Blood And Fire [Paperback]

Let me preface this review by singing my praises for Shannon McKenna, one of my favourite authors who keeps me counting down the days until she'll deliver another delicious batch of McCloud goodness. It saddens me to say, however, that this story didn't tickle my literary taste buds.

I won't reiterate the plot because you've probably already read the synopsis and although it sounds good in theory, what we end up with is another cat and mouse game with a mind controlling villain reminiscent of Osterman. I really don't want to say it, but it feels as though McKenna has succumbed to formulaic novel syndrome.

~PLOT~ **Spoilers may be present**
While reading, I knew exactly where some scenes would go next, what the villain would say, and how his genetically modified miscreants would react. I found myself uttering "really?!" after many a scene including, but not limited to, the following situations:

- The hordes of McCloud women and children seeking refuge at Tam's compound
- The hero and heroine having the "why can't I go with you on the blood and gore 'suicide mission'?"
- The heroine being left alone and vulnerable and, wait for it, taken by the evil scientist
- Saving the enslaved test subjects whilst navigating through the research facility that has become an unstable inferno

~CHARACTER~
Unfortunately, Lily and Bruno are not leading lady/man material with their lackluster personalities and carbon copy dialog (I felt like I was re-reading Fade to Midnight while reading many of their conversations). Their relationship was based on a quick hookup, some witty banter (not enough), and Bruno's compulsive need to keep her safe. That's it.

I have a bit of a pet peeve when it comes to recurring characters in a series because more often than not, I want to remember them in their glory days when they had their own novels. With a series, these amazing characters become watered down versions of themselves, doing and saying things that aren't quite in character (cough, cough Tam and Davy). It's unfortunate that the formerly ass kicking McCloud ladies become nothing but nonsensical, breeding machines when written into the background.

~FINAL THOUGHTS~

All in all, a distinct feeling of déjà vu had me longing for the days of amazing and gripping adventures such as Out of Control, Extreme Danger, and Edge of Midnight which were the very books that skyrocketed McKenna to the tippy top of my author list.

I would have preferred this series end (if it even is ending) with a bang instead of a fizzle. Yes, I'm glad she penned Fade to Midnight so we could all sleep better at night knowing Kev was alive and well, but that book wasn't the best in the series and began the downward spiral of the McCloud series. Blood and Fire solidified the rock bottom status of this series and I'm truly sad that it's come to this. Whatever happened to the theory of leaving the party while it's still in full swing? Sigh....

I do love Shannon McKenna; she's an auto-buy for me. And maybe I was expecting too much here, but for me this book just isn't what the others in the series have been. When I started Behind Closed Doors, I knew right away I'd be pulling an all-nighter with that book. I didn't put that book down until my tired, crossed eyes made me, and most of the other books in this series were also like that for me, in different degrees. With this new book, that didn't happen.

For me, this book was not unputdownable. I actually had to make myself keep reading it, and I never thought that would be the case. This story just didn't grab me and pull me in. The first several chapters seemed to need tightening up and made more concise. It almost read more like rambling. I have a friend who is reading her copy at the same time, and she told me to hang in there and keep going, let's see if it gets better. So I kept reading, and the story did pick up, around p. 254 or so, about halfway through. That's when I felt it was somewhat hitting its stride, finally.

I do think this book is too similar to the last book, with the medical science slant of mind control and the mad, narcissistic scientist out to rule the world with his army of brainwashed drones. This zombie master stuff, as Bruno called it, I really felt like had been done before with Kev. Also, this part of the story, the bad guys, seemed too easy; the bad guys always seemed just too on top of things. And for me, King just wasn't scary or sinister or even interesting enough. By the time I got to p. 400, I was very ready for this to wrap up, yet it just kept going on. I feel this book could have been at least 100 pages shorter.

As for Bruno and Lily, I didn't feel a deep connection there. Unlike the other books in the series, most especially my favorite Seth, I did not feel the same sort of intensity here with these two characters. With the other books, I felt as if I could reach right into the story and touch and feel what those characters were feeling for each other. The others had a palpable chemistry and connection, but I didn't get that vibe with Bruno and Lily.

Yes, Bruno is sweet and sexy, Lily is ballsy and tough in her way, but I never really got beyond that. I didn't see more than that. When they did interact together, it was almost as if I were viewing that from a distance. It wasn't visceral like with Seth and Raine, Connor and Erin, etc. I just didn't feel completely invested in what happened to Bruno and Lily. I was more or less reading the story to see a glimpse of some of my favorite characters again and to be ready for the next book in the series.

I got this for my keeper shelf, to put with all the others in the series, but I can honestly say that I won't be reading it again. I'm actually disappointed with it. There are elements of SM that do come through but just not enough is there. It's almost as if it's a toned down version of SM. If you've never read SM and this series, you'll probably be pleased with this book, as it is not a bad book, but if you're an SM fan and love and have read this whole series, you may feel let down by this latest. Maybe not though. Might just be me who feels this story is just a little off and not quite what it could have been.

To end on some positives:
** possible spoilers **

If you were disappointed in Kev's reunion with his brothers in the last book, you will enjoy seeing that happen in this book. That was glossed over some before, and we readers didn't really get to see those feelings of opening up to his brothers, or at least it felt that way to me. But here Kev and Bruno and the boys finally have a heart to heart and let the jealousy out.

I loved seeing Sveti again. I have long been intrigued with that girl and her story and her character, and I really feel SM should write a story for Sveti. I always thought she might reconnect with her crush Josh, but now I'm very curious about Det. Petrie. That man was way interesting and way hot. He seemed to be preoccupied with Sveti too.

And Alex Aaro. This next book should be really good, I hope. More Russian/Ukrainian bad guys and not mind control freaks. Alex has his own demons, and I really liked what I saw of him in this book, kind of dark and deep, surly but also vulnerable. I'm hopeful for the next book, that Alex will grab me and pull me right into that book with him.

I'm not going to get into a synopsis of this one but here are my thoughts. Can we have a different villain please? They're all carbon copies of eachother and really, how many mind controlling megalomaniacs can there be? And why are they always interacting with the same group of people? If anyone has seen any of my other reviews they'd know i love SM's books. But this one was a real let down. I don't know, the passion between these two characters was just so one dimensional. I liked Bruno, didn't love him and Lily was just kind of meh whatever. When he first tells her he loves her I was just kind of thinking wait..what? Why does he love her? She screws around with him initially, acts like a total bitch, then has sex with him. There's some silly banter but love? Really?? I did enjoy catching up with the Mccloud crew but like another reviewer said, why have all the wives been turned into baby making machines with no personality? Also i feel McKenna spent way too much time concentrating on the bad guy and his minions and too little time on Bruno and Lily and their relationship which is really supposed to be a focus of the story. That's what I've always enjoyed about her books. Yes, there was always great suspense and plot but the relationship of the H/h was the center of it all. I did finish the whole book and overall would say it was ok. Not great though. Here's hoping that Alex's book gets back to the things i've always loved about SM's writing style. I really like him and with the whole Russian mafia thing there's so much possibility. Let's hope we get a heroine that we can all get behind too..enough with the defensive, bitchy, "i can only trust myself" crap. Here's to hoping.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 22 reviews  3.9 out of 5 stars