Hellbent (Cheshire Red Reports, #2)

by Cherie Priest

BAD TO THE BONE
 
Vampire thief Raylene Pendle doesn’t need more complications in her life. Her Seattle home is already overrun by a band of misfits, including Ian Stott, a blind vampire, and Adrian deJesus, an ex-Navy SEAL/drag queen. But Raylene still can’t resist an old pal’s request: seek out and steal a bizarre set of artifacts. Also on the hunt is a brilliant but certifiably crazy sorceress determined to stomp anyone who gets in her way. But Raylene’s biggest problem is that the death of Ian’s vaunted patriarch appears to have made him the next target of some blood-sucking sociopaths.  Now Raylene must snatch up the potent relics, solve a murder, and keep Ian safe—all while fending off a psychotic sorceress. But at least she won’t be alone. A girl could do a lot worse for a partner than an ass-kicking drag queen—right?

• ISBN10: 0345520629
• ISBN13: 9780345520623
• Publish Date: 6 September 2011 (first published 1 January 2011)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Random House USA Inc
• Imprint: Random House Inc
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 352
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780345520623

Reviews

[empressbrooke]

This book was a total riot. On Raylene Pendle's second outing, the vampire thief gets contracted to steal a collection of supernatural penis bones. And in case you are cringing at the idea of a completely unironic penis bone search, I assure you that this quest is completely milked for all the jokes you can think of and then some. The wonderfully batshit crazy tone sets this series completely apart from all the other paranormal fantasy series out there.

When I read the first book in the series (that would be [b:Bloodshot|8140731|Bloodshot (The Cheshire Red Reports, #1)|Cherie Priest|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320449931s/8140731.jpg|12937194]), I was rather pleased with the zany cast of characters. Hellbent ups the ante by introducing some more, and it occurred to me that Cherie Priest has done an awesome job of avoiding obvious stereotypes by treating her offbeat characters like normal people. She's got a drag queen, a schizophrenic rocket scientist, a trio of vampires with disabilities (one deaf, one blind, and one with OCD), and two homeless kids, and none of them are a punchline or caricature.

In sum: Awesome fun here, and it's done without being at the expense of a rather diverse group of characters.