Title: Retribution
Author: Jeanne C. Stein
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Ace
Publications Date: 25 Aug 2009
Paperback: 296 pages
Rating: 7/10
Summary (back cover)
A Newly turned vampire, Anna is forging an uneasy balance between her old life and her new supernatural on. still, with her partner out of town. her family abroad and her mentor estranged, she doesn’t have anyone to turn to – which is why she’s keeping a low profile.
But now young vampires are turning up dead, completely drained of their life force. Although Anna worries she might be next, things start getting personal when her shape-shifting friend is found clinging to his life. So when Williams, her former teacher and now the leader of a supernatural squad, asks for her help, Anna can’t say no. But soon she’ll wish she had…
Review:
Retribution is the 5th novel in the Anna Strong Vampire Chronicles. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Stein’s work, as I was, Anna Strong is a bounty hunter who was attacked by a vampire and as a result became a vampire herself.
Anna Strong is everything you expect a female character in an Urban Fantasy novel to be: kick-arse, gutsy, a fighter with a complex personality that draws you in to every aspect of her life. Her mission: to find the witch who has put a spell on her friend who is now dying and to discover why vampires are turning up dead, completely drained of blood. So, along with the vampires, witches and werewolves, there is also a little mystery thrown in and Anna becomes part detective. It works well. I did happen to figure the story out quite early on but I still enjoyed the ride.
There is also the fact that Anna is ‘The One’. She doesn’t really understand it yet and doesn’t seem to know her full strength or what she is capable of, even though she is told that she can walk through fire, the sure way to kill a vampire. Nothing about ‘The One’ is revealed in this novel, but it hints at the possibility of lots to come.
Although I did enjoy the book, I can’t really say it works as a stand alone because it doesn’t. There are too many underlying story-lines that are referred to, and as I have no knowledge of these I felt a little bit disconnected from the story and its characters. It’s for this reason that I don’t usually read a series half way through, but as this was sent for review I didn’t have time to read all four novels preceding this one.
However, the character of Anna Strong and her relationships with others are complex and I really would like to know more about them. Why is the relationship with her mentor, Williams, so strained? What happened between them that they now want to kill each other? Who’s Avery? Why is Sandra so distant? And although I was told in Retribution that Culebra is her friend, I didn’t feel it. I need to live it to really get immersed in the life of Anna Strong and so I will just have to go back to the beginning…
Verdict:
Retribution is a great urban fantasy read. It gives you everything you expect from this genre: kick-arse chick, fast-paced plot, action and a dash of romance. I would recommend this book, but maybe read the series from the beginning as I think you would get more out of this book if you did.
Thank you to Jeanne Stein for sending me this book to review.
If you would like to know more about Jeanne and her books then visit her here:
Anna Strong Vampire Chronicles Series in Order:
1. The Becoming
2. Blood Drive
3. The Watcher
4. Legacy
5. Retribution
Other Reviews:
5 Comments
Great review! I have the first in this series in my tbr and have heard great things about it!
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Great review. I love this series and read all the books and enjoyed them all. I agree Retribution can't be read as a stand alone, well you can but you might get lost with all the relationships.
I think the only thing that annoyed me is Anna and Williams relationship, i wanted to slap them silly until they talk it out. lol but they're both strong-headed i was bound to happen
The ending is opening up to new possibilities…i'll be the first to buy the next book when it comes out.
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I find myself leaning toward Urban Fantasy more and more because of the strong, kick ass female characters. I think I'll give this series a go. Great review BCC.
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Enjoyed your review, very good. Your conclusion was right on about Retribution not being a stand alone. This series needs to be read in order so you can get a better understanding of all the references to the past.
If you get a chance, I know your schedule is pretty full, you should read the first novels in this series.
Like Pattepoilue, I'll be getting the next book when it comes out also. I'm always drawn to strong, gutsy heroines like Anna.
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Hi Guys – I love strong heroines too. Have you read any of the Anita Blake series by Laurell K Hamilton? Her books are pretty great and Anita was the first kick-arse chick I read about in this genre and she's still my favourite to this day. Although the books go up to 17 the best are from 1-10, I definitely recommend! Thanks for stopping by
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