I was admittedly skeptical when I picked up Rachel Vincent's
latest offering, BLOOD BOUND. Not through any fault of
Vincent's own (I greatly enjoyed her well-constructed
"Shifters" series) but mostly because of my own wariness of
a new series (and the entirely new world that it was placed
in) and the cheesy and over-wrought description on the back
of my paperback copy. The Shifters series was fun, smart,
and creative and I worried that a new series would leave
Vincent foundering. I was happily wrong and the narrative
depth of this novel shows great promise for her next works.
The world of BLOOD BOUND is true to real life with one
important exception- a certain portion of the population
(and it is, sadly, never specified exactly what percentage)
is what is known as Skilled. Openly known to the public but
officially unacknowledged by governing agencies, those who
are Skilled possess inherent talents and the titles to go
with them: Binders, Blinders, Seers, Readers, Trackers, and
so on. The majority seem consigned to the shadowy
underworld, where their talents are utilized by ruthless
mafiosos, who bind their peons to them with
magically-powered blood oaths. In fact, the whole novel is
predicated on bindings, with childhood vows, magical
brandings, declarations of love, familial loyalty and old
debts building a complicated and pleasing plotline.
Olivia
Warren, a Tracker, is at the center of this maelstrom of
the-ties-that-bind and finds herself navigating alliances
with an almost-comically divided set of magically-enforced
loyalties. Also in the thick of it is Cam Caballero, her
former lover, whose occasional first-person viewpoints
provide the only jarring note in the novel. Their banter
hits a sincere note of flirtation and affection however and
certainly invests the reader in the novel's outcome. Liv
is, thankfully, an independent and smart young woman, hardly
the "lost in desire" twit the back of the novel 's
description promises. This isn't a romance novel and it is
so much the better for it.
Vincent weaves a most convincing world for her characters,
managing to have cellular phone and internet use in the
novel without it feeling forced or anachronistic (a rare
feat). Her world is realistically complicated and the
novel reveals its characters' many secrets in a series of
(mostly) unforeseen twists. Despite a satisfying ending,
there is a clear jumping off point for the next novel in the
trilogy, as well as a few tantalizing questions to which I
look forward to receiving answers. BLOOD BOUND is a strong,
cohesive work founded on a unique paranormal premise and
will lead nicely to the rest of the trilogy.
Most can't touch the power. But Liv Warren is special-- a
paranormal tracker who follows the scent of blood. Liv makes
her own rules, and the most important one is trust no one.
Because as she's learned, even those you love will hurt you
eventually...
But when her friend's daughter goes missing, Liv has no
choice but to find the girl, because Liv and Anne are bound
by a childhood oath, sealed by both blood and word. Thanks
to the oath, Liv can't rest until the child is home safe.
She'll do anything to make that happen. Even if "anything"
means trusting Cam Caballero, the former lover prophesied to
either kill Liv or die by her hand.
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