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Los Angeles is no longer the City of Angels; dark things haunt its streets - dark, restless things. Bodies have been found, and the tentative peace between humans, vampires and werewolves teeters on the brink of collapse. Keeli Maddox needs to know why. If she and her kin are to survive, she must trust a man as different from her as night from day, as tooth from claw. He's a slayer, a betrayer, an enemy. But nobility lurks in dark places, and Keeli herself is no stranger to shadow. As sure as the moon will rise, Michael was meant for her. Life is about to change. Only three things will remain: the color of blood, the hot joy of skin on skin, and the danger in...A TASTE OF CRIMSON.
Marorie M. Liu: A Taste of Crimson
This is a book out of one of those series written by multiple authors, and not the first part. It was difficult at first to get into it, because it is a strange world where this story plays.
A city with a mix of Vampires, Werewolves and humans. The Vampires are sort of an upper class, they have money and status, they live in penthouses and have good jobs. The werewolves are not so lucky. They are outcasts, living beneath the city, in an old subway station, with their own tunnels and lairs. They have a very strong culture, an Alpha with his own clan or family for each part of the city, and a Grand Dame Alpha as the leader of all the clans.
Michael is an outcast vampire, employed by their rulers as an executioner for rogue vampires. He is also a liaison for the human police, he helps when there is an "paranormal" crime. But it is a difficult time for vampires, there is a killer praying on them, and the human government doesn't want to do anything to stop it. They are seeking for an excuse to hunt the vampires, kill them. But the killer appears to be a werewolf, and that will get the werewolves in danger also. Because if a werewolf is guilty or even suspect of a crime, he has no rights, he goes to jail for a very long time (which he will never survive) or be executed.
The vampires are trying for a treaty with the werewolves, but on both parts, there are a lot of people who don't want that. There is no love lost between the species.
And one night Michael comes along a young werewolf woman defending a human woman of being raped by a bunch of drunk human males. Because she bites one of the men, she goes to prison, and Michael uses his influence to get her out of it.
In return, she promises Michael to help him find the killer, certain it isn't one of the wolves. Michael and Keeli are very attracted to each other, but how can that be? A vampire and a werewolf? It has never happened before, or has it?
Keeli's clan does not like it, they try to kill Michael, and when Keeli defends him, they don't know what to do. She is the granddaughter of the Grand Dame Alpha, of de Maddox blood.
Keeli and Michael fall in love, and hunt the killer together, only to unravel some very unpleasant truths.
I really enjoyed this book. It was very strange at first, but you just get sucked into the story. It is not comparable to any other vampire or werewolf story I have ever read. You don't get any explanation of the world, or the city, or what has happened in the previous book. And sometimes you wonder, but it isn't really necessary to enjoy the book.
Michael and Keeli did not have a very pleasant past, you just get to know them bit by bit and love them. They are very strong characters, they stand up for each other, and the development of their feelings for each other is very nicely written. Even as they doubt their feelings because they are thought to hate the other species. I like the humor, the snipey comments of Keeli, and the very surprising twist in the story, which I will not tell you. The other "people" are also very interesting and real.
Marjorie M. Liu has become one of my most favourite authors, and will be a keeper on my shelf for all time. She makes her hero's very real and strong, and loveable.
4,5 stars.
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Aurian wrote this review Friday, November 2 2007.
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