Read for the Vampire Reading Challenge.
I’ll admit I was actually more than a little pleased when Paperspine inexplicably leapt my queue and sent me the next Blood Ties book. Due to certain events that happened in the last book, I was quite curious to see what would happen next in the Vicki/Fitzroy/Cellucci saga. I’m going to have to be more than a bit spoilerific to discuss this book, so if you want to be able to read Blood Pact and be surprised by the ending, stop reading right now.
At the end of the last book, Fitzroy was forced to turn Vicki into a vampire. What this means in this world is that after an initial year as student and teacher, Vicki and Fitzroy will no longer be able to live in the same city, as their predatory instincts will override the feelings they once had for each other. This seemed to bring a neat close to Vicki’s apparent need to chose between Fitzroy and Cellucci. When Cellucci thinks that he’s lost her forever (thanks to Fitzroy conveniently forgetting to tell him that she’ll only be gone for a year), he realizes the depth of his feelings for her, and when she returns to his doorstep, even though she’s changed, he’s ready to take on those changes, and chooses to be with her. So the last book left things essentially closed.
Which brings us to the opening of this book. Fitzroy has settled in Vancouver, and wakes up one morning to find a ghost in his room with him. The ghost wants Fitzroy to do something for him, and when he doesn’t get his way, innocent people start dying. Fitzroy very quickly realizes that he’s out of his league, as Vicki was the strong investigator in their partnership. So, fighting his instincts, he asks her to come to Vancouver.
Vicki asks Cellucci to come along, as she’ll need his help and protection during daylight hours. Naturally, Cellucci thinks it’s a terrible idea. And with their arrival in Vancouver, the love triangle is back in place, still looking for resolution. And yet, it works. Vicki is able to convince Fitzroy that they may indeed be able to live near each, given some time to redirect the instincts that would normally tear them apart. It opens up interesting possibilities for the future, when Cellucci has passed on (never in a million years do I see him allowing Vicki to change him over, even if he were dying. Their relationship is therefore finite.)
The relationships really are the main focus to this book, but the side mystery was interesting as well. Someone has been dealing in illegal organ trading, and it takes the whole team to figure out who, and finally rid Fitzroy of his ghost.
I definitely enjoyed this book. It’s sadly the last full length novel in the series (there is another book of short stories available, as well as another series about Fitzroy and a young man named Tony who’s been one of the minor characters throughout this series), and I’m going to miss being able to look forward to more.