Great debut novel - reviewed on LoveVampires

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Product Description

Genevieve Taylor is a Sidhe, one of the noble fae, and she's unusual, even in present-day London where celebrity vampires, eccentric goblins and scheming lesser fae mix freely with the human population. Genny is a rising star at Spellcrackers.com, where she finds the M' in magic - and that invariably leads to mischief, malice and - too often - murder. Spellcrackers.com is affiliated to the Witch Council, whose ancient tenets prohibit any contact with vampires. Genny also works as a volunteer at a clinic which treats victims of vampire attacks. Then there's her extra-curricular activity, extracting vulnerable fae lured by the local fang gangs. Genny certainly doesn't wants any closer involvement with the vampire community. But when Mr October, one of the hot calendar pin-up vamps, is accused of violently murdering his girlfriend, Genny's called on to repay an old debt and prove his innocence. And that means consorting with some of the sexiest vamps in London! THE SWEET SCENT OF BLOOD is the first book of SPELLCRACKERS.COM, a sexy, sassy new series guaranteed to spice up your reading life!

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #364217 in Books
• Published on: 2008-09-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

Review
"The Sweet Scent of Blood is one of my favorite reads of the past month. The fast pace of the plot and the fascinating cast of characters will give you a happy little vacation between two covers." (Charlaine Harris )

"The central mystery keeps you reading and promises some satisfaction." (Rhian Drinkwater SFX )

"On the whole I found this debut novel was surprisingly assured and pleasingly engaging. Good fun on the whole though and nice to read a British style 'Dresden' or perhaps a Rachel Caine. If you like those books and want a similar-yet-different perspective, this might be one for you." (SFFWORLD.COM )

"The Sweet Scent of Blood is a strong start to the Spellcrackers.com series and an impressive debut novel. I can't wait to read more from this author. Afterall, with vampires in Leicester Square, trolls in New Scotland Yard and a surfeit of blood and magic, what's not to like? Fang-tastic!" (LOVE VAMPIRES.COM )

"A refreshingly original debut novel in what promises to be a series worth following. As the details of the world unfold, it only grows more compelling, and it provides an excellent backdrop to a convoluted mystery plot, riddled with twists." (Ross Sutcliffe SCi FI NOW )

"[A] darkly comic spook show. This is funny, frothy and expertly set up." (Calum Waddel DEATHRAY )

"Fun and pacy, the book's strong lead, particularly likeable policetroll, and array of twists and turns help to thoroughly immerse the reader into the superb and full-realised supernatural society." (LINCOLNSHIRE ECHO )

About the Author
Suzanne McLeod has been a cocktail waitress, dance group promoter and barmaid at Coventry City Football Club (the last despite having no love for the beautiful game; she had to pay the rent somehow!) After years in retail management, she started writing. THE SWEET SCENT OF BLOOD, the first of the SPELLCRACKERS.COM series, is her first novel. She lives with her husband and rescue dogs in Bournemouth.

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Customer Reviews

Great start for a new urban fantasy series
A very good book that has the potential to become an excellent series. And set in London which instantly gives a few bonus points to British readers of urban fantasy - currently I feel I know Seattle better than London and I lived in London for 18 years!
Great characters, led by Genny, the part sidhe, part other things (so as not to spoil it) and great locations - I loved the fact that Suckertown was really Greenwich. Lots of potential to develop in different directions.
My only debate is that it needs aspects of light to go with the dark - if it is permanent gloom and doom then you have no contrast to compare the terrible things with the good or happy things. In this it reminded me of Rachel Caine's Morganville Vampires series. For that alone I gave it 4*.

Enjoyable New Series
The Sweet Scent of Blood is about Genny, the only sidhe living in London, who works for Spellcrackers.com cleaning up or `cracking' spells which have been created by various brownies, pixies or other magical creatures and are causing havoc around the city. Like in many urban fantasy novels, this is a world in which the supernatural and magical are part of everyday life. The plot itself focuses on the death of a famous vampire's girlfriend, and Genny's subsequent involvement as she is dragged into the case by various interested parties who believe Melissa's death was caused by magic.

This book is jam-packed with non-stop action and has a large cast of characters from vampires to witches to trolls, and it is probably because of this that the real bad guys are a surprise up until the end. The author has also set up the ground work for characters, relationships and various subplots in this book which look to make for an thrilling new series. The writing style is a little reminiscent of early Anita Blake, especially in Genny's visits to the police station, in which the suspicions of police officers, the Dolph-like character of Hugh and even the characters of the vampires themselves have echoes of early Laurell k. Hamilton. The continuous action, heavy on the police procedural and metaphysical, also reminded me in a good way of Anita Blake at her best, but with the interesting twist of Genny's sidhe magic keeping it fresh and entertaining.

As much as I enjoyed the book overall, a few things did annoy me enough to give it 4 and not 5 stars. Firstly, a lot of the time the writing is a little confusing, making it difficult to understand what's going on at times and why. This is particularly true of Genny's infection with part of the vampire virus, or V3, which we are told about early on in the novel. It is never made exactly clear whether the symptoms she experiences are due to this infection (or in fact precisely how she was infected) or to her own heritage, and everything about her vampiric alter-ego had me utterly baffled. Secondly, the story did lag a bit around the middle with no obvious direction. I also found the heroine's visit to the vampire club a little inconsistent, considering she previously had done everything she could to avoid all vampires and that her sidhe blood was irresistible to them, not to mention her reasons for going were pretty flimsy.

Despite these problems The Sweet Scent of Blood is a quality addition to urban fantasy, and one I found enjoyable to read. It has a little bit of romance, with a promise of more in the next book, lots of magic and mystery and an exciting new heroine. I would recommend it to any fans of the genre as the beginning of what looks to be a great series, and I will definitely be looking out for the next instalment.

The Sweet Scent of Victory
Suzanne McLeeod has created a great read with The Sweet Scent of Blood.

The story is about Genny a Sidhe fae who works for Spellcrackers.com. An organisation run by Witches which provides Genny with protection from Vampires. Roberto aka Mr October aka Bobby a sexy vampire calander pin up is accused of the murder of Melissa his girlfriend. Genny is forced to investigate the mysterious death. This plunges Genny into the vampire world, a world that she is desperate to avoid at all costs. In the course of the investigation Gennys life is put on the line constantly. Her job is at risk and with her job in jeopardy the Witches protection it affords is forfeit. There are one or two secret that Genny is desperate do not see the light of day and unfortunately it is not only Genny's neck on the line but all her friends as well.

I highly recommend this book and found that from page one I was engrossed. The only problem I had with the book was that in some places you really have to concentrate as you may loose vital plot threads. For that reason I was considering giving this book four stars but overall the book was such a good read that I could not bring myself to do so. I highly recommend this book and think it is a great addition to the genre and have already pre-ordered the second in the series. Happy reading.