Blood Vice [Paperback]

I think vampire stories should be dark, sexy, and cool, and Blood Vice hits them all with force.

The action is riveting, there are some awesome side characters (look for Little Ricky and the Knights of the Thorn), and some really great one-liners (look for the restaurant scene at the beginning of the book).

I was happy the author kept vampirism supernatural rather than going the vampirisim-as-a-virus route, and there are some additional elements of magic and mysticism that broadened the story immensely in a great way. The vampire hit man, Karl Vance, has a witch companion who we didn't learn nearly enough about, and I look forward to seeing her more in the sequel.

It wasn't clear to me when I started reading if the mafia guys KNEW Vance was a vampire or not, and I re-read that great scene in the restaurant when I figured out that they did NOT know that from the beginning. It made the scene even better, but I wish it'd been clearer from the description on the flap so I'd known that on the first read.

I was a little bit lost through the middle part of the book not knowing where exactly the story was headed, but that was definitely what the characters should have been feeling at that point so I suspect that was intentional on the author's part.

I went into this book expecting something like Underworld, which I loved, and it didn't disappoint on that account, but it turned out to be much bigger, badder, and better, and I'm eagerly awaiting the sequel.

This book was awesome, from that quiet scene in a fine restaurant in the beginning, to the fiery, cataclysmic conclusion.

I have read a lot of books over the last year or so.... and I can honestly say up until now, I have read not a single book that combines mobsters and vampires. Somehow Keith Melton successfully tells the tale of bad ass vampires, violent mafia wars, with a dash of romance on the side.

Maria is the daughter of powerful crime boss. She is desperately trying to prove her worth in the family business to her father and his lieutenants, an impossible task in a male dominated world like the mafia. She has the brains and balls, she just has to convince her family that a woman can do the job. Maria hires Karl Vance, a hired hitman and powerful vampire, to help weaken the enemy crime family. Over the course of the story the war between families becomes much more than a war over money or territory - it becomes personal for Karl and Maria.

At first glimpse of Maria I was prepared to dislike her. She was independent, frank, stubborn, and sometimes sarcastic. While I like my men a bit feisty, these same traits in female characters sometimes lead me to roll my eyes. Too many times a strong/bitter female is defiant even when it doesn't make sense in an effort to be heroic or self sacrificing. I was fully prepared for Maria to be that type of woman and was pleasantly surprised to find she wasn't. She may kick you in the balls and call you names, but she also knows when its best to go with the flow and save herself some pain.

Karl Vance is a bad ass mofo. His employers may not know his true nature as a powerful vampire, but they know he has no problem doing what needs to be done. While he gave up on his soul many years ago, he struggles to keep his darker nature in check and do the right thing. I don't want to say that he is looking for redemption because I don't believe he thinks its realistic, but at the very least he is looking to minimize his own impact on the world. If the book cover is accurate, he manages to do all of this with his shirt open. What more could we ask for in a vampire hitman?

The plot of this book is hard hitting and quick paced. I was sucked into the story line from the first chapter and snuck in reading time wherever I could find it! I love a good urban fantasy novel that takes no prisoners and this one does that. There is a surprising twist with Maria's character arc during the first half of the book that completely threw me for a loop! It was daring and unexpected and may have even broken some of those unwritten book rules. I had to check my progress bar to make sure I wasn't at the end already!

If I had anything to complain about it may have been the romance aspect of the plot. I didn't feel the chemistry between Vance and Maria at first... and even at the end felt like I needed more time with them and the connection between them. However, I liked that Vance didn't always know what to say to comfort her and often found himself saying nothing even when it was probably not the right move. It was realistic to his character, even if it sometimes left me feeling a bit cold.

Oh wait, I remembered one more thing I wanted to complain about.... the people in this book are way too good at recognizing fancy suit brands at first glance. I mean this is dark gritty urban fantasy world, not project runway I jest.. I get that its a mob thing!

Blood Vice by Keith Melton was dark, bloody and a breath of fresh air. I have read quite a few vampire books in the past two years- not a single one of those books combined the fun of the paranormal world with the brooding world of mafia families.This is one book that would make a spectacular movie.

Karl is our forlorn hero, a vampire... a freelance hit man vampire. It gets better. He works for the mafia but only follows himself and God. He maintains his humanity by feeding only on those that are corrupted. The most appealing thing about Karl is that he embraces physical pain by facing Holy Ground to pray for those that he has desecrated. I just think it is brilliant to have a mafia-killing vampire who values his relationship with God to the point he is willingly enduring pain. I loved it!

Maria's father runs one of the top mafia families in Boston. She's your typical mafia princess- spoiled, stubborn and now she wants to run with the big boys. She wants to be next in line, run the family the way she thinks it should be. I found Maria to be overbearing, demanding... annoying, to say the least. A strong heroine is almost essential but she was just too tactless at times. I can't hold this against the book though- I mean- she grew up within a mafia family. What am I suppose to expect? ;) And I will admit that by the time I had finished, I liked her. I did. Maria's chemistry with Karl was lacking a wee bit, but this made it more pragmatic.

I am going to be reading more of Keith Melton's work- I enjoyed his writing style. I hope there will be more of Karl and Maria to come. I love my violence with a dash of romance and that is exactly what he gave me, a dash. Just what I needed to keep intrigued when the plot started to lag. The plot didn't lag often- it was quick paced for the most part and I was sucked in almost immediately. Gotta love a good Urban Fantasy.