Hard Bitten

Spoiler Warning for the first three installments of the "Chicagoland Vampire" series. There is a strong overall story-arc and each book contributes to it. That being the case, I cannot talk about "Hard bitten" without spoiling the events in previous books. So if you are new to the series, I recommend you stop reading here and start at the beginning, "Some girls bite".Synopsis [by Goodreads.com]Times are hard for newly minted vampire Merit. Ever since shapeshifters announced their presence to the world, humans have been rallying against supernaturals—and they're camping outside of Cadogan House with protest signs that could turn to pitchforks at any moment. Inside its doors, things between Merit and her Master, green-eyed heartbreaker Ethan Sullivan, are tense. But then the mayor of Chicago calls Merit and Ethan to a clandestine meeting and tells them about a violent vamp attack that has left three women missing. His message is simple: get your House in order. Or else.Merit needs to get to the bottom of this crime, but it doesn't help that she can't tell who's on her side. So she secretly calls in a favor from someone who's tall, dark, and part of an underground vamp group that may have some deep intel on the attack. Merit soon finds herself in the heady, dark heart of Chicago's supernatural society—a world full of vampires who seem to be ready to fulfill the protesting human's worst fears, and a place where she'll learn that you can't be a vampire without getting a little blood on your hands.ReviewI just finished the book - in a mere day - and I'm emotionally exhausted. The series gets better and more intense with each book and this time, I could not lay the book down even a single minute. And I have to warn you: the end did shred my heart to pieces and I admit to yelling stuff like "WTF!?". Of course, I won't spoil that.But let's get back to the story: Merit is in full investigation mode, since there are allegedly raves/"parties" where humans are sucked dry by vampires, meaning, they are killed and the city mayor, Seth Tate, threatened to send Ethan, Lord of House Cadogan, to jail, if he doesn't get those parties closed down once and for all. Complicated is the situation by an unwanted visitor from the "Greenwich Presidium", the ruling organization of vampires. They are supposedly not content with the trouble in the Chicago Houses and investigate the... ruling or governing on-site. Meaning: Ethan has his boss as an obnoxios overlord on board who sticks his nose in the investigation and builds obstacles for Ethan, Merit and the rest of the Cadogan House vampire gang every place possible. What is worst is the Presidium's taking sides with über-villain Celina and ban on any investigating her.Of course, Merit wouldn't be Merit, if she didn't find her way to work around that. This case, however, was the best, i.e. most ingeniously developed, so far. I had no way to anticipate the solution, the culprit was a total surprise for me and when - as a side effect of the case's solution - Merit gets to know the secret behind the rogue's assault of her in the first book and ultimately the reason why she was changed, I was so angry for her, I could have cried myself.Merit's relationship with Ethan, if you can call it that, is tense and there is one moment when he figuratively holds the mirror in front of her and shows her that her actions and reasoning aren't so far from his, I felt for the first time that he could be right. Not to defend his rash breaking-up in the last book, but at least his reasoning and hers, they are... vampiric. And therefore the same. So, yes, I like him a lot more in this book, than in the previous installments, yet his development is understandable and I always appreciated that he has a lot of good reasons for falling for Merit [since in some UF romances one is made to believe the hundreds of years old vampire is immediately smitten with the rather ordinary young girl and none understands why, it's a good thing, this time one acutally understands what is happening].With the Presidium's head arriving, the world that is already well developed and an integral part of the series, gets even bigger. There are glimpses on european vampire society that give even more depth to it, for example the animosity american vampires, who fought in the war for indepence against England, still feel for the english vampires. I liked that a lot.I liked the whole book a lot - but prepare yourself: the outcome is at the same time marvelous and awful for Merit's fans. I will have to read on immediately to see how she fares in the aftermath of these events.

I have taken my time with this review. I pre-ordered Hard Bitten and started reading the minute it hit my kindle. Hard-Bitten was fabulous, shocking, and the most emotional book in the series so far. To me, a great book is one that has quality writing, characters a reader can relate to, and a story that makes the reader feel that they are a part of something, able to go on the journey along with the characters. Hard Bitten meets these criteria, it is a great book, worthy of a 5 star rating. Hard Bitten picks up with the Cadogen House Vampires putting their house in order after problems with shifters in book 3, Twice Bitten. Times have changed for vampires in Chicago. Instead of paparazzi, there are protesters. Instead of smooth political relations, there is betrayal, blackmail, and threats. Vampire political drama in Cadogen house really heats up in Hard Bitten, with a visit from the GP and more problems with a certain former house master vampire. Due to all the political problems, Merit is forced to act as more of a solitary Sentinel, without as much help from Ethan. When all of the problems hit the climax, the chaotic results are beyond astonishing. Ethan is truly at his best in Hard Bitten. He spends the whole of the book doing his best to charm Merit into a romantic relationship, and it seems as though he is trying very hard to learn from past mistakes. Upon comparing Ethan from book 1 to Ethan in book 4, the vampire has come a long way. Merit has helped him remember humanity and sensitivity, and it looks good. Merit also continues to grow and adapt. She learns to be more independent and understanding of vampire politics. We also get to learn more about Jonas, I really like him, and can't wait to see more of him in the future. Merit and Mallory are in a good place, they seem better able to deal with each other's situations. There is a lot of action in Hard Bitten, and the crew continues to step in and shine. Now, for the good stuff, the nitty gritty. The book ends in a shocking manner. It is completely unexpected, emotional, and thought provoking. I know a lot of people have said that they dislike a book because it didn't end the way they wanted it to, or in the way they expected. I disagree with these people. The book ended, I re-read it, and I have absolutely no clue where Ms Chloe Neill is going here, but I love it. I love the anticipation, the expectation. There is a feeling of possibility, so much could happen, so many different possible story lines. Book number 5, Drink Deep, promises to be a different feel. As I have loved all the books in the series so far, I trust that Chloe Neill has a plan and purpose. If anything, after Hard Bitten, I am even more deeply hooked into this series than I was before. I can tell you for a definite fact, I will be devouring Drink Deep the minute I get my greedy, impatient hands on it!If you have not read this series yet, don't miss it. The writing is wonderful, the characters full of fun, life, danger, and of course, snark. I very highly recommend this book to fans of urban fantasy or paranormal romance, it is a MUST-READ!View this review and more at my blog: [...]

Je n'ai pas trop apprécié ce quatrième volume, dans lequel Merit est trop parfaite et se suffit à elle-même.POUR RAPPEL :La série des Chicagoland Vampires met en scène un monde dans lequel les vampires sont regroupés dans des "maisons" qui s'imposent elles-mêmes une certaine discipline. Merit fait partie, depuis quatre mois, de Cadogan House, dirigée par le très séduisant Ethan avec lequel elle entretient une non-relation (...). Sa transformation a fait de Merit un vampire extrèmement puissant physiquement et elle a été nommée Sentinel de Cadogan house, sous les ordres directs d'Ethan.L'existence des vampires est connue par les humains, et depuis le troisième volume les shifters, eux aussi, sont sortis de l'ombre.L'INTRIGUE DE CE QUATRIEME VOLUME :Depuis que les shifters se sont révélés au public, l'opinion publique, jusqu'ici plutôt favorable aux vampires, a changé, les humains de Chicago sont hostile, des manifestations anti-vampires se multiplient, des milices anti-vampires se créent.Ce qui ne serait pas trop ennuyeux ; seulement, les soirées clandestines connues sous le nom de "raves" (des soirées lors desquelles de petites groupes de vampires boivent le sang de quelques humains prétendûment consentants) se multiplient et dégènerent ; elles deviennent violentes et laissent même des morts dans leur sillage.Les vampires qui y participent semblent d'une agressivité bien peu naturelle ... ou peut-être trop ?Quoi qu'il en soit, le maire de Chicago demande à Ethan d'y mettre un terme, alors que le conseil des vampries lui interdit de s'en mêler. Confronté à ce dilemme, Ethan peut compter sur Merit qui fera tout pour trouver l'origine de cette escalade de violence.ALORS, POURQUOI JE N'AI PAS AIME (ma note serait plutôt un 2,5)?Et bien, jusqu'ici j'avais une impression ambigue face à cette série : d'un coté, j'aime bien le monde de Merit et apprécie l'écriture de Chloe Neill, parfaitement adaptée à la Bit-Lit (bien que l'humour soit un peu forcé par moments) ; de l'autre coté, j'avais toujours une impression d'immaturité de l'auteur qui me génait : constantes allusions à Buffy, tout le monde qui "lève le sourcil", Merit qui ne cesse de manger et de penser à la nourriture, une tranformation en vampire un peu trop réussie (Merit se transforme d'une étudiante en littérature en professionnel du combat rapproché, en quelques semaines) etc. etc. ...Mais dans l'ensemble, je prenais toujours plaisir de lire les livres de cette série. Ce qui a changé avec ce quatrième volume, où le plaisir a été totalement gâché.L'intrigue un peu fadasse, cela n'est pas trop génant, cela peut arriver.Non, ce qui m'a vraiment déplue, c'est l'évolution de Merit. Dans ce volume, elle est une vraie professionnelle en tout: elle gère de main de maître les situations de crises, planifie et exécute les infiltrations, crée un réseau de contacts et s'en sert habilement, les autres vampires l'écoutent, Ethan y compris, ils suivent ses plans ...Bref, Merit agit quasiment seule, est la seule à comprendre ce qui se passe ... Elle se la joue solo comme si elle avait l'expérience de plusieurs décennies, voire siècles.N'oublions pas, elle n'est vampire que depuis quelques malheureux mois !! Comment peut-elle comprendre la politique séculaire et les tractations secrètes mieux que ses aînés ? Comment peut-elle transformer Ethan en quelques mois ? C'est risible. Et cela m'a enlevé tout plaisir de lecture.Vous me direz : mais c'est de la Bit-Lit, ce n'est pas réel - oui, mais il faut un minimum de vraisamblance quand même !J'accorde pourtant 3 étoiles. Oui, car j'ai il m'est arrivée de donner 2 étoiles à des livres que j'aime moins. Et je dois dire,à la fin, et bien ... je ne m'y attendais pas.Pour moi, "Hard Bitten" vaut 2,5 étoiles maximum.Dommage, j'y croyais, dans cette série. Mais l'immaturité de l'auteur se heurte à l'extrême maturité de Merit.

The order for the series is Some Girls Bite, Friday Nights Bites, Twice Bitten and Hard Bitten.Remember the issue of vampire raves [mass feedings on humans] that came up a few books ago, but went unsolved despite being looked into? Well the situation resurfaces and its gotten a lot worse then last time.Ever since the existence of shape-shifters was revealed to the world, worried humans are now turning against the supernatural and have started protesting against the vampires in 'their' city. The mayor of Chicago has started to worry about his popularity and the upcoming election, so he requests that Ethan and Merit meet up with him.Basically he knows about the raves, but he also knows that they have recently become a lot more violent; three humans have just died at one. Now mayor Tate wants Ethan and Cadogan to tidy everything up, and to make sure that it's done quickly he drops an bombshell - Tate someone knows that Merit didn't give Ethan her consent before he turned her into a vampire, so now he gives Ethan one week to solve the rave problem or else he will have him arrested and charged with murder.As if solving the ongoing problems with raves inside a single week wasn't enough of a problem, there is also the issue of the leader of the Greenwich Presidium coming to Chicago. Darius isn't happy about the way Cadogan House is being run and he is considering having the House placed into receivership, so he tells Ethan that he has more then enough concerns and should leave the raves for the humans to deal with.Of course as vampires living in Chicago and dealing with angry protesters and a military style vigilante group, Ethan doesn't feel that it's safe for the Cadogan House vampires to leave the raves unsolved, so he's torn over what he should do next. So it's Merit to the rescue; she tells Ethan to concentrate on keeping Darius out of the way, whilst she - using her position as sentinel - will go undercover and try to solve the rave problem before time runs out and Tate has Ethan arrested.This is the second UF book in a row that has swapped non-stopped twists and turns for a simpler storyline that allows the author to spend more time developing the relationships between the characters, and I once again find the change of pace refreshing. I say simple storyline when there is the issue about the Greenwich Presidium and Cadogan's potential receivership running alongside the main blackmail plot as well as the introduction to the vigilante group, but whilst there is plenty of action and tension building the plot does feel slightly more scaled back, compared to previous books.That said this is definitely a huge turning point; one of the biggest questions in the series gets answered and by the end of the book the lives of several characters will have drastically altered [the author has been receiving hate mail on a daily basis since the book's release]. Excuse me whilst I go and pre-order the next book...This book mainly focuses on the relationship between Merit and Ethan; I won't dissect everything that happened over the course of the past three books here, I'll just say that they are stuck between the professional and Merit's lack of trust on a personal level. It becomes more complicated when you release that everything they do can impact on the lives of over three hundred vampires, so I do feel sorry for them as there is a huge weight on Ethan's shoulders [in particular]. I admit that Merit's doubts over him did get a little annoying as I thought his behaviour around her clearly says everything, so I got a little impatient that she didn't get it..Merit also gets to partner up with Jonah when she goes undercover to look into the raves; he is the Guard Captain of Gray House. Gray House and it's vampires have barely ever been touched upon before now, but this partnering up and budding trust and friendship is a glimpse of the future directions in the series and promises to introduce other Gray House members to readers in later books.Even though this is book is written in a first-person narrative, the author still manages to explore the secondary characters relationships to varying degrees, thanks to the pared down storyline. Mallory was pushed into the background in previous books [she and Merit fell out], but we get a grasp on how her magical training is going and how she and Catcher are progressing. It is heavily hinted that future books will prominently feature Mallory and whatever problems have left her worried/scared.Cadogan House guards Lindsay and Luc aren't in the book much, but we do still get to see love/hate relationship and Lindsay's reasoning's behind it all. Granted; her reasoning makes me roll my eyes, but at least I have something to go off now.Shape-shifter Jeff has always been a relatively minor secondary character, but the author is gradually fleshing him out as a person and whenever he is included in a scene he always has something to do which progresses the plot - he's not just padding and fodder for one-liners.Whilst it was never a huge deal, we do get details about why Merit and her father don't get along and why no-one uses Merit's first name [we didn't even learn what it was until the third book]. Like I said this was never portrayed as a huge mystery, but it always niggled away at the back of my mind, so it's nice to have a reason given for it all.** Book five in the Chicagoland Vampires is titled Drink Deep [released in November 2011] **

Da es sich bei dem Buch um den vierten Teil einer Reihe handelt, sollte der grobe Handlungsrahmen allen Lesern bekannt sein.Auch dieser Teil der Reihe ist sehr unterhaltsam - hohe Literatur erwartet niemand, der einen Vampier-Roman liest.Das Buch besticht durch den bereits bekannten Humor und eine spannende Geschichte.Allen Ethan-Fans kann ich nur empfehlen auch gleich den folgenden Teil mitzubestellen, ihr werden lesen, wieso. ;-)