A Voice has been whispering to the elder vampires, urging them to destroy the fledglings in their havens. Lestat, star of the Vampire Chronicles, heard the Voice before most, and it was declarations of love instead of pronouncements of destruction...until Lestat, being the Brat Prince, said enough that it left him for a time. In New York City, Benji Mahmoud has his internet radio, urging the vampire community to act like a tribe, begging the elders to lead them during this crisis. And the twins, Maharet and Mekare, have left their compound in ruins, running off any who would check in on them; since Mekare now contains the Sacred Core, key to vampire existence. Revelations abound, and all the vampires from the chronicles need to gather and determine their future. It’s been a long time since I’ve read any of the Vampire Chronicles, and I think I could use a re-read. Still, I enjoyed the book. I was afraid it was going to dissolve for a bit into novellas of each vampire’s current existence, but it pulled together to a decent ending. Not stellar, but true to form for this series.
15. Spider Woman’s Daughter by Anne Hillerman, 301 pages, Mystery, 2013 (Navajo Mysteries, Book 19).
Tony Hillerman’s daughter does a masterful job of returning to her father’s Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee series. By making the main character Officer Bernadette Manuelito, there is a strong lead voice in which these men can interact and live on in new stories. But time may be running out for retired Detective Leaphorn, who has been shot in the parking lot after a breakfast meeting with the Navajo police force. Bernie witnesses the crime, so she isn’t supposed to help when her husband, Sergeant Jim Chee, is put in charge of the investigation. But Officer Manuelito can’t stop tracking down clues, no matter how hard she tries.
