Bloodfever

MacKayla “Mac” Lane left behind her simple, “glam girl” life in Georgia in Darkfever. One huge wake up call later she has come to terms, sort of, that she is not just a Sidhe-Seer, she is a Null. She can not only spot a Fae coming down the street, she can destroy them. She also, against her personal wishes, is, as she calls herself, Jericho Barron’s personal OOP detector. An OOP is an object of power, a Fae relic imbued with special, magical properties. Mac can sense these objects and especially the one that Barrons wants more than any other.

Tall, dark and dripping sensual sexuality—yes, you can be both, at least Barrons can be and is—a dichotomy of people, feelings and abilities. More than anything he wants the Sinsar Dubh, a book written long before man can remember that holds the deadliest of magic. At least it seems he wants that book more than anything. There may be something, or someone he wants much more.

In book one of this intense series, readers met Mac who brought them along on her journey to find her sister’s killer. In book two Mac begins to confront her worst nightmares. As she meets more of the players in the drama of her sister’s murder, what once seemed a straightforward matter becomes a maze of twisted, sometimes horrifying proportions. Each time Mac thinks she knows which side of the board a player resides something happens to make her question that judgment. Moving their search beyond the diminishing streets of Dublin to the countryside Mac finds herself biting of more than she can chew, especially after an encounter with Malluce the vampire she thought dead…if the undead can be dead.

BLOODFEVER is a much, much darker story than DARKFEVER, the first in this latest series by Karen Marie Moning. Indeed, there are scenes that had this reviewer not been reading for review, she would have skimmed because of the graphic material. The story would not be half as powerful if those scenes were changed in any way. The depiction of just how depraved a person can be and the things that can happen are integral to the story. They were just extremely difficult to read.

On the other hand, if readers thought Barrons was hot in DARKFEVER, you will soon see the man is perhaps the hottest male character written in this decade. He is an amazing combination of sensuality with sexual power a reader can imagine and want for his or her own. Admittedly there are points in the book where this reviewer railed, as will readers, that Mac in no way, shape or form deserved Barrons because you just want him for yourself. When Mac says she wonders what Barrons looks like without his clothing on, this Reviewer was wondering that herself. Mac didn't share.

Mac sums up this fast paced, you just cannot put this story down in her own words where she says “I couldn’t believe I’d so completely lost track of time….monsters to fight,…police interrogation…dad to send home…and an illegal auction to attend.” Ms. Moning has her readers beside Mac all the way barely catching their breath before the next scene.

Jericho Barrons is even more complex, confusing and compelling than he was in DARKFEVER. This reviewer had suspicions about who or rather what he is—but that question remains dangling to tempt readers. Book three cannot arrive soon enough!

Included in the book is a marvelous glossary of terms to introduce the novice to the dark side as to who is who and where they all fit.

December 2007