Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Bitter Things
By Andrew Valentine
National Writers Press
ISBN 13: 978-0-88100-145-7
Genre- Fantasy/ vampires
Pages- 303
Reviewed by Nicola Ormerod
Rating 4

The two main characters in the book are Scott and Michelle. They are happily married, but Scott is emotionally scared from his past. While jogging one night, they discover the bodies of a drug dealer and a murdered police woman, and it deepens Scott,s emotion scars. Just over a year later, through a seemingly chance meeting at a bar in mid town Manhattan, they meet Jong, a flirty passionate woman, and the three head back to the married couples flat for a passionate threesome. The night is going just as Michelle wants until, in the morning Michelle wakes up alone. Scott has disappeared, and what was meant to drive them together has propelled them apart. She confides in her friend and work college, Dave Carson, and together they set out to find Scott. When the police fail her, Michelle hires a private investigator. The web becomes even more tangled as Michelle battles to find Scott, and deal with infidelities, and the suspicion, that vampires are somehow involved. But when she finds him, will he even want to go home with he?

This book was not an easy read, I don’t mean that in a bad way, it’s a thinkers book, not a book for the bath or on the bus. I needed peace and quite to fully immerse myself in the book and characters. I don’t get a lot of peace and quite, so it took me a little longer than normal to read it.
Having said that, the book is really well written and the balance that one needs in this type of book is spot on. A good mixture of sex, violence and plot. Characters are all believable and the ending was not predictable and kept the reader guessing to the end.
Just a couple of downsides, there is a very slight reference to incest which, while it was probably in context for the period of the novel I found it a little off putting. It is a very short couple of lines and luckily didn’t put me off the book.
Another downside for me, a case of personal preference really, was the couple of bondage scenes. Not really to my taste, but there was an even mix of other sexy scenes to keep me interested.
All in all, a good read, four out of five stars.




2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think that this writer spins some deep stuff! He takes us to a world that may not be all wine and roses, but it sure does titillate!That is what we want. LOL

Unknown said...

Thanks for the review. I can't wait to read this book!

Lea Ellen {night owl in IL}
P.S. I hear he's in the process of writing its' sequel.