Review

Jackie, fresh off a personal tragedy and not in the mood to socialize, is nonetheless the only thing that Nick wants to think about right now. Their jobs at the FBI, his vampire nature, and a homicidal ghost can’t even get in the way of his concern and care. There’s desire there, too, but it’s so protected behind his persistent nature, it’s really hot, in a hidey kind of way. He’ll do her dishes, clean her house, do her shopping, get her into illegal crime scenes, and even guard her with his life. The man is a dream in a suit.

This urban fantasy book starts off a little like a Daniel Silva novel. Very straight, dry humored writing, but then this whole world of paranormal intrigue unfolds underneath these incredibly normal-seeming characters. It was a surprise even to learn that Nick was a vampire. He seemed so much like a character on The Mentalist, and I mean that in the best way. There wasn’t a lot of overblown paranormal drama the way there is sometimes in vampire books. Just a very deeply-grounded world of ghosts and monsters underneath a world that could easily have been my own. I loved that.

I was not surprised to learn that the author was male, which made the lack of significant romance seem much more explainable, but not before I’d finished and not enjoyed the book. I may be a hard sell on non-romance books, so when I realized that J.N. Duncan is really Jim Duncan, I gave him a little more grace for not having the emotive depth of a female writer, in the same way that my male friends forgive me for not blowing up more stuff in my books. But for what Duncan did in this book, he did well. Readers who are looking for “romantic elements” and not “romance” will be very pleased with this book. They will appreciate the plottiness of it, in a way that I was not able to, as I kept looking for more romance than the book wanted to give me. Not sex, not heat, just romance… emotion… love.

This would be a fantastic book for readers who want to read a romance-ish book, but don’t want the whole book to be about the love story. It has a very clear villain, a plot trajectory, a mystery, and plenty of fantasy elements. The characters are well-done, and the writing is solid. I just wasn’t engaged in the book as a reader from the beginning, so it’s hard for me to say I enjoyed it, although I can certainly admire the mechanics. And the worldbuilding.

Since this is a series, I assume that there were books before and will be books after, and therefore that there is a big audience for books like this, so I will say: if this book is your cup of tea, I apologize for the “3” score, but it just wasn’t mine. However, I think the author has a fantastic talent, and if he ever decides to write straight-up romance, I will absolutely need to read it, because he’s great. But I can’t recommend this book to romance fans. I think the minimal romance and its resolution will disappoint you.

Reviewed by Camryn