Blood Bound

By: Rachel Vincent

Narrated by: Gabra Zackman

Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

By blood, by word, by magic….

Most can’t touch the power. But Liv Warren is special—a paranormal tracker who follows the scent of blood. Liv makes her own rules, and the most important one is trust no one.

But when her friend’s daughter goes missing, Liv has no choice but to find the girl. Thanks to a childhood oath,Liv can’t rest until the child is home safe. But that means trusting Cam Caballero, the former lover forbidden to her.

Bound by oath and lost in desire for a man she cannot have, Liv is racing to save the child from a dark criminal underworld where secrets, lies, trauma, and danger lurk around every corner… every touch… every kiss. And more blood will be spilled before it’s over.

©2011 Rachel Vincent (P)2011 Harlequin Enterprises, Ltd.

An enjoyable read

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, provided they enjoy "paranormal" book styles. It is certainly no more far fetched than vampires and werewolves, but Rachel Vincent has gone one step further than the standard paranormal fiction by inventing a new style of paranormal ability rather than basing the book around traditional creatures.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I didn't have a favourite character as such. I enjoyed the interplay between the main two characters, and the book left me wanting to know more about some of the other major characters (which I understand will happen in future books).

Have you listened to any of Gabra Zackman’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, I haven't listened to her before. When I listened to the "test" listen before buying, I was actually put off by the narrator. She sounded rather flat and seemed to lack something, and I nearly didn't buy the book, but I love Rachel Vincent's books and once I began listening to the book I found that Gabra's narration actually suited the tone of the book and was much better than I initially thought. She also did a good job of distinguishing between the two main characters, as each character takes it in turns "narrating" a chapter and this could get confusing without differences in the narration.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Absolutely!

ok

slow to start but good when it gets going... everything is connected and when you make the connection it's kinda boring and sad

unrelieved darkness

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I would not. It was just so dark. There was no humor, no relief from the oppressive darkness. It was just...depressing. It's too bad, because I thought the premise very interesting and pretty original. But 12 and 1/2 hours of unrelenting bleakness is just too much for me.

If you’ve listened to books by Rachel Vincent before, how does this one compare?

I haven't. And now I probably won't, unless I see reviews that give me reason to hope of something less depressing.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Gabra Zackman?

Gabra was okay, but it got very confusing to me to have her doing the narration for the sections that were Liv and the sections that were Cam, with nothing to differentiate them.

Do you think Blood Bound needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Well, it does in the sense that the story isn't over at the end of the book. I won't read the follow-up, though, because I can't really take any more of the bleak world she has created.

✫✫ 4 Stars ✫✫

This was a re-listen for me from years ago and i enjoyed it just as much the second time. I really like that this is so different from other PNR books. No Vampires, Werewolves or witches here, only humans with special abilities. I loved how these characters found loop holes all the way through this book. Cam & Liv have a past and I always love that in my romance but I also love how equal these two are. They are fighting the system together and man they did it well.

The narration was good, I really enjoy this narrator when ever I listen to her work.

Take a walk on the urban side...

This one really grew on me!

It took me a little while to get into the story. I felt the same way about the Shifters series, like the main characters took some time revealing themselves. The setting is urban with a bit of grit, and there's a bit of a unique system of paranormal powers at play which the author uses very well. Liv really doesn't have a choice about helping her friend, and the powers she wields and the ties that bind her to the case are all wrapped up together with a great big bow. By the end there'd been a good bit of action and romance (similar level to the Shifters series, if that helps), a couple plot twists, and I was very invested in the characters! I'll definitely buy the next books!

Another thing that worked very well -- this story is told alternately from Liv's and Cam's points of view. Kudos to the narrator for pulling that off, since not everybody could! I understand the rest of the books in this series are going to do that too, switching to two different people each time while still following the same broader storyline. I think that's a really interesting idea, and so far, so good.

So yes, this story ends with a lot of unresolved issues! It's not a cliff-hanger ending, but there's plenty of story left to come.

This is also a mafia story with a paranormal romance twist! If I'd known I might have hesistated to buy the book, but I ended up enjoying this even though mafia stories usually put me off. But then this author has never failed to draw me in for a fun read, so I'm not surprised she could get past my usual reservations. The overall ambiance is sort of old school private gumshoe meets paranormal romance meets mafia story.

Overall, recommended! Slow starter but lots of plot, interesting characters in tricky situations, good narration.

IT WAS OK...

NOT REALLY WHAT I EXPECTED BUT IT WAS AN OK BOOK. NEW TO THE AUTHER SO I REALLY CANT COMPAIR THIS WORK TO HER OTHER BOOKS. I GUESS IT JUST WASNT MY THING. BUT THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH TRYING SOMETHING NEW!! GOOD BUT NOT MY CUP OF TEA!!! I THINK THE NARRATER COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER!!!

Loved it!

Rachel Vincent is one of my favorite authors. I love the shifter series and the wildcats series. And blood bound did not disappoint! At first I wasn't feeling it but by the second chapter I was hooked. This story is fast pased and pulls you deeper with every word. I loved everything about this novel, and can't wait to finish the series. And am hoping to see some familiar faces with the second book. The only displeasure I had was the narrator. Very monotone, not at all with the story.

Dark story

This opens with the main character in a very dark place, in a modern New York that’s equally dark the plot is fairly well written but I prefer a little sunshine in my romance.

Awesome

This is an entertaining mystery with sympathetic characters. The world created by Vincent is gritty and dark and filled with secrets and lies. I enjoyed this book and look forward to the next one.

Er, no.

I like Rachel Vincent's writing- at least when she isn't cribbing Kelley Armstrong's work, but I honestly found this one unbelievable. A lady who can smell blood for 80 miles? Eh... Come on now.