Blood Cross

Jane Yellowrock is in New Orleans trying to fulfill her contract with the vampire master of the city and kill the vampire that is creating rogue vampires. The events of the previous book have made the master of the city - Leo Pellissier - very angry with her and lost so deeply in grief that he is a danger to himself and those around him. Her witch friend Molly and Molly's two children are staying with her in New Orleans while Molly's husband is in Brazil. Good thing Molly is there because for some strange reason vampires and witches, normally bitter enemies, are teaming up.

Jane not only has to stay alive but has to contend with a different kind of vampire who is learning a way to cut down on the usual ten year wait before a newly turned show more vampire regains his identity and sanity. As Jane hunts for this vampire she also learns more about vampire history and beliefs.

Jane is also learning more about herself as she goes through some ceremonies to help her recover her lost past. That she is a skinwalker is a secret from most of the world but a couple of people learn her secret in this episode. I love the relationship between Jane and her Beast. I also love her relationship with Bruiser - George Dumas - who is Leo Pellisier's blood servant and her relationship with Rick LaFleur - former undercover cop and current love interest.

Fans of urban fantasy will enjoy this series. I can't wait to read the next volume and am excited to have so many still to go. show less

I've been itching to read this for a while - I really enjoyed [b:Skinwalker|5585788|Skinwalker (Jane Yellowrock, #1)|Faith Hunter|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1236753957s/5585788.jpg|5757031] and I'm glad to say that Blood Cross was equally as enjoyable. Jane Yellowrock is smart and capable. The plot relies on her intelligence and initiative rather than lucky coincidence to move forward. I like the segues between Big Cat and Jane, it feels suprisingly natural. Jane's love interests are very much secondary characters rather than equal leads and they are more about lust than romance at this stage though it seems that will change in the next book.There is plenty of action, interesting background and lore and a taut mystery.I would show more strongly recommend that Skinwalker be read before Blood Cross because the threads are weaved pretty tightly. Really looking forward to the next in the series. show less

Although Jane can never take the place of my favorite UF heroine (*blows Kate a kiss*) I have to say that she definitely takes a close second. Faith Hunter's shape-shifting, half-Cherokee, all bad-ass main character is a ton of fun to follow. I actually listened to the first book in this series, Skinwalker, over again before I started this one. It reminded me of why I love Jane so much! She has that perfect mixture of cockiness, loyalty, and snarky humor to fuel any adventure. I'd follow her anywhere.

Blood Cross picks up right after the end of its predecessor, and I was fairly ecstatic about that. The last book left this violent tension between Jane and Leo, the bloodmaster of the city, just sitting there and glaring at me. I breathed show more a sigh of relief when I realized that Hunter was going to pick up right where I'd hoped, and lead me to a conclusion. True to Jane's style, it took a bloody, dangerous, and often devastating route to get to that point. I ate it up though.

What I liked about this particular book in the series is that it showcases the softer side of Jane. As a character who is usually alone, and unable to share her secrets, it felt good to see her interact with the people who truly loved her. I think Hunter excelled at showing that, despite her kick-ass demeanor normally, Jane is still a woman. That she's not just a killing machine, but an emotional and feeling person. I teared up more than once during this audio book. Hearing Jane break down, after knowing her as such a strong person so many other times? Well, I won't lie, it got to me.

Being given the opportunity to learn more about Beast, and where Jane came from, was also an amazing addition to this book. I worried that there might be a love triangle brewing but, and this is one of the many reasons why I love Jane, it quickly sorted itself out. She's a no nonsense kind of woman. When she knows what she wants, she takes it. I remember being so thrilled that the first book in this series wasn't riddled with romance, but this time around? I didn't mind so much. In fact, I may have sighed happily.

On to the next one! These are a ton of fun, and I love the setting of New Orleans. I can't wait to see what The Rogue Hunter gets up to next. show less

A fast-paced, full-of-action combination mystery thriller and supernatural exploration of the New Orleans vampires and witches and their underbelly. And boy do I wish the cover artists would paint their heroines more like the book and less like . . . their fantasies. But I digress.

Anyway, Jane Yellowrock is still in New Orleans and invited to a party of all of the clans of vamps. There is a great deal of detail and history discussed during the party, and then the inevitable action happens to start this novel off quickly.

Also part of this book, in kind of a character-building way, is her best friend Molly, Molly's two kids, and a bayou ceremony with a pair of Eastern Cherokee women shamans. This latter creates a depth of understanding show more and calm for Jane during the turbulent events as Molly's children are kidnapped by rogue vampire/witch siblings. In this world, the "dovoveo" is a decade long event. And witches have a gene that makes them witches. Also, an interesting subplot has Jane learning about the Blood Cross, and its use, with an ancient vampire.

All in all, an eventful book in the urban fantasy genre, where police files contain case histories of vampires and witches, and a former Marine who enlists his neighbors in public housing and helps in the action.

My quibbles with this book are slight: I would like to see less of the "Jane Yellowrock stays awake for 3 days and nights straight and manages to function", which seems to be a fault of publishing houses and police procedurals. I do like how the has both Rick and Bruiser as her love interests, and still has not bedded either one. show less

The series is getting better and no longer quite follows the paths already trailblazed by many other UFs. That's not to say that it doesn't borrow heavily from one source or another, because it does, but HOW it is all put together means everything.

And I likey.

The writing is quite fun and the pacing is particularly delicious, but it's the worldbuilding, the history of the magic users, and especially the vampires that make this stand out. For all you other kinds of fans of the genre who are in it for the sexytimes, there's plenty here to enjoy, but for me, I appreciated how judicious it was applied. We weren't thrown into deadly battles only to get naked in the next moment without good reason or consideration of circumstance. WEIRD, show more no?

I'm really enjoying the series. I love the implications. I also can't help but wonder if it borrowed from Jim Butcher's earlier take on demons and applied it to vampires, but that's okay. The ideas are still COOL. show less

You know that great feeling when you’ve discovered a wonderful new series and to your delight, the author has already written like 10 books in it you have yet to read? Score! This is just superb. There’s a hurricane in New Orleans. Jane has been hired to take out a rogue vampire menace in the area. There’s something creepy going on with the local witches, and Leo, Master of the Dead, wants to kill her fr the events of Book One.

Jane’s love life heats up some in this one, although I confess I’m still holding out for her and Leo as my ship. Bruiser and Rick feel so similar to me as characters at the moment. The world-building and plotting in this series are AWESOME. Like being in New Orleans and with richly complex plots. And show more of course, Jane makes a great UF heroine. Yay for book three!

Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader. show less

Blood Cross
4.5 Stars

Excellent world building and characterization. The detailed explanation of the origins of the vampires and their unique brand of politics is distinctive and intriguing as is the information on the witch covens and their cold war with the vampires.

The plot revolving around the creation of new, rogue vampires and the attempt to keep them sane by sacrificing witch children is fast-paced and absorbing, especially as the villains soon hit very close to home.

Jane is a fascinating heroine and the dynamics of her connection with Beast are particularly compelling as they must coexist within the same body mass and work together for shared goals yet have an almost adversarial relationship. The secondary characters are also show more fleshed out more - Leo is having trouble coping with his grief, Molly and her children are staying with Jane, which leads to some cute domestic scenes, and Jane must deal with the two men in her life. This is actually, the weakest aspect of the book.

While some UF readers may not consider this a drawback as romance is not usually the focus of the genre, the author, nevertheless, introduces at least two possible love interests but fails to sufficiently develop the relationships. George (aka Bruiser) Dumas is seriously sexy and shares an intense chemistry with Jane. Unfortunately, he is also a blood servant, which lends a certain ickiness to his character and makes Jane's preference for the second leading man, Rick LaFleur, quite understandable. The problem here is that Jane and Rick lack said chemistry and he comes across as more of a consolation prize.

On a final note, Khristine Hvam's narration of the audiobook is incredible as always. She has an amazing ability to make even the most mundane passages come alive. show less