In the Blood

November 24, 2008
Phoenix trips the dark fantastic in this wild, bloody sequel to 2008's A Rush of Wings
. Gifted musician and magic-user Dante Prejean was an experimental patient in a project to create and control murderous sociopaths for the government's covert Shadow Branch. He's also a born vampire and the child of a fallen angel. Shadow Branch agent Caterina Cortini wants to contain him; the formerly angelic Fallen want him to connect Earth and Gehenna; and Portland detective Alex Lyons wants him to cure Alex's schizophrenic twin sister. Arrayed against them are Dante's Nightkind friends; his FBI agent girlfriend, Heather Wallace; and his Fallen father, Lucien de Noir. Although Phoenix's fusion of fantasy and thriller sometimes falters, with the Earth action rather sharper than the Gehenna segments, she keeps the plot thick and the tension high.

December 15, 2008
Dante Baptiste leads the popular rock band Inferno. He is also a vampire, one with an enormous amount of strength, much of it untamed because of a mind so tortured that any attempt to bring up frightening childhood memories causes searing pain and seizures. FBI agent Heather Wallace has a special bond with Dante and can often calm him during these difficult moments. Unfortunately, the person who can help him the most has left this plane to fight a battle in GehennaLucien is an Elohim, a fallen angel, as well as Dante's father. For more than 2000 years, the Elohim have waited for a creator to unite them. Lucien, who distrusts all other Elohim, wants to protect the knowledge that Dante was born a creator. Meanwhile, Heather and Dante are being pursued by agents of a secret agency and others who wish to use Dante's prowess in their own mad search for vengeance. Phoenix's sequel to "A Rush of Wings" is an imaginative, deftly plotted, dark urban fantasy with believable, well-drawn characters. Recommended for all fantasy fiction collections.Patricia Altner, BiblioInfo.com, Columbia, MD

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