Alicia Thomas’s review of Scions: Resurrection (Scions Trilogy, Book 1) by Patrice Michelle
Paranormal romance published 1 Jan 08 by Silhouette Nocturne (Harlequin)

Book 2 – Scions: Insurrection (1 May 08)
Book 3 – Scions: Revelation (TBA)

Resurrection is the first book in the Scions Trilogy. Jachin Black is a vampire who has been banished from his people. He lives as an assassin to pay for the blood he must consume. He despises the humans who created then tried to destroy his kind.

Ariel Swanson is an author who has just published her first novel. She wrote it as therapy for facing her fear. You see, every other member of her family was killed by vampires. She doesn’t know her “fiction” novel is actually a prophecy that the vampires have hinged their hopes on for years.

This story is fast paced from the word go. Jachin and Ariel are on the run for almost three quarters of the book but I never got bored. The characters are compelling and the world is fascinating. The world was so intricate I expected to plow through flaws and contradictions but I didn’t find any. I may have been too busy enjoying the book, but nothing caught my attention.

Something did pull me out of the story a little. The whole vampire/werewolf thing was based on genetic engineering and breeding. Near the end suddenly there were elements that were pure fantasy. Nothing tacky or anything. It was just a surprise and it made me stop and re-read to make sure I was following correctly.

Also, the end was a bit drawn out. I knew the ends needed tying off but it seemed to drag a little. I also waited for him to have to redeem himself for being a hired gun but it never happened. I closed the book with a warm feeling, though, and that’s what I want from Silhouette. So, very enjoyable but with a few minor problems and one I can’t really forgive.

Grade: C+

Blurb:

     Everyone believed vampires were extinct. Everyone was wrong.  When Ariel Swanson wrote a novel about vampires, she hoped it would exorcise her fear of the creatures that had, not so long ago, terrorized the human population.

     Instead, it brought her to their attention.  And to the attention of Jachin Black a man banished from the Sanguinas, a vampire clan, and forced to hunt among the despised humans. For he clung to the prophecy given years ago, of a better way for his kind to live a prophecy Ariel unknowingly used as the basis of her novel.

     Ariel hates and fears vampires. Jachin despises humanity. But the prophesy and passion bind them in ways they could never have imagined. Ways that may heal the past, and change the future.

     Scions: A prophecy reveals hidden secrets and holds the key to fulfilling their ultimate desires.

     Read an excerpt and an excerpt.