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Blood Lines
by
Eileen Wilks
paranormal fantasy, romance in a Kindle edition that was published by Berkley on January 7, 2007 and has 352 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon, Audibles.
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Midnight Promises, Death Magic, Tied with a Bow, Mortal Ties, Ritual Magic, Unbinding, Mind Magic, Dragon Spawn, Dragon Blood, "Good Counsel", "Cyncerely Yours", "The New Kid", "Brownies", Mortal Danger, Night Season, Mortal Sins, Blood Magic, Blood Challenge, "Human Nature"
Third in the World of the Lupi romantic paranormal fantasy series and revolving around Special Agent Lily Yu and Rule Turner, the lupi they call the prince. It’s been three months since Tempting Danger, 1. In this story, the focus is on Cynna Weaver and Cullen Seabourne with the primary action in Washington D.C. and North Carolina.
My Take
Wilks is NOT boring, lol! The beginning of Blood Lines is a quick series of hops around the world, each a focus on a recurring character. Then it gets exciting.
This explosion of magic, demon attacks, real dreams, missing time, kidnappings, battles, stand-offs, three woolly mammoths on I-44, and betrayals will keep your heart rate up even as the lupi politics and some of their cultures will make your head spin.
It is a fascinating world Wilks has created. One that knows about magic and werewolves. That part of the world is likely easy enough to create their culture, and I am truly impressed with the lupi culture Wilks has invented.
It’s all told from primarily third person global subjective point-of-view primarily from Lily’s, Rule’s, Cullen’s and Cynna’s perspectives. Well, it is fair since the book does focus on the latter two…and do they have a surprise for you! Grandmother reveals her thoughts and emotions in this as well. I can’t help but adore Grandmother, and I’m dying to know so much more about her. A dragon lover? So much older than we think?? Oh, boy!
People are so weird. Case in point? Toby’s jerk of a mother. She doesn’t want to spend time with him, but won’t let Rule have him either. At least the disapproving Grammy accepts that Rule is Toby’s father! As a counterpoint to the prejudice, eventually, lol, is Timms. Poor baby. He faces such a turnaround!
Rule definitely has my attention — hey, he’s gorgeous and smart. And I gotta say that Cullen definitely attracts me — he’s so snarky and out-loud, lol. I certainly enjoy his “scientific” arguments with Cynna as they debate the origin of magic, techniques, and what beliefs are true or not.
Hmm, interesting theory about humans needing a pack, especially about Timms needing one, lol. It does make more sense than anything else. As for that theory about cancer cells being immortal…eww…
I do wonder what the point was in including the two English sisters’ adventure…
Now I’m curious how Leidolf culture will fare in the future. Currently they believe women should be barefoot and pregnant with no rights at all. They don’t eat with the men. They are ignored! That legal trickery they finagled has me fuming. And Lily sure ain’t thrilled with them!
It’s all about power and the Old Ones.
The Story
Cullen is on a search. Lupi heirs attacked. Kidnappings. Threats.
Demons attacks. Then a whirlwind of magic sweeps the world, and life as we know it falls apart, a worldwide calamity, as people’s Gifts awaken.
The Characters
Special Agent (SA) Lily Yu, a touch sensitive, used to be a Homicide detective. Now she’s with Unit 12 and a Chosen mated to the claustrophobic Rule Turner, lupus, Lu Nuncio of the Nokolai, and father to eight-year-old Toby. Dirty Harry is Lily’s cat. Other Lily is/was Lily’s other half, the one ripped to Dis. Mrs Asteglio is Toby’s maternal grandmother, Grammy, with whom he lives. Alicia, Toby’s mother, is a journalist who was just assigned to Beirut and refuses to allow Rule custody. Rule’s great-grandmother, Iselda, was Leidolf.
Unit 12, Magical Crimes Division (MCD), FBI
Ruben Brooks, a precog, is in charge of MCD. Ida Reinhart is Ruben’s secretary. SA Cynna Weaver is a Finder, a Dizzy demon rider, and a Catholic. Hannah, the Nokolai Rhej, believes Cynna is Lady-touched. More special agents include Abel Karonski, a Wiccan; Martin Croft, a top Unit agent; Sean; and, Steve Timms, who’s passionate about weapons but hates magic. The Evidence Response Team is led by Marion. Sandy McPherson is an analyst in data collection. Jules.
Washington D.C.
The Species Citizenship Bill is bogged down. Paul Chernowich, a Leidolf lupus tenor with the choir, is caught by surprise.
Sherry O’Shaunessy is the high priestess for the oldest and largest Wiccan coven in the country. Linda and Steven? are coven members. Archbishop Patrick Brown is a fiery Catholic and a demonologist. Ms Pearson is a presidential advisor. Professor Hikaru Ito is a symbolist who teaches at Harvard. Dr Xavier Fagin is a touch sensitive.
Nokolai are…
…a werewolf clan based in the San Diego area. Their Rho (alpha) is Isen Turner, Rule’s father. Benedict Two Horses is another of Isen’s sons, a warrior legend, and in charge of their security. Cullen Seabourne, a friend of Rule’s, was recently adopted into Nokolai after being outcast from his original clan for being a sorcerer. A Rhej is a lupi priestess, a.k.a. the Lady’s Voice, and repository of memories going back thousands of years. Dr Nettie Two Horses is Benedict’s daughter, a Harvard-trained physician, and a shaman. Rule’s guards will include Freddie, Stan Carlson, Brown, and Lincoln.
Max Smith, a gnome and another friend of Rule’s, runs Club Hell where Cullen works as a stripper. Sun “Sam” Mzou is a black dragon, the oldest and most powerful of his kind.
Leidolf is an enemy clan to Nokolai based in Halo, North Carolina. The nutso Victor Frey is their Rho. Randall Frey had been Victor’s son. The sadistic, sociopathic Brady Gunning is Victor’s remaining son and possible heir. Sabra Ewings is Victor’s daughter. Merilee, Randall’s wife, is seven months pregnant. Marybeth had been Victor’s sister. The Leidolf Rhej, Leah, is a healer and Alex’s sister. Adriane is Leah’s apprentice. Alex Thibodeaux is in charge of security. Frederick, David, and Gary are some of Victor’s bodyguards. More Leidolf include Roland Miller, Paul’s father; John Ellis; Reese; Thomas; Max; Merrick; Eric; Hennings; Robbins; and, Phillip.
Other clans include Szós, Kyffin, Etorri, and Ybirra, which is new and started by a former Leidolf lupus, Tomás Ybirra in 1882.
Nutley, North Carolina…
…Police Chief Robert Mann is in charge. Dr Farley sets Timms’ arm.
Lily Yu’s family
Edward, Lily’s father, is Grandmother’s son. Julia is Lily’s pushy, shallow mother. Susan is the oldest sister who just got married. Beth is the younger sister. Lynn is a cousin with a dressmaking business.
Miller’s Dale, Derbyshire, England
Marnie and Julie are budding naturalists, sisters, who came upon fairies.
Los Lobos, Mihoacán, Mexico
Señora de Pedrosa, Enrique’s widow, rents out a room. Jesús Garcia owns the café. Carmencita is a waitress.
Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
Madama Li Lei Yu, Lily’s grandmother who can turn into a tiger, is on a quest. Li Qin is Grandmother’s companion. An Du had been a monk.
Dis is…
…Hell. Gan is a s/he demon we met in Tempting Danger whose ability allows her to move across realms. Xitil is a demon prince allied with Her avatar. Dashtu is a state of being — physically present but slightly out of phase. Üther is a demon’s sense of someone’s life. Melli is one of the demons, a tzmai.
Jiri Ashmahani had been Cynna’s teacher in the Msaidizi movement, a.k.a. Dizzies, who apply tattoos to their skin: kilingo store spells and kielezo are patterns. Tish is a bound demon. Cece is Jiri’s daughter. Hamid Franklin, Alexia Morgan, and Tommy Cordoba, who is a far-hearer, had been some of her disciples. Beecher is one of his guards.
Twenty-five years ago, Amy Garcia and her sister, Sarita, a gorgeous little thing apparently, were Cynna’s friends when she was younger. Tom-Tom is Amy’s boyfriend. Raphael and the bullying Derek are his friends. Thompson’s is the neighborhood grocery. Cynna’s mother is a drunk. Mrs Johnson seems to have been a neighbor.
The Great Bitch, She (or Her), is an Old One, the enemy of the lupi goddess whom they call the Lady. The Reverend Patrick Harlowe was the head of the Azá church. The Azá are Her servants. Helen had been Her avatar in Tempting Danger.
Molly Brown, a succubus who lives in Galveston, and her friend Michael, a sorcerer, tampered with Cullen’s memory. Erin DuBase is a registered Wiccan and friend of Molly’s. The Turning occurs in a magical wind that sweeps the world. Patch “Giggles” and Jo-Jo are thugs; Tallboy knows them. Father Jacobs is a priest at Our Lady of the Assumption. Fernando Baccardi was a telepath in the last century.
Lupus is the singular for werewolf; lupi is the plural. A mantle is what makes the Rho. The Great War was fought amongst the Old Ones. Sorcerí are loose bits of magic that leak from nodes. The Codex Arcanum is the Book of All Magic. Lost. What the Great Bitch seeks.
The Cover and Title
The cover has a smoothly textured turquoise background with a black border at top and bottom. At the top is the author’s name in white with an info blurb immediately below it, both set against a deep blood red that fades up into the black. The title is at the bottom above the black border in a combination of red to white and ending in red. The center graphic is what compels, an angled pose by Cynna of her blue tattooed back and right arm.
The title is about family, about Blood Lines, and how they can affect their descendants.
