Read and Reading Mercy Thompson, J.R. RainTrue Blood Ending Leaks Vampires and the Mob

READ AND READING

Over the weekend and this week I read Books 3 and 4 in Patricia Briggs Mecedes Thompson Series, Iron Kissed and Bone Crossed.  In Iron Kissed, Mercy's former Boss, mentor, and friend, Zee is set up to cover a human's crime of killing another human.  Of course, she puts herself at great personal risk and truly suffers greatly, she is also attacked by really icky fae. And, she finally makes a choice between Sam and Adam. And, in Bone Crossed, she is labeled an enemy of vampires and is coerced into the lair of a really nasty creature while trying to learn about some ghost living at the house of an old friend from school in another town.

I always think the heroine I am currently reading is my favorite But among them all I think Mercy is in the top four, maybe three, if not the favorite.  I love that she does the right thing even at her own expense. She is vulnerable, but she is also strong and clever.  She knows her weakness points and is learning her strengths.  Because she knows her weaker areas she almost turns them to her advantage. Like the coyote she turns into she is clever, she is comfortable alone, and in the guise of perhaps feminist independence, she bucks authority like crazy. Her loyalty is deep and while it is a strength it leaves her open and vulnerable. The strength of the wolf packs she has been part of, is a great boon and one she doesn't take lightly. I cannot, cannot wait for the next book, River Marked due out 1/25/2011.

I do enjoy Briggs writing.  Her prose is lovely, her world is well made, and she doesn't make huge grammar, spelling and word choice errors. I suspect that she actually proofs her work well and then sends it out. 

I love these books; I have not read one of the five that has not been  a cover-to-cover adventure that I could not put down. I am looking forward to the romance getting deeper and heavier as I know that any man, or wolf with Mercy will make sparks fly!


MOON DANCE
by J.R. Rain

I thought this book was pretty well written for the series, right up to the end. We start off with a woman folding laundry when UPS delivers a mysterious medallion. It is a medallion the creature that turned her into a vampire wore, but she has no idea why it's sent to her. A former federal agent until she was attacked and turned, Samantha Moon is now a nights only Private Detective. Her current client is an attorney who was attacked but survived.  How he survived the injuries which would have killed anyone else is a huge mystery. And one she has to solve before she is also a target.  In the meantime, trying to be the best mother she can she realizes her marriage is falling apart.  Her husband who was at first supportive is now a schmuck getting some on the side. She repulses him. A third character, Fang, with whom she chats on the internet is an unknown I suspect of being her client. Samantha is complex and has depth.  Her husband and children don't really.  They are pretty generation. The police detective she is befriended by and her client are a bit better developed and quite different from each other.  As she and one of these other characters fall  in love, she learns she is being attacked by a vampire hunter and uses her supernatural abilities to make sure he is out of the picture.

The end, well the end is an afterthought.  It seems like the writer got sick of the story and ended it generically. If I had a scale that would pull the whole thing down.The bottom line: a decent start and middle but an abrupt an unbelieved ending with a mystery character.

Currently I am Reading Taken by the Night from the Brotherhood of  Blood by Kathryn Smith.


VIDEO: TRUE BLOOD LEAKS

Video where Denis O'Hare explains the last two episodes of TB and his role in the Rolling Stones cover.

 

Video Link if above doesn't work: http://www.eonline.com/videos/v57190_watch-with-kristin-denis-ohare.html


VAMPIRES AND THE MOB
There's a new show in town, or, rather, online. Vampire Mob, a cross between the Munsters,  the Sopranos, and an episode of Dateline. The first two episodes currently online at http://www.vampiremob.com/.  The episodes are about 7 minutes long.

Don Grigioni,, played by John Colella, is a hit man, recently also became a vampire. Now he can combine work and "grocery shopping." Evident as he carries two large glass containers into a "job" empty and back filled with whatever stands in for blood on TV these days.

John's wife, who he turned because he got hungry, has just turned her mom, and now Mom is moving in. The first episode is definitely low budget. Held up against a major TV production like True Blood it doesn't look at all professional. But, it isn't fair to hold it up against a TV production like that because it is not one and because this is a new form of entertainment still finding its feet.

The shows is supposed to be filmed by Don's nephew Mikey as its explanation for the sound and cinematography. Don's relationship with Annie, is less stable than that of Tony and Carmella on the Sopranos. Annie is played by Reamy Hall. There is more room in Annie's character to be complex.  Don is pretty much tied to his role's mob character.

The second episode was being held until the first was viewed 5,000 times but is now available.

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