Hard Bitten / Chicagoland Vampires / Chloe Neill

Synopsis

Times are hard for newly minted vampire Merit. Ever since shapeshifters announced their presence to the world, humans have been rallying against supernaturals--and they're camping outside Cadogan House with protest signs they could exchange for pitchforks at any moment. Inside, things between Merit and her Master, green-eyed heartbreaker Ethan Sullivan, are... tense. Then the mayor of Chicago calls Merit and Ethan to a clandestine meeting and tells them about a violent vamp attack that has left three women missing. His message is simple: Get you House in order. Or else.

Merit needs to get to the bottom of this crime, but it doesn't help that she can't tell who's on her side. So she secretly calls in a favor from someone who's tall, dark, and part of an underground vamp group that may have some inside intel on the attack. Merit soon finds herself in the dark, heady heart of Chicago's supernatural society--a world of vampires who seem ready to fulfill the protesting human's worst fears, and a place where she'll learn that you can't be a vampire without getting a little blood on your hands...

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My Take
4 Stars
 
Wow! I finished Hard Bitten this morning and immediately had to pop open the laptop and get to blogging!

A new drug called "V" has been circulating around the city and showing up at raves. Merit takes it upon herself to trace down the source and stop the distribution against the wishes of the GP.

(The GP isn't really looking very favorable to me. Darius, the head of the GP, is more-or-less plain mean.)

The beginning through the middle of the book was a bit slower for me than the previous books, however, there is a very shocking ending to this book and it makes you totally forget the slower pace. I believe the ending in this book answers some questions about a previous revelation made by Gabriel Keene.

Mayor Tate is also carrying around a secret that is revealed toward the end of the book. Which I believe we have suspected the mayor was into some malicious activities before even reading this book.

Overall, this book leaves a lot of questions to be addressed in the next book, Drink Deep, which will be released in November. I did think the pace was slower than the previous books, but (oh my!) the shocking ending makes up for it.

All I can say is November can't come fast enough!