Another One Bites the Dust (Jaz Parks, #2)

by Jennifer Rardin

Jaz Parks has enough trouble in her personal life. What she doesn't need is more trouble with her vampire boss and another mission. This time she has to retrieve a vital piece of biotechnology by killing the maniac who stole it: an ancient Chinese vamp. Their cover in this mission: professional entertainers at the Corpus Christi's Winter Festival.

The crew's all here: a psychic, a techno-wizard, a singing vampire, a juggling PI, and Jaz. Holy crap in a bottomless well, Jaz is going to bellydance. It's definitely, probably, quite possibly going to be the end of the world as we know it.

• ISBN10: 0316020575
• ISBN13: 9780316020572
• Publish Date: 12 December 2007 (first published 1 January 2007)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Orbit
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 336
• Language: English

Reviews

[MurderByDeath]

And now I have Queen stuck in my head and I'm having flashbacks to the skating rink.

To the subject at hand:  a great read!  I was very uncertain about this book at the start; the plot about the body armour is just too sci-fi for me (that's where 1/2 star went).  But the bulk of the story doesn't involve the body armour directly; it's a story about Jaz's redemption, Vayl's unrequited attachment to her (so far) and the Scooby Gang they acquired in the last book (and I mean Scooby Gang in the most complimentary way possible).

I think, overall, the actual structure the plot is built around is shaky at best.  The plot is clear: they have to retrieve the armour.  But the bad-guy/doomsday portion of the plot had me rolling my eyes a tiny, little bit.  I chalk this up to personal preference: I lean towards preferring subtle machinations; these are more grandiose.  Think James Bond with supernatural beings.  But Bergman's gadgets? Very cool.

I mentioned this in my review of the first book, but I think it warrants a repeat: reports of the author committing suicide have completely altered the way I read her books, whether they are true or not.  I can't help but read Jaz's struggles with death and separation as coming more directly from the voice of the author.  The story is fun, funny, and entertaining, but there's a depth there now due to my altered perceptions going into the book that would have likely sailed clear over my head otherwise.  Call me shallow, but I don't read books about vampires and CIA assassins expecting to have deeper themes leave a lasting impression on me after I've closed the cover.

I have book 3 on my pile and I'll be looking forward to starting it.

(This was a buddy read with Degrees of Affection and I thank her very much for motivating me to finally pick up this series!)

","Paranormal, Urban Fantasy",Draft #BookadayUK - Day 19 - Most Memorable Plot Twist,9:31 pm 19 July 2014,"

I wasn't going to post today because I couldn't think of a single book I've read with a plot twist, never mind a memorable one.  My mind just went completely blank.  

Then I got 3/4 of the way through my current read.  Wow.  Did not see that coming at all.

And suddenly I had a book with a plot twist.  Since it's the only one I can remember at the moment, by definition it's the most memorable.