Blood of Eden (Sloane Skye, #1)

Feb 21, 2013 Mara rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: urban-fantasy, trash-bin

Would it be really offensive if I confessed Blood of Eden doesn't deserve even one star? This book is bad. Period. No saving grace. I'm wondering how it got published.

Characters: outside the Mary Sue leading the story (all guys fall for her even if she doesn't recognize how good she is...), there are no characters even vaguely two-dimensional (let's not talk about three). The heroine is a fifteen yo in the body of a 20-something. Stupid doesn't even cover it. (She gags in her mouth for G's sake...more Would it be really offensive if I confessed Blood of Eden doesn't deserve even one star? This book is bad. Period. No saving grace. I'm wondering how it got published.

Characters: outside the Mary Sue leading the story (all guys fall for her even if she doesn't recognize how good she is...), there are no characters even vaguely two-dimensional (let's not talk about three). The heroine is a fifteen yo in the body of a 20-something. Stupid doesn't even cover it. (She gags in her mouth for G's sake.) Irritating is too bland a word.
Her best friend is supposed to be clever too. (She has a lab in her home!) But when she gets a phone call telling her the heroine is going to get married, she happily rush into a trap. Well, what is strange in an unknown affair in the middle of a case when she has been in danger?

Plot. All over the place. It makes no sense, at all. Worse it's so unbelievable to be laughable. (And we are talking of fantasy....) An inexperienced intern kinda leads a serial killer investigation. Yep. In two weeks she goes undercover. She presents her profile to a room full of experienced policemen and tells them there's a vamp on the loose. No one laughs. No one calls an ambulance. No explanation is given of this.
I'm serious when I say the FBI doesn't come good out of this book. They seem unprofessional at best.(view spoiler) Unfortunately, all the plot is packed full of things like this and your attention is shot to hell.

Writing. Choppy, klutzy. (For me. I am no expert.)

Extra losing points. This story is literally ripped off the TV show Criminal Minds. She is the brilliant genius with a psychotic mother profiling serial killers. Every chapter starts with a quotation. Their computer expert is a chewing gum girl who makes doe's eyes to one of the guys...And so on. I usually do not give a damn to "similarities" (we all stand on the shoulders of giants). But this really goes a little bit further than acceptable.
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Aug 06, 2012 Michelle rated it 1 of 5 stars

Oh No, this woman did NOT just rip off my favorite tv show and use it to further her career. But oh, she did. I could tell within the first few pages, she most certainly did. She probably thought, "Hmm. This is a good show, but you know what it needs? Vampires." (Because real people aren't scary enough) "I bet if I rewrite this series but add the paranormal stuff to ride on the woo-woo wave, I could cash in on the market." You really think we're too dumb to notice that this is Criminal Minds wit...more

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Dec 16, 2011 Megan (Book Brats) rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: disappointing, urban-fantasy, crime-solving, from-publisher

When I was offered the chance to review BLOOD OF EDEN, I jumped on the opportunity. I love urban fantasy, forensic psychology, the FBI, vampires - and this start to a new series promises just that. We are introduced to our narrator, Sloan Skye, as she begins her internship with the FBI - or so she thinks. A strange series of events ensues, after which Sloan is shoved into the new (and somewhat kooky) Paranormal Behavioral Analysis Unit, or the PBAU. Their first case appears to be a serial killer...more When I was offered the chance to review BLOOD OF EDEN, I jumped on the opportunity. I love urban fantasy, forensic psychology, the FBI, vampires - and this start to a new series promises just that. We are introduced to our narrator, Sloan Skye, as she begins her internship with the FBI - or so she thinks. A strange series of events ensues, after which Sloan is shoved into the new (and somewhat kooky) Paranormal Behavioral Analysis Unit, or the PBAU. Their first case appears to be a serial killer who injects its prey with a tropical illness through bite marks on the neck. Sloan is thrown into the action almost immediately, and secrets begin to unravel from this point.

Let me just come out with my main problem. This book's plausibility level was basically non-existent. What plausibility? Sloan is suddenly going to murder scenes, visiting morgues, and at one point is shoved undercover - less than two weeks after her internship begins. I was a government intern (twice) and the only time I ever left the office was to go to a meeting at another office within sight of the main office or to go across the street to buy a newspaper for my boss. It wasn't an FBI internship, but I cannot fathom that it's allowable for an intern to do stuff like that. That was my main issue with this book. This book could have had a lot more going for it if Sloan wasn't an intern. If she was new to the unit, it's believable. As an intern? No. Not all all.

The characters overall seemed rather flat. Outside of Sloan, her mother, the two guys fighting over her, and her roommate, the characters faded into the woodwork. We were introduced a multitude of characters, from a brainy female techie at the FBI to a number of witnesses, doctors, and victims, but picking out names or personality traits was pretty difficult. Even the chief of the department was just a one-dimensional character with no discernable personality. Sloan at times ranged from fun and relatable to rather dumb. The ending of the book was obvious from the first few chapters, but with every new clue bonking her on her precocious little head, she doubts the obvious. This is the PARANORMAL Behavioral Analysis Unit, but every time something paranormal happens, like bite marks or a woman jumping a six foot fence in one leap, Sloan's immediate reaction is to doubt the obvious and claim the witness was seeing things or crazed or blind or senile. It isn't until the very end and a familial revelation that was clear from the beginning that she begins to realize everything.

As we reach the end, the story comes into its own and develops an interesting new direction. By this point, though, it's too late - the story has already become implausible, outlandish, and full of predictable turns. It leaves me with hope that maybe book two would be better, but based on what I have read so far, I highly doubt that I will read it.

By the ending, Sloan was still the only character with real depth, but over the course of the novel, this depth became watered down and diluted by the lack of plausibility in the story. The plot of this book sucked me in. I was desperate to love this book, I wanted to love it, I wanted to be able to recommend this to my friends and my readers and everyone I knew. Instead, I can only recommend that you try this at your own risk. It will not be for everyone, and it wasn't for me. The ending reveals the openings for an intriguing urban fantasy series, but I am not sure if I want to continue based on a heavily flawed book one.

VERDICT: With plausibility and predictability issues, BLOOD OF EDEN is unable to fulfill the interesting premise it sets forth. Would not recommend this one.(less)

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Jan 19, 2012 All Things Urban Fantasy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed-by-julia

There are those exciting moments in life when you hit it off with someone right off the bat. You’re cracking up, you love the way their mind works, and time flies by in conversation. Reading BLOOD OF EDEN gave me one of those great moments with the heroine, Sloan Skye. Sloan's mix of enthusiasm and nerdiness clicked with me right from the get go, but instead of telling anecdotes over finger foods I had the excitement of riding along with her first days as an FBI intern.

It was more than just Slo...more

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Dec 23, 2011 Juliana rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction-vixen-print-or-e-books, advance-reading-copy-or-galley, 0-own-in-dead-tree-form, first-person-narrator, 0-reviewed, 2-stars, fiction-vixen-posted-book-review, paranormal-romance, fantasy-urban-fantasy, 2011-nov-reads, 2011-reads

I was really looking forward to reading this book, because I’ve wanted to explore the UF sub-genre for a while now—not in small part due to the fact that I felt like I was ready for a (don’t kill me) romance mini-break. *GASP* I know. Just a small one! A change of pace now and then in order to make me appreciate the romances all the more. Honestly. Promise. Cross my heart and hope to die.

Blood of Eden is about a young woman who has just begun a summer internship with the newly-formed PBAU—Parano...more I was really looking forward to reading this book, because I’ve wanted to explore the UF sub-genre for a while now—not in small part due to the fact that I felt like I was ready for a (don’t kill me) romance mini-break. *GASP* I know. Just a small one! A change of pace now and then in order to make me appreciate the romances all the more. Honestly. Promise. Cross my heart and hope to die.

Blood of Eden is about a young woman who has just begun a summer internship with the newly-formed PBAU—Paranormal Behavioral Analysis Unit. The book’s world is based on this one, i.e. the characters are normal people, at first doubt the existence of anything paranormal, etc. Skye has wanted to work for the BAU forever and when she finds out where she’s been assigned, it takes her a little while to get over her disappointment … and disbelief. There are a series of mysterious murders happening that the PBAU team has been assigned to and while there are some odd things about the killings, Skye doesn’t believe that there is necessarily a paranormal component to them.

As the murder-mystery part of the plot unfolds, we also learn about all the other things that are going on in Skye’s life: her mother is schizophrenic and always adding complications, her roommate seems to be going through her own episode of who-knows-what, and there are two men vying for her attention: JT, one of the agents on the team, and Gabe, her longtime nemesis from school whom she once had a bit of a thing with.

At the beginning, I really liked Skye. The book is told in first-person from her POV and she’s presented as a self-deprecating, awkward, non-fashionista, girl-genius who is juggling a lot of different things in her life. As things progressed, however, I began to lose my patience with her and with the story as a whole.

One of the things that annoyed me almost from the start was Skye’s constant reference to her body’s reaction to JT and the manner in which it was done, always saying that she wasn’t going to notice how this body part was tingling at his nearness or that organ was reacting. The supporting characters weren’t as fleshed out as they could have been and most of them remain relatively one-dimensional up until the end. The notable exception was Gabe, whose interactions with Skye I really enjoyed and who didn’t get enough page-time IMO.

The mystery was not one of those where the reader is given hints and can try to figure it out on her own, à la Agatha Christie. For me, this usually means that more time needs to be spent on the mystery subplot so that I’m drawn in and care how it is solved. In Blood of Eden, there were so many other plot points being followed however, that it was easy for me to lose interest in the murders, and in the end they seem somewhat extraneous.

All of the subplots are neatly wrapped up in the end with some weird twists thrown in to speed things along. Some seem so unbelievably random, while others are very anti-climactic, and since it’s one after another it begins to feel excessive. Sloane ends up hitting the nail on the head in a scene in the final section when she thinks to herself that it’s all starting to sound like some low-budget sci-fi movie—and I’m sorry to say it, but I will not be picking up the sequel.

Originally reviewed for Fiction Vixen Book Reviews. This review is of an ARC provided by the author/publisher to FVBR. (less)

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Mar 19, 2013 Hazel rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi-fantasy

Elements of this book reminded me a lot of the tv show Criminal Minds. Because of that it didn't feel very original to me. I'm not sure if it was just me, but the book felt like it was written in a hurry. Scenes & characters weren't fleshed out in too much detail. Sloan keeps hinting at sensing something off about JT but as far as I could see there wasn't anything off about him. The people who were off in this book for me was Sloan, her mom & her roommate. I didn't like Sloan. She was to...more

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Dec 25, 2012 Turtles rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-modern

I didn't read any reviews for this book and I was a little surprised when I started reading it since it was a dead ringer for the TV show Criminal Minds. Sloane Skye is the main character, evidently a child genius type who has a schizophrenic Mom (just like Reed on the show). She scores an intern position at the BAU of the FBI, but is transferred to the Paranormal BAU her first day. The inconsistencies tended to stack up after that. She shows little signs of genius in the book other than a few,...more

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Jul 02, 2012 Gules rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, kindle

Description per Amazon.com:

Sloan has a sky-high IQ, a chaotic personal life, and a dream: to work for the FBI. Her goal is within reach until an error lands her with the FBI's ugly stepchild: the new Paranormal Behavioral Analysis Unit. She'll get to profile criminals, but the pool of suspects is a little more...diverse. Yet even as Sloan tackles her first case--a string of victims, all with puncture wounds to the neck--she can't silence her inner para-skeptic.

To catch the killer she'll have to...more

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Mar 12, 2012 WillowBe rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: ez-2-read-paranormal

Good effort for first book. But it didn't merit 272 pages. This is more of a 225 type book. It took 150 pages before any of the big dark secret began to filter out. And I have a problem with these "Blood" titles. This is really light paranormal and isn't dark- LKH, Stacia Kane's Downside series, Lili St Crow's Hunter series, Mike Carey's Felix Caster? THOSE are dark. This is about as dark as a slightly overcast day. So I think the series name is somewhat misleading and as such will lead to her h...more

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Feb 20, 2012 Elizabeth rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'm not really sure how I felt about this book. To me it felt like I was reading a paranormal spoof episode of Criminal Minds.

Sloan Skye is a genius FBI Intern, who lives with a genius chemist student roommate. Her mother is also extremely intelligent and very, very quirky (the mother may or may not have Schizophrenia, I’m banking that she doesn’t). Her father was also extremely intelligent but is no longer in the picture.

Skye seems to have only one other friend that may or may not actually be...more I'm not really sure how I felt about this book. To me it felt like I was reading a paranormal spoof episode of Criminal Minds.

Sloan Skye is a genius FBI Intern, who lives with a genius chemist student roommate. Her mother is also extremely intelligent and very, very quirky (the mother may or may not have Schizophrenia, I’m banking that she doesn’t). Her father was also extremely intelligent but is no longer in the picture.

Skye seems to have only one other friend that may or may not actually be her arch-enemy. He is actually her high school ex-boyfriend and seems to be everywhere she is. He low and behold is also extremely smart and you are told by her that he may be smarter then her. Really does everyone in the book have to be a genius?????

What to me didn’t really work was that she is supposed to be super intelligent but I found that she seemed to not notice things that were right there, and for a hopeful profiler that just didn’t mesh. You can’t be a dumb blonde and a super profiler at the same time and that’s what the author tried to do. Take the ex he was supposed to have cheated on her in high school and broken her heart yet for the last 4 or 5 years he has been her shadow (taken most of the classes she has, got a job at the FBI because she did, then transferred to the unit she worked with because she did, he got jealous of the other male agents, and helped her with her case) even though he’s supposed to hate her. I found that odd from the beginning and quickly realized he still liked her or never stopped though to her it is an impossible suggestion even after all the help he gives her.

Skye is working with a new FBI group called the PBAU (paranormal behavioral Unit), which profiles cases that are of the occult. There are few agents in the group and the ones that are there are suspicious, especially super hot agent JT whom she is instantly attracted to. So there is a setup for a love triangle between her, JT and Gabe the ex.

The action in this book is few and far between, mostly its mundane day to day stuff with a little quark thrown in from her mom and roommate. The ending to me was very disappointing and sets us up for another book. I’m not sure if I’ll be tuning in for the next one though.
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Dec 20, 2011 Paranormal Haven rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reviews-by-beth-guest-reviewer

Sloan Skye has always wanted to work for the FBI. She finally has her chance as an intern. She just didn’t know it would be with the PBAU. The ‘P,’ she soon finds out stands for ‘Paranormal.’ Women around the same age end up killed by deadly diseases, and bite marks on their necks. It is up to Sloan to find out who the murder is, with the help of the PBAU. During the investigation strange things happen to Sloan.

Other than the paranormal detective plot it has two smaller plots. Sloan has been hav...more Sloan Skye has always wanted to work for the FBI. She finally has her chance as an intern. She just didn’t know it would be with the PBAU. The ‘P,’ she soon finds out stands for ‘Paranormal.’ Women around the same age end up killed by deadly diseases, and bite marks on their necks. It is up to Sloan to find out who the murder is, with the help of the PBAU. During the investigation strange things happen to Sloan.

Other than the paranormal detective plot it has two smaller plots. Sloan has been having strange nightmares of a monster. Other odd things start going on like, strange encoded letters, and an infestation of fire flies. It really bugged me that she shrugged some of it off. Even when the strange stuff parallels her case, she doesn’t seem to put anything together. In fact there is a scene that her apartment is broken into, and she decides not to tell anyone. These small things made her seem like a dense character. She is supposed to be very smart, but instead feels like an untrustworthy narrator.

The second smaller plot is the love interests. JT, the agent she is partnered with seems to have the hots for her, and she for him. Sparks don’t fly too high. She is an intern, and doesn’t want to ruin her future career with the FBI. There is also Gabe, who soon follows her to work for the PBAU. They have a past with one another, and it is apparent he still likes Sloan. JT is big and brawny, while Gabe seemed smart and skeptical. On one hand readers have seen this love triangle in countless other books, on the other it doesn’t waste time on Sloan gushing her feelings for either man, just the occasional day dream, or comment.

The main plot is finding who is killing the women. Sloan really gets into the case, despite many distractions. There were a few things that bothered me about the PBAU, a loss of information on DNA, and a very strange couple days Sloan spent at the hospital. These felt like inconsistences in the story. Despite the fact that it is a detective story it also lacks a great deal of action, but kept the reader into it with the mystery.

The story was told through Sloan’s POV, and at times we didn’t see eye to eye. Some of her choices seemed unrealistic, and in some scenes the dialogue explained things that it didn’t need to. The other characters dialogue felt stiff, and sometimes random. The plot was simplistic, and exciting, but didn’t have me on the edge of my chair flipping pages. All the problems work themselves out far too easily. I was left with the feeling that not everything was fleshed out, leaving way for another book in the series. The story lacked something to set it apart from other paranormal detective stories.
-Beth (Guest Reviewer)(less)

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Jan 03, 2012 Darcy rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, uf, vampires

I am not sure why I kept reading this one. There was so much that I found hard to believe. First off Sloane is hired as an intern at the FBI, but they loose her spot and no one contacts her until she shows up that day, the job goes to her nemesis. I know the government doesn't move quickly, but that is ridiculous. Then another department swoops in to pick her up and she immediately goes out into the field working along side the normal agents. Again, I can't see it. Then a few days later the guy...more

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May 23, 2012 Christina Williams rated it 3 of 5 stars

Have you ever read something and you're not sure why you like it because there's a ton of stuff that should bother you but you just like it anyway? That's kind of how I felt about this book. I know a lot of folks compared it unfavorably to the TV show Criminal Minds but I've never really seen the show so that wasn't a problem for me.

There was so much about this book that was wrong. There is no way in heaven or hell that an intern would do all that stuff. It just didn't make sense. Just make her...more

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Dec 27, 2011 Ferdy rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: tstl-heroine, pararnomal-csi-shit

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. 1.5 stars
It took me longer than usual to finish this book.. It just wasn't for me. Sloan Skye has a high IQ - although you can't tell from reading this book - she is looking to intern for the summer at the FBI but is turned down, so she begs for any job there even if means cleaning offices?!?.. so she's gone from applying for a coveted FBI internship to asking if she can clean offices.. WTF?! Anyway she's offered an intern position for the PBAU which we find out is the Paranormal Behavioral Anal...more 1.5 stars
It took me longer than usual to finish this book.. It just wasn't for me. Sloan Skye has a high IQ - although you can't tell from reading this book - she is looking to intern for the summer at the FBI but is turned down, so she begs for any job there even if means cleaning offices?!?.. so she's gone from applying for a coveted FBI internship to asking if she can clean offices.. WTF?! Anyway she's offered an intern position for the PBAU which we find out is the Paranormal Behavioral Analysis Unit. The same day she's offered the job she starts as they need all heads on deck, Sloan finds out women are being murdered - these women all have a bite mark on their neck and have all died from a tropical disease even though none of the women have been out of the country. So Sloan and the rest of the PBAU team investigate before another woman is killed.
Sloan was supposed to be clever but she acted like an idiot for the most part - ignoring witness's accounts because someone was old or dismissing DNA evidence because she didn't believe there could be anything paranormal about it.. er hello you agreed to a job with the PARAnormal BAU. She was just too skeptical for the most part. Her relationship with her mother who has mental health issues was quite nice, but she was a bit of a doormat when it came to her mother.. yes she has mental health problems but she let her walk all over her.
It was also a bit unbelievable that on the day she stars her job she's able to go to a crime scene and interview witnesses without any training.
Her love interest JT an agent for the PBAU was ok, but he seemed to be hiding things from her which she doesn't even question him about.. he also told someone at the PBAU that they were sleeping together when they weren't, this has given her a reputation.. so she questions him and he says he trusted the wrong person and that he told this person that they slept together because he wanted to arrange a suprise for her.. But Sloan doesn't ask who this person was or what the suprise was or why he needed to tell someone they slept together in order to arrange this suprise.. she doesn't ask anything.. WTF?!
Gabe is another love interest who is also happens to be her ex.. she goes on and on that he dumped her and cheated on her with some girl years ago.. but Gabe says she dumped him and that he never slept with anyone else.. Sloan doesn't question Gabe and ask what happened between them she just stands there dumbfounded.. she's just an idiot who comes to her own wrong conclusions.
I don't know if I'll read the next book.. I'll prob check reviews to see if there's any improvement before buying the next book. (less)

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Jan 05, 2012 Nicole rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: review, urban-fantasy, read-in-2012

Review originally posted here: http://thebookpushers.com/2012/01/06/...

Publisher: Kensington
Publish Date: Out Now!
How I got this book: review copy from publisher

Dani’s debut urban fantasy novel was one that caught my eye and had me hoping I was going to find my next crack-a-licious UF series.

Sloan is not only insanely smart, but also just a little bit insane. Her life is erratic and crazy with her mentally ill mother, chemist room-mate and her brand new job at the FBI. Working for the new parano...more Review originally posted here: http://thebookpushers.com/2012/01/06/...

Publisher: Kensington
Publish Date: Out Now!
How I got this book: review copy from publisher

Dani’s debut urban fantasy novel was one that caught my eye and had me hoping I was going to find my next crack-a-licious UF series.

Sloan is not only insanely smart, but also just a little bit insane. Her life is erratic and crazy with her mentally ill mother, chemist room-mate and her brand new job at the FBI. Working for the new paranormal division, Sloan has a hard time believing, but jumps right into the fray of things. When the first case takes weird after weird turn, Sloan will have to use everything in her arsenal (including some resources from her past she would like to forget) to solve this case.

When things turn from weird to even weirder, Sloan gets pulled into the thick of things and realizes that this case is becoming more and more personal as the days go on. With her sexy partner tempting her at every turn, her arch enemy getting promoted to her team and her personal life crumbling each day, Sloan just might be able to survive another day.

While there were quite a few things I really enjoyed about this book, there were also a few things that I felt were lacking. For a debut novel, there were a lot of great things going on. Sloan was a fun and snark character and although her IQ is off the charts, her lack of streets smarts leaves a little to be desired. But it provides for some awesome comedic relief. However, for those readers who don’t like an endearing but clueless heroine that takes awhile to pick up on social clues, this book wont be for you.

I also liked the set up for the series. I think it’ll be a fun and fast paced series that will encompass a lot of different paranormal creatures (I don’t think I’ve ever read about the particular kind of vamp we had in this story – so fun), and the series has a lot of room to grow and change and morph. I also didn’t feel as if the love triangle was too much. Instead, it felt more relaxed and believable. I just hope it doesn’t get stretched out over time.

I do think that the pacing was a little slow at times, which surprised me a bit given just how much plot was going on. It felt as if there were about 20 different story-lines going on at once, and while most of them did eventually tie in, they still felt disconnected and choppy to me. It did become a little difficult to follow along when there were so many different things going on in each and every scene.

There were also moments that I really didn’t feel the love connection between Sloan and JT. Yes, things developed VERY slowly for these two relationship wise, but there were moments when I just wasn’t sure why they were together, what about each other attracted them. Yes the physical lust was there, but the emotional connection came much later (if at all really).

All in all I think this was a strong urban fantasy debut with a lot of room for growth and improvement. I look forward to reading more about Sloan and JT, I think the paranormal aspects will be unique and refreshing to read. This book seemed to mix a lot of mystery and suspense into the plot as well, so that was great fun as well.
I give Blood of Eden a C+(less)

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Dec 20, 2011 Nora-adrienne rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy

Blood of Eden
By: Tami Dane
Copyright: December 2011
Publisher: Kensington Urban Fantasy

Sloan has a sky-high IQ, a chaotic personal life, and a dream: to work for the FBI. Her goal is within reach until an error lands her with the FBI’s ugly stepchild: the new Paranormal Behavioral Analysis Unit. She’ll get to profile criminals, but the pool of suspects is a little more… diverse. Yet even as Sloan tackles her first case, a string of victims, all with puncture wounds to the neck, she can’t slience h...more Blood of Eden
By: Tami Dane
Copyright: December 2011
Publisher: Kensington Urban Fantasy

Sloan has a sky-high IQ, a chaotic personal life, and a dream: to work for the FBI. Her goal is within reach until an error lands her with the FBI’s ugly stepchild: the new Paranormal Behavioral Analysis Unit. She’ll get to profile criminals, but the pool of suspects is a little more… diverse. Yet even as Sloan tackles her first case, a string of victims, all with puncture wounds to the neck, she can’t slience her inner para-skeptic.
To catch the killer she’ll have to think like one. That means casting aside her doubts, and dealing with bizarre nightmares that started with the job. But the strangeness is only beginning, as Sloan pieces together the shocking truth about a case that’s more personal than she ever would have guessed.

Sloan applied for a summer internship with the FBI, and was accepted. Imagine her surprise when she arrives and is told “whoops, we made a mistake”, we’ve hired someone else for the position we promised you. Then to find out that the new intern was her high school nemesis was almost too much for her. She virtually got down on her knees and begged for any kind of work at the bureau and surprisingly (yeah right) they found a job for her in the new PBAU. Sloan is of course more than a little leery of this gift but is willing to give it a try.

Normally when someone interns with any company, be it gov’t or commercial, they usually end up being the office gofers. Go for this, go for that. When the unit is called in to handle a series of strange murders Sloan is a bit surprised to find that she is going to be working as part of the team doing the behavioral work up.

A little about Sloan. Her dad left when she was young, her mom is a nutcase, and her roommate has turned their kitchen into a mad scientist’s laboratory. So I’m guessing that this new job is going to really stretch her credibility meter to its limit.

I totally enjoyed the storyline, the characters and Sloan’s family history. I think this series could give some of the NYT top authors a run for their money. I’m looking forward to the next book and all the others to follow.

FTC Full Disclosure: I was sent this book by the publishers who asked only a fair and impartial review.
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Apr 16, 2012 Star (The Bibliophilic Book Blog) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed

Blood of Eden is a very interesting book and I'm looking forward to seeing where this series is going. You definitely have to suspend belief while reading this story. It seemed a bit like a paranormal episode of Criminal Minds (a show I love!). I enjoyed the characters and I felt the main characters were well-developed while the minor characters faded a bit into the background. Some of the plot and sub-plots seemed to get obscured as to progression and resolution. It was fun to see some of it se...more

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Dec 03, 2011 Julia rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, fiction, urban, arcs

The heroine in BLOOD OF EDEN stole the show. Sloan's mix of enthusiasm and nerdiness clicked with me right from the get go. I also love that rather than the stereotypical "new job angst", Sloan is a natural fit for the FBI, and her attraction for JT was sexy and fun. Of course, every character needs an Achilles heel, and for Sloan that is her family and personal life. As adept as she organizes information for a case, she has obvious blind spots in her romantic history. Dane did a wonderful job w...more

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Jan 20, 2012 Lidia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Must say that I really liked this story, especially because it is not obvious why it does not deal with trivial and fantastic mythological creatures as we are accustomed to reading even discover that the killer is a figure with special features, as well as the resolution of the case. On the page of each chapter of this book contains a maximum of some writer, scientist and thinker concerning truth, knowledge, reality and fantasy that makes you think and that instills doubt or curiosity, and the t...more

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Jan 06, 2012 Kt from A Book Obsession.. rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: received-for-review, hardcopy

Review originally posted on my blog: A Book Obsession..

Sloan is incredibly smart, and her dreams of working for the FBI are finally about come true, only things don't go quite as she planned. She's tasked to work with a new paranormal unit whose job is to find criminals that aren't quite of the human variety. Of course she is more than a little skeptic, but the bills need paid, so she reluctantly accepts the position and starts on a case that involves victims with puncture wounds on their necks...more Review originally posted on my blog: A Book Obsession..

Sloan is incredibly smart, and her dreams of working for the FBI are finally about come true, only things don't go quite as she planned. She's tasked to work with a new paranormal unit whose job is to find criminals that aren't quite of the human variety. Of course she is more than a little skeptic, but the bills need paid, so she reluctantly accepts the position and starts on a case that involves victims with puncture wounds on their necks. Then some strange things start happening, and she can't quite ignore the signs that things that go bump in the night may just be real.

I'm really on the fence about how I feel about Blood of Eden. The concept was rather intriguing, but while reading it, I was very easily distracted by other things. There just wasn't anything going on that would grab a hold of me. In fact, there seemed to be a little too much going on at once, which made it difficult to follow at times. Off the top of my head I can think of at least 4 different sub-plots in addition to what I think was supposed to be the main one. To make matters worse, there were many moments of inconsistencies, as well some very unrealistic behaviors/events. To keep from spoiling things, I'll just list one early example. Sloan is supposed to be an Intern, fresh on the job with a new unit in the FBI, yet she is treated as anything but. The woman has had absolutely no training, but she is sent right out into the field, and put in VERY risky situations. It just struck me as quite unrealistic to say the least, and unfortunately that was only the first of these types of issues.

I really loved Sloan's character at first, but the further I got along in the book the more annoyed I became with her. I mean she came across as fun, a little nerdy and quite quirky, which are attributes that really endear me to characters. However, some of her behavior just did not make sense, especially when her supposed high intelligence is taken into account. She seemed completely oblivious to the things that were starting her right in the face, and more than a little reckless in ignoring dangers. Then you add in the cat and mouse game she was playing with one of the agents, which is supposed to be rather taboo. I would have respected her a little more if she had of either gone into things with him full forced, or completely backed off. Yet she did neither and continued on a path of wishy-washiness. It just seemed rather inconsistent with the strong character we met at the beginning of the book.

As I'm looking back over what I have written, I realize that it may look like I couldn't stand the book, but in the end it was entertaining as long as I was willing to suspend a little disbelief. Even so, I still think Blood of Eden could have been a whole lot better if things had of been condensed or more focused on only one or two things. That being said, I still think I will check into the next installment, because I feel there is a lot of room for potential here, especially as Sloan finds her way. (And of course, I want to see more of the yummy JT). So in the end, I'd recommend Blood of Eden to anyone who enjoys reading about a fresh-faced character that has just been thrown into the middle of the paranormal and getting to see whether they will sink or swim.(less)

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Jun 10, 2012 Maya rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy

I understand why so many reviews are complaining about the credibility of an intern doing field work for the FBI - interns rudely translates to grunt work. One of the bigger reasons was because the division had just been put together and nobody wanted to work for them - they did not have enough agents so the interns helped. Also she is super smart - college at age 15 - and her father had previously helped them catch paranormals.
Another thing reviewers are complaining is the fact that after so ma...more

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Jan 24, 2012 Nawnee rated it 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed the slightly off quirky main character, Sloane is really intelligent but has a big problem seeing whats right in front of her. She gets her dream internship at the beginning of the book but not quite for the department that she wanted, this lands her in a series of unusual situations and cases. She works with FBI agent JT, who she thinks is smoking hot and is trying to keep things professional but JT is making it difficult. I hate to give away anymore of the story. I read this i...more

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Jan 14, 2012 A Voracious Reader (a.k.a. Carol) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: home-library, review-requested, kensington

Sloan Skye is super intelligent and has just started an internship at her dream job, the BAU (Behavioral Analysis Unit) at the FBI when, before she can even get a cup of coffee for her boss, she’s told there’s been a mistake and her spot has been filled. Not just filled, but filled by a nemesis from her school days. Before she leaves though she is told she can intern for a brand-new unit, the PBAU. She doesn’t know what PBAU stands for, but she wants the job and agrees to take the spot. Then the...more

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Jan 04, 2012 Bells rated it 4 of 5 stars

When Sloan finds out that her dream job of being an intern at the FBI doesn't work out the way she thought it would, she just can't believe her luck! But when she is approached to join a new unit within the FBI she jumps at the opportunity. Then she finds out that the unit specializes in dealing with cases that have paranormal elements to it. Sloan has been told all her life that vamps and things that go bump in the night don't exist. Now that she knows that they do exist she uses her intelligen...more When Sloan finds out that her dream job of being an intern at the FBI doesn't work out the way she thought it would, she just can't believe her luck! But when she is approached to join a new unit within the FBI she jumps at the opportunity. Then she finds out that the unit specializes in dealing with cases that have paranormal elements to it. Sloan has been told all her life that vamps and things that go bump in the night don't exist. Now that she knows that they do exist she uses her intelligence to help the team try to stop the murders that are popping up over the area. She has to do all of this while dealing with a mother that is battling dementia as well as a roommate that can't seem to stop blowing up things in their apartment. She's partnered with JT who's been with the team for a while and they have a growing attraction to one another while collection clues. She also has to deal with an old classmate by the name of Gabe who has been her competition in just about everything since they were in school together. He's now a part of the team as well and while their relationship starts out rocky, they soon come to realize that they may have to rely on each other after all. Throughout the book Sloan has been dealing with some weird dreams that have been intensifying as the book progresses.

What I liked most about this book was the witty writing by the author Tami Dane. I found myself chucking often while reading the book and I love books that make me laugh like that. My favorite character of the book ended up being one that didn't fully show up until the end of the book. Without giving too much away, the character had been watching Sloan for a long time and knows something about her that she doesn't. He wants her to do something and the scenes involving the two of them along with her roommate Katie were hilarious. It seems like his character will be in the next book of the series and I'm looking forward to read more about him.

While I enjoyed this book I found some parts of it to move a little slower than what I wanted. Solving crimes can be hard and in this particular case it was a hard one to solve, but the pace of the book made me put the book down a few times. Regardless of that I was wanted to find out exactly what was going on. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series to see exactly what Sloan is going to do to get herself out of the situation that she has put herself in. I also want to see if the attraction between her and JT deepens into something else and whether the attraction that Gabe seems to have with her catches her attention. There's something more there that she doesn't seem to realize and I hope he lets her know how he truly feels. (less)

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Dec 21, 2011 Beth Dawkins rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011

Sloan Skye has always wanted to work for the FBI. She finally has her chance as an intern. She just didn’t know it would be with the PBAU. The ‘P,’ she soon finds out stands for ‘Paranormal.’ Women around the same age end up killed by deadly diseases, and bite marks on their necks. It is up to Sloan to find out who the murder is, with the help of the PBAU. During the investigation strange things happen to Sloan.

Other than the paranormal detective plot it has two smaller plots. Sloan has been hav...more Sloan Skye has always wanted to work for the FBI. She finally has her chance as an intern. She just didn’t know it would be with the PBAU. The ‘P,’ she soon finds out stands for ‘Paranormal.’ Women around the same age end up killed by deadly diseases, and bite marks on their necks. It is up to Sloan to find out who the murder is, with the help of the PBAU. During the investigation strange things happen to Sloan.

Other than the paranormal detective plot it has two smaller plots. Sloan has been having strange nightmares of a monster. Other odd things start going on like, strange encoded letters, and an infestation of fire flies. It really bugged me that she shrugged some of it off. Even when the strange stuff parallels her case, she doesn’t seem to put anything together. In fact there is a scene that her apartment is broken into, and she decides not to tell anyone. These small things made her seem like a dense character. She is supposed to be very smart, but instead feels like an untrustworthy narrator.

The second smaller plot is the love interests. JT, the agent she is partnered with seems to have the hots for her, and she for him. Sparks don’t fly too high. She is an intern, and doesn’t want to ruin her future career with the FBI. There is also Gabe, who soon follows her to work for the PBAU. They have a past with one another, and it is apparent he still likes Sloan. JT is big and brawny, while Gabe seemed smart and skeptical. On one hand readers have seen this love triangle in countless other books, on the other it doesn’t waste time on Sloan gushing her feelings for either man, just the occasional day dream, or comment.

The main plot is finding who is killing the women. Sloan really gets into the case, despite many distractions. There were a few things that bothered me about the PBAU, a loss of information on DNA, and a very strange couple days Sloan spent at the hospital. These felt like inconsistences in the story. Despite the fact that it is a detective story it also lacks a great deal of action, but kept the reader into it with the mystery.

The story was told through Sloan’s POV, and at times we didn’t see eye to eye. Some of her choices seemed unrealistic, and in some scenes the dialogue explained things that it didn’t need to. The other characters dialogue felt stiff, and sometimes random. The plot was simplistic, and exciting, but didn’t have me on the edge of my chair flipping pages. All the problems work themselves out far too easily. I was left with the feeling that not everything was fleshed out, leaving way for another book in the series. The story lacked something to set it apart from other paranormal detective stories. (less)

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Dec 31, 2011 Toni rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: kensington-arcs

Today is the beginning of Sloan Skye’s dreams coming true. She is starting her first day as an intern for the FBI. Well that is what she thought when she left the chaos of her apartment this morning. Now she is shattered, there has been a mistake and her position has just been stolen by her old high school crush turned frenemy, Gabe Wagner.

Total desperation and the desire to not have a repeat performance of last summer’s job, she jumps at the change to work for the FBI in any way shape or form....more Today is the beginning of Sloan Skye’s dreams coming true. She is starting her first day as an intern for the FBI. Well that is what she thought when she left the chaos of her apartment this morning. Now she is shattered, there has been a mistake and her position has just been stolen by her old high school crush turned frenemy, Gabe Wagner.

Total desperation and the desire to not have a repeat performance of last summer’s job, she jumps at the change to work for the FBI in any way shape or form. Well she probably should have done a bit of research first. She just got hired as an intern for the PBAU, Paranormal Behavioral Analysis Unit. Yes, paranormals like vampires and other creatures of the unknown. Who knew they existed…Sloan sure doesn’t believe it…yet.

Sloan tries to delve into her job with an open mind, but being the daughter of two brilliant people, this is a tough one to swallow. Believing isn’t her only problem. She is now having realistic dreams and frightening memories that are unsettling to her and may be related to the unusual case they are working. Sloan has just entered a whole new world. A world she never knew existed, but a world that already knew about her.

Blood of Eden is a good story, but I wasn’t totally absorbed by the storyline. The set up of the series was well thought out and detailed. Ms. Dane has developed a fantastic universe and I am still intrigued by the plot, though I felt bogged down at times. She definitely has a new take on the paranormal, even delving into not well known creatures of lore and history. I found it very fascinating and I am looking forward to the next installment. I like to think that now that the ground work has been laid the next book will blow me away with the creatures, characters and storytelling.

Blood of Eden is a detailed oriented foundation to a potentially refreshing paranormal series. Mystery and intrigue, new exciting paranormal creatures, and the possibility of a love triangle thrown in; what more can a reader ask for?(less)

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Mar 18, 2012 Sara rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 4-5-stars

Mini-Review: I really, really enjoyed this novel. It reminded me of Criminal Minds every now and then. So many times, I had no idea where the story was going, and I loved the mystery. There was so much going on, but the different plot lines never became muddled. I also really enjoyed the majority of the characters. My favorites were definitely Sloan and her roommate. The cover isn't nearly eye-catching enough to do this story justice.

Plot: 4.5 Stars
Pace: 4.5 Stars
Characters: 4.5 Stars
Cover: 3....more

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Jul 08, 2012 Sally rated it 3 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this book, which although a bit slow, built up well to the point I look forward to reading the next in the series.
Hardly what I would call a paranormal at this stage, the story involves a new dept of the FBI for profiling paranormal unsubs. The main character, at turns tough and vulnerable, has led a difficult life without a beloved father and a pot smoking mother who is a schizophrenic.
Getting an intern job with the FBI is her dream, but turns out to be harder than she thought, when...more

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Sep 24, 2012 Mary rated it 1 of 5 stars

Aargh! I had gotten this e-book once before and got about 1/3 of the way through before I stopped in disgust and promptly dismissed it from my brain cells...dismissed it so much that I totally forgot I had started it once before until I was about 25 pages in.

The premise blurb sounds good--FBI intern gets assigned to the Paranormal Behavior Analysis Unit, which no one really knows exists. There's some dashes of X-Files and Criminal Minds thrown in, but that can't save the cliched plot and rather...more

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Mar 24, 2012 Jael rated it 1 of 5 stars

As a previous reviewer has pointed out, this read like a supernatural spoof of Criminal Minds. In my opinion a very bad, bad episode of Criminal Minds.

Things that bothered me about this book:

Predictability. The author taunts you at the beginning at most of what is going to happen later on in the book.

Even though, the character is working for the PBAU (Paranormal Behavior Analysis Unit) their isn't much profiling going on. Until the main character Sloan Skye delivers the profile, but it's just...more

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Blood of Eden (Sloane Skye #1)

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