Bloodshot

Cheshire Red Reports #1

by Cherie Priest, Natalie Ross (Reader)

Raylene Pendle (AKA Cheshire Red), a vampire and world-renowned thief, doesn’t usually hang with her own kind. She’s too busy stealing priceless art and rare jewels. But when the infuriatingly charming Ian Stott asks for help, Raylene finds him impossible to resist — even though Ian doesn’t want precious artifacts. He wants her to retrieve missing government files: documents that deal with the secret biological experiments that left Ian blind. What Raylene doesn’t bargain for is a case that takes her from the frozen outskirts of Minneapolis to the mean streets of Atlanta. And with a psychotic, power-hungry scientist on her trail, a kick-ass drag queen on her side, and Men in Black popping up at the most inconvenient moments, the case proves to be one hell of a ride.

Genres: Urban Fantasy, Vampires, Fantasy, Paranormal, Fiction, Mystery, Horror

Audio CD

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Cherie Priest is the author of about thirty books and novellas, most recently the modern gothics It Was Her House First, The Drowning House, and Cinderwich. She's also the author of the Booking Agents mysteries, horror projects The Toll and The Family Plot – and the hit YA graphic novel mash-ups I Am Princess X and its follow up, The Agony House. But she is perhaps best known for the steampunk pulp adventures of the Clockwork Century, beginning with Boneshaker. She has been nominated for the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award, and the Locus award – which she won with Boneshaker.

Cherie has also written a number of urban fantasy titles, and composed pieces (large and small) for George R. R. Martin’s shared world universe, the Wild Cards. Her short stories and nonfiction articles have appeared in such fine publications as Weird Tales, Publishers Weekly, and numerous anthologies – and her books have been translated into nine languages in eleven countries.

Although she was born in Florida on the day Jimmy Hoffa disappeared, for the last twenty years Cherie has largely divided her time between Chattanooga, TN, and Seattle, WA – where she presently lives with her husband and a menagerie of exceedingly photogenic pets.

Reviews

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It was a darker action-packed urban fantasy, and I'm glad that I stumbled upon it. I had never read Cherie Priest before, but I found this at the library and decided to give it a chance.

At times I would describe the plot as being Vampire Mission: Impossible. I even said that Raylene reminded me of a morally ambiguous Kate Beckinsale from Underworld. These two things made for a fantastically different novel from what I've been forcing myself to read lately. It was such a nice surprise.

Priest writes this story very much in the style of stream of consciousness. I can understand some readers not liking this, and being frustrated with the way the story and Raylene's thoughts jumped around. I personally never found it hard to follow, and I was happy to be inside Raylene's head.

I liked Raylene from the start; I thought she was a hilarious no-holds-barred vampire thief with a penchant for non-sequitur rambling. I can definitely see how people might think she's either grating or annoying, but I loved her. I loved reading her thought process and I couldn't wait to see what sort of mess she'd get herself into next. She's very arrogant; but rightly so. You don't live as long as she has without being smart and prepared. She recognizes her faults and it's not all, "I'm an old badass vampire who doesn't need help from anyone!" She does have some of the lone wolf tendencies, but when she realizes she can't help her client alone, she enlists the help of a partner.

And that partner would be Adrian. A Cuban ex-Navy SEAL who works as a drag queen. Yes, you read that right. If I didn't already love Raylene, Adrian would be my favorite character, hands-down. He's a sexy Latino with a hard body and a superhuman ability to tuck and fold his naughty bits. The only thing that could make him better was if Raylene had turned him, and it crosses her mind as well:

"If you'd asked me a month earlier if I'd enjoy working with a partner, I would've laughed in your face. But I liked this guy. He knew how to behave and he knew how to keep his head down.

It flicked through my mind that he might make a formidable vampire."

Sigh ... I couldn't agree more.

Now, the actual plot of this book was fascinating. Raylene is a thief; and a good one at that. She ends up being hired by a fellow vampire to find some documents. It seems innocuous at first, but Raylene starts to uncover bits and pieces of what's really going on and she realizes that her client's problems also affect her. So Raylene races around the country and picks up Adrian along the way, all the while dodging the Feds and other people who are trying to kill her. The action is deftly written and heart-pounding. Priest even changes up her writing style in a particularly tense fight scene, and I couldn't read fast enough to find out how they'd escape intact.

I also enjoyed that Priest didn't center the story around the vampire mythos. We get glimpses of it, like when Raylene explains the Houses and what can and can't kill a vampire, but for the most part the paranormal aspects take a backseat to the main conspiracy. I don't think the story was anything less because of this. Some might say that this book is just setting things up for the rest of the books in the series, but I don't think this took anything away from the story.

One of my only problems with the book was Raylene's attraction to Ian. I didn't get it. She kept telling me how charming and handsome he was, but I felt like there was more chemistry between her and Adrian. That could just be my wishful thinking though. Thankfully, this side note of a romance with Ian doesn't take up too many pages, so it wasn't something that really ruined anything for me at all.

I can't wait for the next book, Hellbent. I doubt I'll be able to wait for my library to get it in, so I'll just have to preorder it. I'm looking forward to checking out Priest's other books as well; she's definitely an author I'm going to keep reading.

[Tatiana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let's just cut to the chase here - this book could have been much better with some humor, some steam, and told by a more charismatic narrator.

Cherie Priest is a competent writer, the concept of this book is a good one - hence 2 stars instead of 1, even though I didn't finish reading it. I actually opened this book thinking it would be a great addition to the genre of vampire UF. But what started as a 4-star read for me - OMG, such a great premise - Raylene is a vampire and a professional thief who is hired by another (potentially smoldering) vampire to steal records pertaining to his kidnapping by government a few years prior, a couple of chapters later turned into a 3-star read - oh well, there is no hot romance, but at least the story is good, and then some more chapters later - 2 stars - don't even care how it ends.

The concept is great, the writing is decent, but the narrator, the whole cast of characters - beyond boring. As for Raylene being a vampire, this plot involving the army, CIA, Navy SEALs, etc., could have as well been set in a real world, the UF aspect is so little explored.

And the last thing. I will demonstrate the level of my shallowness here. I am absolutely disinterested in UF if there are no hotties and smut (or at least some possibility of smut) involved. If I wanted to read a strict mystery with no romance, I would have picked up another Miss Marple book. Frankly, I don't think I have many friends on Goodreads who would be interested in an UF novel like Bloodshot.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bloodshot is Cherie Priest’s first foray into urban fantasy, a genre that in my opinion has become more and more difficult to be taken seriously. The biggest problem along these lines is the fact that romance writers of the bodice ripper strain discovered not too long ago that if they simply turned their male love interest into a vampire, or a werewolf, or a chupacabra they would be able foist their crimes against interpersonal relationships under the guise of a independent heroine who just happens to hunger for hot vampire/werewolf/chupacabra/etc. wang upon a sympathetic audience. While I won’t begrudge anyone making a buck even if the gods of good taste have forsaken them, I do take exception to having to use my UF-loving friends as canaries in the coal mine to see if a book I’m interested in is just thinly veiled bad porn or not. Leather pants and a tramp stamp on the cover should not set off warning bells, this is America dammit.

Bloodshot does not suffer from this. It’s just a good, straight ahead story. Bloodshot is told from the standpoint of Raylene, a roughly hundred year old vampire living in modern day Seattle, whiling away her nights as a professional cat burglar for hire. She takes on a case for a fellow vampire that, despite maintaining her professional detachment, plunges her into an almost Tom Clancy drama that threatens her home, her friends and her ability to keep walking around and relatively living.

While I still favor Priest’s alternative history stories like Boneshaker and Dreadnought purely on genre preference, she’s undeniably done a fantastic job entering the urban fantasy arena. A key factor in this is that Priest is great at writing believable people, regardless of genre. Raylene is a vampire, but Priest relies on the character’s personality and intelligence to carry the story and doesn’t fall on any sort of cliche vampire pathos when things get tough. Sure, being a vampire and the whole drinking thing can cause some problems. It also has some perks, like other things in life. Raylene’s vampirism isn’t the interesting thing about her, Raylene is the interesting thing about her.Priest’s characters are complex without being overwrought and drive the story nicely while adding plenty of twists of their own. Are you ready for an Ex-Navy SEAL drag queen? You better be.

If I had to point out one criticism of Bloodshot, I’d have to say that the story seemed to be more about being a prequel to future Cheshire Red novels than being a story unto itself, the ratio of plot points resolved to plot points left wide open tended to be a tad imbalanced. If this means more Cheshire Red stories of Bloodshot’s caliber are in the future and resolutions will occur there, that’s just fine by me.

[Felicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sooo I've been bored with this genre lately, but this one actually had me turning pages! I would say the best thing about it is that it starts with all the cliches, the wisecracking and tough vampire paranormal chick quipping up a storm, precocious kids, mysterious hunky guy etc et, but sufficiently turns things on their heads enough to keep it fresh and interesting. The characters were definitely the strongest part of this book. I really enjoyed reading their dialogue and the first person view of the main vamp lady, her neurotic outbursts and self-denial were pretty amusing. The plot had some huge holes in it and got silly at the end, (CIA whaaa?) but I really enjoyed the journey that gathered some cool characters together and look forward to a followup!

[Mir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cherie Priest has created a very human vampire. Raylene may be stronger and faster than a normal human, but she isn't smarter or sexier. Becoming undead cures your health problems -- including, in this case, allergies -- but it doesn't change your personality or give you super powers. Raylene lies to herself as much as the average gal and her judgement and foresight aren't always great. In fact, she does some fairly dumb things, especially for someone who is supposed to make a living as a thief and detective. But this is part of what makes her a believable and likeable character. Vampirism is an aversion to sun and need for blood, not the be all and end all of her existence. She has interests, fairly normal ones: art, money, clothes, attractive men. This is less a typical vampire urban fantasy and more like one of those action novels (I don't know what the genre is called) where ex-special forces or secret agent types investigate conspiracies or international crimes. In this case, a secret government medical research program carries out torturous experiments on vampires, one of whom escapes and recruits Raylene to recover his records in hopes of undoing the damage that has been done to him. But of course the Men in Black are not letting a break-in go unpunished and soon the danger spreads...

[Ranting Dragon · Rating 3 out of 5]

http://www.rantingdragon.com/bloodsho...


The first in a new urban fantasy series by Cherie Priest, author of Boneshaker and Dreadnought, Bloodshot introduces us to Raylene Pendle, Seattle-based vampire and world-renowned thief under the alias “Cheshire Red”. Raylene is a loner who doesn’t play well with others, but when a fellow vampire comes to her with a case, she takes it—and then finds that she’s in deeper than she thought. For Uncle Sam doesn’t play well with others, either, and Raylene’s client is asking for the classified documents on the secret biological experiments which left him blind. It’s a ride filled with the supernatural, men in black, and drag queens—and it’s a heck of a lot fun.

More vampires? Really?
Yes, really. But Raylene isn’t a vampire of the “standard” pop-culture-issued variant which feed on sex and virgins and whatnot. No, she’s a vampire who actually feeds on blood—a novel concept, I know. (Har, a pun!) Granted, I was still apprehensive when first picking the book up, as I’m not typically a fan of most works centering around vampires nowadays. But I was very pleasantly surprised with Bloodshot, as Priest gives a very detailed version of vampirism but doesn’t go over the top with it. Her vampires are undead, yes, but they still have bodily processes, still need sleep, and still bleed. Not to mention they drink actual blood, avoid the sun if at all possible, and have the heightened senses and physical prowess one would expect from a supernatural being. All in all, a very attractive style of vampirism.

Rogue gone wild.
Raylene is a vampire gone rogue—she doesn’t affiliate herself with any of the vampire Houses, the main power structures in vampiric society. However, Priest puts a spin on the “going rogue” motif: Raylene is a high-profile, internationally wanted thief—and is thought to be a guy. That extra tidbit doesn’t come into play much in this first novel, but I believe it will resurface later in Raylene’s story. That being said, I was quite taken with the concept of the protagonist being a thief, and thoroughly enjoyed the paces Priest put her through.

Vamps just wanna have fun…
Well, okay, maybe not so much. But that’s what this novel was, for me: sheer fun. And what made it fun was the way Priest wrote her characters. Raylene is a character who loves to ramble, and more often than not she will digress on her current topic only to realize it and stop—only to pick up the tangent at a later time. The banter is a lot of fun, even if it’s only between Raylene and herself most of the time.

The thing that really sold the novel as fun for me, though, was Raylene’s interaction with a drag queen named Sister Rose. Raylene’s commentary is hilarious and priceless. This isn’t to say that Priest is making fun of any community of people, because that is not the case at all. It’s a character’s reaction to her situation—and Sister Rose gives as good as she gets. It’s quite the wild and fun ride.

Why should you read this book?
Read it for a new taste of vampires. Vampires have gotten to be so commonplace in contemporary fantasy settings today that they’ve lost a lot of their flair. Priest reinvigorated the vampire motif for me, and I thoroughly enjoyed Bloodshot despite my initial apprehensions. And, more importantly, read it for the sheer enjoyment of it. Bloodshot is one heck of a fun novel, and I finished it only to want to pick up the second book, Hellbent, immediately. This novel is a definite urban fantasy favorite of mine, and I look forward to where Priest will take us in the future.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was pretty excited to read Bloodshot. I first encountered Cherie Priest by way of her Southern Gothic novel Four and Twenty Blackbirds several years ago. Since then, her name keeps popping back up in my consciousness, both as a writer of several acclaimed steampunk novels I haven’t had the chance to read yet, and as a Person Who Says Interesting Things on the Internet. So when I heard she was dipping her authorial toes into one of my favorite subgenres, urban fantasy, I knew this was a book I wanted to read. Bloodshot did not disappoint. In fact, I may gush a bit, because this book is darn near flawless.

Priest introduces an unforgettable heroine in Raylene Pendle, a vampire who originally died in the Roaring Twenties and makes her living as a world-class thief. She’s survived all these years by being paranoid and over-prepared — yet improvises far more than she cares to admit. She scorns her fellow vampires for getting too attached to humans — but secretly loves the urchins who squat in the old warehouse she owns (or at least one of them). And she’s the daughter of a brilliant detective, so she blames her genes for her inability to pass up a good mystery. As she relates all of this, her voice is so sharp and immediate, you’ll think she’s telling you the story personally over a glass of wine. She’s funny and snarky and prone to fourth-wall-breaking, and strikes a great balance between being good at what she does and occasionally being allowed to mess up.

In Bloodshot, the first novel in a new series, Raylene is hired by another vampire, Ian Stott, to steal some government documents. Several years ago, Ian was captured by Uncle Sam and subjected to secret experiments that took his eyesight. The records, he hopes, will reveal what was done so that the damage can be repaired. Raylene takes the job — which, of course, turns out to be far more complicated than she expected. The plot is rife with tension and action. Just when you think Raylene might get a break, she finds out she’s been tailed again and has to escape by her wits one more time. The nail-biting suspense carries over to unconventional scenes, too. Who knew that a scene where the protagonist isn’t even present for the action, but instead trying to talk someone else through a sticky situation over the phone, could be so riveting?

Often, a plot with constant action falls short on characterization, since there isn’t much time to develop character, but Priest avoids that trap. No matter what Raylene is narrating, her personality shines through.

The solution to the mystery is properly difficult and yet makes total sense. It’s the kind of solution that you don’t see coming unless you’re way more on the ball than I was — and yet when it becomes clear, you slap your forehead and say “Of course!” To my mind, that’s the best kind of solution. I don’t like it when I guess the bad guy 5 pages in, but I also don’t like books that never quite make sense even when all is revealed.

The prose is excellent. You’ll find plenty of humor here, along with vivid description. Priest’s descriptive writing never becomes heavy or flowery; instead she employs just the right amount of description to create just the right image for the reader. Here’s a passage that gives good examples of both the humor and the descriptive prose:

"I gave three quiet cheers for Minnesota. In Seattle a dusty inch of anything white and chilly means the city lapses into full-on panic mode, as if each falling flake crashes to earth with its own individual baggie of used hypodermic needles. It’s ridiculous.

But the city before me was shiny and dark, hard-frozen around its edges and glinting from the ice that coated the corners of buildings like cake frosting made of crushed glass."

If you like that little sample, don’t hesitate another minute. Bloodshot is an awesome book, and I can think of very few urban fantasies that match it in plot, character, or writing style.

See this and other Cherie Priest reviews at Fantasy Literature

[VampireNovelFan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tons of fun and tons of funny

Sometimes you really need a fun Urban Fantasy series that checks all of the usual drama and headaches at the door. When you're in the mood for that then you should check out the Cheshire Red Reports by Cherie Priest. Bloodshot (Book 1) introduces us to vampire Raylene, a very independent, efficient, and hilariously neurotic professional thief.

Her skills catch the attention of Ian Stott, a fellow vampire who needs her help. He hires Raylene to locate top secret files about an experimental program that caused him to go blind. This requires her to travel throughout the country, eventually landing in Atlanta where the fun really begins. It turns out Raylene is a potential target for this program as well, so she must evade this organization as well as the Feds who want to take her down. This of course makes her job a little more difficult.

She ends up meeting a peculiar drag queen named Adrian. There’s definitely more to this character than meets the eye and he ends up partnering with Raylene. It turns out he’s an Ex-Navy SEAL and he’s searching for his sister, who he believes was also a part of the experiment. I can tell you right now that I totally loved this character, even more than Ian. I never thought I’d see the day when I’d say one of my favorite characters is an Ex-Navy SEAL who moonlights as a drag queen, but there it is. Normally humans are boring, but I enjoyed his chemistry with Raylene even more than Ian.

There are other supporting characters as well that I liked, including a kid brother and sister team who live with Raylene. They are orphans but they’re pretty crafty at times, making them useful to Ray. They’re also at the center of a number of hilarious lines.

There’s a great mix of action, comedy and mystery that makes this a fairly quick read. Raylene’s not the typical self-loathing and emo vamp (like many that have begun to saturate the genre), making this series a breath of fresh air. I actually ended up reading the second book first, but I enjoyed that one so much that I went back to see how it all began. Based on the structure of the story, it seems as if the books in this series can work well enough as a standalone.

Overall I recommend this book if you keep in mind that it’s not to be taken that seriously. Sometimes you don’t need that for a good read.

*Review also posted to Amazon

[Melindeeloo · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars - Being careful is a necessary survival skill for an immortal vampire thief living under the radar, but Raylene -aka Cheshire Red - is going to discover that she's let herself become just a little too comfortable over the years when she breaks her own rule of avoiding her own kind and agrees to take a job from vampire client, Ian. Even though the blind Ian stirs her sympathy, as well as her desire, Raylene is going to wish that she'd gave his job a pass, because suddenly Raylene has gotten someone's attention, and conspiracy theories aside, it's not paranoia if someone is really out to get you.

I really had no expectations when I requested a free copy of Bloodshot for review - I had recognized Priest's name from my recent foray into steam punk, and took the opportunity to give her a try - so I was pleasantly surprised to find out how much I enjoyed this book. I read alot of paranormal and urban fantasy, and though many of familiar elements of the genre were present, Bloodshot still brought something fresh to the genre.

The characters are good. Despite a few dark moments - Raylene has no issue with chowing down on the bad guys - Raylene is likable, competent and way more vulnerable than she realizes as she tries to complete the job which ends up being so much more than a simple grab and dash. The story itself is action packed but what made this story so much fun was the supporting cast. Raylene's human pets play a small part but give the reader their first clue that Raylene is just not as good at avoiding attachments as she claims. And I absolutely loved Raylene's relationships with both drag Queen Sister Rose - resplendent in sequins - and former Navy Seal Adrian de Jesus, with his hidden depths - Adrian ends up being very handy to have around when Raylene comes up against the government operatives in her hunt to find the papers documenting the secret experiments that cost Ian his sight. Actually Ian was the only character, bad or good who failed to stand out - but I have high hopes that Priest will remedy that in the next book, because Raylene`s work is clearly not done yet and I can't wait to read what happens next for Raylene and crew in Hellbent.

(I received a free advanced reading copy of this book to review through the Amazon Vine)

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story quite a bit. It had sort of a "vampire noir" feel to it. The detective in this new series by Cherie Priest is Raylene Pendle. Raylene has spent years finding things for people, the lost family jewels, the missing heirlooms, the incriminating pictures, the pornographic videos, etc. She is known among the international thieving community as "Cheshire Red" and she has a reputation for getting the job done.

Her latest job is a little more unusual in that her client is blind and he is also a vampire, as is Raylene. Raylene tends to avoid people of her kind because of the politics that are prevalent in the different vampire Houses. This case intrigues her, as does Ian, her new client. It seems Ian was blinded after being turned into a vampire. He was kidnapped and subjected to scientific experiments in a secret government laboratory off the coast of Florida on an island called Jordan Roe. As a result of these experiments, he was left handicapped as were several other "non-human" people that were also being held at Jordan Roe.

Ian eventually managed to escape and now, years later he has been in contact with a doctor that can possibly help him get his sight back. But in order to get help, Ian needs the documents from Jordan Roe that detail the exact nature of the experiments that were done on him. The island was decommissioned many years agao and all the documents were moved to a government facility in Minnesota which was later broken into by someone who stole all the documents from Jordan Roe. Ian needs Raylene to track down these documents or else he will never be able to get his sight restored. But someone else is monitoring these files, and now they are onto Raylene, too. It's up to her to get them before they get her and to protect her blind client from even further grief.

Enjoyed it, look forward to the next in this series!

[Maja (The Nocturnal Library) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cherie Priest should rewrite the first 20% of her book. It wasn’t boring exactly, but the MC was incredibly annoying and unlikeable. I was just about ready to give up on Bloodshot and go read something else when I said to myself: “Hey, this is UF, and you’ve been playing hide and seek with good UF novels for far too long. It deserves a second chance.” So I decided to read another chapter, and in that chapter, the weirdest thing happened: Raylene and the story did a 180. It all suddenly became very interesting and I started to care. It was a real page turner from that point on. I loved it.

Here are some of the things that bothered me in the first part of Bloodshot:

The narrator (Raylene) addresses the reader directly and conversationally. I would absolutely love that if the said narrator wasn’t incredibly annoying, selfish and cold, even for a vampire.

Humor often makes an extremely important part of urban fantasy. Even more often an author will try so hard to make the MC funny that the only thing he/she will accomplish is sounding incredibly stupid and annoying. Trying to be funny and failing miserably is the main reason I didn’t like Bloodshot at first.
Here’s how it goes: a human guy breaks into Raylene’s storage building, she catches him, feeds on him, drains him dry and then eases her conscience with the fact that his name is Trevor, and you know, she’s never known a Trevor who isn’t a total douchebag, so it's „Raylene: 1/Trevors of the world: 0.” Through this entire torturous experience, she's doing her very best to be funny, but only succeeding in irritating the hell out of me with sentences like:
I folded Trevor like a clean shirt and inserted him into the muddy slot like a pizza going into an oven. Yeah. Not funny. And I don’t ever want to eat pizza again.

Also, I didn’t like her name at all. It’s a pretty ridiculous name for a vampire. I’ve been thinking that someone should introduce Raylene to Disco the vampire from Dead, Undead, or Somewhere in Between. They would probably hit it off right away.

So after all this, how did it all change? Well, for one, she stopped trying to be funny. Once that heavy burden was lifted from the narrator, she became more likeable. She also stopped being cold and selfish. She abandoned the ‘me against the world’ attitude and started caring about others.

I LOVED the almost-love story. I can’t emphasize this enough. It wasn't in my face all the time - it was actually very subtle. I loved the fact that he was blind (yep, a blind vampire) and very dependent on others. He was a strong character, but not physically threatening. I also loved that they didn’t jump each other right away. The love interest developed gradually from a business relationship, and it didn’t develop fully, at least not yet.

The next installment is called Hellbent and it will be released this summer. I will definitely read it.

Actual rating: 3.5 stars. It would be 4 without that first part.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got this as an ARC though giveaway.

Before I say anything really meaningful, let me simply say:

Kick-Ass Drag Queen in Silver Spangly Bikini Underwear!

What other reason do you need to read it?

Let's face it, the urban fantasy market is glutted in terms of books told from a first person point of view, especially when that person is a kick-ass chick. So why, you ask rightly, should I read this book?

Because it is a several cuts above all those other fantasy books.

It's true that Priest does draw heavily from current trends in UF and at first, any reader can be forgiven for worrying that this is going to be a rehash of Anita Blake, at least the early ones.

It's not. If anything, it's what all the other UF books should be, but never could be.

The first thing that stands out, as another review has noted, is the use of voice. Unlike many other first pov UF books, where the kick ass heroine is always right and always perfect, Priest presents a more layered character. She isn't a saint, but she sure is funny. Not only does she poke fun at herself and everything around her, she feels real. It is like she is right next to you telling the story. Even when series such as Anita Blake and the Hollows were really good, they weren't this good. You catch yourself thinking, "Oh no, you just didn't say that" because the voice is so active to use the word "she" would just be wrong.

The second thing is that the characters are presented as really, truly human. With the final confrontation scene, the reader is on the side of the angels because the angels are human, not saints. Too often in UF, the central character is a saint or painted as a saint - take for instance Rachel from the Hollows or even better Anita Blake. The only difference, as several critics have pointed out, between Blake and the bad guys is that Blake says she is motivated by love. Such an problem isn't here. Red may not be a saint, but she is human. She doesn't pretend to be a saint.

The third is the plotting. The ending makes sense and is one of those endings that fit.

I love this book. If you are tired of UF, give this book a try. It is wonderful. It is brillant. It is what UF should be.

[Jennifer Estep · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bloodshot by Cherie Priest is the first book in her urban fantasy series about vampire and world-renowned thief Raylene Pendle.

Raylene is a loner, a vampire who keeps to herself and spends her time stealing objects -- for the right price. But when a blind vampire named Ian Stott comes to her, Raylene can't help but get involved in his messy situation. Ian asks Raylene to find and steal some documents relating to vicious experiments that were performed on Ian by the U.S. government. Ian hopes that by retrieving his medical records that he can get his sight restored. Soon, Raylene is caught up in a government conspiracy -- and finds that the feds are after her in hopes of making her their next science experiment ...

I love books about thieves, and I enjoyed Bloodshot. Raylene is a great snarky, sassy heroine, and her voice is definitely the best thing about the book. She's tough, vulnerable, and likable at the same time. I also liked Priest's world building, although we don't get to see any other vamps besides Raylene and Ian. Plus, the secondary characters are entertaining as well, especially a drag queen that Raylene befriends as she crisscrosses the country, searching for clues as to who is after her and why. I also hope we get to see more of the guy who gives Raylene her assignments in the next book.

Watching Raylene break into various government buildings while trying to stay one step ahead of the feds was also entertaining, and Raylene doesn't shy away from violence or her vampire nature when she needs to.

The one thing that bugged me about the book was the ending. There's a nice twist at the end that reveals just how the feds were keeping tabs on Raylene and her friends, but nothing is really resolved. A few of the bad guys get what's coming to them, but the book definitely leaves several questions unanswered. I know Priest is doing this to set up the next book in the series, but I would have liked just a little bit more closure.

Overall, if you're looking for an entertaining urban fantasy to try, check this one out. It was a fun read.

[Kelly (Maybedog) · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

Bloodshot
I’m not sure how I feel about this book. The first half was so-so, the second half quite good. Much of it wasn’t predictable. There were elements that pushed the first half up and the second half down. And one overarching problem: The main character is basically a sociopath. For example, in the beginning she kills someone just because he breaks into her warehouse even though he was unarmed. She never regrets this or thinks it was unjustified.

Yes there are changes later but I was never satisfied. Frankly, I think all of the characters were too comfortable with murder. None of the characters acted as a conscience. But the character is a vampire after all. There is no assumption vampires are evil, they just are and they kill people sometimes, more frequently when they’re younger. Apparently it’s not as big a deal if you kill homeless people. That’s basically okay. That’s pretty much enough to make me not want to read further.

But I pushed through because it takes place in Seattle and it was obvious she actually lives in Seattle rather than visited it once. It was a pleasure to read that but still the beginning was a little boring.

Then I hit a joke I consider mildly racist but I can be way too sensitive about things like this. You decide:

“A different abbreviation, one I hadn’t thought to scan for: ‘J. Roe.’ A joke about a Japanese pop singer sprang to mind, but I was a good girl and didn’t say it out loud—even though there was no one to hear me.”
Pg. 96


Also, only a lesbian should use the word “dyke” and the main character isn’t a lesbian. But the book was definitely gay friendly, so I went with it. See my confusion?

The second half was much better and introduced one of the best UF characters I’ve seen in awhile. Not amazing like Stacia Kane’s Terrible, but still very good. But the book was leading me towards one guy as a love interest, building him up as being hot and sexy and sweet and strong and beautiful. The other she mentioned only twice as being someone she cared about and only once as being attractive (near the end) and he was the one she chose! I felt betrayed.

Something mildly picky: She says PDF (Portable Document Format) instead of PDF file (Adobe's preference) and she says “Adobe processed it.” Adobe is the company, not the product. It’s like saying “we waited while Microsoft imported the text file.” The product is Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader. Again, I'm overly picky because I worked there for nearly a decade.

I’m mildly curious about what happens next but I am not sure if I can stomach the immorality.

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review was originally posted at Vampire Book Club.

Cherie Priest has a knack for defying genre. For blurring lines. And for gritty and visceral novels. Bloodshot is no exception and — best of all — it takes badass to a whole new level mostly through main character Raylene.

You’ll often see Bloodshot pegged as a “vampire noir” — yeah, new genre. I may have it labeled under Urban Fantasy for Vampire Book Club purposes, but really the novel is part heist book part vampire drama with a touch of urban fantasy and hints at romance. (You get the picture a romantic angle may come into play down the road, but don’t be expecting a love story here. Raylene does not have time for love or attachments.)

Raylene is a vampire. She’s also a master thief and more than a little paranoid. Though, she’d say she’s careful. After one too many boring jobs, an intense piece of work fell in her lap. Raylene avoids her own kind — too many rules, too much drama — but once she’s heard Ian’s story she finds herself taking on a task that leads to federal agents raiding her house, break-ins at secret government sites, going on the run and spending time with one very impressive drag queen.

The big story will certainly be told in multiple books, but in Bloodshot I just really fell in love with Raylene. I love a strong heroine, and if nothing else Raylene is assertive and resourceful. Also, she sets a new bar for badass vampire chick. And I dig it.

Because of the genre-straddling Bloodshot does, it’s harder to peg who can appreciate it. But, of course, I’ll try. If you love Priest’s other works or if you love high-intensity urban fantasy but don’t mind hitting up several cities, then you will likely get wrapped up in Bloodshot.

[Brian MacPherson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I grabbed this book as a followup to having read Boneshaker and Dreadnought (after which I was decidedly a fan of the author). I was a little disappointed by it however... The writing style is very different from her other works: her protagonist is annoyingly boastful and having to read through page after page of it from a first person perspective just increased my irritation with it.

The story is rather a little weak too... There is a lot of potential to the ideas that show how modern and innovative that Priest can be (military-trained parkour enthusiasts? Yes, please!) but it seems to suffer from some poor execution of them. And then all you are left with is just another novel about the vampires and some secret government project.

If this is indeed the first book of a sequence, then perhaps it can be developed. I certainly didn't hate this book and will definitely pick up the sequels, but as a piece of writing entirely on its own, I couldn't recommend it to anyone other than a Twilight enthusiast looking for something a bit darker.

[Brandi · Rating 2 out of 5]

This wasn't the worst book I've ever read, but it was pretty hard to get through. I liked the snark, but there was too much, I got sick of her trying to decide which pronoun was appropriate, I didn't like the transitions very much, I didn't feel connected (or attached) to any character at any time, and thought that Raylene made an awful lot of mistakes (and generally acted like an idiot) for someone who was supposed to be such a pro. I think this could have benefited from a little less snark (and tangents) and lot more digging into the story to make me feel invested. I love snark btw, just not so much that it seems like the author is trying too hard.

I'm not a fan of vampire books, with a few exceptions of course (Cat and Bones), but I had bought a steampunk book by this author and wanted to get a taste of her style. I'm still keeping an open mind even though this book was a failure for me.

[Jeaniene Frost · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got an Arc of this and it's fabulous!

[The Flooze · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bloodshot is a fast-paced, engaging tale that wends its way through secret government organizations, clandestine bioresearch groups, and the odd drag club or two.

It's told from the viewpoint of a vampire catburglar named Raylene. She's a likeable smartass who prefers a clean getaway to a physical confrontation - or so she says, despite the trail of bodies she's defensively leaving in her wake. She's a paranoid loner when we first meet her, so despite her undead status this isn't a tale focusing solely on vampire politics. Instead, it's much more of a pure mystery/suspense job than I normally come across in UF.

All the better, because it means we're ensconced in something a bit fresh, a bit new. So many vampires are engaged in assassin/bodyguard positions, after all. Why not put all that supernatural agility to a different use?

Raylene may not have vamp politics to discuss, but she sure has a lot of info to dole out. The author narrowly avoids ye auld info dump by fashioning her lead into a mental babbler. She goes off on frequent tangents about herself, her day-to-day life, her techniques for staying under the radar, and the worse case scenarios she mentally prepares for. Yet for all Raylene's preparations, I agree with one character's assessment of her as rather reckless - controlling smaller aspects and allowing larger plans to fall to improvisation. It means we never know how much trouble she'll fall into...and it's a hell of a lot more fun that way.

Trouble in Raylene's case means dodging bullets, jumping across rooftops, escaping burning buildings, evading capture, and digging up the occasional grave. There's little to no downtime, yet the story never feels too hectic. The leads she picks up are never too obvious. The answers she finds are chilling and satisfying, while still leaving much more to be discovered in the next installment.

Raylene's sidekicks are unique, though their personalities fall a bit flat. Granted, the plot doesn't leave much time for heart-to-heart convos, but I'm hoping for more depth in Hellbent, book two of the series.

Which I'm just on my way to pick up at the library, so overall Cherie Priest must have done her job well.

[Nicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s a lot to love about Bloodshot. The protagonist is a flapper vampire with obsessive-compulsive disorder, who uses her skills to steal things and sort of looks out for two street urchins who’ve taken up residence in her warehouse. Her client is a blind vampire who may be able to control the weather, having been experimented on by the government, and her eventual sidekick is a crossdressing ex-Navy SEAL who looks fabulous in either male or female clothing, kicks complete ass, and is trying to find out what happened to his sister in the same sort of experiments. The interactions are delightful, and Raylene’s tone is often funny.

There are some quibbles — Raylene tends to ramble, and on a second read it becomes obvious how long it takes for the plot to get off the ground. I’m still immensely fond of the characters and all the ass they kick, despite being tiny and obsessive-compulsive (Raylene), in high heels and a glittery thong part of the time, including during action scenes (Adrian) and blind (Ian). They make for a great team. Raylene’s a little too trigger happy — or rather, I guess, fang-happy; she’s definitely morally ambiguous, for all that I totally rooted for her throughout.

It might possibly work better as a TV show or movie, in that Raylene’s inner monologue is part of what slows things up. Not that I can imagine anyone making something of this and not utterly butchering it in some way — what charms about it is partly that these characters would rarely be allowed to shine in quite this way in mainstream fiction, and it’s possible in another context Adrian would be used as comic relief in some way. (Which he isn’t, which is great.)

Still very fun, but also definitely still flawed on a reread.

Reviewed for The Bibliophibian.

[Ryan Mishap · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am less than thirty pages from the end and I just stopped reading. That's how much I care about this vampire thriller. It isn't that some of the scenes aren't exciting, they're ridiculous in the way of a summer-action movie, it is just that I feel no engagement with the characters. Everything here is paint-by-numbers--if you've read any spy thrillers, vampire books or stories with wise-cracking anti-heroes. Priest gives our anti-heroine Raylene OCD and she's a vampire, but we've encountered this person before. She picks up an ex-Navy SEAL who kick's ass and looks good, but he's a drag queen! Que quirky! There's a naughty government program and documents to steal and guys in black SUVs and how incredibly boring it all is.

How amoral our heroes are as well, just like Arnie in any of his blockbusters, even as they say they have good aims--sound familiar?. Killing without remorse is cool, I saw it on TV.

[Dana S · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am sooo tried of emo/angsty heroines (and heroes) in urban fantasy, so this was a refreshing change of pace. The heroine of the book is so not emo, she's smart, practical, ruthless, and awesome. There are also some great secondary characters, including a kick-ass, cross-dressing, hot ex-navy SEAL. I really appreciated that Priest included Adrian/Sister Rose, and had him be an actual fully-fleshed character instead of merely comic relief.

The plot is fast paced and the author manages to keep the tension up. There is no cliff hanger ending (yay!), but there are enough questions unanswered to warrant more book in this series.

I recommend this to fans of urban fantasy, but it came out as a trade paper back, and it's a bit more pricey then other books and the ebook is over priced as well, so you might want to try the library or a used book store first. But if you do have some extra cash, I highly recommend Bloodshot.

[Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cherie Priest rarely does wrong, which is even more impressive when you consider that she switches genres every time she switches series. Bloodshot is straight up paranormal fantasy, but it's also better written and far more fun that most of the paranormal fantasy I've read thus far. Bloodshot actually reminded me a bit of a television show from the USA network - between the colorful characters and the overall plot punctuated by in-between cases (the synopsis of book #2, Hellbent is confirming my suspicions about this), it feels like it would fit right at home with Burn Notice and White Collar.

[Snarktastic Sonja · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very disappointing to me. Because after I fell in love with it, I learned that the series would not be concluded. Very sad day. Second series in a row that the publishers deemed unworthy to finish. (just like with television, if you stop concluding stories I love, I will stop reading a series at all until it is concluded . . . )

I love Raylene. Most of this story takes place in her head. Her head entertained me. Ooo, following the train of her thoughts was quite the journey. I think her tracks follow a very similar maze as do mine!

Raylene is a lone vampire in a housed world. She is a thief. She is a hoarder. She is a bit ADD. She is asked to help uncover the medical records of a blinded vampire. This leads her to uncover a conspiracy. The book itself is urban fantasy crossed with a suspense thriller. But, mostly it is an adventure in Raylene's head.

The characters created here are enjoyable. We get to know (slightly) the squatter kids. And, the fact that Raylene refuses to admit she might care about them. We get to know Sister Rose. Who is absolutely priceless and a fascinating character. And, we get to know Ian, the blind vampire. I loved the interactions of all of them. I also enjoyed the mystery and thriller aspect.

My one complaint is the ending felt very rushed. We took forever to uncover the conspiracy and who was involved - then we rushed through the last chapters of taking them down. Except the top guy - who is left for the next book.

I immediately ran out and got the next book. While I read it, I will have to decide how I want the series to conclude. Since the author can't be bothered.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good pair of books about a vampire who works as a thief and is used to going it alone... but that is definitely changing, rather to her chagrin. This was obviously intended to be a longer series, but... the second book came out in 2011, so it seems unlikely it will be continued. The second book concludes tidily, but there's a larger story arc that's left hanging.

[Karissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got an advanced reading copy of this book through the Amazon Vine program. I will preface this review by saying that so far I have liked every book that I have read by Priest; I have read all of her Clockwork Century novels and enjoyed them. Although I loved the Steampunk theme to those books, I love urban fantasy even more. So I was very excited to see that she had decided to release an urban fantasy novel. This novel was wonderful, I thoroughly enjoyed every second of it and can't wait to read the next book in the series, Hellbent.

Cheshire Red a.k.a. Raylene Pendle is a world renown thief and a vampire. When a mysterious letter appears at her current safe-house with no address, she knows it is from another vampire. The letter is from Ian Stott a vampire who is blind after being kidnapped and forced into biological experiments that the government was doing. Ian wants Raylene to acquire his medical records from the secret government research facility. Easy peesy, right? Well of course not. The convoluted path will lead her through a number cities across the nation as well as throw her a new investigator partner in the form of an ex-Navy Seal drag queen.

This book was wonderful from beginning to end. It was fast-paced, had a plot that kept you guessing, lots of wonderful quirky characters, and great action sequences. This book is a lot lighter than Priest's Clockwork Century series and a lot more fun. Raylene is a bit OCD, snarky, witty, and downright human despite the fact that she, well, really isn't human at all. Ian Stott is another wonderful character as a blind, yet sensitive vampire and I wish that he had been in the story a bit more. Adrian is also a top character; I mean how can you not love a funny, kick-butt, ex Navy Seal drag queen? He is just great.

The plot is an intricate and interesting one that will keep readers on the edge of their seats from the beginning to the end of the story. I especially liked how Raylene did so much travel; we got to read about her in Seattle, Minneapolis, Atlanta, and D.C. It also seemed like Priest did her research on the cities Raylene went too. Although I as a little bit put out at Minneapolis's main descriptor being that it was cold, I really can't deny that since next Monday we will have a daily high of zero oF, so I guess that is pretty accurate.

There isn't a lot of romance in this book, a touch here and there but that is it. I love that since I like my books more towards urban fantasy than paranormal romance. The main story is wrapped up nicely but you can tell there will be a sequel to wrap up some plot points that show up in the end of the story.

How does this compare to Clockwork Century books? Well it is more fun and uses a more informal writing style. It is not necessarily better or worse than the Clockwork Century books, it is just different.

Overall a wonderful new urban fantasy book. I love Priest as a writer and she has once again proven what an excellent writer she is and also how versatile she can be. If you are a fan of the Kate Daniels series, the Jaz Parks series, or the Elemental Assassin series I would definitely pick this book up and give it a read.

[Liv · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first Cherie Priest book. It started off a bit shaky, because for the first two chapters, I found myself wondering what the heck the main character, Raylene, was meant to be doing. In fact, nothing that she “said” (since she narrated and explained her own story in present tense) caught my attention for long. The prose was supposed to be humorous but instead I found Raylene extremely annoying with her self-humour.

I almost decided to put the book down after two chapters.

Then suddenly, the plot picked up quickly thereafter and the entire book became so much more involved. I became much more engaged with the story and I actually finished the book relative quickly after the torturous slow start.

Raylene was the main character and a lone vampire who didn’t belong to any House. She worked alone as a “treasure hunter”. I honestly couldn’t remember what she called herself, but I thought the more suitable description of her occupation would be “thief-for-hire”. Anyway, she took immense precautions with having multiple safe-places, accounts, identifies handy in case she got in trouble and had to flee at moments notice. Given this, you’d think she was an organized and well-planned undead, right?

That’s where you’d be wrong.

She never planned. In reality, she often flew by the seat of her pants. Even after she teamed up with Adrian (or Sister Rose), who was a majorly kickass ex-SEAL drag queen, to investigate the abduction and experimentation of kidnapped vampires (one of whom was Adrian’s sister), she’d lead the game not really knowing how she was going to achieve the goal. She portrayed an air of confidence, but really, she was a fake.

Oh gawd, she was annoying!!! Her continuous monologue about self was totally uninteresting and often repetitive. I believe I only enjoyed her scenes where she started taking actions and had to give-it-all-or-die-trying.

On the whole though, the story moved along very nicely and I really liked reading about Adrian. Even parts about Ian Stott, the blind vampire who hired Raylene to investigate the details of his abduction and subsequent experimentation, were engaging.

So yes, I’d read the next instalment sometime in the future, but I’d like to see some improvement and character development on Raylene, as I believed her to be the weakest link to the story.

I give this book 3.5 stars.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thouroughly enjoyed reading Bloodshot. Even though Cherie Priest does not invent the vampire new ability-wise, it is Raylene´s personality and charater that make her stand out that much.Her neurotic and obesssiv compulsive behavior is hilarious. Still, she more than capable of taking care for herself, her, well, unique charactersaves her from more than one precarious situation. That´s why she has become something like a legend in her line of work and has allowed her to horde tons of cash and other riches.

Little does she know what she gets herslf into when she accepts a job that starts out more interesting than her usual ones.

The rest of the characters is, aside from Raylene´s character, one of the things that made me like this book so much. Cherie Priest does not picture her vampire as incredibly powerful beings with god-like abilities like it´s common in other book featuring vampires. This gives the story a very interesting take. Ian, her client, is actuallly blind. The only other blind vampire I know is Wrath from the BDB, but those two have nothing in common! As mentioned, I really liked that kind of vulnerability Cherie Priest added to his character.

Then there is Adrian. He/she (I share Raylene´s confusion about his gender) is totally kick-ass. But then again, what else do you expectfrom a former Navy SEAL and current drag queen. His two side are so incredibly contradictory I can only admire Cherie Priest for creating a character like him/her.

Together with Ian´s ghoul and guide Cal, they form partnership of convinience to investigate the organisation behind the vicious attack, abduction and torture that led to Ian´s blindness.

During the whole investigation, there are tons of action including break-ins, explosions, government conspiracies, Men in Black and pursuits.

My verdict:

I enjoyed every single minute I spent reading it. Bloodshot is a great blend of action, witty dialoges or in that case monologes and one liners by Raylene and likeable, unique characters.

I would totally recommend it to everyone who loves a good Urban Fantasy book with a witty heroine.

4 stars for Cherie Priest´s Bloodshot.

[Mlpmom (Book Reviewer) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay so I will admit, I wasn't sure how to rate this book after I got done reading it. I mean I liked it, it was different than other UF out there right now, way different in fact but yet I couldn't decide if that was a good thing.
I mean, I enjoyed the writing, Preist is a good writer, I just wasn't sure if I felt like I connected with any of the characters. I didn't really feel like I became invested in what happened to them. Did I like them? Sort of.
Raylene has a very dry sense of humor, which was kind of nice but she was kind of a butt too.
Adrian was funny and a great character but yet, I still didn't feel like I got enough glimpse of him to love him and care a whole lot about what happened to him in the end.
Ian was also a really interesting character and again, I liked him but I'm not sure I loved him. I wanted to feel sorry for his situation but instead I think I was more fascinated with it and just wanted to learn what he was hiding.
All in all, the series is an interesting one and something new out there in the world of UF and I definitely wouldn't mind reading the next book, in fact I plan on reading the next book because I really really want to feel that connection with the characters and I want to learn more about them.
I am hoping the next one will be better and will get a little more personal.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goodreads, you're making it hard to write this review with an ad running across part of my writing space. I understand the necessity for ads, but right here?

Anyway, it's interesting that much of the negative criticism listed by
other readers is some of what I loved about the book. For example, the
first-person narrative helped endear me to Raylene and learn more about
her. And the fact that this book really is urban fantasy and not simply a
romance novel barely disguised by fangs pleased me very much.

That said, it's the small details that can make a book, and Priest always
is good with them. In this case, it's how Raylene can be compassionate
and caring, yet we're always reminded that she is a vampire. I like how
Priest brings in a cross-dressing character who definitely doesn't
conform to stereotype. I did sort of predict the actual ending, which
makes me knock the five stars down to four (well, 4.5), but perhaps I only
could foresee that future due to Priest's excellent plotting.