Subject: Prograde Reviews--Tanya Huff:Blood Pact

From: [email-masked] (Aaron V. Humphrey)
Date: 3 Jun 1994 23:24:36 GMT

Tanya Huff: Blood Pact

A Prograde Review by Aaron V. Humphrey

Well, it looks like Tanya Huff solved the problem with her Vicki Nelson
series:  How long could she plausibly keep introducing a new horror-movie
monster with every book?  This book has an ending that strikes me as final,
or at the very least signaling a radical change in how future books would
go.

The creature feature of this book seems to be zombies--but despite the
title, they are in no way supernatural.  Rather, they are the products of a
scientific experiment in life after death--a secret, unauthorized one,
taking place at a Toronto University.

Background: Vicki Nelson is an ex-cop, forced to leave the force because of
progressively deteriorating vision.  She formed a P.I. agency, along with a
vampire and romance writer named Henry Fitzroy.  Her former police partner
(and still cop) Mike Celluci is also often involved, and the three of them
form a delightful lovers' triangle.

Vicki gets involved when her mother dies, and the scientist in charge of
the research spirits away the body, which is in prime condition for their
purposes.  But the deceit is discovered at the funeral, and the three of
them start hunting down the body.  Meanwhile, the experimental subjects are
indeed improving...and they occasionally get free...

The lovers' triangle, which has been building for the past three books,
comes to a head, several times in fact, in this book.  (The final
resolution is a bit surprising, mind you...)  That, and Vicki's grief over
her mother, show that Huff's ability to handle depth of character is still
improving.  Whatever she may turn her hand to next, her improvement over
this series will no doubt make it well worth reading.

%A Huff, Tanya
%T Blood Pact
%I Daw Books
%C New York
%D November 1993
%G ISBN 0-88677-582-5
%P 332 pp.
%S Victory Nelson, Investigator
%V Book 4
%O Paperback, USD4.99, CAD5.99

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