Blood Bound by Rachel Vincent

Blood Bound by Rachel Vincent

Book Stats:
Genre: Paranormal
Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Mira
Release date: August 23, 2011

Series: Unbound #1

Source: Rachel Vincent

Reviewed by: Tynga

Purchase: Amazon | Book Depository

*Beware official product description contains spoilers*

By blood, by word, by magic...

Most can't touch the power. But Liv Warren is special – a paranormal tracker who follows the scent of blood.

Liv makes her own rules, and the most important one is trust no one.

But when her friend's daughter goes missing, Liv has no choice but to find the girl. Thanks to a childhood oath, Liv can't rest until the child is home safe. But that means trusting Cam Caballero, the former lover forbidden to her.

Bound by oath and lost in desire for a man she cannot have, Liv is racing to save the child from a dark criminal underworld where secrets, lies, trauma and danger lurk around every corner...every touch...every kiss.

And more blood will be spilled before it's over...

Imagine a world in which the promises you make become unbreakable oaths. Liv lives in such a world because some people were born Skilled and within those wide range of talents, one of the powers is Binding. Binders can work their magic with words, blood or skin but once a promise is sealed you have to keep it, or die resisting the compulsion. Literally. Liv learnt the consequences the hard way because when she was a teen, she promised, with three of her friends, to always be there for each other. Little did they know, the baby sister sealing the promise was one of the most powerful Binders she’s ever known. This promise will change her entire world when her friend Anne asks her (see forces her through the oath) to find her husband’s murderer and kill him. Olivia is one of the most powerful blood tracker (she can find people using the magic force of their blood) and paired with her star-crossed ex boyfriend Cam (a name tracker), she will discover a lot more trouble than they bargained for.

I actually find it really hard to explain the world Rachel Vincent created because it’s so amazing, intricate and different from anything you’ve ever read. One thing I can say though, is that Blood Bound is sheer genius. The whole concept of Skilled people reminds me a bit of the movie Push, but taken to a whole new level and so much better. An element I didn’t mention in my description is how power often ends up in the hands of criminals. In Blood Bound, the city is split between east and west territories and each side has its own mafia-like boss. Each with unknown numbers of Skilled (or not) goons, magically contracted (see bound by a tattoo) to obedience and secrecy to their leader. Those “employees” are forced to execute every order and are physically unable to betray their respective leaders, or their secrets. The whole set-up comes together to create an extremely suspenseful and gripping world.

The characters are just as amazing. Liv is troubled but fierce, strong and she always tries to do the right thing, always working the loopholes of the contract binding her to the east side leader. As Anne’s command brings her deep in west territory, she finds herself in life threatening situations. The narration alternates between Liv and Cam, providing an intimate window to their feelings, and got me to really like the guy! He is one tough dude but would give anything for Liv and their hot and cold relationship knocked the air out of me at more than one occasion.

I can’t find words strong enough to praise Blood Bound’s plotline to should I say plot-spider web? A lot of events seems unrelated at first but as the story progresses the links are revealed and the repercussions will knock you off your seat.  There are times the tension becomes unbearable and I would put the book down to catch my breath and slow that crazy heartbeat of mine. Days after I finished reading the novel, I kept thinking of the what-ifs. What if she'd done this or that, what if Cam had taken a different decision, etc. This is just how amazing Blood Bound is.

I would strongly recommend this book and not only to paranormal lovers. Its non-stop action and mafia-like drama will appeal to a wide range of readers. I honestly don’t know how I’m going to wait for the second book in the series, Shadow Bound, scheduled for release in June 2012. This is trilogy and I’m really sad to know there is only two more books to look forward to.

In conclusion, go buy this book, you won’t regret it!

Not convinced yet (are you crazy? lol), read the first chapter!

Posted by Tynga at 10:44

 Harlequin, rachel vincent, Review  10 People left their mark

Tynga is a 32 years old mom of two, from Montreal, working as a lab technician in an hospital specialized in heart disease. In her free time, she enjoys reading all things Paranormal and photography.

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