I absolutely love it when an author gives me what I asked for! Not that Nina Croft and I have ever met. But in my review of Break Out, the first book of her Blood Hunter series, I asked for more world-building, more information about how the situation with the Church and the Collective got started, and were there any others like Rico, meaning, are there any other vampires traveling the space lanes? And I just plain wanted more story.
Deadly Pursuit, Ms. Croft’s second entry in this paranormal science fiction romance series, gave me just what I asked for. Which makes me one happy reader.
Deadly Pursuit picks up right where Break Out left off. The El Cazador and her crew have eluded the pursuing Collective, after breaking Jon the mysterious prisoner out of their clutches just before he was scheduled to be shipped to their maximum security prison planet. What they still don’t know is why Jon and the crew were all supposed to die in the escape attempt. Whatever he knows is so toxic that everyone who gets near him is poisoned. It must be a really big secret.
Jon is a contract killer. The person he assassinated was in the inner circle of the Collective, a man named Aiden Ross. Everyone knows that members of the Collective are supposed to be immortal, and Jon was given the secrets to killing them, so maybe that’s the reason for the big target on his back. It’s certainly not because anyone took Aiden Ross’ death personally. The guy was a bastard, and I don’t mean the fatherless kind.
But the crew has other problems. And so does Jon. Because the cabin boy, Al, isn’t a cabin boy. He’s a she, and she’s not just any girl. She’s the 24-year-old Lady Alexia, the High Priestess of the Church of Everlasting Life. She ran away from her temple 3 months ago, and the Church is just gunning to get her back. Literally.
And Jon has a not-so-big secret of his own. He’s a werewolf. And that whole territory thing about werewolves and vampires? It’s still a problem. And a space ship really doesn’t have enough territory for one vamp and one werewolf to share comfortably.
But the real problem is that Jon’s werewolf has found his perfect mate. And it’s the feisty virgin priestess. But Jon has failed too many people in his life to let himself care about anyone ever again, never mind letting someone like Alex depend on him or care for him. But when the ship’s crew worm their way into becoming his new pack, what’s a werewolf to do?
Escape Rating B+: This was so much fun! It answered so many of my questions from Break Out, and told a great story. The male-bonding between Rico and Jon was hilarious, and the love story with Jon and Alex was sweet without being too syrupy.
I’m looking forward to the next book. Meridian, the drug that grants immortality, well, let’s just say that anything that seems too good to be true is, as usual, too good to be true. Let me put it this way, if you have vampires and werewolves, what other supernatural creatures might you have?
If you like science fiction romance, get Break Out and Deadly Pursuit and just read them both at once. You’ll be very glad you did!
I have not seen this series before. I just put Break Out on my wish list.
I was surprised at how much fun this was, especially Deadly Pursuit. At first, it was sort of like the joke about the bear dancing. You know the one, you’re not surprised it’s done well, you’re surprised it’s done AT ALL. But it works. Partly because there needs to be a different reason for immortality than science, but also it’s the characters. Who just get better in Deadly Pursuit. Have fun!
When I went to Barnes and Noble Break Out was .99 so it is now in my TBR pile. I guess we are even, I added one to your pile and you added one to mine.
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