Book Review: Angel's Blood by Nalini Singh

Angels' Blood
by Nalini Singh

Genre: Urban Fantasy / Paranormal / Romance

Ages: 17 and up

Description:

Vampire hunter Elena Deveraux is hired by the dangerously beautiful Archangel Raphael. But this time, it’s not a wayward vamp she has to track. It’s an archangel gone bad.

The job will put Elena in the midst of a killing spree like no other—and pull her to the razor’s edge of passion. Even if the hunt doesn’t destroy her, succumbing to Raphael’s seductive touch just may. For when archangels play, mortals break.


My Thoughts:

I checked this book out from my local e-library on a whim, having seen many positive reviews on blogs, and was surprised by how much I loved it. The unique world and brilliantly written characters grabbed me by the throat and refused to let go. Not that I fought very hard.

Elena is a very strong, inflexible human. Raphael is a very strong, inflexible immortal. Theirs is a romance destined to be difficult from the word go. The two of them circle warily; Raphael pushing, Elena refusing to bend. Watching the two of them get to know each other is comparable to watching a knife fight between the most skilled of opponents; strike and counterstrike delivered one after another with blinding speed.

There are layers upon layers of sensuality and seduction woven throughout the novel, yet there is less sex compared to other books in the paranormal romance genre. I really like that; it meant the focus was more on the emotional and verbal interactions between Raphael and Elena, both of which were frankly fascinating.

The storyline for Angels' Blood is fairly simple; a very powerful, utterly insane archangel is murdering people and the main characters must stop him. However, the nuances of the world and characters who make up the story are endlessly intricate. Every angel, vampire and human has a full-fledged, believable personality, even the minor ones. Ilium, the bright, laughing butterfly with very sharp teeth when he chooses to show them. Dmitri, the ever-loyal, ever-watching vampire with a dark past. Michaela; bright and brittle and capricious as the wind. I could go on, but you should really read the book and meet them all for yourselves.

The mythology of the world is beautifully developed, from the unique set up of a world ruled by angels who have the power to create vampires to the tiny details that make Ms. Singh's angels and vampires different from other authors' angels and vampires. The Guild Hunters' New York is completely familiar yet utterly foreign at the same time.

I highly recommend this book to all lovers of urban fantasy and dangerous romance.

Rating System: Profanity, Sexuality and Violence
1 (mild) through 10 (extreme).

Profanity:
I rate it an 8.10 for several uses of the f-word as well as other mild to mid-level swearing.

Sexuality:
I give it an 8.10 for a couple of descriptive scenes as well as a great deal of innuendo and references.

Violence:
I rate it a 10.10 for multiple instances of torture, murder, fighting and general bloodiness.

                               Lieder Madchen