Cat Adams: BLOOD SINGER SERIES

Author:  Cat Adams (pseudonym for C. T. Adams & Cathy Clamp)
Series:  BLOOD SINGER
Plot Type:  Urban Fantasy (UF)
Ratings:  Violence—4; Sensuality—2-3; Humor—2-3
Publisher and Titles:  Tor
       1   Blood Song (6/2010)
       2   Siren Song (9/2010)
       3   Demon Song (3/2011)
       4   The Isis Collar (3/2012)
       5   The Eldritch Conspiracy (1/2013) 
       6   To Dance with the Devil (11/2013)

       7   All Your Wishes (10/2016)

This ongoing post was revised and updated on 10/21/2016 to include a review of the seventh novel, All Your Wishes. That review appears first, followed by a brief overview of the world-building and reviews of the previous six novels.

                    NOVEL 7: All Your Wishes                    

PUBLISHER'S BLURB:

     An ifrit tries to take over Celia Graves's body so he can free thousands of evil djinn to plague mankind in Cat Adam's All Your Wishes.

     A client begs Celia Graves―part human, part Siren, part vampire―to help return a genie to his bottle. The attempt makes Celia a target for the currently incorporeal ifrit. If she doesn't give him her body, he'll kill everyone she loves. If she does, he'll use her physical form to free thousands of evil djinn.

     Celia's not going to hand over her body, but her client tries to trick her into it―so that he can kill the ifrit while it's trapped in her flesh. That doesn't end well for the client. Celia might not get paid for the gig, but she's got to get the ifrit re-bottled before all hell breaks loose―possibly literally!

     Now written solely by C. T. Adams under the Cat Adams name, All Your Wishes continues the outstanding urban fantasy series BLOOD SINGER with a thrilling new adventure.

MY REVIEW: 

     It has been three years since we last checked in on Celia Graves and her friends, and it's good to be back. I have a soft spot in my heart for BLOOD SINGER because it was the very first series that I reviewed on this blog, way back in 2011. Celia has come a long way since the first book, Blood Song, in which she started off as human but soon succumbed to a master vampire's bite and then discovered her siren heritage. From that point on, Celia's life has grown more and more complicated and dangerous. As you'll see in All Your Wishes, that part hasn't changed at all.

     The plot of All Your Wishes revolves around the violent activities of an ifrit. For the purposes of this book, the author explains in an opening "Author's Note" that "I have created the culture and significance of the djinn in Celia Graves from scratch. The terms genie and jinn and ifrit are used, but that is not to say that they bear any resemblance to any other beings in any religions or books of fiction or nonfiction currently existing." Here are Adams's descriptions of the three types of djinn entities: First, she provides a general statement about the Djinn: "All of them are dangerous, alien being that are unimaginably powerful both magically and physically. they can, with a thought, alter reality in serious ways." Then, she goes on to describe the three types:

Jinn are the most benign because they never willingly enter the human dimension.

Genies are exiled to the human world for various crimes and must earn their way back to their home realm through good works without ever making themselves known to humans.

Ifrits are relatively rare, and those in the human realm are imprisoned in special, magically sealed jars that are under the control of designated Guardians, who are the only ones with the power and knowledge to keep them under control. They are so powerful that they can cause massive earthquakes simultaneously around the globe.

     Unfortunately, the creature that Celia's client is trying to track down and recapture is an ifrit that was freed by a team of Celia's bitter enemies and which is now on the loose. 

     The client is Rahim Patel, a Guardian who has a chaotic family relationship who is holding back information from Celia about his ifrit problem. Rahim wants to plan and run the search for Hasan, the ifrit, with no input from Celia―which is a major no-no for her and her staff. Although Celia would rather have several of her security specialists accompany her on her cross-country trips with Rahim, he refuses, and three different seers agree with him. They all say that it must be Celia who goes with him because her presence alone will be the difference between success and failure―life or death. Celia's personal seer, Dottie, gives her this typically ambiguous, very ominous prophecy, "Your enemies know you. For every move there is a counter; for every ally an opponent. They are your match in most ways. Ultimately you can prevail, but only if you embrace your hidden strengths." In addition, Celia's ghostly spirit-Guardian, Abby, warns Celia that her long-time nemesis, Connor Finn―now a powerful, vengeful ghost―is involved in the ifrit situation and that Connor's overwhelming hatred for Celia puts her in extreme danger. To ensure that Celia fully understands the seriousness of her prediction about Connor, Abby writes this scary message in frosty letters across Celia's conference table: "He will see you dead." This statement is extremely frightening because, as Celia explains, "Ghosts can't lie; ergo, it was truth."

     The story line follows Celia and Rahim as they travel to Florida and then to Indiana, with big trouble exploding in both places. Once again, Celia has several hostile confrontations with law enforcement as they try to pin various murders on her―murders that she either did not commit or committed in self defense. Her lawyers made a lot of money in this novel.

     As a traitor turns Rahim's family against him, he and Celia are left to deal with Hasan by themselves. Unfortunately, one of the abilities of an ifrit is possession, and Hasan takes advantage of his power by possessing Celia―more than once―as he single-mindedly advances toward his ultimate goal. He also punishes Celia for not cooperating with him by punishing many of her friends and allies―and some of these punishments are deadly.

     As usual, the adventure ends with a huge showdown between Hasan and his Guardian with Celia and her allies as back-up. By the end, the ifrit situation is resolved, but Celia endures yet another tragic loss.

     Adams always delivers a good story with a coherent, suspense-filled plot and multi-dimensional main characters, and this book steps up to her high standards. Just one little nitpick: Celia is still getting her blood lust under control after her horrific sunlight torture experience in the previous book, so she has a lot of mini-scenes in which she is desperately gulping down protein shakes and slurping baby food just to keep herself from chomping down on someone's jugular. Another of her vampire-related characteristics her need to constantly slather on sunscreen so that she doesn't burn to a crisp. I understand that once you give a character certain physical aspects, you have to maintain them, but I have to say that both the slurping and the slathering get old very quickly. And they were sometimes inconsistent, particularly the sunscreen (e.g., when her luggage was confiscated by the Tampa police, there was a major time gap in her slathering schedule).

     All in all, though, this is a well-told story with compelling action, just enough angst, and a nicely played build-up in suspense. If you are a fan of the series, this is a must-read because the fate of one important character will have an immense effect on Celia's future life. 

     

     To read or listen to an excerpt from All Your Wishes, click HERE to go to the book's Amazon.com page and click on the cover art for print or the "Listen" icon for audio. 

                         WORLD-BUILDING                          

     Celia Graves is a personal security expert (aka bodyguard) for the rich and famous in coastal Southern California, specifically in Santa Maria de Luna. In this world, mages, and witches practice their magic openly. Shape shifters are dangerous animals to be feared, and vampires (aka "bats") stalk the city's alleys at night. Law enforcement agencies have magic users on staff to help track down both human and supernatural criminals. 

                    NOVEL 1:  Blood Song                    

     Early in book 1, Celia is bitten by a master vampire while she is guarding a rich Eastern European prince as he visits a sleazy strip joint. The vampire's bite awakens Celia's hidden siren heritage (of which she was totally unaware), and when Celia awakens, she finds that she is now an Abomination—the official term for her part vamp, part siren, and (tiny) part human condition. The pros: She can day walk and has super strength. The cons: she has fangs, is extremely sun-sensitive, and can digest only liquids. She also has a fierce vampire nature and a hunger for blood that she must learn to control. 

     The vampire bite completely changes people's attitudes toward Celia. Some humans and supernaturals want to kill her; others want to institutionalize her; and a few—her close friends—want to protect her. Before the bite, Celia had many friends in the local law enforcement community, but now, she is shocked to discover that most of them want to put her behind bars.

     In this book, Celia has two possible love interests: Bruno DeLuca, her mage ex-boyfriend, and Kevin Landingham, a sexy werewolf, but their characters and their relationships with Celia are mostly undeveloped in this book—particularly Kevin, who remains largely in the background.

     Celia has several close friends: her secretary (Dawna Han Long), Kevin's sister (Emma), and her best friend (Vicki). Celia is the usual urban fantasy heroine: brave but reckless; smart but stubborn. She has had the stereotypically unhappy childhood, with plenty of mommy issues. Blood Song ends in a cliffhanger, as Celia's grandmother reveals startling—and previously unknown—facts about Celia's genetic make-up. 

     To read or listen to an excerpt from Blood Song, click HERE to go to the book's Amazon.com page and click on the cover art for print or the "Listen" icon for audio.

                    NOVEL 2:  Siren Song                     
     Celia is still adjusting to her new vampire life style, and it's not always easy, so therapy sessions have become a regular part of her schedule. She is also learning more about her siren heritage, particularly her ability to enthrall men and alienate women.

     The novel has several story lines, two that involve a death curse and a confrontation with Celia's previously unknown siren relatives, some of whom are not at all happy to meet her. The police are still trying to solve the murder of Celia's best friend, and they're pretty sure that Celia is guilty—one way or another. On top of all this, some of Celia's closest, most trusted friends betray her in a way that nearly leads to her death.

     In the romance department, Celia's relationship with Bruno changes (not in a good way) and John Creede, an attractive and powerful mage steps up as a sexy contender. (He was a supporting character in the previous book.) 

     To read or listen to an excerpt from Siren Song, click HERE to go to the book's Amazon.com page and click on the cover art for print or the "Listen" icon for audio. 

                    NOVEL 3:  Demon Song                    

     In Demon Song, Celia is trying to help her friends Dawna and Emma recover from their demonic misadventures in the previous book. In the meantime, Vicki has asked Celia to investigate her reasons for leaving a quarter of her estate to a stranger in Arkansas. (Vicki herself doesn't know why she did it; she had a vision that told her she should.) Before Celia can get too far into that investigation, she gets dragged into a rescue attempt in which Kevin and his girlfriend are the victims. Since Celia still hasn't forgiven Kevin and his family for what they did to her in Siren Song, she's not too happy about being coerced into helping them. 

     Eventually Celia discovers that her two tasks are intricately connected and that, once again, a demon is out to get her. Celia's love life is picking up, but she's not sure if it's because of her personality or if it's just her growing siren powers. Now she has three romantic possibilities: Bruno (the ex-boyfriend); John Creede (the sexy mage); and Christopher Gaetano (the weird medic, who, so far, has just asked her to give him a call). 

     Demon Song has other story threads involving the siren royal family as well as Celia's mother and grandmother. Also in this third book, Celia is continuing to learn how to handle her vampiric emotional fluctuations, even as they grow stronger. She can be very scary when she's hungry.

     I enjoyed Demon Song. Adams and Clamp tell a compelling story and do a great job of weaving the love interests into the plot. Celia can be a bit of a drag when she insists that everything bad that happens to anyone she knows is always her fault, but that seems to be a common problem with urban fantasy heroines. I particularly like the way that Celia has grown and changed over the three books. From her panic after the vampire bite in book 1 to the revelation of her siren heritage in book 2 to her growing problems dealing with her vampire side in book 3, Celia is always an interesting character, and I'll keep following her as this series continues. 

     To read or listen to an excerpt from Demon Song, click HERE to go to the book's Amazon.com page and click on the cover art for print or the "Listen" icon for audio.

                    NOVEL 4:  The Isis Collar                    

     In the opening scene, Celia is trying unsuccessfully to convince an elementary school principal that the students are in danger. Celia's favorite clairvoyant, Dottie, has called her with a warning, and Celia is desperate to save the kids. Although two supernatural bombs detonate and two magic-related perpetrators are caught, the children are saved and the building doesn't explode...so all's well that ends well—right? Well, no. Those bombs set off the major events of the primary plot of the book because they contain a disease—a magical zombie plague that soon develops into a pandemic.

     Celia's contact at the FBI—Dominic Rizzoli—pulls her into the case, and eventually Bruno and Creede also help out as they all try to figure out who is at the center of this disaster. Celia has a personal stake in the outcome because she was injured in the school attack and is in danger of dying from the mysterious plague. She seeks help from everyone she can think of, from doctors to magic practitioners—even a voodoo doctor who wears a feathered headdress of leather adorned with beads and chicken claws. As you can imagine, she's desperate for a cure.

     In the midst of all this, Celia's alcoholic mother breaks out of her imprisonment on the sirens' island and heads back home, where Celia must track her down. In addition, Celia's younger (dead) sister, Ivy, (who is now an annoying ghost) is so frantic to help their mother that she possesses a young girl. Then, to top things off, John Creede goes missing.

     There are a few bumps in some of the story lines and some gaps in the action. For example, when Creede runs into Celia at Isaac Levy's shop, he tells her that he knew she was there because he saw her car outside. But Celia didn't drive her own car; she came with Dawna in Dawna's car. Then, Creede and Levy meet for the first time, even though Creede has seemingly been in Levy's shop numerous times before—at least once with Celia. (pp. 116-118) In another scene, Celia has a knock-down, drag-out battle with a zombie and winds up covered in zombie goo. This happens in a hospital corridor, and after the fight she doesn't bother to scrub down and sterilize herself. Instead, she goes off to visit her mother, who is a patient in that same hospital. Then she has contact with several more people and doesn't clean up until she gets back to her office. Now this is a potentially fatal virus, and everyone who comes in contact with it is at risk of infection. So this kind of behavior on Celia's part borders on negligent manslaughter (either that or inattention to details on the authors' part). Another problem: We don't hear anything about the titular Isis Collar until the story is 87% complete—just 50 pages from the end. 

     One last suggestion: Please, please, please, cut way back on the amount of print dedicated to Celia's constant need for meat broth and bloody smoothies? We get it: She needs to eat often and she can only drink liquids. We don't need the constant descriptions. 

     Even with its faults, this is a solid, action-packed addition to the series. Celia is an appealing heroine who does her best to hold back her vampiric blood lust and live as "normal" a life as she can. Her relationships with Bruno and Creede are interesting to watch as she has deep feelings for both of them: lusty passion for Creede and easy familiarity with Bruno. But can Creede get over his alpha-male superiority complex? And will Bruno defy his mother's hatred for Celia? Which one will win out in the end?

     To read or listen to an excerpt from The Isis Collar, click HERE to go to the book's Amazon.com page and click on the cover art for print or the "Listen" icon for audio.

                    NOVEL 5:  The Eldritch Conspiracy                    

     The big news in the siren world is the upcoming marriage of Princess Adriana to Dahlmar, King of Rusland. Unfortunately, a terrorist group is determined to prevent the wedding from taking place, and they don't care how many innocents die in the process. After her two assistants are murdered, Adriana hires Celia to make sure that she and her bridal party are kept safe—and alive—until she and Dahlmar are officially wed. This means that Celia becomes Adriana's maid of honor and must handle all of the duties and responsibilities that come with that position—like dealing with two snotty Ruslandic bridesmaids who are determined to sabotage the wedding in their own mean-girl manner. 

     Celia is still dealing with the bitter feelings that have developed between her and her former boyfriend, John Creede, but she has found some happiness in the arms of Bruno DeLuca, the mage who has been in and out of her love life since her college years. When one of Bruno's former girlfriends annuls her marriage and makes a play for him, the consequences have a direct and dangerous effect on Celia's life.

     The primary plot follows Celia as she tries to protect Adriana, but finds herself on the terrorists' target list as well. Adding to the chaos is Celia's old nemesis, police officer Richard Clarke, who is still trying to kill her. As the story plays out, Celia must deal with an attack on her grandmother, the disappointment of having a few friends pull away from her in fear of the violence that surrounds her, and the realization that some of her siren-related actions during a demon-takedown in an earlier book have come back to haunt her.

     In a related subplot, Okalani (the young siren woman we met in a previous book) runs away from the sirens' Isle of Serenity to the mainland to find her father. We learn the shocking truth about her father's identity and watch her play a heartbreaking part in the murder and mayhem within the primary plot line.

     We also get a new piece of interesting siren mythology when Celia's Aunt Lopaka, the siren queen, is severely injured in one of the terrorist attacks: As Celia analyzes the attack she remembers that "the only things that can actually kill a pure-blooded siren are weapons wielded in jealousy—an emotion that is a poison to us—or certain specially made magical artifacts." (p. 117) 

     Eventually we learn the motivations for the attacks on Celia and Adriana and the identity of the terrorist leader, both of which are relatively unpredictable. The big showdown scene is brief but powerful as Celia relives the terror of being caught up in demonic forces and fighting for her life. (That demon who marked her in her childhood just won't give her up.) Once again, (as in the previous book), the titular object (the Eldritch Cross) is not mentioned until the book is nearly ended, and it has little to do with the main plot. 

     This is another action-filled story in a strong urban fantasy series. My only nit-pick is that day in and day out, EVERYONE seems to be after Celia, either to persecute her or to kill her outright, including the local police, siren haters, vampire hunters, drug lords, and a tenacious demon. She can't relax for a moment without someone attacking her. Although this makes for compelling action and lots of drama, it doesn't leave much time for introspection or for the development of personal relationships.

     To read or listen to an excerpt from The Eldritch Conspiracy, click HERE to go to the book's Amazon.com page and click on the cover art for print or the "Listen" icon for audio. 

                      NOVEL 6:  To Dance with the Devil                      

     After the destruction of their office building in the previous book, Celia and her partner, Dawna Han Long, are looking for a new site, with little success so far. By now, Celia has a reputation for being a magnet for trouble, so landlords are quick to turn her down. Even some of her friends are treating her differently, particularly Dawna's fiancé, Chris Gaetano, who wants Dawna to terminate her relationship with Celia. 

  As the story opens, Celia meets with a prospective client calling herself Abigail Andrews who wants Celia to protect her adopted daughter, but lies to Celia about critical aspects of her case. When Celia pushes for the truth, the woman leaves in a huff and is later found dead—tortured and murdered. In the meantime, Celia herself is attacked and left for dead on a sunny beach. (Remember, Celia is now a bat [a vampire] who can sustain exposure to the sun only when slathered heavily in high-SPF sunscreen.) Celia's attackers show her a holograph of a powerful but evil mage who claims that a seer has predicted that his latest project will fail because of Celia's intervention, so his solution to that problem is to kill her. Celia's severe injuries force her back to the early stages of her vampire transformation (i.e., uncontrollable blood lust), but she gradually recovers and helps the police find a connection between her attack and Abigail's murder. When a seer prophesies that Celia's involvement in the case will save the daughter's life, Celia becomes even more determined to figure out what's going on and put a stop to it.

     The primary plot follows Celia as she tries to protect Abigail Andrews' daughter and finds herself in the middle of a long-term blood feud between two mage families. But that's just the tip of the iceberg because the holographic mage who ordered Celia's attack is currently imprisoned in a high-security prison. How could he be practicing his dark magic while under magical restraints? Who is helping him? Is the family feud just a cover for a "project" that is even more deadly?

     For Celia, the horrific sun attack is a real setback because she was just beginning to get her vampire nature under control. Starting all over again is depressing, but she does her best, with the help of her many friends. (In this book, she has more friends than enemies for a change.) Celia is also in the middle of some extensive family therapy as she tries to deal with her difficult mother and to repair her shaky relationship with her beloved grandmother. Early in the story, she loses her link to her dead sister, Ivy, after she finally accepts that Ivy's death was not her fault. That epiphany breaks Ivy's connection with mortal life, and Ivy finally goes on off into the light. Although Celia realizes that this is a good thing, she still misses Ivy. Needless to say, her mother's reaction to Ivy's disappearance is much more virulent and violent.

     Celia's love life is going smoothly, for once, except that she and Bruno DeLuca (a powerful mage) aren't seeing much of each other because both are caught up in their own careers: Bruno's as a university professor and Celia's as an up-and-coming security expert. When Celia chooses Dawna as her partner rather than Bruno, he reacts with anger, and things get a bit bumpy for awhile. As the plot approaches its violent resolution, Celia and John Creede (her former lover) repair their broken friendship, leaving the romance situation in a somewhat ambiguous state.

     The theme of this book deals with friendship: that Celia's friends stand by her through thick and thin; that some relationships have changed from adversarial to friendly (i.e., Heather Alexander, a police detective); that Celia's friends are finding love (and sometimes marriage); and that Celia's friends are helping her to survive. Among the romantic pairings are Emma Landingham and Matteo (Matty) DeLuca (Bruno's brother); Dawna and Chris; and Fred and Dotty—all of whom have been playing key roles in the series. By the end of the book, even Emma's werewolf brother, Kevin, may have found a lover.

     This is another solid chapter in a strong series. Both the main and supporting characters are well-developed, and the suspense-filled plot moves along at a compelling pace. The ending leaves Celia with some new enemies (nothing new about that), and we'll probably see them make some moves against her in the next novel. I'm hoping that Celia's romance with John Creede will pick up once again because I think that he's a better match for Celia than Bruno is. 

     To read or listen to an excerpt from To Dance with the Devil, click HERE to go to the book's Amazon.com page and click on the cover art for print or the "Listen" icon for audio.