Opening Line:"Mrs.Simmons? It's Vicki Nelson calling: the private investigator from Toronto."BLOOD PACT is the 4th offering from Tanya Huff’s Blood (Ties) series. As a fan of the TV show I was thrilled to discover this series of books which now have the added benefit of visual references for our 3 main characters as they continue to battle both the supernatural and each other in their ongoing love triangle.My favourite character here remains romance writing, bisexual vampire Henry Fitzroy. As the 450 year old illegitimate son of King Henry VIII turned modern day romance writer he’s both fascinating and swoon worthy. And with our love triangle finally coming to its shocking conclusion I fell even harder for him. Private Investigator Vicki Nelson is as inflexible and tough as ever and even though she’s still managing to sleep with both of them it’s a mystery to me why either Henry or blue collar cop Mike Celluci would love her because she’s not really a very likeable person. I was again impressed by Huffs writing as she weaves together multiple POV’s and gives us a gruesome and truly horrifying story. This one creeped me out big time. Full of thought provoking moral issues, it’s a fantastic mixture of romance, horror, fantasy and suspense. The closing chapters are heart pounding and although many disliked the controversial ending I loved it, finding it to be the perfect and really only logical conclusion to the series.Vickie’s been avoiding her mother’s phone calls so when she suddenly dies from a heart attack Vicki is not only grief stricken but wracked with guilt. Vicki travels to Kingston for the funeral and because both Mike and Henry are concerned for her fragile mental state they follow her. However the situation goes from bad to unthinkable when her mother’s body goes missing from the funeral home and later turns up outside the living room window, dead yet somehow horribly alive. Knowing that the Ontario police aren’t going to invest much time in looking for a body Vicki sets out on her own to find her Frankenstein mother. Refusing to grieve Vicki’s nastier than ever, which pairs Henry and Mike on the same team and watching them put their jealousies aside and become friends of a sort added a very sexy dynamic. The real monsters in this story aren’t the zombies at all but the scientists experimenting and reanimating the dead and it’s with this discovery that our trio find themselves in dark and dangerous territory. Soon Henry’s trapped, starving and at the mercy of the scientists, Vicki’s about to lose her mind and zombies and mad, drunken scientists are running around killing each other in an abandoned hospital. Yup this is quite the ride.
This is the fourth and strongest of Huff's series. This isn't the last, there's one more, Blood Debt, but this feels like the series conclusion with the last an afterthought. Like many works of urban fantasy, this involves a tough heroine who moves in a supernatural world. However, unlike characters such as LK Hamilton's Anita Blake or Harris' Sookie Stackhouse, the central character of this series, Vicki Nelson not only isn't superpowered--she's handicapped--losing her sight, forcing her to leave the police force. She makes a living now as a private investigator--helped by Mike Celluci, who is still on the Toronto police force. Oh, and Henry Fitzroy, who happens to be a 450 year old vampire--and based on a real historical figure, Henry VIII's illegitimate son.Otherwise Henry is along fairly traditional vampire lines. Super-strong, nearly unaging, needs to feed on human blood, sleeps during the day. No sparkle, no animal to call or mysterious sexual powers, but one of the good guys rather than a monster. And he's solitary because of a vampiric territorial imperative, so there's no vampire society to play off of. So the appeal of the series is more the relationship and romantic triangle as Mike and Henry vie for Vicki's affections and their various adventures dealing with the supernatural. The first book involved demons, the second werewolves, the third mummies--and now in this book it's zombies--with a Frankenstein twist. The personal stakes in this one are high for Vicki. Towards the beginning of the book Vicki learns her mother died. And when a friend of her mother wants one last look and they open the casket at the viewing, they find someone has stolen the body. I felt tremendous sympathy for Vicki in this book. She can come across as abrasive, and she's so stubbornly independent it nears recklessness at times. In the book before this one I was finding myself not liking her much. She gains a lot of ground back in this book, not only because we learn things about her that make her more understandable, but Huff portrays the whole process of grief and loss so well I found myself very much identifying with her and her loss. Of all the blood books, this was the one that was the most moving.Although I agree with those reviewers who devoutly wished that Vicki would get her glasses better fitted and that someone would cut off Mike's curl before we have to hear about it one more time...
What do You think about Blood Pact (2004)?
Of the many, classic Urban Fantasy books of the 90′s, the Vicki Nelson series holds extremely well. This strong source material lends itself well to revival, from the Canadian TV show “Blood Ties” to the recent reissues of the books themselves. Re-reading Victoria Nelson now, every description of Vicki brings to mind the strong jaw and dry sense of humor of her televised incarnation, adding to the experience of the re-read.BLOOD PACT is an anomaly in the Vicki Nelson series, as there is very little Vicki to drive the story forward. Dealing with sudden death of her mother, and then the theft of her mother’s body, Vicki is understandably remote. Celluci and Henry are jarred out of their “time share” arrangement and forced to work together as they try to help Vicki, leading to some new and interesting interactions… and a definite sense that Vicki’s love life is about to change. Between this man show, the eclectic villains, and the often heartbreaking glimpses of the “monsters” point of view, BLOOD PACT manages to compensate for the emotionally absent main character.The satisfying structure of this story, however, is almost completely overshadowed by the game change at the end. BLOOD PACT offers significant character growth throughout the book, but nothing can compare to the electric events at this book’s ending. As much as I enjoyed this story over all, I was breathlessly anticipating the end… and I now can’t wait to continue on to BLOOD DEBT to see how everything falls out.Sexual Content: References to sex.
—All Things Urban Fantasy
This one was too good to put down, once I started reading I had to finish it. This series seems to get better with each book or maybe it is just that they are all good.Vicki Nelson (PI and former Police Officer) finds out her mother has died so she rushes off home and without telling her friends, Vampire, Henry Fitzroy and her ex police partner, Mike Cellucci. When at the funeral a friend wants one last look at her mother – they find her body is not there. It turns out there is someone trying to experiment with bodies to see if they can be brought back to life.Once Henry and Mike find out where Vicki is, they put aside their differences and go together to find her and be with her in her time of need. Of course Vicki is tough and doesn’t really need them but they do come in handy as they start to look for her mother’s body. Things get sticky when Henry fails to return one morning after some investigative work. The rush is on then to find Henry because he needs to be safe when it is daylight.
—Bronwyn Rykiert
This was an enjoyable read as were all of the "blood" books from Ms. Huff.Vickie Nelson is a former Toronto detective, forced to quit when her eyes begin to fail due to a degenerative disease.Mike was her police partner and on again-off again lover. When tempers flared between these two, all was right with the world, usually.Henry Fitzroy is the bastard son of King Henry VIII, and a vampire. He's also, in a real sense, one of Vickie's lovers. (Mike being the other)After fighting demons, mummies, and more in the first three books, Tanya Huff takes us through a nightmare all it's own.Vickie receives the fateful call every child dreads, regardless of age. Her mother is dead of an apparent heart attack. Of course, this would be the end for most books, but for Blood Pact, it becomes the beginning as Vickie, Mike, and Henry team up to find out who or what killed Vickie's Mother. You see, at the funeral, it is discovered that the body of the late Mrs. Nelson has disappeared. Henry, with his other-worldly sense of smell can tell that it involves something to do with death, other than Vickie's mother. There is something dark and afoot in Kensington, ON, Canada where Vickie's mother lived and died.What I found interesting about this thriller/mystery is that it was almost believable to me in many ways. Perhaps not the vampire, but the crux of the story itself with seeming sane scientist, bizarre experiments and such. I found myself cheering the demise of several characters, and teary eyed at others. This is an enjoyable book to read, but I recommend not reading it right before bed if you have nightmares easily.
—Angel Graham
