"Wonderful dark story!"
Now reunited with his family with his wife expecting their
second child, Baris is surprised by the visit from Jaeger.
Turns out Jaeger was given a mission by Darius, the Vector
Sovereign and Jaeger wants Baris' help. There is a problem
Vector in Erster, a town Baris remembers well. This is the
place where Baris ended up with Deidre and became addicted
to hack. Because of this, Baris really doesn't want to go
back there, he's worked too hard to overcome his addiction
and try to forget his betrayal of Anika, his wife. So
Jaeger gives Baris some time to think about it and leaves.
Even though Anika feels Baris should go, he really doesn't
want to and when Anika goes into labor, the decision is
moot. There is no way Baris will leave Anika now. Once
Anika is delivered of the child, the midwife tells Baris
the child will not live out the night. Desperate, Baris
gives the child some of his blood, knowing it will make his
daughter a Vector. When the midwife brings the priest, she
is shocked the child is still alive but states it will be
blind. When Anika becomes ill, Baris grabs her, their son
and daughter and takes them to the Lair hoping Darius will
be able to help. The first person he runs into is none
other than Deidre, and she agrees to heal Anika if Baris
will take her from the Lair. Feeling partly responsible for
Deidre's fate and worrying about Anika, Baris agrees. So
once again, Baris is off traveling with Deidre and their
son. Instead of waiting for Baris to join him, Jaeger and Vail
go off to the village of Erster to find the problem Vector.
It seems a Vector is hideously slaying humans, one addicted
to hack and Darius wants the Vector found and returned to
the Lair. Since Jaeger is only half Vector, it will be
harder for him to complete this mission since his senses
are not quite equal to those of a full Vector. And with
Vail having some of his blood, it will only confuse matters
even more. Of course, when the two of them arrive in
Erster, they find evidence of this Vector having killed.
And not only killed, but savaged his victims with their
throats being ripped out. And then we have Adan, a full Vector addicted to hack. He
only feeds from those with hack in their systems. He won't
take the drug by itself because the euphoria is not the
same as when he gets it from a victim. When he senses
another Vector in the area, he leaves his inn and manages
to find a room elsewhere, all the while not using any
magic. As night falls, he feels the need to feed and so
makes his way out of the inn and goes into the stables,
where he finds a man and a woman. A very beautiful woman.
When the man gives the woman hack, Adan knows he has found
his next victim. With this woman, Jade, Adan feels lust for
the first time in a long time, so he puts her under his
control and takes her up to his room and has his way with
her. When he releases Jade, he feels guilt and allows her
to leave, but determines to have her back. Will Baris fall under Deidre's spell once again? Will his
wife and children be safe? Will Jaeger and Vail be able to
find the unknown Vector and bring him to the Lair? What
will happen to the two of them? Is Adan the one savagely
murdering all these people? Will he ever have Jade
willingly? NEW BEGINNINGS BLOOD BRED: BOOK 3 is a very dark story
dealing with addiction. JennaKay Francis masterfully pulls
into this underworld of the drug hack and all that it
entails, from the addicts to the pushers and those they
love. We once again experience Baris' feelings toward
Deidre and how he must fight them to remain faithful to his
wife, not to mention getting to know the son and he Deidre
have. Then we have Jaeger dealing with his feelings of
being inadequate because he is not pure Vector. And Vail
ends up with his own problems he must deal with when he
befriends Jade. There's also Adan, who must decide if he
will remain on hack or if he will eventually realize what
the drug is doing to him. All of these characters have
things in their lives they must overcome and JennaKay
Francis does a wonderful job of showing us the life of an
addict and everything associated with drugs. This is a very
good vampire series dealing with all kinds of issues we
face in our own times and one I highly recommend.
Reviewed by Chere Gruver
Posted May 28, 2008
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