For those of you who liked Jennifer Armintrout’s The Turning, you’ll love Possession, the second book in the Blood Ties series.
In The Turning, Carrie is turned into a vampire by Cyrus during a brutal attack in the morgue. Yet, despite the evil that Cyrus radiates, there is something about him that inexplicably attracts her. Nathan is the kinder, gentler vampire who takes Carrie under his wing. Without giving much away, Nathan finds himself needing to give Carrie his blood and in essence, becomes her new sire.
Possession takes the reader further into the life of recently-turned Dr. Carrie Ames. Carrie’s co-sires once epitomized the definitions of good and evil. When Nathan becomes possessed and tales of Cyrus’ death seem to have been greatly exaggerated, these roles are obscured. The Soul-Eater has plans for both men, neither of which are in Carrie’s best interest. Her intact humanity serves Cyrus and Nathan well even as she struggles with her emotions and loyalties toward them. The blood tie to Cyrus thought to have been severed is reawakened and her tie to Nathan fades. But are the blood ties truly what bind her to her sires?
Armintrout adds a lot of emotional and self-introspecting depth to Cyrus that was alluded to in The Turning. I had forgotten how many glimpses of Cyrus’ vulnerability are revealed in the first book but quickly remembered why I find him so enticing.
Armintrout leaves much of Carrie’s future unsettled which provides a great portal to her next book Ashes to Ashes. I look forward to its release in August 2007.
Have you read Possession? If so, feel free to let us know what you think.
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April 29th, 2007 at 6:29 pm
WARNING! Spoilers for The Turning are contained within
Possession, Book Two of the Blood Tie series by Jennifer Armintrout, is a worthy successor of The Turning (Book One).
» Read My Review of The Turning
Ms. Armintrout raises the stakes as Nathan Grant is suddenly and mysteriously possessed, turning on his fledgling, Dr. Carrie Ames, and all he holds dear. His subsequent actions land him in hot water with his former employer, the Voluntary Vampire Extinction Movement. They want him killed, something his roommate, lover and fledgling, Carrie, doesn’t want to happen. To that end, she enlists the help of his friend and Movement assassin Max Harrison to help save Nathan from death and himself.
Also along and returning for the ride is Cyrus, who, at the behest of the Soul Eater (his father) has been raised from the dead (or is that the undead?). The unpredictable Dahlia makes an appearance, and the nasty vampire biker gang the Fangs are doing the bidding of the Soul Eater. New to the scene is the werewolf Movement assassin Bella (a possible love interest for Max), and other Movement personalities.
Loyalties are torn for most everyone it seems in this installment as they try to unravel the mysteries surrounding Nathan’s condition and the Soul Eater’s latest plot to gain power. Dear Nathan is torn between his affection and blood tie to Carrie and his love for his late wife, Marianne, as he battles his demons within. Carrie is torn between her love and loyalty for Nathan, the blood tie with him almost excruciatingly painful as he fights for his sanity, and the faint tie she still feels for her former sire, Cyrus. While the affable and sinfully sexy Max walks a thin line between his loyalty to his friend and his duty to the Movement.
Carrie and Nathan’s relationship still proves bittersweet. They love and yet are afraid to love. And there are so many complications that are only compounded by his possession.
Delightfully, though, we get a better look at the real Cyrus, the vulnerable man we caught glimpses of in The Turning, as he is returned to his human form. He discovers much about himself as he struggles with his weakness and dependence on a wisp of a girl as he recovers from his kidnapping from limbo. His journey, too, is bittersweet.
Still, just as in The Turning, these characters are neither clear-cut good or bad. They are – be they human, vampire, werewolf or witch – very much human. They make flawed and selfish choices and sometimes spew cruel words, despite their desire to be above it all and do the right thing. Only the Soul Eater and the Fangs seem wholly evil or depraved and yet, I wonder if Ms. Armintrout will show chinks in their armor in future Blood Ties books. Will she give them a bit of conscience, providing the perfect level of moral ambiguity to prevent you from labeling them evil incarnate and his blindly following minions? It wouldn’t surprise me if she did.
On the whole, I’ve found both The Turning and Possession remarkably sensible in their portrayal of the human condition. Ms. Armintrout knows that ultimately we all have the potential to do both good AND evil. Sometimes we choose the path of light, sometimes we chose the darkness, sometimes our choices send us down one or the other, sometimes a bit of both, without us realizing it. She imbues her characters with a sense of free will in their choices, and just like in life, you don’t always agree with the ones that are made. Thankfully, though, those choices, even though they’re hard to take sometimes, are always true to the character, which may be the most key element in writing any successful story.