Hard Bitten
A Chicagoland Vampires Novel
Chloe Neill

New American Library
May 2011 / ISBN 0451233328
Paranormal
Amazon

Reviewed by Jan Fields

This is the fourth outing for Chicago-born recently-turned-vampire Merit. Things are getting rough in Chicago as humans are turning against the supernatural citizens -- especially vampires. It doesn't help things that some vampires are acting strangely hyper-violent. If that's not enough to deal with, Merit is still working out exactly how she feels about her Master, Ethan Sullivan. She has to sort out the problem with the vampire attacks and the problems of her own heart -- neither of which goes easily.

I'm a sucker for a strong female heroine and Merit delivers well. She's well able to handle herself in tight situations. Even though I was joining the series on the fourth book, I didn't flounder at the beginning and that's a sign of a really well-crafted plot, though it certainly didn't hurt that she was playing in a familiar genre -- the vampire novel. The storyline is fast paced and the end packs an unexpected emotional wallop that apparently still has fans reeling. I would definitely come back for more of this interesting twist on a favorite genre.