Book Review: Blood Cross by Faither Hunter

Blood Cross. Faith Hunter. Roc. 2010. 321 pages. $7.99 US. ISBN 9780451463074.

Today’s book review is brought to you by vampires, ghouls, and werewolves, although only vampires and skinwalkers are in this latest edition of Faith Hunter’s Jane Yellowrock series. Blood Cross picks up a couple days and a hurricane after Skinwalker ends, tying up the loose ends from Jane’s hunt of the rogue vampire and the young rogues it was making. Blood Cross will take Jane deep into herself and deeper into the mire of vampire politics than she ever wanted to go… if she stays alive. Caught between handsome men and bitter rivalries thousands of years her senior, all of Jane’s instinct and skills will be tested as she confronts vampires, witches, and the charisma of a biker cop with panther tats.

It’s a great read, honestly sat down and read it over the weekend. Started on the elliptical and just couldn’t put it down. The only thing that turned me off of this series, along with L.A. Banks’ Minion, was the Christian themes, but then I’m always a little put off by heavy reliance on that. I like the Cherokee tradition existing right alongside it without a major issue between religions so that redeems this portion of the novel in some respects. After all, religion is supposed to include, not exclude. Maybe I’m just too much of a neo-hippy-pagan-farmer. :)

Book Review: Skinwalker by Faith Hunter

Skinwalker. Faith Hunter. Roc. 2009. 320. $7.99 US. 978-0-451-46280-0.

The first book in the Jane Yellowrock series, Skinwalker brings a kick-ass heroine to the forefront with a truly warring duel inner nature and a realistic take on the supernatural.

The last of her kind, Jane Yellowrock is a skinwalker of Cherokee origins. She can shape-shift into any creature she desires, so long as there’s plenty of rocks nearby, and hunts vampires for a living. She’s been called to New Orleans to hunt a rogue vampire terrorizing the area… by none other than one of the oldest vampires in the city, Katherine Fonteneau, madam of the bordello Katie’s Ladies. But as Jane sinks into the supernatural world of New Orleans and makes new friends, and enemies, the hunt turns into a fight to come out alive.

Not just another vampire novel Skinwalker has repercussions for magic and vampires are far darker and more feral than just people with fangs. The reader witnesses the animalistic nature of both shape-shifters and vampires. It has refreshingly adult characters and a mature plot.

Jane Yellowrock is a heroine divided in more than just her morals. She and a mountain lion share the same body and Jane learns that other skinwalkers were evil and largely went crazy, killing those around them. Thus not only her nature is divided, she’s beginning to fear herself, far from completely understanding her powers, and simultaneously her loyalties are also divided as many good looking men join the melee. Full of hot action and set in a hotter atmosphere, New Orleans breathes through the plot almost like a character itself with its oppressive sultry heat. A solid mystery lies at the heart of the novel, both in terms of the rogue vampire and related to Jane herself.

Faith Hunter is between 5’3” to 5’6” depending on the heel height of her much-loved boots. She’s a Louisiana native, fell in love with sci-fi and fantasy early and has been writing ever since. Her hair color changes often to reflect her mood.