Book:                   A Perfect Blood

Author:                Kim Harrison

Publisher:           Harper Voyager

ISBN/ASIN:        9780061957895

Rating:                  5 Stars

Release Date:    February 21, 2012

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Check out Kim Harrison here.

At the end of Pale Demon, Trent sagely outlines to Rachel the danger of rendering herself helpless in the midst of so many enemies. Brought back from the brink of death after kicking Ku’Sox’s butt, and nearly losing her aura by unwittingly carving out a new ley line that has devastating effects in the everafter, Rachel has some tough choices to make. Will she try to live her life without her demon enhanced abilities? Can she? Can she even go back to being an earth witch?

Harrison smartly leads with this thought in A Perfect Blood where Rachel will reap the consequences of her all decisions…good and bad, to finally realize that with great power, comes great responsibility. With one charmed Elven bracelet, Rachel chooses to effectively cut herself off from the scrutiny of the demon collective, ley lines…even Al thinks she’s dead. After the fracas in San Francisco, even the Inderlander government has her declared dead. But has she chosen wisely?

When a deep-seated cell of HAPA (Humans Against Paranormals Association) embarks on a sinister quest to tinker with witch blood carrying the Rosewood syndrome and develop an unearthly weapon against all Inderlander species, Rachel and the gang are up against a foe that will stop at nothing to bring humans back on top of the food chain.  While Rachel’s past incursions have mostly been personal, HAPA’s threat spells doom for all Inderlanders and if they succeed it would make the Elf/Demon war look like a walk in the park compared to the death and destruction that would reign down in the Hollows and everywhere else.

This pronounced intensity rages throughout A Perfect Blood, honing the point home that everything is at risk, and Rachel’s final decision about her destiny will be the ultimate game changer. Even the schisms between the I.S. and F.I.B. have to be put to rights-inter-agency cooperation is absolutely essential in combating HAPA. 

In order to make this happen, Harrison has introduced a few peripheral characters and situations that makes the mix more interesting, the mysterious vamp Felix (head of the IS) who creatively “borrows” Nina’s body (reminiscent of Ghastek in Ilona Andrews’ Kate Daniels series) and Wayde, Rachel’s new were bodyguard makes an appearance, bringing the were contingent into battle by proxy. Even Glenn has a hidden agenda but is playing nice. And there is also the suspicion that HAPA might already be entrenched in either the I.S. or F.I.B…or