Gifted profiler Sloan Skye joins the hunt for an elusive serial killer--and discovers a breed of criminal few know exists . . .
A cynic by nature, Sloan Skye wasn't thrilled when she was assigned to the FBI's Paranormal Behavioral Analysis Unit. But her doubts are slowly easing, especially when she sees that working on the fringe allows her to use some of her more unconventional tactics. Most of all, Sloan's grateful her career is on track--because her love life, if you can even call it that, is in shambles.
Sloan is searching for a suspect who slays his female victims at night, and bizarrely drains their bodies of blood. Bad enough, but when Sloan learns what the killer is really after, she can barely sleep at night. When the suspect guns for someone very close to Sloan, it's time to throw out the rules and face her deepest fears . . .
Tami Dane, Tawny Taylor's alter ego, is rarely seen in anything but black sweatpants and hoodies, unless she's in historical garb. And when she's not stomping around in mud, pretending to be someone else, or working on her latest sewing project, she has her head buried in a book or eyes glued to her computer monitor. Not only does she love sewing. She also loves writing. If you’d like to read her books, you can buy them at your favorite bookstore.
Quick & Dirty: Witty and dark urban fantasy with some unique elements.
Opening Sentence: There are three things I would have gladly given my right arm—and leg—never to see.
The Review:
Sloan Skye has only been on the job for the PBAU (Paranormal Behavioral Analysis Unit) for a little over a week. As an intern, she has already helped solve one supernatural case. There isn’t a lot of staff for this joke of a department which allows Sloan valuable on the job experience. Her next horrible case doesn’t take long to start. Someone is killing women about to give birth, kidnapping their children and draining their blood silently while their husbands/boyfriends are asleep next to them.
Sloan is also in a bit of a love triangle with her cheating ex-boyfriend, Gabe, and her hot co-worker, JT, whom also has some baggage of his own. Sloan doesn’t want to date her co-worker for fear of it reflecting badly on her job performance. She really wants to be hired by the FBI when her internship is over. The love drama is crazy enough then add in Sloan’s father who just reappeared in Sloan’s and her mother’s lives after being legally declared dead and Sloan’s mother who has her own mental issues and may just have something in common with the case that Sloan is working.
Sloan is not as quirky as she was in the first book even her roommate Katie isn’t making strange experiments this time around. Sloan is mostly level headed having to deal with other people’s issues than her own. I’m not too sure how Sloan isn’t certifiably crazy herself between her drama with the men in her life, her family and the emotionally draining case. Sloan also meets another man that could be relationship material and right now he seems the better of the three vying for her attentions but I’m sure that could change in the future. There are things about each guy that I don’t particularly like especially the cheating but they both seem to want the best for Sloan. Right now I don’t really care who she ends up with just as long as she gets rid of some of that sexual frustration she has going on.
Blood of Innocence is kind of slow in terms of action but there is a lot of mystery and strange events happening that move the story along. The pacing is entertaining enough to keep you involved in the storyline but the running tension is not very high. The story is told strictly through Sloan’s first person point of view. The one thing I really like about this series is the use of different and unique species of paranormal creatures.
Overall, Blood of Innocence is a dark and engaging read. For fans of crime dramas with a supernatural twist. I am really looking forward to what is next for Sloan and the other characters in this series and I can’t wait to see what new creatures pop up next.
Notable Scene:
Something was touching my leg.
Creeping.
Crawling.
Oh, God, it was moving up, up, up.
I jerked upright and ripped the covers off myself.
I nudged JT.
He grunted and rolled over, seeming to be in a deep sleep.
A pink slithery thing wriggled on the mattress.
I shrieked like a girl and scrabbled away, crawling right on top of him.
That woke JT up. He clamped his arms around me and whispered, “I knew you’d change your mind.”
I smacked him, then flung myself on the floor. “It’s here! The thing!”
“Oh. Shit!” JT lunged forward just as I snapped on the lamp.
The pink proboscis slithered right out of JT’s hands.
“Shit, it’s slimy,” he cussed. “I can’t get a grip.”
FTC Advisory: Kensington Books provided me with a copy of Blood of Innocence. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
Paranormal procedurals are becoming more and more popular as the demand for supernatural flavored everything increases. In the Sloane Skye series by Tami Dane, the emphasis is decidedly on the procedural aspects of the story, with some paranormal elements rounding out the edges.
BLOOD OF INNOCENCE is an aptly titled book since the primary plot involves hunting a serial killer who preys on pregnant women and abducts their babies. The potentially gruesome topic is handled very delicately (thanks in part to a fun and witty protagonist), describing crime scenes and connected details in brief, non graphic language. Also helping to lighten the mood is a seemingly unrelated storyline involving Sloane helping a less than desirable elf prince hunting for a wife (online dating sites, speed dating, and even a Who Wants to Marry a Prince? type TV show), in order to avoid marrying him herself (she got semi engaged to him in the previous book). More wackiness comes from helping to plan her mother’s wedding (shopping for awful dresses etc.).
There is some romance in BLOOD OF INNOCENCE too. Both from her fellow intern with the Paranormal Behavioral Analysis Unit (also her ex), and an agent with the unit who is determined to get Sloane to break her no-dating-superiors rule. A third suitor presents himself towards the end of the book, but I think that’s mostly to setup a storyline for the next book.
The narrating voice of Sloane was very engaging, but the paranormal elements felt almost like an afterthought. And while procedural aspects dealing with the serial killer investigation were well done, the other semi wacky storylines felt like they belonged in a Stephanie Plum novel. It was an odd mix that I didn’t fully connect with. If you like procedurals with paranormal elements, you might want to keep an eye out for the third book in the Sloane Skye series, BLOOD OF DAWN, when it is published on December 1, 2012
I fell in love with Sloane and the world created by Dane in the first book of the series, and I was not disappointed by this second installation! Dane's use of lesser known mythological creatures from around the world is a refreshing approach to the genre, and her characters and situations are believable and keep me guessing. I can't wait to start the next book!
Quick & Dirty: Witty and dark urban fantasy with some unique elements.
The Review:
Sloan Skye has only been on the job for the PBAU (Paranormal Behavioral Analysis Unit) for a little over a week. As an intern, she has already helped solve one supernatural case. There isn’t a lot of staff for this joke of a department which allows Sloan valuable on the job experience. Her next horrible case doesn’t take long to start. Someone is killing women about to give birth, kidnapping their children and draining their blood silently while their husbands/boyfriends are asleep next to them.
Sloan is also in a bit of a love triangle with her cheating ex-boyfriend, Gabe, and her hot co-worker, JT, whom also has some baggage of his own. Sloan doesn’t want to date her co-worker for fear of it reflecting badly on her job performance. She really wants to be hired by the FBI when her internship is over. The love drama is crazy enough then add in Sloan’s father who just reappeared in Sloan’s and her mother’s lives after being legally declared dead and Sloan’s mother who has her own mental issues and may just have something in common with the case that Sloan is working.
Sloan is not as quirky as she was in the first book even her roommate Katie isn’t making strange experiments this time around. Sloan is mostly level headed having to deal with other people’s issues than her own. I’m not too sure how Sloan isn’t certifiably crazy herself between her drama with the men in her life, her family and the emotionally draining case. Sloan also meets another man that could be relationship material and right now he seems the better of the three vying for her attentions but I’m sure that could change in the future. There are things about each guy that I don’t particularly like especially the cheating but they both seem to want the best for Sloan. Right now I don’t really care who she ends up with just as long as she gets rid of some of that sexual frustration she has going on.
Blood of Innocence is kind of slow in terms of action but there is a lot of mystery and strange events happening that move the story along. The pacing is entertaining enough to keep you involved in the storyline but the running tension is not very high. The story is told strictly through Sloan’s first person point of view. The one thing I really like about this series is the use of different and unique species of paranormal creatures.
Overall, Blood of Innocence is a dark and engaging read. For fans of crime dramas with a supernatural twist. I am really looking forward to what is next for Sloan and the other characters in this series and I can’t wait to see what new creatures pop up next.
Blood of Innocence is book #2 in the Sloan Skye series. About week after her first grueling case as an intern, Sloan is thrust into another disturbing case. Pregnant women are dying of blood loss and their babies are missing.
The Paranormal Behavioral Analysis Unit (PBAU) is brought in for another grisly case. Women are showing up dead in their beds, drained of all their blood and their babies removed from their bodies. All done without a drop of blood wasted. There is no sign of forced entry and most of the time; the fathers are sound asleep right next to them.
Sloan is also learning about the other side of her family tree. Since discovering she is part elf and that she has been betrothed to the Prince of the Sluagh’s, she is on a mission to find him a different more suitable wife. She has a year and she hits the ground running.
If she doesn’t have enough trouble with her so called fiancé, she is also attracting two co-workers and another prince. What is a girl to do? Why help her mother plan a wedding to her father, of course. Sloan’s life just keeps getting crazier and crazier and the only thing she really wants to do is focus on stopping this perp before another mother and baby is lost.
This story was a slow burn. Was there heart pounding action? No. Was there hot steamy sex? No. Or what about the usual paranormal suspects? Nope not really. What you do get is a steady story that I personally couldn’t put down. Blood of Innocence really held on and I found I had to force myself to put it down at 4am. I just couldn’t find a good stopping point and eventually had to say – ENOUGH!
Another aspect I enjoyed was that this story didn’t give you ordinary vampires. The usual vampire; has fangs, can’t go out in daylight and is evil. Ms. Dane’s plot dove deeper. She is taking the paranormal into folklore. You are meeting creatures that can be labeled as vampires, but are different creatures all together. There are no standard paranormals making visits in her novels, no indeedy. Ms. Dane is making Urban Fantasy all her own and she is owning it.
Ms. Dane also keeps you on the edge of knowing Sloan. You can feel that Sloan is on the cusps of something remarkable and there are many signs that pop up. But Sloan still has no idea who or what she really is and neither do you. I kept expecting and wanting Ms. Dane to slip and tell me. Well she doesn’t, but I’m not too terribly disappointed, I think a little mystery makes all the more fun.
If you want a unique Urban Fantasy novel that still gives you a touch of paranormal, but with a folklore twist, pick up Blood of Innocence. It is a really nice change of pace from the norm. I personally can’t wait to see what she has next in store for Sloan Skye!
Blood of Innocence By Tami Dane Copyright June 2012 Publisher Kensington Urban Fantasy
Gifted profiler Sloan Skye joins the hunt for an elusive serial killer--and discovers a breed of criminal few know exists . . .
A cynic by nature, Sloan Skye wasn't thrilled when she was assigned to the FBI's Paranormal Behavioral Analysis Unit. But her doubts are slowly easing, especially when she sees that working on the fringe allows her to use some of her more unconventional tactics. Most of all, Sloan's grateful her career is on track--because her love life, if you can even call it that, is in shambles.
Sloan is searching for a suspect who slays his female victims at night, and bizarrely drains their bodies of blood. Bad enough, but when Sloan learns what the killer is really after, she can barely sleep at night. When the suspect guns for someone very close to Sloan, it's time to throw out the rules and face her deepest fears . . .
Sloan is not sure going to keep her lunch down at the new crime scene she and the team she’s summer interning with have been called to. The victim (a woman) appears to have been exsanguinated and all her blood somehow removed without a drop of blood spatter at the scene. . All they have is a small puncture wound in the groin area. On top of that the woman has been tucked back into her bed with the covers drawn up around her neck. The team begins their own investigation of the crime scene, and the only thing Sloan can find is a hole in the window screen. How the heck does someone or something enter and leave a room without leaving a single bit of evidence behind? As they are finishing up, JT the other summer intern voices an observation that stuns the group. “I think she was pregnant” causing Sloan to lose it, she races to the window, flings it open and loses her lunch into the garden below. This is the second book in Tami Dane’s new Blood series. Sloan Skye and the members of the FBI’s Supernatural Profiling Unit handle any case that has even a whiff of strange to it. The characters are well founded and 3 dimensional both in their actions, and their backstories. I highly recommend this to anyone who love a good CSI type story and a paranormal setting. This is an Urban Fantasy you can really sink your mind into. FTC Full Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher who only asked for a fair and impartial review.
This book was a lot better than the first in the series however there are things about it I didn't care for. Again we have Sloan Skye intern for the PABU who is profiling another vampire case. The fact that this was the second book in the series and we had another kind of vampire was kind of annoying, and after reading the synopsis of the next book it looks like more the same. Has the author never hear of werewolf, ghosts, goblins and other thing that creep in the night.
Then there is the fact that while sloan is supposed to be just average looking there are multiple guys throwing themselves at her and 2 of them are elf princes. I just hope this series doesn't go the way of anita blake. Not all the guys need to kiss sloan she can have some friends too.
Mostly though the case takes a back burner to sloans weird mental mother, multiple guys, and overall drama and jealously. If you are not looking for love triangles, and babymama drama you probably shouldn't read this book. But if you like a little drama and gossiping in your urban fantasy mysteries they you should pick this one up. Oh and don't mind the cliff hanger the third one will be out shortly!
I purchased this book on amazon for my kindle and will most likely do the same for the third. There are just too many answers left too find.
Dont know whether to even read the third book now, its just all very meh to me.
I feel like some of the clues are so obvious, and others im like thats a bit far fetched.
Like the bird thing, as soon as there was a feather in the room at like the 1st or 2nd crime scene I knew it was a shapeshifter, but it took Sloan at least another quater of the book to come up with it!
The vampire thing is getting pretty old quick as well. There are plenty of other paranormal legends that could have been used, I feel like the author isnt world building properly. Come on, give us a Kelpie, a Siren, a Wendigo or something!
Plus as an intern... going undercover and everything... its just not that believeable.
And the men thing... im hoping it has something to do with her heritage that will come up later, but its super annoying how all the blokes want her. Oh and the description when she makes out with the men, I felt like the author was describing a firework show! Really irritating.
I do like the concept, though I feel she should be given a title other than intern. The whole JT thing is annoying (and whats with the name?! call him jordan please! this is supposed to be the FBI) but I do like her relationship with her ex and want them back together.
I might just read on just to find out what the slaugh prince wants, and to see if it improves.
BLOOD OF INNOCENCE by Tami Dane (Paranormal CSI). I read the first book of this series (BLOOD OF EDEN) a year ago and I really liked it. It had the same intensity of the first few Anita Blake series (Laurell K. Hamilton) mixed in with a spunky heroine like Rachel from Kim Harrison’s The Hollows series.
BLOOD OF INNOCENCE storyline was dark and intense (someone is going around and killing pregnant ladies in their sleep) which should have been nail-bitingly-good but with her man troubles, parental unit’s hijinks and general bad luck, these elements took away from the tension and dark storyline.
The supernatural elements are unique (I had never heard of before) and derived from exotic lore which adds to the intrigue and mystery. It is 350 pages that does leave us with a cliffhanger leading into the next book BLOOD OF DAWN. All in all, If you like crime dramas in an urban fantasy setting you will totally dig this. I know I will be reading more.
Interesting. As it turns out this was book two of a new series so I didn't get a lot of the background of the main character Sloan. She's an intern for the FBI and works as part of a paranormal profiling unit. The case she and her co-workers were working to solve was a strange one indeed! Women found dead in their beds, drained of all blood after just giving birth, without a shred of evidence to go on. I would like to read more from this series. I think it has a lot of potential both as a great mystery series and a paranormal series too.
I read Blood of Innocence when it came out in June, but I did not review it. Rereading Innocence before Dawn will give me a chance to write a review. Sloan Skye is an interesting character, but she is annoying at times. The hints of some mysteries in the paranormal life into which Sloan stumbled continue in Innocence. I like the story on second reading, and look forward to Blood of Dawn.
After reading the first book, I had to get this one too and it was very good; I could do without all the romance in it and stick more to the mystery at hand but it was still a good book. The author creates very sarcastic characters and since that is how I am in real life, I have a good connection with the characters and their sense of humour in the book.
I enjoyed this book. But found myself wondering how this self-confessed genius was so dumb! If I could work things out, why couldnt she?! However, the characters are coming together and the storyline, including Sloane's love life are growing on me. I will read the next in the series.
This was an interesting book. Some of it felt obvious and that Sloan was kind of dumb for not seeing what was in front of her face. She isn't that slow so i feel like she wasn't livin up to her level of knowledge
Outstanding. Great mix of paranormality (new word?), action, romance with a hint of more to come. Really liked this after the first couple of chapters - hard to put doen.