I received this book for free from the library in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: the library
Unbound
by
Jeaniene Frost, Jocelynn Drake, Kim Harrison, Melissa Marr, Vicki Pettersson
It is part of the , The Hollows #7.5, , , , , , series and is a paranormal fantasy in Paperback edition that was published by Eos Press on September 2009 and has 358 pages.
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Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Halfway to the Grave, First Drop of Crimson, Death's Excellent Vacation, One Foot in the Grave, At Grave's End, Destined for an Early Grave, This Side of the Grave, One Grave at a Time, The Bite Before Christmas, Once Burned, Eternal Kiss of Darkness, Twice Tempted, The Beautiful Ashes, Bound by Flames, Into the Fire, The Other Half of the Grave, Halfway to the Grave, Dates from Hell, Pale Demon, Something Deadly This Way Comes, The Good, the Bad, and the Undead, Every Which Way But Dead, A Fistful of Charms, For a Few Demons More, The Outlaw Demon Wails, White Witch, Black Curse, Black Magic Sanction, A Perfect Blood, "Pet Shop Boys", "Trouble on Reserve", Into the Woods, Holidays are Hell, Ever After, The Drafter, "Waylaid", The Operator, The Turn: The Hollows Begins with Death, "Sudden Backtrack", Enthralled: Paranormal Diversions, Fragile Eternity, Ink Exchange, Wicked Lovely, Radiant Shadows, “Changing Guards”, “Guns for the Dead”, Cursed by Death, Dark and Stormy Knights
An anthology of five paranormal short stories whose main topic is members of the paranormal community who go outside their usual activities in some way.
Series
“Ley Line Drifter” (The Hollows, 7.5)
“Reckoning” (Vampire Huntress, 0.5)
“Dark Matters” (Sign of the Zodiac, 4.5)
“The Dead, the Damned, and the Forgotten” (Dark Days, 0.6)
The Stories
Kim Harrison‘s “Ley Line Drifter” is a betweens story for The Hollows with Jenks taking on a side job to help a pixie with a statue problem…it seems pigeons aren’t the only critters who poop on ’em! I was a teeny bit disappointed with this one. At times, I almost checked to be sure it was a Kim Harrison as the writing would falter. Chronology-wise, it is some time after Rachel frees Pierce from his grave.
Jeaniene Frost‘s “Reckoning” is a prequel to the Vampire Huntress series, i.e., pre-Cat. We finally learn just why Bones was banned by Marie LeVeau from New Orleans.
Vicki Pettersson‘s “Dark Matters” relates the moral tale of a superhero who makes all sorts of wrong decisions. This boy was definitely let out to play too soon!
Jocelynn Drake‘s “The Dead, the Damned, and the Forgotten” was an interesting story of a nightwalker, Mira, who worked with the police and was master of Savannah. Drake’s tale contained the general vampire culture but had some interesting differences. The Coven (normally a term that refers to a group of witches) is the ruling body for all nightwalkers and is based in Venice, Italy. Mira is pretty laissez-faire about the nightwalkers who move into her city, oh, and vampires can broadcast to other vamps about their activities. I enjoyed the story on the whole but the lack of clues was irritating. Drake simply dropped conclusions upon me out of the blue.
Melissa Marr‘s “Two Lines” is certainly an appropriate title. Eavan will turn glaistig if she crosses two lines: has sex and kills. In this story, Eavan has been stalking a drug and sex slaves dealer, Daniel, and the hunt to put him down is bringing her very close to that edge. Then her grandmother forces a bodyguard on her. A bodyguard Eavan finds very attractive who is also interested in bringing Daniel down. It’s an interesting story but it falls a bit short.
The Cover and Title
Not really sure what relevance the cover has with the stories. It’s pretty enough with its background of blues and the subtle highlight of a blood-dripping orchid but it gets ruined with the fuchsia text. The title itself, Unbound“, seems to be the general theme of letting go.
