 |
| 3.5 stars out of 5 |
Jane
Yellowrock is a supernatural skinwalker--one sharing her body with the
soul of a mountain lion. When the rogue-vampire hunter is hired to hunt
down a particularly nasty vamp, Jane is drawn into the steamy New
Orleans vampire society where she learns the ins-and-outs of the "sane"
vampire culture, more about her own Cherokee heritage, and we are drawn
into a rousing, fast-paced thriller.
This
was an entertaining way to spend Friday night (yeah, I know, exciting
life right?). I’m still sitting on the fence about Jane Yellowrock, but
there are some threads of the story that give me hope for the series.
Faith Hunter, the author, attended a conference here in Calgary a couple of years ago, which put Jane Yellowrock on my radar, but it’s taken me a while to get to her. Like Jane, Faith claims Cherokee heritage which is reflected in this first book. Jane has a certain charisma, although I wonder if she is quite as tough as she thinks she is!
One aspect I did like was Jane’s BFF, Molly the witch. This book saw frequent phone calls between the two women, plus an extra emotional/mental connection between Molly’s daughter and Jane. There is real potential for this series to actually pass the Bechdel test and I will read on in the series to see if it fulfills my hopes in this regard.
Jane’s clouded history, which she is just remembering in bits, is also interesting. Not just your “average” skinwalker, she has a complex relationship with her alter-ego, Beast. I’m assuming that this story line will also play out in future installments.
The vampires are both scary and attractive—power apparently has that effect! Jane, who advertises herself as a vampire-killer, has never spent much time in their society, for obvious reasons. So the reader gets to learn about vamps right along with Ms. Yellowrock, but they certainly have promise.
A propitious beginning to an urban fantasy series!
Faith Hunter, the author, attended a conference here in Calgary a couple of years ago, which put Jane Yellowrock on my radar, but it’s taken me a while to get to her. Like Jane, Faith claims Cherokee heritage which is reflected in this first book. Jane has a certain charisma, although I wonder if she is quite as tough as she thinks she is!
One aspect I did like was Jane’s BFF, Molly the witch. This book saw frequent phone calls between the two women, plus an extra emotional/mental connection between Molly’s daughter and Jane. There is real potential for this series to actually pass the Bechdel test and I will read on in the series to see if it fulfills my hopes in this regard.
Jane’s clouded history, which she is just remembering in bits, is also interesting. Not just your “average” skinwalker, she has a complex relationship with her alter-ego, Beast. I’m assuming that this story line will also play out in future installments.
The vampires are both scary and attractive—power apparently has that effect! Jane, who advertises herself as a vampire-killer, has never spent much time in their society, for obvious reasons. So the reader gets to learn about vamps right along with Ms. Yellowrock, but they certainly have promise.
A propitious beginning to an urban fantasy series!
No comments:
Post a Comment