Name: Blood Games
ISBN: 9780451415202

Chloe Neill

Merit, a vampire and Sentinel of Cadogan House must track down a killer preying on humans and leaving the victims with supernatural souvenirs, in the 10th novel of the series following Wild Things. Original. 50,000 first printing.

A Chicagoland Vampires Novel

Blood Games

Merit's adventures continue in Book 10 of the Chicagoland Vampires series - perfect for fans of Charlaine Harris and Kelley Armstrong Merit didn't choose to become a vampire of Cadogan House, but she did choose to fight for her house and forge strong alliances with powerful people across Chicago and North America. She's had some wild adventures, but this might be her darkest road yet ... A killer is stalking Chicago, and humans are his prey. The killer leaves magical souvenirs with his victims, and the CPD hasn't been able to stop him. When the mayor reluctantly asks the still-recovering Chuck Merit for help, he engages Cadogan House to find the killer. To find out more, visit www.chloeneill.com Facebook: authorchloeneill Twitter: @chloeneill

Annabella

And here we are, the stepping stones are starting to feel flashy...

Sarah Escorsa

I’m about to cry here. After reading all the instalments in this series back to back, I’ve finally come to the last published book. This means I will now have to wait until March 2015 before I can get another Chicagoland Vampires shot… Four whole months without Merit, Ethan and the rest of the Chicago sups? This will be a very long winter indeed!

Anyway, back to Blood Games. Well, we definitely have another winner here! What can I say, this series never disappoints and it’s one highly entertaining instalment after another. Even better, I think Neill’s writing has improved a lot with the last few books. In the first instalments it always took her quite some time to set things in motion and for the plot to be in full swing. It’s no longer the case and she now draws the reader into the action from the very first pages, which makes for a non-stop action, fast-paced read. 

There are two main plots in Blood Games. One is a murder investigation (as is now more or less customary in this series) with Merit, Jonah and the Ombuddies working hand in hand with the CPD. The other is the follow-up on Ethan’s challenging Darius for the head of the GP.

I can't say I cared much about the investigation. Although I have to admit that the scene when Merit & Jonah attend the convention is just hilarious: Merit’s reaction when she sees the “hunkiest” table with panties on sale that have Ethan’s eyes on the front triangle? Priceless! When she crosses path with a girl who is dressed up like her and won’t believe she is the actual Merit? Great! Definitely one of the funniest scenes ever! :) 

It’s not that the investigation in itself wasn’t interesting but I have been waiting for the final showdown between Ethan and Darius since the last instalment and was anxious to read about it. And it was fantastic! I loved everything about that plot: the Cadogan Dash, Darius’ travels in the US (view spoiler)[(the magic obelisk! The rescue by Merit, Ethan & friends! Darius stepping down of his own accord!) (hide spoiler)], Nicole Heart (yay! A new bitch from hell!), Amit Patel (I love him!), the psychological and physical trials (the scene for the physical tests was just fantastic, probably one of the best in the series so far). The outcome was more than surprising. I’ve never understood the GP but this? Anyway, there is another big surprise after the surprising outcome so things should definitely get *very* interesting in the next instalment. *rubs hands together*

On the Methan front, everything is going great until Ethan starts being Ethan again. You know, when be acts like a 10-year-old when he really is supposed to be 400 or so? Well, thank goodness Merit is as stubborn as he is and always manages to get some sense into him. It does take her some time to get to him but she is once more able to break his barriers down. Oh and you have to admit they do know how to kiss and make up! ^^ Well, in Ethan’s defense I have to say that he can be quite irresistible when he wants to. And I love the whole fake proposal thing! Merit might find it annoying as well but it’s so funny!

One thing that I really did miss here: Gabe and the shifters (Damien Garza, where are you?). Too bad we didn’t see more of them.

Blood Games is definitely one of my favourite instalments in this series. An action-packed, emotional ride with major developments in the story arc and quite the cliffhanger (oh wow!). Ooooh, the next book is going to be *very* good!!

Blood Games A Chicagoland Vampires Novel

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