Lauren Crow is not having a good time.
After accompanying her friends Heidi and Deanna on a trip to New
Orleans to celebrate Heidi's upcoming wedding, she receives bad
news: her life is in danger.
The giver of this news is Susan, a fortune teller in Jackson
Square. She stares into her crystal ball and tells Lauren to leave,
to take her friends and go. Something stalks her, something wants
her and she is in danger.
As if that weren't bad enough, she is being followed by a man named
Mark Davidson. After finding Lauren in a New Orleans bar, he
doesn't want to let her out of his sight. She is the spitting image
of Katie, his first love, who was killed so many years ago by a
murderous vampire.
Mark knows that if he lets Lauren out of his sight for one moment,
Stephan will claim Lauren for his just like he did Katie. Lauren,
however, is having none of this. She doesn't believe in vampire
mumbo jumbo and won't accept the truth.
Until the vampire starts to hunt one of her friends. Suddenly the
danger they are all in is very real and Lauren must rely on Mark
for help. She must also try to ignore the growing passion that
sparks to life between them.
But some things don't always go as planned...
Blood Red manages to breathe new life into the tired genre of
vampire fiction and it does it extremely well. Having never read a
book by Heather Graham before I wasn't sure what to expect; I
didn't know if I was in for a bodice ripper with fangs or a book
with fangs with a touch of fire. Thankfully it was the latter.
What makes Blood Red so successful is the characters. Lauren is no
cardboard cut out heroine. She is tough and stands well on her own
two feet. Mark Davidson, vampire hunter, isn't the rough and ready
macho man that so many hero's end up being. In short, they aren't
caricatures. They feel like living, breathing people.
Graham also manages to throw a new twist on vampire lore that works
beautifully. They're still harmed by holy water but Graham has a
few new twists up her sleeve. I love when an author take a
paranormal element that's already been done to death and makes it
his or her own. Graham excels in the paranormal and it never comes
off feeling hokey or fake. You will honestly believe, even if for
an instant, that vampires exist.
In short, I loved this book. I was hooked from the first page and
couldn't stop reading. It's the perfect cure for a case of the
blues or to make your summer night red hot. It has something to
please everyone: suspense, romance, thrills, and paranormal
elements. Graham manages to be deft at juggling all her balls and
never drops a single one.
If you haven't fallen under Graham's spell yet, what are you
waiting for? Blood Red is an absolute flat out fantastic book and
you'll love every bloody moment of it.