Julie's Review: Blood Game

Summary: Bestseller Johansen's latest Eve Duncan forensics thriller features an all-too-mortal vampire. Fresh off a multiple child homicide case (Quicksand), Eve discovers a blood-stained goblet in her refrigerator. The goblet closely resembles one found with the bloodless body of Nancy Jo Norris, a U.S. senator's 19-year-old daughter, the victim of a wannabe Dracula who ultimately thirsts for Eve. In a paranormal twist, Joe Quinn, Eve's FBI love interest, appears to have contracted psychic powers from Megan Blair, introduced in Pandora's Daughter, and can now see dead people—Nancy Jo and Eve's daughter, Bonnie, to be exact. The ghosts guide the search for the serial sucker, complete with corny gothic monologues. Johansen risks alienating some readers as the series slips deeper into the supernatural, but diehards will be pleased Eve at last finds some peace in her ever-growing bond with Joe.~amazon.com

Review: Anyone who reads this blog with regularity knows that I am not caught up in the latest Vampire or Paranormal craze, so you can imagine my dismay when one of my favorite authors has decided to take a foray into these genres...together. I love Eve Duncan, Joe and Jane so I was excited to get to this book until I read the book flap. I tried to keep an open mind during the book but yeah I just couldn't. WARNING: Review might contain spoilers for those who are not as far in the series.

Blood Game brings us back to Eve after Quicksand asthe continuous search for her daughter Bonnie, who went missing many years before. Eve is continually on the hunt for the person who abducted and presumably murdered her daughter. Eve is at her best when she is working on her forensic sculpting to help bring home lost souls who need identifying when no other way can be used.

Unfortunately in Blood Game, we are moved away from this core. We are introduced to a murderer who thinks he's on the path to enlightenment by drinking the blood of women. Yup, he thinks he's a vampire. We are also introduced to Seth Caleb, who has made it his life mission to track Jelak. So we have a vampire and a vampire hunter. (This is just soo not my thing). Of course, Jelak thinks that Eve is the ultimate sacrifice and her blood will give him the power he hungers for.

Things are also not going well for Joe and Eve at the start of this book. Joe is on edge and has growing concerns about his sanity. After the last book he now has the ability to see dead people. This of course helps and hampers him during this investigation. The job has always been personal for Joe but to see the victims adds a whole different level to the job.

With each new Eve Duncan book, she introduces us to a new character and that character ends up sticking around. Not necessarily a bad thing for a series that has had the same set of characters for a while.

All in all, I'm not sure if this new direction is a blip in the series or if it's a permanent change. I'm not ready to give up on this series or Iris Johansen yet, but if she keeps on this path I will hang up the series.

Final Take: 3/5