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
The Isis Collar
by
Cat Adams
urban fantasy in a paperback edition that was published by Tor Books on March 13, 2012 and has 381 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Blood Song , Siren Song, Demon Song, The Eldritch Conspiracy, To Dance With the Devil
Fourth in the Blood Singer urban fantasy series revolving around Celia Graves, a bodyguard-turned-vampire in Los Angeles.
My Take
Eeek, this one was filled with drama and tension with all the worry about the children and the creeping necrosis as well as many of the cops whom Celia used to go drinking with who want her dead and they keep doing their best to trip her up. Adams created a tricky story here. Hard-to-find clues that just didn’t add up until Adams pulled it all together at the end.
It cracks me up when Adams refers to a couple of bad guys as “hired wands”. A quirky restatement of a standard phrase.
OH! What kind of jerk agrees to perform horrible spells on children, but sends his own kids into hiding?!!
Okay, I still don’t get why Celia taking that job for the chemical company down in Mexico would make a difference…
Fascinating to read about Rizzoli’s intuition and how it works. Boy, talk about trust.
I do love what Adams has created in this series. Such a range of characters and then taking that twist with the vampire and making Celia part siren. Then her issues with her mother and the spillover onto her Gran.
It’s a complex life Celia leads, and it’s full of friends who care for her. I’m certainly enjoying the romances that ebb and flow in this. With the ending in this story, it looks like it could become extremely interesting in the next installment, The Eldritch Conspiracy. I can’t wait!
The Story
Just like real life, the authorities don’t always know everything and the school’s refusal to take her seriously is driving Celia mad. Still she’s there when the bomb does go off, only it’s having some serious, long-term effects and her damned health insurance refuses to cover her. They claim she’s dead!
She thought this was all bad enough. Until Rizzoli comes to get her and explains just how bad it really is and the Center for Magical Disease Control has to get involved.
That’s the easy part. What’s hard is that children are dying. Someone is setting off bombs in the schools. Good thing Creede’s specialty is offensive magic.
The Characters
As part of a plot, Celia Graves was almost completely turned into a vampire. Then she learned she has siren blood. Now she battles the state of California, insurance companies, demons, and a psychotic witch. Ivy is her ghostly sister, still roaming the earthly planes and worried about their alcoholic mother, Lana. And Ivy discovers the joy of overshadowing. Gran is in assisted living and quite the active enabler.
Dottie Simmons is a very powerful, secretive clairvoyant and a friend of Celia’s; she helps Dawna out at the office to supplement her pension. Dawna is the receptionist in Celia’s office building. And a friend who gets some gory lessons in self-defense from Alex and Celia. Ron is one of the tenants in the office building. He’s a lawyer and a first-class jerk — I am just dying for him to find out that Celia inherited the building!
Bruno DeLuca is a several-times former boyfriend of Celia’s and a level nine mage while John Creede who runs an extremely reputable security agency, Miller & Creede, is a level eight-plus. Both are very interested in Celia. Andrew is John’s assistant; Gillian is his sister. Both are extremely worried that John has been out of touch. Glinda Miller is George Miller’s daughter. The dead George that John and Celia killed in self-defense.
Detective Heather Alexander had been Vicki‘s lover before she died and it was through Vicki that Alex and Celia were friendly. Now, Alex is under intense scrutiny for what contact she does have with Celia. Terrance Harris is a Santa Maria de Luna cop and a six-level mage. His daughter, Willow, is attending the school. Officer Bob Danson has it in for Celia and his partner hasn’t a clue. Danson and Gerry, a guard at the clinic, are cofounders of the “Celia Graves Must Die” Club.
Special Agent Dominic Rizzoli is FBI and needs Celia’s help on a case; turns out he’s a level-eight Intuitive. His son Mikey has a bruise on his hip that his wife Karen just discovered. Gail Jones is FBI and is normally based at Quantico. She only comes in on high-profile cases. The negative is that her father is a magical hit man who has forced Celia to work for him in the past. Agent Indira Matumbo is half-demon, half-witch and can impersonate anyone.
Julie Murphy and her sister Bev have siren blood. Mick and Molly are their parents. Dr. Gwen Talbert is Celia’s therapist. Dr. Thomas Gaetano is with the Center for Magical Disease Control and he’s Christopher’s father. Baker and Natura are siren guards looking for Celia’s mother who escaped.
Warren “El Jefe” Landingham, the head of Paranormal Studies at the university, and his son Kevin, a werewolf, betrayed Celia so she’s not so friendly with them anymore. Emma, his daughter, is a clairvoyant and still one of Celia’s best friends. Dr. Aaron Sloan is frequently consulted for his knowledge of curses and the demonic.
Principal Sanchez is within her rights to refuse to evacuate; you just know it’s gonna turn out bad. R. Jamisyn is the school security guard who is sympathetic, but determined. Dr. Jean-Baptiste is a medical doctor specializing in Orvah magic, so don’t be surprised by the live goats and chickens wandering the office.
Isaac Levy is her magical tailor — hmmm, I wonder what he could do for me??; he and his wife Gilda also do the best artifact work.
Gavrail is one of the hired wands — the one with kids! G. Linda Thompson owns MagnaChem and is overbearingly pushy about hiring Celia as a bodyguard. The same Thompson who married a Jamisyn.
The Cover and Title
The cover is feels like an explosion of light with Celia at its center in her black leather pants, knee-high boots, and very low-necked scoop black tank top. She has knives in forearm sheathes, but it’s the Egyptian-style collar around her neck, framed by all that white-blonde hair blowing back from her face, that really grabs your attention.
The title is the trauma in this installment — The Isis Collar has the potential to wreak havoc on the world.
