps having to sweep off his forehead, please?

A weak link in the series, but I'm hoping that the next sequel will force Vicki into making a choice, or Celluci to man up and move on. Failing that, less Hammer horror, more supernatural investigation. show less

This is my favorite of the Vicky Nelson books so far. I really like the way it plays out.

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2020 UPDATE: This book was harder to read this time around than it was the first time I read it. There's an example of police brutality in here. It's not for very many pages, and it's the bad guys doing it (and there are example of good cops to balance it out) but with everything going on in the news that was NOT an easy section of the book to read. I still enjoyed the main plot and most of the characters, but it wasn't "purely fantasy" the way I had seen it when I originally read it.

I feel a bit mixed on this one, the third novel in the Blood series featuring private detective Vicki Nelson. These ostensibly are "vampire books" since the one regular supernatural character Henry Fitzroy qualifies as one. He's not a very original or charismatic literary creation however. He's in the good guy vein, in fact has a lot less darkness in his soul than most of the type compared to say Joss Whedon's Angel or Chelsea Yarbro's St Germaine or LK Hamilton's Jean Claude. He's along typical vampire lines; he's stronger and faster than any mortal and has aged only a few years over more than four centuries, and he can't stand the sun. Though for a child of Henry VIII (there was a historical Henry Fitzroy) he seems a very modern man. show more

But the fun of this series so far is more in the supernatural mystery and milieu with which Vicki and Henry become involved. In the first one it was demons, the second it was werewolves. And now in the third here's what's possibly my favorite creature of fantasy and horror--the mummy! An unsealed sarcophagus is brought into Toronto and inside is a pre-dynastic Egyptian mummy--a man cursed and bound for good reason and about to be let loose on Toronto--and in this particular book the stakes are high for both the city and Henry as it seeks to suck in enough soul energy--particularly from Henry--to raise himself to near godhood.

On the other hand, I'm finding myself less and less enamored of Vicki. I did find it refreshing that unlike other urban fantasy heroines such as Anita Blake or Sookie Stackhouse Vicki not only doesn't have superpowers, she's dealing with a handicap that forced her to retire as a police officer--she's going blind. And I do like the grit with which she struggles to stay functioning and independent. However, I have a friend who hated Vicki as idiotic and arrogant from the very first scene of the very first book, and I'm beginning to come around to her point of view. Vicki is stubborn and arrogant to the point of folly, and I rather hate how she does the sex-doesn't-mean-a-thing dance with both Henry and her old partner and lover, Michael Celluci. If you think guys have commitment issues... I'm also tired of the bitch stereotype in fictional female law enforcement. Apparently, if popular thrillers and mysteries are to be believed, all women cops and PIs all have mile-high chips on their shoulders. Just once, I'd like to read one with some diplomacy and social grace who doesn't feel she has to out-macho the men.

But was this still fun? You betcha. There's something a bit tongue in cheek in the way Huff plays with the supernatural motifs, and her dialogue is witty and it's often fun watching Vicki and Celluci especially interact. Celluci gets more of a role than in the two previous books, and that's one of the more welcome developments here. show less

Another solid entry into the series about Vicki Nelson, a PI with a degenerative eye disability, Henry Fitzroy, centuries-old vampire and son of Henry VIII. Since he plays a much bigger part in this book, mention should also be made of Mike Celluci, police officer and sometime lover of Vicki.

In previous novels Huff has tackled vampires (obviously), werewolves, summoning demons and here she wanders into the realms of ancient Egypt and mummies. In the slow burn start to the book a new sarcophagus is found by Dr Rax, curator of the Royal Ontario Museum, and brought to Toronto. After a series of mysterious deaths, the situation comes to the notice of Mike, who starts to believe that an actual mummy might be haunting the streets of Toronto. show more When he is pulled from the case, he asks Vicki to investigate on his behalf. Eventually Vicki pulls together the threads to realise that the people of Toronto are in mortal danger and time is running out for the mummy to be stopped.

I have to confess, this was my least favourite of the books so far. The main essence of the plot took a really long time to get started properly - for a while it was just so much Egyptology claptrap - and the subplot concerning Henry and his fear of going mad because of his dreams was dull. I disliked the period in the book that Vicki spent in jail, since it affected the pacing of the book hugely, and the ending was a bit of a letdown and a copout.

For once, as well, I didn't enjoy the characters as much. Considering he is an all-powerful immortal who walks the night, Henry is incredibly whiny and vulnerable in this book. Mike is just annoying. And Vicki seemed once more pushed to the sidelines (as I felt with the second book). I mean, although she features in a lot of the book, she just isn't growing as a character. She is just reacting to those around her, and much of the spiky character that I enjoyed in the first book is absent. All we have now is a pushy and argumentative individual with little charm to recommend her.

And how I dislike her reactions to the two men in her life! For one thing, she is flitting between them (Mike by day and Henry by night) with not a qualm or a pang of conscience. Henry declares his love for her, and she shrugs it off as a given - in fact, moans at him for even having said it. When Mike says he wants to discuss the love triangle situation they find themselves in, she considers him a pain in the ass for doing so. She is distinctly unloveable on these occasions.

There were parts I still enjoyed, and moments in the book were incredibly tense, but I just found the overall plot less than entertaining, and the relationships between the characters annoying. I'll read onto book four, but I'm definitely less enamoured with this series. show less

In the third volume of Tanya Huff's Blood Books, Vicki Nelson faces off against a mummy who's trying to take control of Toronto.

This was my favourite Blood Book yet! I found it extremely readable, and actually reached a point of no return with it. So much happens to these characters, and I felt compelled to read on just so I could see if everything turned out okay. All three of the leads have to deal with new fears, new anxieties, and new tensions as the plot with the mummy plays out, and everything is handled really well.

It may be fluff, in the grand scheme of things, but it's very entertaining. Highly recommended to fans of paranormal stories.

This is going to be my last Vicki Nelson book. I didn't love the last
one either, but I decided to try one more. And I wish I hadn't.

Vicki and crew are up against a mummy this go around. I actually found
the basic plot to be interesting as the mummy sought to gather
followers for his god using magic and mine control. What I really
didn't like was Vicki and Henry.

I've struggled with finding Vicki likable in previous books, but this
time, she is an aggressive nightmare. She is so bossy and plain mean.
She swears as often as she breaths. Plus the fact that she sleeps
one night with Mike and the next with Henry without even a tiny pang
of conscience. Henry meanwhile is also sleeping with a boy who
prostitutes himself on the streets. Vicki doesn't show more seem to care about
this arrangement, as she is leaving Henry she passes the boy as he
arrives outside Henry's apartment about to 'burst his jeans in
excitement'. Even when she can 'smell sex on Henry' when Henry comes
to her.
This is all too ugly for me.

Sexual Content:
All sorts of sexual partnerships occur in this book but none are described. show less