Tracey O'Hara

Dark Brethren — (2009-2011) Publisher: For centuries war raged between the humans and Aeternus vampires — until courageous efforts on both sides forged a fragile peace. But the rogue Necrodreniacs will never be controlled — addicted as they are to the death-high... and bloody chaos. Since witnessing the murder of her mother, Antoinette Petrescu has burned with fiery hatred for the vampire race — even for Christian Laroque, the noble, dangerously handsome Aeternus who rescued her. Now an elite Venator, Antoinette must reluctantly accept Christian's help to achieve her vengeance — even as he plots to use the beautiful, unsuspecting warrior as bait to draw out the bloodthirsty dreniacs.

Night's Cold Kiss

I have a love-hate relationship with vampires. There have been vampire novels that I've absolutely adored. There have been others that have flown from my hand into the wall with frightening velocity. Mostly, I just wish there weren't so darn many vampire novels. My favorite urban fantasies, lately, have been the ones where there aren't any vampires, or the ones where vampires play a very minor role. When an urban fantasy does feature vampires, my favorite aspects of the book tend to be the places where the author departs from the standard vampire "canon."

Which means that there were several things to cheer for in Night's Cold Kiss.

At first glance, Night's Cold Kiss is quite similar to other vampire-themed novels on the market. The heroine is a butt-kicking vampire hunter, driven to that calling by a traumatic event in her past (a vampire murdered her mother). The hero is a vampire, sexy in a bad-boy sort of way. There's a lot of slaying and a lot of sex. It's not bad, per se — in fact, the hunting scenes and the steamy scenes are quite well done — it's just that I felt like I'd seen this before.

Yet, from the beginning, there were hints that Tracey O'Hara wasn't just writing a boilerplate vampire novel. The idea of the Necrodreniacs is new. Other authors have dealt with the concept of feral vampires — those who kill indiscriminately and are not governed by reason. O'Hara comes up with a reason why. A Necrodreniac is a vampire who has become addicted to the rush that occurs when a feeding results in death. Necrodrenia is incurable, and other vampires exterminate "dreniacs" any chance they get.

I also liked the unusual origin story, and what I liked best of all was the vampire-slaying school! I loved that, while natural aptitude plays a role, slayers are made and not born in O'Hara's world. They undergo a grueling training regime and learn their craft.

We follow the heroine, Antoinette Petrescu, through a difficult time in her life. There's a serial killer on the loose, preying on women who look just like Antoinette, and she just knows the culprit is her mother's murderer. No one believes her, though, since Dante Rubins is supposed to be dead. Meanwhile, she wrestles with her feelings for Christian, the aforementioned sexy vampire, and with other life-changing events that would be spoily to recount here. The plot moves quickly and with lots of twists.

The last chapters are the best, in my opinion. The ending satisfied me in a way that series-openers often don't. Night's Cold Kiss is essentially a set-up novel, moving Antoinette into a position where she's guaranteed to have a steady string of adventures. (And we'll be seeing more of that vampire-slaying school!) O'Hara also has one more surprise up her sleeve. She introduces a type of character that is usually evil, tragic, or both in vampire lit, and makes this character a brave, resourceful survivor. I can't wait to see more of her.

(I still think there are too many vampire novels out there, though.) —Kelly Lasiter

Death’s Sweet Embrace

Death’s Sweet Embrace is the second novel in Tracey O’Hara’s Dark Brethren series and the follow-up to 2009’s Night’s Cold Kiss. Here, O’Hara focuses more on the shapeshifters of her world than on the vampires, and introduces readers to the Dark Brethren themselves, a creepy faux-angelic race that once enslaved all parahumans and wants to regain its supremacy.

The central plot deals with a serial killer who preys on shapeshifters and whose grisly crimes may be connected to the Dark Brethren. Kitt Jordan, a werecat doctor who had a small role in Night’s Cold Kiss, becomes involved with the hunt for the killer while trying to wrestle with romantic and family issues. Years ago, she had a relationship with a wolf shifter, Raven Matokwe, and had twin daughters. Pride politics broke them apart, but now she is thrown back into close proximity to her ex-lover and her now-grown daughters and has to decide how to mend the relationships.

Kitt and Raven and the girls are good people, and I was rooting for them to work out all their issues and become a true family. The murder mystery keeps the pages turning, too, as does the constant threat of trouble from Kitt’s family.

But while Death’s Sweet Embrace held my attention, it has issues as well. Part of the problem is characterization. Kitt is upstaged by almost everyone else in the book. There’s just some intangible spark missing from her character, though I did like that she gets several opportunities to use her medical skills. Meanwhile, I don’t feel like I have a good grip on Raven. About all I know is that he loves Kitt and the twins and gets angry when they’re threatened. Oh, and that he considers himself “damaged” due to his stint in an order of assassins. Yet neither he nor Kitt seem bothered by the thought of the twins joining that same organization… Then there’s Antoinette Petrescu, the heroine of the previous book, who does get to do plenty of awesome buttkicking — in a Necrodreniac-hunting plotline that never really connects with the shapeshifter-murders thread.

The story is told from a variety of points-of-view. I like the idea of a big team of good guys working together, but the downside of the shifting perspectives is that it feels like Kitt and Raven have been crowded out of their own book. The scenes from the villain’s point-of-view work well, however. They establish a creepy mood and give clues without revealing the whole picture.

The book also has some “Wait, why did they…” moments, plus a bad case of Burly Detective Syndrome (there’s a lot of “the ursian male did this, the Aeternus female did that”) and some sloppy proofreading.

Overall, Death’s Sweet Embrace is an OK urban fantasy to pass the time with, featuring plenty of action and sex. It has several nagging flaws, though, and doesn’t really stand out in the crowd. —Kelly Lasiter