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utbw42's review
4.0
Another great story, but this one seemed much better written and more fully developed in terms of characters and plot development than book one in this series. Judas Iscariot, cursed by Jesus with eternal life after his betrayal, has set in motion a plot to bring about the second coming of Christ by exploiting a young boy who he believes is The First Angel. Erin and Jordan, with help from Rhun Korza and other immortal characters, are tasked with saving the boy and preventing the anhialation of Europe in the process. The reader must keep in mind the fictional twist of this tale, a la DaVinci Code or Angels & Demons, but this story flows so well with historical context backing it up that the reader is caught up in the impending doom the authors have set in the background of the pages. I found myself actually caring about the fate of the protagonists, unlike the previous book. Cantrell seems to have gotten the hang of this genre with Rollins' guidance.
asterese's review against another edition
5.0
This was really good. I couldn't sleep afterwards, just thinking about everything that happened. It was so much better than the first book, and I really liked that one. My hands itched to grab my copy of the next book as soon as I finished with this, just so I wouldn't have to leave the story.
tabularasablog's review
4.0
Innocent Blood by James Rollins and Rebecca Cantrell has to be the most engrossing, thrilling, fast paced book I have read this year. It is action packed and so, so interesting. The book is the second part in a series titled The Order of the Sanguines, but offers enough background info, detailing on the events of Book #1 (The Blood Gospel), to work as a standalone. It is like a paranormal version of a Dan Brown novel, with vampires, angels and prophecies.
People judge vampire fiction far too quickly these days. This book is neither young adult, nor paranormal romance nor anything that would make you roll your eyes and go all skeptic. In a word, Innocent Blood by James Rollins and Rebecca Cantrell is awesome, so don't dismiss it as just-another-vampire-related-book.
What I liked: The standouts were: the uniquely sinister take on vampires; the characters picked out of history and mythology, I specially liked the Blood Countess, Elizabeth Bathory; the character development despite the swift pace; the adventure spanning over the world and the ages; the attention to detail. The story was horrific, thrilling, tragic and (here's a rarity in this genre) quite insightful. And the touch of science fiction, with those ingenious mechanical insects capable of fatally poisoning vampires: wow. The book has left me in complete awe. That it is part of a series and there's more to come is the icing on the cake.
What I didn't like: Nothing. The book was as close to perfect as can be! I give it a four star rating, because, not having read the first book, it took me a while to get into context. Some terms were unfamiliar; like the strigoi - the vampires, the Sanguines - the reformed (sort of) vampires priests or the blasphemare - these animals turned into nightmarishly strong monsters after being infected by the blood of the strigoi. I also had to read up on a lot of the Christian elements and the Biblical references, though they were pretty basic and the extra reading was just for me. I don't know if the themes could be construed as offensive by religious readers, but they were very intriguing and as far as I'm concerned, amazingly unique... What I'm trying to say is, READ IT.
People judge vampire fiction far too quickly these days. This book is neither young adult, nor paranormal romance nor anything that would make you roll your eyes and go all skeptic. In a word, Innocent Blood by James Rollins and Rebecca Cantrell is awesome, so don't dismiss it as just-another-vampire-related-book.
What I liked: The standouts were: the uniquely sinister take on vampires; the characters picked out of history and mythology, I specially liked the Blood Countess, Elizabeth Bathory; the character development despite the swift pace; the adventure spanning over the world and the ages; the attention to detail. The story was horrific, thrilling, tragic and (here's a rarity in this genre) quite insightful. And the touch of science fiction, with those ingenious mechanical insects capable of fatally poisoning vampires: wow. The book has left me in complete awe. That it is part of a series and there's more to come is the icing on the cake.
What I didn't like: Nothing. The book was as close to perfect as can be! I give it a four star rating, because, not having read the first book, it took me a while to get into context. Some terms were unfamiliar; like the strigoi - the vampires, the Sanguines - the reformed (sort of) vampires priests or the blasphemare - these animals turned into nightmarishly strong monsters after being infected by the blood of the strigoi. I also had to read up on a lot of the Christian elements and the Biblical references, though they were pretty basic and the extra reading was just for me. I don't know if the themes could be construed as offensive by religious readers, but they were very intriguing and as far as I'm concerned, amazingly unique... What I'm trying to say is, READ IT.
lpcoolgirl's review
5.0
This was a fantastic book! We got to see our favourite characters, and when there had about 100 pages or so, I thought it might have been the last book in the series, but things are basically just beginning for them, and I can't wait for more!!! And the ending was so chilling! And sad!
nearonis's review
4.0
I know it looks like it took me a long time to read this book, and that's for two reasons: one, I had a lot of other stuff going on; two, it was a disappointment after James Rollins' other books, even after the first book in the series (I haven't read Rebecca Cantrell's other books, so I won't speculate here on whether it's her influence that hindered this book or if Rollins should really stick to military genres).
I also read a few other books in the time it took me to read this one from start to finish. I don't know if this tips you off to the fact that it didn't really hold my attention, but you can consider it.
The main part about this book--and it's addressed in the resolution, so that made up for it a little--is that it comes off as sexist. There are two main male characters and two main female characters, all nicely paired off so there's not much of a love triangle aspect. But the two guys are always trying to "protect" the women even though they've proven themselves many times over that they can take care of themselves perfectly well. And the quote at the end that's really sticking with me--resonating with what I try to accomplish in my own writing--came from one of the females: "You play with my soul as if it were a trinket that you can give and take at will. Both then and now. Where is my choice in any of this? Or does that not matter?"
Now, granted, this is about vampires and the classic question of if they have a soul or not, but throughout the entire book, the two authors make the women out to be things that must be protected. It just really rubbed me the wrong way, especially after Rollins' other books that have wonderfully developed female leads and men who, though wanting to protect them, are trying to "win" without going out of their damn way every time the women are in danger of getting a scrape on the knee.
It just irks me, okay?
Well, aside from this rant, I loved the biblical overtones of this whole piece, although it did take over from the action and suspense I've come to love and expect from Rollins. I'm rating this 4/5 mainly because I did enjoy the last third of the book, though, as you can see, it took weeks to get through the first two thirds.
Hope you guys like it!
I also read a few other books in the time it took me to read this one from start to finish. I don't know if this tips you off to the fact that it didn't really hold my attention, but you can consider it.
The main part about this book--and it's addressed in the resolution, so that made up for it a little--is that it comes off as sexist. There are two main male characters and two main female characters, all nicely paired off so there's not much of a love triangle aspect. But the two guys are always trying to "protect" the women even though they've proven themselves many times over that they can take care of themselves perfectly well. And the quote at the end that's really sticking with me--resonating with what I try to accomplish in my own writing--came from one of the females: "You play with my soul as if it were a trinket that you can give and take at will. Both then and now. Where is my choice in any of this? Or does that not matter?"
Now, granted, this is about vampires and the classic question of if they have a soul or not, but throughout the entire book, the two authors make the women out to be things that must be protected. It just really rubbed me the wrong way, especially after Rollins' other books that have wonderfully developed female leads and men who, though wanting to protect them, are trying to "win" without going out of their damn way every time the women are in danger of getting a scrape on the knee.
It just irks me, okay?
Well, aside from this rant, I loved the biblical overtones of this whole piece, although it did take over from the action and suspense I've come to love and expect from Rollins. I'm rating this 4/5 mainly because I did enjoy the last third of the book, though, as you can see, it took weeks to get through the first two thirds.
Hope you guys like it!
krisrid's review
3.0
This second in the Sanguinist trilogy was okay. Some good things, but overall, not really my "thing" so I probably won't bother with the third installment.
First, the good: there is a solid, well-written story that fully develops both plot and characters. There is plenty of suspense, drama and intrigue, as well as lots of action. The story moves quickly and doesn't let the reader get bored. I also like that the female characters are strong, independent and don't need men to kick-ass when necessary. The characters are also realistic in that they are neither all good or all bad, so you can connect to them in a realistic way.
Now for the not so great [for me anyway]: I didn't care about or connect with the strong religious overtone in the plot. For some that may be a unique and interesting twist, but for me it wasn't something I care about, so the religious angst that drives some of the characters in varying degress was just a distraction for me. I also found the book longer than it needed to be to tell the story. While I don't mind some explanation of characters' motivations, and the history that got us to where we are, realistically, you should have gotten most of that from reading the first book [which you do need to do first if you are going to read this] so I found much of the explanations repetetive and annoying. It made the book drag for me.
And also because I listened to this on audiobook, I couldn't skim over the descriptions I didn't care about. Which brings me to another thing that didn't work for me - the narrator's voice. That is totally unfair as a reason to not love the book, but the reality is when you listen to audiobooks, the narrator is part of the package. In this case the man who narrated has a slightly nasal quality to his voice that I found irritating and it detracted from my overall enjoyment of the book. A small thing, but it added overall to how I feel about this book.
The book also has a lot of violence, much of it quite graphic. While that isn't usually a major issue for me, especially if it makes sense in the context of the story - which it absolutely does here - the fights and violence scenes felt a little more lenghty and detailed than I felt they strictly needed to be to tell the story so that was another issue [small, granted] affecting my enjoyment overall of the story.
Bottom line, if you are looking for an action-suspense with a very different perspective and you don't mind a religious-focused plot and plenty of unique violence in your books, this may be up your alley. It wasn't a good fit for me, although to be fair it was a creatives, well-written story.
First, the good: there is a solid, well-written story that fully develops both plot and characters. There is plenty of suspense, drama and intrigue, as well as lots of action. The story moves quickly and doesn't let the reader get bored. I also like that the female characters are strong, independent and don't need men to kick-ass when necessary. The characters are also realistic in that they are neither all good or all bad, so you can connect to them in a realistic way.
Now for the not so great [for me anyway]: I didn't care about or connect with the strong religious overtone in the plot. For some that may be a unique and interesting twist, but for me it wasn't something I care about, so the religious angst that drives some of the characters in varying degress was just a distraction for me. I also found the book longer than it needed to be to tell the story. While I don't mind some explanation of characters' motivations, and the history that got us to where we are, realistically, you should have gotten most of that from reading the first book [which you do need to do first if you are going to read this] so I found much of the explanations repetetive and annoying. It made the book drag for me.
And also because I listened to this on audiobook, I couldn't skim over the descriptions I didn't care about. Which brings me to another thing that didn't work for me - the narrator's voice. That is totally unfair as a reason to not love the book, but the reality is when you listen to audiobooks, the narrator is part of the package. In this case the man who narrated has a slightly nasal quality to his voice that I found irritating and it detracted from my overall enjoyment of the book. A small thing, but it added overall to how I feel about this book.
The book also has a lot of violence, much of it quite graphic. While that isn't usually a major issue for me, especially if it makes sense in the context of the story - which it absolutely does here - the fights and violence scenes felt a little more lenghty and detailed than I felt they strictly needed to be to tell the story so that was another issue [small, granted] affecting my enjoyment overall of the story.
Bottom line, if you are looking for an action-suspense with a very different perspective and you don't mind a religious-focused plot and plenty of unique violence in your books, this may be up your alley. It wasn't a good fit for me, although to be fair it was a creatives, well-written story.
patriciau36's review
5.0
Second in a new series from James Rollins, Innocent Blood marries the non-stop action readers have come to expect from Rollins with the all-too-real fantasy co-author Rebecca Cantrell does so well. Blending mythology, ancient history, and the origins of Christianity, Innocent Blood picks up the story of the Sanguinists, an order of vampires who find sustenance not from human blood but from the Blood of Christ, or consecrated wine. The Order of the Sanguinists, led by Cardinal Bernard and a rogue priest named Rhun, joined forces with two humans, a soldier (Jordan) and a scholar (Erin), in the series first book, Blood Gospel. In this installment, our heroes, the Knight of Christ (Rhun), the Warrior of Man (Jordan) and the Woman of Learning (Erin) race against time to stop the Gates of Hell from opening and unleashing Armageddon upon the world.
Nothing terribly serious here, except for some exceptionally good writing, a fun and suspenseful plot, and, best of all, no sparkly vampires! Well worth the read.
Nothing terribly serious here, except for some exceptionally good writing, a fun and suspenseful plot, and, best of all, no sparkly vampires! Well worth the read.