Bloodcircle - Introduction and Chapter One
May. 3rd, 2022 11:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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i_read_whatSo it took me a while to decide what to review next. My first thought was Mistwraith, but that's a fucking time investment and my next couple of weeks are busy. Then I realized that it's been a while since I've seen what my favorite vampire-human-human OT3 has been up to.
Also, the chapters are short. Not going to lie, that's a pretty big selling point at the moment.
In terms of nostalgia, I remember some of this book. We're going to meet a character that will star in their own spinoff series. We're going to see a resolution, of sorts, to a long running plot thread. I remember having some mixed feelings about that part, so we'll see how it goes this time around.
I don't remember if Jack gets the shit kicked out of him as much in this book as he did in the prior two. Perhaps not. That's okay. The poor boy probably could use a break.
If you recall, Lifeblood ended in a pretty rough place. Gaylen's dead, thank goodness. But Jack has been through an emotional wringer. It might not be over yet, as this book starts with Jack relaying Braxton's death to a Chicago Homicide detective.
Jack actually seems to be giving a pretty accurate version of events. At least based on my recollection. He, of course, just calls Malcolm a "crazy-looking blond guy with a shotgun", and omits and vampiric motivations. Eventually though, of course, he has to lie about things. He details going back to the hotel to find Bobbi missing, and then going out to search for her.
(Marza, by the way, has a last name: Chevreaux. I'm not sure if that actually came up in Lifeblood.)
Jack claims that he and Bobbi had a fight earlier, and Marza had taken Bobbi's side, and thus refused to tell him anything. I feel like Marza would be on board with this story.
Anyway, Jack recaps his story for us, telling us (and the cop) about finding Bobbi in a diner, and then talked for the rest of the night. He claims he can't remember the diner name.
The cop seems to be pretty sharp. He calls Jack out on the lie that Jack didn't know why Braxton was after him, by pointing out that Jack had told the hotel detective that Braxton was a con artist.
Jack gets to tell the truth for this part though: he'd told Phil that so that Phil would keep an eye out for the guy and keep him from bothering "Miss Smythe."
The cop, Lieutenant Blair, gets a description:
Blair was a handsome man, a little past forty, with gray temples trimming his dark wavy hair, and full, dark brows setting off his olive skin. Too well dressed to be a cop, he was either on the take or had some income other than his salary. His upper lip tightened. He was smiling, but not quite ready to show his teeth yet.
“Okay,” he said easily and with vast confidence. My back hairs went up. “This is off the record. You can talk, now.”
Jack is pretty baffled. Blair's definitely getting at something. He hones in on Jack's weak point pretty quick:
“Yes. She quit right after someone put a lead slug into her boss. It’s interesting to me how death seems to follow that young woman around.”
“You think she was involved with that mess?” It was meant to rattle me, but I was on to that one.
He just smiled.
“Then think something else,” I said, leaning back in my chair. “Her boss gets scragged and she quits, there’s no surprise to that. A couple of the other girls did the same thing. You can check.”
“I have. She was Morelli’s girl as well as his employee… And now she’s your girl.”
Blair does have some legitimate areas of concern though: Jack saw a man die, chased after an armed man and disappeared for two days. The man turns up in a car near his home, peppered with wooden pellets (from a shotgun loaded with wooden beads. Fucking ouch, Gordy means business). We're reminded a bit about Jack's darker impulses:
“The man was half-dead from numerous other injuries and in a mental state one might charitably describe as shock. How did he get that way?”
“I don’t know. Ask him, why don’t you?” I was on firm ground here. That blond bastard would never put together two coherent words ever again. I’d made very sure of it.
There's no guilt this time. There probably shouldn't be, but it makes me a little concerned for our poor practical, but not pragmatic, lead character.
Lieutenant Blair then brings up Norma, the kidnapper who Bobbi took out with a shotgun. The one who'd taken her dress. Jack lies, badly, that Bobbi was still wearing her dress when he found her.
He shows Jack a sawed off shotgun: Jack states it looks like the one that killed Braxton, but the barrel is a different size. But there's another, more damning piece of evidence:
“And what about this?” From the back of a chair he picked up a dark bundle that unrolled into the shape of a coat. The front lapels were ragged and an uneven hole the size of my fist decorated the middle of its back where the blast had exited. The edges were stiff with crusted blood.
“Looks like mine,” I admitted, not liking this turn of evidence.
Yeah, that's not good. And it's even worse when Jack realizes there's mirrored glass behind him. Mirrored glass that is telling Blair that Blair is the only one in the room.
OOPS.
Jack doesn't lose his cool. He keeps eye contact and starts using his hypnosis, urging Blair to take him to his office. He lays out the way of things: Jack had identified the items to Blair's satisfaction, Blair didn't notice anything in the mirror, the woman in the photo had been murdered by Malcolm, and her red dress probably came from the same box as Bobbi's.
It seems to work. Blair calls to have someone bring Jack a statement he can sign. Jack notices pictures of a very pretty girl and asks if Blair's married. Not yet. But Blair is engaged and excited.
Jack's had a rough couple of days, and he's crossed a few lines, but he's still Jack:
I made to go, and Blair escorted me out of the building and even shook my hand. He liked me. Inside, I cringed a little at the power I had over the man and was glad to turn my back on him and walk away.
Aw.
Fortunately, Jack's got a friend (boyfriend) waiting for him. Escott doesn't get a verbose description this time, though Jack does note that Charles is almost as well dressed as Blair, but in a quieter style.
He asks how things went, and Jack says he wishes he were a better liar. Sadly, he isn't: so hypnosis is the way to go. Charles, being Charles, has no qualms at all.
Interestingly, the boys's next stop is a hospital, where Escott flirts their way inside. And I'll share this cute banter:
Escott was sure of himself because he seemed to know almost everyone in Chicago. I didn’t question him. We entered the hospital without a hitch and even the most territorial and authoritative nurses gave way before him. He knew how to turn on the charm when he felt inclined, and we left the last of the guardians of good health giggling at her station.
“How did you do that?” I asked.
“I’m not sure, but if it works, I shan’t try to analyze it. Perhaps it’s to do with my accent.”
“You mean if I learn to talk like Ronald Colman—
“I do not speak like Ronald Colman.”
“Sure you do, like just now with Tugboat Annie back there.”
“Don’t be absurd.”
Escott’s English accent was more clipped and precise and less leisurely than Colman’s, but I argued that the effect was the same. Getting him to bristle was a novel experience for me. The debate kept us entertained until we turned the last corner and saw the cop in a chair next to a numbered door. He regarded us with interest and stood as we approached.
Aww, I did miss you two. So they claim to be doctors, and when pressed for credentials, Escott asks Jack to show the cop his pass. Jack pulls out an old press card and the old mind whammy. Escott is all but grinning, we're told.
Oh, NOW it makes sense. See, the patient they're visiting is Mattheus, Braxton's young apprentice. Unfortunately, Mattheus hasn't been keeping his mouth shut. So far, no one's taken him seriously. They're blaming his ravings on his head wound. That might not last.
Jack hates this, but he recognizes that he's not the only one in danger, and he has to help keep Bobbi and Escott safe. And Mattheus definitely seems to have inherited his predecessor's cluelessness:
I folded back the sheet and blanket to get a better look at the kid. What I saw would have decided me if I hadn’t already made up my mind. Escott craned his neck for a look to see what made me stop and frown. He frowned as well, but refrained from giving me an “I told you so” look. The patient wore a big silver cross around his neck with a couple of bulbs of whole garlic threaded together on a string. He had at least gotten someone to humor him. It was a step in the wrong direction as far as I was concerned.
The scene ends by telling us that Mattheus wakes up but never gets a chance to scream.
I mean, it's sort of a cliffhanger, but not much. We know Jack. We know Jack wouldn't murder someone harmless like this. And to Ms. Elrod's credit, she says so quickly enough after the scene shift. Jack, of course, is Concerned.
“You look like you’ve consumed a sour apple,” he observed. “Was it really so bad?”
“What solves a problem for me could make one for him.”
“In what way?”
“You know what I mean. I’m off the hook now, but what if he comes out with psychological measles later because of my monkeying around?”
“You’ve read Freud, then?”
“Never had the time so I don’t know about that. I do know I shouldn’t be doing what I’m doing… It could be bad for the kid.”
I mean, fair. We don't really know what prolonged hypnosis might do to a person. Escott notes that Jack didn't take away any memories, instead, he just nudged Mattheus to "realize" that Braxton had been a crazy old man, using and misleading an impressionable kid.
Interestingly, Jack and Escott appear to have plans for the evening. They've got to catch a train in two hours. They plan to rendezvous in an hour and a half. This gives Jack time to visit with Bobbi. (Charles tells him to say hello for him. Aw.)
So at the hotel, Jack exchanges some pleasantries with Phil, the hotel detective, noting that he owes him one. Then he goes up to see Bobbi, floating into the apartment in mist form.
Marza's there instead, and fortunately, she missed seeing Jack's entrance. She's not happy to see him though. Jack is relieved to hear that it's because she thinks he's a two-timer, not a vampire.
Jack points out that it's hardly two-timing if he hasn't seen the girl in five years. Marza disagrees. Oh, interesting. Apparently, Jack and Charles are leaving town to look for Maureen. Marza knows about that, so presumably Bobbi does too. That makes me happy.
Marza also thinks that Jack is mob connected, and thinks Gordy must have bought the police off for him. She doesn't approve of that either. Jack, rather understandably, is annoyed by the hostility but keeps his mouth shut. Fortunately, she leaves and Bobbi arrives, and she is an immediate distraction.
Bobbi is equally as happy to see Jack. They discuss Marza's new hostility: basically, she blames Jack for what happened to Bobbi. Jack acknowledges that this isn't unreasonable. The story given was that Jack's old girlfriend's sister had wanted something from Jack and used Bobbi to get it.
That's pretty much the truth, actually. Marza had asked what it was, but Bobbi claimed not to know and said that Jack wasn't talking. THAT's why Marza thinks Jack's mobbed up. She's also upset on a personal level. Jack had seen her vulnerable on the night Bobbi disappeared, and Marza's not cool with that. Jack doesn't completely get it, but then he's a guy.
Anyway, Bobbi admits that she's having nightmares and Jack starts to wilt a little himself, apologizing for everything that happened. Bobbi tells him to shut up and kiss her instead. She means it, and he obeys. Awww.
Jack can't stay the night of course, but Bobbi decides to see him off with a bit of necking. He asks if she's up for it, since she's been through the wringer. She is.
One thing I really like about this is that a) Jack is concerned for her well-being, of course, and b) they talk about the trip, but without apology, excuse or resentment. Bobbi merely asks if Charles really needs Jack along. Jack isn't sure, but Charles did ask for his help. Bobbi accepts that.
It's kind of an interesting quagmire, of course, when your boyfriend goes off to find his missing ex-girlfriend. But it probably helps that Jack is completely honest about it. It would have been very easy to have Jack try to keep it a secret, only to have it blow up in his face, with Bobbi understandably believing the worst. I've never liked that kind of plot, myself, and I'm glad that Ms. Elrod isn't going with that. Jack has every right to want closure. It doesn't mean he loves Bobbi less. And because he's honest with Bobbi, she has no reason to doubt him.
(Personally, I like the thought of Maureen just joining into a nice polycule with them. But that's me.)
I do find myself a little concerned about Jack though. Bobbi wasn't the only one who got put through the wringer, after all. Jack's got a pretty modern mentality for a 1930s dude, but he's not above a bit of chauvinism, I think. He gets to sublimate his own issues by focusing on hers. Hopefully that won't bite him in the ass later. (There's plenty of better biting for a vampire to do. And speaking of, our duo's about to do just that)
Anyway, the chapter ends here, with this nice, mostly healthy couple gettin' laid vampire style. Woo-hoo.
Also, the chapters are short. Not going to lie, that's a pretty big selling point at the moment.
In terms of nostalgia, I remember some of this book. We're going to meet a character that will star in their own spinoff series. We're going to see a resolution, of sorts, to a long running plot thread. I remember having some mixed feelings about that part, so we'll see how it goes this time around.
I don't remember if Jack gets the shit kicked out of him as much in this book as he did in the prior two. Perhaps not. That's okay. The poor boy probably could use a break.
If you recall, Lifeblood ended in a pretty rough place. Gaylen's dead, thank goodness. But Jack has been through an emotional wringer. It might not be over yet, as this book starts with Jack relaying Braxton's death to a Chicago Homicide detective.
Jack actually seems to be giving a pretty accurate version of events. At least based on my recollection. He, of course, just calls Malcolm a "crazy-looking blond guy with a shotgun", and omits and vampiric motivations. Eventually though, of course, he has to lie about things. He details going back to the hotel to find Bobbi missing, and then going out to search for her.
(Marza, by the way, has a last name: Chevreaux. I'm not sure if that actually came up in Lifeblood.)
Jack claims that he and Bobbi had a fight earlier, and Marza had taken Bobbi's side, and thus refused to tell him anything. I feel like Marza would be on board with this story.
Anyway, Jack recaps his story for us, telling us (and the cop) about finding Bobbi in a diner, and then talked for the rest of the night. He claims he can't remember the diner name.
The cop seems to be pretty sharp. He calls Jack out on the lie that Jack didn't know why Braxton was after him, by pointing out that Jack had told the hotel detective that Braxton was a con artist.
Jack gets to tell the truth for this part though: he'd told Phil that so that Phil would keep an eye out for the guy and keep him from bothering "Miss Smythe."
The cop, Lieutenant Blair, gets a description:
Blair was a handsome man, a little past forty, with gray temples trimming his dark wavy hair, and full, dark brows setting off his olive skin. Too well dressed to be a cop, he was either on the take or had some income other than his salary. His upper lip tightened. He was smiling, but not quite ready to show his teeth yet.
“Okay,” he said easily and with vast confidence. My back hairs went up. “This is off the record. You can talk, now.”
Jack is pretty baffled. Blair's definitely getting at something. He hones in on Jack's weak point pretty quick:
“Yes. She quit right after someone put a lead slug into her boss. It’s interesting to me how death seems to follow that young woman around.”
“You think she was involved with that mess?” It was meant to rattle me, but I was on to that one.
He just smiled.
“Then think something else,” I said, leaning back in my chair. “Her boss gets scragged and she quits, there’s no surprise to that. A couple of the other girls did the same thing. You can check.”
“I have. She was Morelli’s girl as well as his employee… And now she’s your girl.”
Blair does have some legitimate areas of concern though: Jack saw a man die, chased after an armed man and disappeared for two days. The man turns up in a car near his home, peppered with wooden pellets (from a shotgun loaded with wooden beads. Fucking ouch, Gordy means business). We're reminded a bit about Jack's darker impulses:
“The man was half-dead from numerous other injuries and in a mental state one might charitably describe as shock. How did he get that way?”
“I don’t know. Ask him, why don’t you?” I was on firm ground here. That blond bastard would never put together two coherent words ever again. I’d made very sure of it.
There's no guilt this time. There probably shouldn't be, but it makes me a little concerned for our poor practical, but not pragmatic, lead character.
Lieutenant Blair then brings up Norma, the kidnapper who Bobbi took out with a shotgun. The one who'd taken her dress. Jack lies, badly, that Bobbi was still wearing her dress when he found her.
He shows Jack a sawed off shotgun: Jack states it looks like the one that killed Braxton, but the barrel is a different size. But there's another, more damning piece of evidence:
“And what about this?” From the back of a chair he picked up a dark bundle that unrolled into the shape of a coat. The front lapels were ragged and an uneven hole the size of my fist decorated the middle of its back where the blast had exited. The edges were stiff with crusted blood.
“Looks like mine,” I admitted, not liking this turn of evidence.
Yeah, that's not good. And it's even worse when Jack realizes there's mirrored glass behind him. Mirrored glass that is telling Blair that Blair is the only one in the room.
OOPS.
Jack doesn't lose his cool. He keeps eye contact and starts using his hypnosis, urging Blair to take him to his office. He lays out the way of things: Jack had identified the items to Blair's satisfaction, Blair didn't notice anything in the mirror, the woman in the photo had been murdered by Malcolm, and her red dress probably came from the same box as Bobbi's.
It seems to work. Blair calls to have someone bring Jack a statement he can sign. Jack notices pictures of a very pretty girl and asks if Blair's married. Not yet. But Blair is engaged and excited.
Jack's had a rough couple of days, and he's crossed a few lines, but he's still Jack:
I made to go, and Blair escorted me out of the building and even shook my hand. He liked me. Inside, I cringed a little at the power I had over the man and was glad to turn my back on him and walk away.
Aw.
Fortunately, Jack's got a friend (
He asks how things went, and Jack says he wishes he were a better liar. Sadly, he isn't: so hypnosis is the way to go. Charles, being Charles, has no qualms at all.
Interestingly, the boys's next stop is a hospital, where Escott flirts their way inside. And I'll share this cute banter:
Escott was sure of himself because he seemed to know almost everyone in Chicago. I didn’t question him. We entered the hospital without a hitch and even the most territorial and authoritative nurses gave way before him. He knew how to turn on the charm when he felt inclined, and we left the last of the guardians of good health giggling at her station.
“How did you do that?” I asked.
“I’m not sure, but if it works, I shan’t try to analyze it. Perhaps it’s to do with my accent.”
“You mean if I learn to talk like Ronald Colman—
“I do not speak like Ronald Colman.”
“Sure you do, like just now with Tugboat Annie back there.”
“Don’t be absurd.”
Escott’s English accent was more clipped and precise and less leisurely than Colman’s, but I argued that the effect was the same. Getting him to bristle was a novel experience for me. The debate kept us entertained until we turned the last corner and saw the cop in a chair next to a numbered door. He regarded us with interest and stood as we approached.
Aww, I did miss you two. So they claim to be doctors, and when pressed for credentials, Escott asks Jack to show the cop his pass. Jack pulls out an old press card and the old mind whammy. Escott is all but grinning, we're told.
Oh, NOW it makes sense. See, the patient they're visiting is Mattheus, Braxton's young apprentice. Unfortunately, Mattheus hasn't been keeping his mouth shut. So far, no one's taken him seriously. They're blaming his ravings on his head wound. That might not last.
Jack hates this, but he recognizes that he's not the only one in danger, and he has to help keep Bobbi and Escott safe. And Mattheus definitely seems to have inherited his predecessor's cluelessness:
I folded back the sheet and blanket to get a better look at the kid. What I saw would have decided me if I hadn’t already made up my mind. Escott craned his neck for a look to see what made me stop and frown. He frowned as well, but refrained from giving me an “I told you so” look. The patient wore a big silver cross around his neck with a couple of bulbs of whole garlic threaded together on a string. He had at least gotten someone to humor him. It was a step in the wrong direction as far as I was concerned.
The scene ends by telling us that Mattheus wakes up but never gets a chance to scream.
I mean, it's sort of a cliffhanger, but not much. We know Jack. We know Jack wouldn't murder someone harmless like this. And to Ms. Elrod's credit, she says so quickly enough after the scene shift. Jack, of course, is Concerned.
“You look like you’ve consumed a sour apple,” he observed. “Was it really so bad?”
“What solves a problem for me could make one for him.”
“In what way?”
“You know what I mean. I’m off the hook now, but what if he comes out with psychological measles later because of my monkeying around?”
“You’ve read Freud, then?”
“Never had the time so I don’t know about that. I do know I shouldn’t be doing what I’m doing… It could be bad for the kid.”
I mean, fair. We don't really know what prolonged hypnosis might do to a person. Escott notes that Jack didn't take away any memories, instead, he just nudged Mattheus to "realize" that Braxton had been a crazy old man, using and misleading an impressionable kid.
Interestingly, Jack and Escott appear to have plans for the evening. They've got to catch a train in two hours. They plan to rendezvous in an hour and a half. This gives Jack time to visit with Bobbi. (Charles tells him to say hello for him. Aw.)
So at the hotel, Jack exchanges some pleasantries with Phil, the hotel detective, noting that he owes him one. Then he goes up to see Bobbi, floating into the apartment in mist form.
Marza's there instead, and fortunately, she missed seeing Jack's entrance. She's not happy to see him though. Jack is relieved to hear that it's because she thinks he's a two-timer, not a vampire.
Jack points out that it's hardly two-timing if he hasn't seen the girl in five years. Marza disagrees. Oh, interesting. Apparently, Jack and Charles are leaving town to look for Maureen. Marza knows about that, so presumably Bobbi does too. That makes me happy.
Marza also thinks that Jack is mob connected, and thinks Gordy must have bought the police off for him. She doesn't approve of that either. Jack, rather understandably, is annoyed by the hostility but keeps his mouth shut. Fortunately, she leaves and Bobbi arrives, and she is an immediate distraction.
Bobbi is equally as happy to see Jack. They discuss Marza's new hostility: basically, she blames Jack for what happened to Bobbi. Jack acknowledges that this isn't unreasonable. The story given was that Jack's old girlfriend's sister had wanted something from Jack and used Bobbi to get it.
That's pretty much the truth, actually. Marza had asked what it was, but Bobbi claimed not to know and said that Jack wasn't talking. THAT's why Marza thinks Jack's mobbed up. She's also upset on a personal level. Jack had seen her vulnerable on the night Bobbi disappeared, and Marza's not cool with that. Jack doesn't completely get it, but then he's a guy.
Anyway, Bobbi admits that she's having nightmares and Jack starts to wilt a little himself, apologizing for everything that happened. Bobbi tells him to shut up and kiss her instead. She means it, and he obeys. Awww.
Jack can't stay the night of course, but Bobbi decides to see him off with a bit of necking. He asks if she's up for it, since she's been through the wringer. She is.
One thing I really like about this is that a) Jack is concerned for her well-being, of course, and b) they talk about the trip, but without apology, excuse or resentment. Bobbi merely asks if Charles really needs Jack along. Jack isn't sure, but Charles did ask for his help. Bobbi accepts that.
It's kind of an interesting quagmire, of course, when your boyfriend goes off to find his missing ex-girlfriend. But it probably helps that Jack is completely honest about it. It would have been very easy to have Jack try to keep it a secret, only to have it blow up in his face, with Bobbi understandably believing the worst. I've never liked that kind of plot, myself, and I'm glad that Ms. Elrod isn't going with that. Jack has every right to want closure. It doesn't mean he loves Bobbi less. And because he's honest with Bobbi, she has no reason to doubt him.
(Personally, I like the thought of Maureen just joining into a nice polycule with them. But that's me.)
I do find myself a little concerned about Jack though. Bobbi wasn't the only one who got put through the wringer, after all. Jack's got a pretty modern mentality for a 1930s dude, but he's not above a bit of chauvinism, I think. He gets to sublimate his own issues by focusing on hers. Hopefully that won't bite him in the ass later. (There's plenty of better biting for a vampire to do. And speaking of, our duo's about to do just that)
Anyway, the chapter ends here, with this nice, mostly healthy couple gettin' laid vampire style. Woo-hoo.