Review: Vampires of Manhattan by Melissa de la Cruz

Vampires of Manhattan
(The New Blue Bloods Coven #1)
Melissa de la Cruz
Release: September 9, 2014
Links: Amazon Goodreads
Review:
Yes, I know this is supposed to be the blurb, but I have some problems with it and I don't want you to read it until after I explain. The events referred to in the blurb take place in about the last fifty pages of the book. So not only is it a huge spoiler, it doesn't really tell you what the book is about. I don't really even agree about who the main character is.

The story follows three main characters. Araminta Scott is a Venator, a detective for the vampire coven. She's working a murder case in which a human was killed by a vampire and a bloody pentagram left at the scene. They suspect the murder may be connected to Nephalim activity they've been tracking in the city in the last several months. Oliver Hazard-Perry, the head of the Coven, is preparing for the Four Hundred Ball, being held for the first time since the war where he will officially become the king of the Coven. He's also peripherally involved in investigating the Nephalim activity. Mimi Monroe has just left her husband, the lord of the underworld, to move back to New York. She's found a job in an art gallery where she works with some of the artists involved in the ball. Eventually, all their lives intersect, but I was most interested in Ara's police procedural story line and her relationship with her new werewolf partner.

The story takes place about ten years after the Coven won a war against Lucifer, which I presume was the end of the last Blue Bloods book. I haven't read that series, but it's not necessary to read it before starting this book. Everything is thoroughly summarized. Which is actually kind of a problem. For the first half of the book, every time a new character is introduced there's a summary of what they did in the war, what they've been doing in the ten years since and what they're doing now. It was way too much information and made it hard to follow the narrative. I would have rather had a few pages about the war before the first chapter and cut down on some of that information overload later.

At about the halfway point, the book goes back about six months and explains some of the other characters' actions. From that point on, I was really into the story. There are some twists I wasn't expecting and some characters I didn't think I would like that surprised me. I liked where it was going at the end so I think I'm going to continue with series.

If you still want to read that blurb, here it is.


Summary:
The Vampires of Manhattan is "hipster horror"--the memorable characters from her Blue Bloods series are older and cooler than before, trying to build "Millennial" lives in the bustle of Manhattan while battling forces of evil and, of course, each other.

Hero of this sexy, paranormal action tale is Oliver Hazard-Perry, former human conduit, and Manhattan's only human-turned-vampire, now the head of the Blue Bloods Coven. When his all-too-human lover is found murdered on the eve of the coven's annual Four Hundred Ball--a celebration meant to usher in a new era in vampire society, and to mark the re-unification of the Coven after decades of unrest and decay--Oliver is devastated.

Now, not only is he trying to create a new world order for the immortal elite, he's the prime suspect and is stalked by the newly installed head of the vampire secret police. Because according to the new rules, vampires who take human life can now be executed. Burned.

How can an immortal sentenced to die fight back? He has to find the killer--and the answers lie deep in vampire lore.



Recommended for fans of: Blue Bloods, paranormal police procedurals, vampires, angels and demons

   1/2

3 1/2  stars