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Possession
Blood Ties Book Two
by Jennifer Armintrout
We’ve seen it happen before so it should be no surprise that it happened to such a riveting, fresh, and gripping novel as well. You have the first movie that hits theaters, it’s a box office hit and rakes in the millions. Perhaps it even generates a cult following? The producers and writers sitting back in their plush leather seats stroke their chins in thought and decide to double their revenue by creating a sequel. The sequel is widely anticipated but when it hits the theaters the viewers are left with a bitter taste in their mouth and empty pockets at the end of the movie.
That is unfortunately exactly what Ms. Armintrout has dealt us.
Now I knew from the beginning that her first book, The Turning, was intended to be the first in her series. The nice little “blood ties book one:” on the cover was a dead giveaway. After finishing the first book I eagerly noted when the second would be released and awaited its arrival in stores. Even though I didn’t get to pick it up as soon as it came out I grabbed it on my first chance, now I wish I hadn’t bothered.
What made The Turning so intriguing and so delightful to read was completely missing in the sequel. I shudder to think what the third book, Ashes to Ashes, due out in August 2007 will be like. In Armintrout’s world a vampire can only be created when a human is bitten and in return receives the blood of the vampire who bit them. This creates a blood tie between the two vampires that is near unbreakable. Dr. Carrie Ames was working late at night when a John Doe was brought in. He died on the table and later that evening while Carrie is down in the morgue John Doe rises and attacks her. In the ensuing battle he not only bites her but some of his blood falls into her mouth, turning her into a vampire.
Throughout the course of the book Carrie struggles with the love she has for her evil sire and the connection of the blood tie and her attraction to another Vampire, Nathan, who works with an extremist group of vampires known as the Voluntary Vampire Extinction Movement who seek to rid the world of vampires.
The Possession starts off two months after the events of the previous book and holds none of the flare and excitement that was present in the previous novel. Where as before I absolutely devoured the previous book I found my self not even a quarter of the way into the book and bored out of my mind. In the opening pages it is revealed that Cyrus is brought back to life, but as a human, and under the care of a human girl and the Fangs, a vampire motorcycle gang who are keeping him safe by order of the Soul Eater. Nathan becomes possessed and kills an innocent bystander and Carrie and Max are off to the VVEM headquarters in Madrid, Spain to seek aid in saving him. Despite the potential for a riveting story the book lags, horribly, I was forced to skip large portions just to find the interesting bits.
Carrie flounders about in a wishy-washy manner that is so terribly cliche when it comes to romance heroines that it isn’t funny. Never mind that she seems to have lost that inner strength and that spark of fire that made her who she was in the first book. What happened to the woman who knew what good and evil and struggled to find her place amongst her new world without losing who she was? Well she’s been replaced with this woman just needs a ripped bodice to accompany her heaving bosom and cries of “Ohm, Nathan!” and “Oh, Cyrus!” and she’ll perfectly fit into an trite 50 cent romance.
The one redeeming factor of this story was the return of Cyrus’ mortality and with it his humanity and conscious. We caught glimpses of his good side, despite his being the villain, in the first book but it was clear that he reveled too much in the pain and suffering he inflicted to ever be a “good guy”. We loved him none the less. However while he is in his human form a young woman, whom he calls Mouse, is entrusted with his care. At first he is disgusted by his return to a mortal life and tries to console himself by treating the girl cruelly. As time passes however he begins to see her differently and his conscious catches up to him so to speak. Cyrus wants to protect the girl from all harm and in his current state that proves to be a mighty challenge for him.
If you have read the first book, The Turning, I would suggest you stop there and let the story stay as it is in your head if you like to see a series through to its end then I recommend checking this out at your library and saving your money. The sequel essentially ruins the wonderful images that its prequel left you. Although Cyrus’ returned humanity is intriguing and entertaining to read it hardly makes up for the poor performance of the rest of the book.
Joana’s Rating: 
