The Blood Books, Vol. 3 (Blood Debt / Blood Bank)

by Tanya Huff

Paperback, 2006

Status

Available

Call number

Fic SF Huff

Collection

Publication

DAW (2006), Paperback, 544 pages

Description

Includes "Blood Debt" in which Henry Fitzroy, a vampire and romance writer, calls on detectives Vicki and Mike to help him lay to rest the ghosts haunting him, and "Blood Bank," in which all eight of the author's short stories about Henry and Vicki are presented, as well as a brand-new Blood story.

User reviews

LibraryThing member DanieXJ
Blood Debt - This is the last actual book in the Blood book series. Again, it's the story of Vicki, Henry and Mike Celucci. Tony is also in it, but as with the other books he's a bit of a player.

I had finally gotten the hang of Toronto through Huff's last four books, but for this one she moved the
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setting to Vancouver, British Columbia. But the setting seemed to matter much less in Blood Debt than in the other books and it didn't seem to matter where it took place. Every city has its own Patricia Chou and semi-bad part of the police force.

On the whole it was a good book, well written, well plotted and I was never bored (definitely more of a thriller than the others), but it just wasn't quite as good as the rest of them. Still, a definite read, especially for those who are vampire romance or mystery lovers.

Blood Bank - I'm not a great fan of short story collections, but I do like Huff's writing, so I gave this one a chance. The stories within told of past events of Henry's history as well as things that happen between Blood Pact and Blood Debt (final two blood series novels) and things that happen after Blood Debt.

One of the stories involves spies, gypsies, another a succubus, and of course, giant ticks. (Huff's writing mind impresses me, apparently there are other slightly almost insane writers out there who think outside the box).

My favorite story though, was, Scleratus. It was a Henry's past story, and better than almost all the other stories and novels except for Blood Pact. There was so much emotion in nearly every word that the story thrummed with it.

That said, all the stories were good and if you're a fan of the novels, the bunch of stories will be fun to read.
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LibraryThing member Flamika
It's really hard for vampire novels to truly bore me, but this one did. I was always a bit ambivalent about this series, but I figured if I was so close to finishing it, I might as well buy this third omnibus. I'm too much of a completionist to actually regret the purchase, but Blood Debt
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definitely wasn't all that great.

But first, the positives. I do love how Huff doesn't have her vampires get hung up on the typical vampire angst--the drinking of blood, living in the darkness, the compromised moral standing. She uses her vampires quite well in the context of detective cases, and I think that makes her fairly different, especially when writing from the point of view of vampires.

However, this novel had too much of what we'd already seen in the previous four novels. People urging Vicki to calm down every five seconds, Henry and Celluci being sour and jealous of each other, etc. The plot utterly failed to engage me, I didn't feel for the characters, and in general, I wanted the novel to have a bit more of a cohesive feeling and less of the more irritating character dynamics.
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LibraryThing member TW_Spencer
Good book, although the writing left a lot to be desired, kept me engaged until they end. Henry is a very intriguing character that is not given the star statis he desires. Vickie is far less interesting. (Oh by the way skip the TV series developed from these books the books are far more
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interesting.) For me these stories only pick up when tony and henry or on the scene.
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LibraryThing member maquisleader
Blood Debt is the fifth Blood Ties novel and I really didnt like it as much as the others because Vickis character has changed drastically, as has her relationship with Henry. This is due to what happens at the end of the previous novel - something I wont spoil. It all fits in with Ms. Huffs
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vampire mythology and since she created it, I guess I cant tell her how Id do it different.Blood Bank is several short stories, including some great backstory on Henry, and those I recommend reading. If I had it to do over again, Id skip Blood Debt and only read the short stories.
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LibraryThing member Mumugrrl
In this final installment of the Blood Books, Toronto-based PI Vicki Nelson takes off for Vancouver to meet up with her former lover Henry Fitzroy, a 450-year-old vampire, and drags along her faithful sidekick, Toronto police detective Mike Celluci.

I liked the way the last novel of the series,
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Blood Debt tied up the relationships of the characters. I always thought these books were more character-driven than plot driven, and it left me feeling satisfied that things were resolved amongst all the characters at the end.

I have read most of the short stories in the compilation which comprises the last book, Blood Bank, but haven't finished all of them yet. I found the flashbacks to Henry's long history somewhat invasive in the novels, and not as compelling as short stories.

Also, I read all these books together in a very short time frame and I think by the last book I was just burning out on the characters which is probably why I am giving this book a lower rating than the other two. So take the rating for what it's worth - just my subjective view as I burned out on this series.
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LibraryThing member pmtracy
Blood Books Vol. 3 includes Blood Debt and Blood Bank by Tanya Huff.

Each of Huff’s novels has some paranormal twist on top of a classic “who done it” mystery. In Blood Debt, ghosts are haunting Henry and he asks for Vicki’s help in removing them. Having lived for over 400 years, one would
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think Henry would be fine with a little haunting. Unfortunately, these ghosts pose a serious threat to everyone Henry loves.

During the course of her investigation, Vicki learns that the ghosts were victims of an organ transplant for sale operation. Body parts are sold off to the highest bidder and the donor never quite makes it through the operation to get their cut. Much of the excitement in this story arises from the fact that Mike is unwillingly about to be used as a donor. Vicki needs to race the clock to solve the mystery, find Mike and save him. He’s held by a truly sadistic “care giver” and barely survives the ordeal. Once the mystery is solved and they have revenge against the one who killed them, the ghosts release Henry from their nightly visits.

Blood Bank was unique from other Huff volumes in that it was a collection of short stories. Each allows a small glimpse into one of Huff’s characters, but the format doesn’t allow for sufficient build-up. Her characters are so rich that they need more room to work so I wasn’t very impressed with this volume. One story, “So This is Christmas,” was only published in this omnibus. It’s a vampire in “A Christmas Carol” story. It was entertaining but contrived. However, the story does aid in overall character development. Vicki comes to accept that she will outlive Mike and therefore needs to make the most of the time they have remaining.
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LibraryThing member tldegray
Not as good as the earlier volumes, mostly because of the necessary change in tone of the series in Blood Debt. The short stories in Blood Bank are interesting and add a lot to the series.

Still, I would have liked to have seen more from Vicki, Mike, and Henry together. I think at the very end of
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Blood Debt Mike was making some connections that could have forced great changes on them.

Tony remains win and I'm looking forward to starting his series.
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Language

Physical description

544 p.; 6.84 inches

ISBN

0756403928 / 9780756403928

Local notes

Blood Books, 5-6

DDC/MDS

Fic SF Huff

Rating

½ (103 ratings; 3.7)
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