Blood Cross (Jane Yellowrock Novels) [Mass Market Paperback]

Jane Yellowrock is a skinwalker of Cherokee descent who can turn into any creature she wishes using necklaces made of feathers and bones. Jane shares her body with a conscious and independent entity (a panther) known simply as 'Beast'. There's markedly less narration from Beast in 'Blood Cross'; I think she was better utilised here with only short snippets from her point of view. In this world the 'Mithrans' or vampires are out to the public as are the witches, with complicated politics and ancient resentments the effects of which can impact all races. At the end of the prior novel Jane was hired by the vampire council in New Orleans to work for them hunting rogue vampires. Here we join Jane as the council asks her to hunt and kill one of their own who has broken some deeply sacred rules. Jane soon finds herself embroiled in some deep rooted politics, the origins of which stretch back thousands of years...

I really enjoyed this book! I had some minor issues with the first one, but found those fixed here. The plot was well paced with some very interesting developments that should be relatively far-reaching in terms of the series -- the story itself was clever and expertly woven with numerous threads of plot coming together at the end. One thing that surprised me was the excellent worldbuilding. I didn't think 'Skinwalker' was particularly original but I don't think that's true anymore; Hunter's worldbuilding was fascinating and unique -- the way she combined vampire history with religion and myth was quite masterful. I was pretty surprised with the idea she went with too, it was nice to see some daring (the good kind of daring) in this genre. As a result, I can't wait to see her apply this deft touch to the other races that may be crawling around in the shadows of Jane's world in future instalments.

The great strength of this series is its characters: Bruiser, Rick LaFleur, Leo Pellissier, the twins, Troll, Jodi and Molly Trueblood. It's rare for me to like pretty much every character in a series, but I do here. I was relieved to see that the twins made it as their existence at the end of 'Skinwalker' was a little touch and go there for a while. I like having them around because they're a kind of comedic double-act, so I was disappointed there wasn't much of them or Troll aside from a token appearance. Although, I was happy that the author avoided the cliched love interest route with Leo Pellissier -- as it stands he's much more formidable as a vampire for being an antagonist. I always think vamps lose their mystery when they start falling in lurrve. Plus there's more interesting plotlines to be explored in that, Bruiser (Leo's blood-servant), likes Jane. I think the way Hunter has set this up means that the potential plot conflict is far more unusual and textured as a result... the menfolk tend to suffer a bit in some UF, but Hunter writes them realistically. I love that Bruiser's not an alpha male; he's not a jealous and impatient man. Rather, he's quite snarky and charming, but somehow manages to remain stoic and distant at the same time. I was impressed with Rick too. He had his sleazy moments but generally showed more of his true character; which was actually that of a normal guy. These issues were less handled in a love-triangley kind of way and more in a sensible adult manner, which I enjoyed.

Jane herself was great, she learned a little more about her mysterious past as she engaged in shamanic rituals to unearth her memories. The rituals were well written and evoked a rich sense of atmosphere that drew me in -- the depth of the research into the Cherokee really shows in the great writing. If I'm not mistaken, Jane has also learned to mouth off less and her respect for authority has upped its anty a bit too! Jane and Beast's relationship was more compelling to me in this book, I enjoyed the subtle humour shared between the two of them.

The only thing I could possibly criticise about this novel is that I still feel as if Jane needs to emotionally invest in the other characters: namely the twins, Troll, Jodi and Bliss. I think I just want her to be BFF with these people, heh. But books always hit gold for me when there's a familiar group of allies around the protagonist creating a kind of family vibe -- since this is a first person narrative; Jane needs to invest in them in order for the reader to do so. It'll also raise the emotional stakes and give everything that extra 'zing'. I think I realised this when I was reading one of my favourite scenes in 'Blood Cross' in which Jane, Bruiser, the twins and a bunch of other blood-servants were having a mini social showdown. It had that great bantery vibe and the vampire politics from the blood-servants perspective was intriguing, and a new way to see things. I hope there's more of that in the future. Actually, that scene reminded me quite a bit of servants gossiping about their rich masters in period costume dramas.

Overall, a tightly written tale with fantastic characters and a tense gritty ambience. A brilliant sequel that builds on and improves on its predecessor. Looking forward to book three, Mercy Blade: A Jane Yellowrock Novel (Skinwalker)!

Jane Yellowrock is a Skinwalker, a native Indian woman who can shape-shift into any form she pleases within reason in the right circumstances. That and the fact she is a professional Bounty-Hunter who deals with Monsters drew her to New Orleans in the first book, which is where we catch up with her in the second book. This time around, though, the Vampire Master of the City is unstable after suffering a terrible personal loss as a result of Jane's actions in the first book and, even though she did him a favour doing what she did, he can't quite decide if he wants her dead or not-and she knows she won't be able to stop him if he wants her blood badly enough. On top of that, someone is Creating Vampires without authorisation and carrying out odd Rituals in the process, a situation Jane has to deal with since the Master of the City is currently incapable. Then there's the fact that Jane's Witch friend and her two young children have come to New Orleans to visit "Aunt" Jane, but the fact that Witch blood is being used in the Vampire Rituals means they may not be safe for all the Witches power. Jane's Beast, which considers her friends children it's "Kits", is even less happy about the situation. Just to make things interesting, Jane's house is nearly burnt down by the Master of the City right at the start of the story with her and her friends and "family" inside, her Love life is getting into gear and the Rituals being carried out concerning the new Vampires might just have something to do with the very Origin's of Vampires as a Race...

Non stop action, with lashings of sex and magic, added to Vampires, Werewolves, the BIG questions such as is it the Cross or your Faith that protects you from the Monsters, an entertaining and increasingly interesting central character with a bizarre lifestyle and history which makes her, along with her unusual powers, one of the most original Supernatural characters around today. If you like the stories of writers like Charlaine Harris and Karen Chance you'll love this. If not? Give it a go anyway, there's more than enough intelligence and plenty of ideas in this book that most will enjoy. Here's hoping the next book will come out soon.

this was a good follow up to Skinwalker - although a little more complicated - which in itself is both a good and bad thing.

Still worth reading for those who like something you have to work at following more and would be interested to see where she goes with the next one, if there is one (?)

I liked the fact that it was quite witty and mostly lighthearted in it's approach. I can see the potential for some really good tales coming out of this writer as she is obviously fully committed to the genre and is not interested in just churning out magazine-freebie-tat... but, in my opinion, she also has a tendancy to over complicate the action and history which can make it all a little bewildering sometimes. I found myself turning back pages to re-read sections thinking I had missed something or to try and make more sense of what had just happened.

Would definitely say it's good - but with a little room to improve! I guess you will have to read it and make your own mind up!