Blood and Bullets by James R. Tuck (Deacon Chalk: Occult Bounty-Hunter#1)
Urban Fantasy
February 7, 2012
Kensington

Reviewed by Mandi

Deacon Chalk is on a mission. Five years ago his wife and kids were brutally murdered by vampires. He has spent every day since, hunting those monsters, not caring if he gets taken out in the process. His proper title is an occult bounty hunter, and he also owns Polecats, a strip club.

One night, a child that reminds him very much of the daughter he lost comes to him. Except, this child is a vampire. Hesitant though to outright kill her, she starts to ask for his help to take down a mysterious “agent of destruction”, until she attacks. After the attack, he finds a folder with information about this mysterious being and heads to the location to see what is happening. But it ends up being a set-up. Barely making it out alive, he runs back to Polecats to meet with his few close friends to make a plan. And along the way he picks up a mortal wanna-be vampire slayer who gets in on the action as well.

Blood and Bullets is the debut urban fantasy book for James R. Tuck. Told in the point of view of Deacon, this is pretty much a middle of the road book for me. I like Deacon, although I couldn’t decide if he wanted to be truly bad ass as he proclaims in the book, or if he is more of a softer, gentle giant. He does take care of business when needed, but there are also a lot of threats, and I wanted to see him lash out some more. I also wish he had a little more sense of humor or sarcastic wit to entertain throughout the book.

Before the story starts, we learn that at one point while Deacon is out doing his thing, he rescues an angel that is in trouble. As a reward, this angel transfuses her version of blood into him. This now makes it so Deacon is faster, stronger, and immune to vampire powers. I wonder why more people are not demanding that they also have these powers? I believe the general population is not aware of supernatural creatures, but the way the world is described there are a ton. Shifters, vampires, angels, trolls etc. I wish we would have had a clearer understanding as to how everyone stays hidden.

When Deacon meets Larson in the alley when he is being set up, he soon realizes Larson is just a mortal who was there to slay some vampires. But with his family murdered, I would assume Deacon would have some trust issues when it comes to strangers, and he seems to allow Larson in his life quite easily. He picks up a few other “strays” along the way that again I had to ask, why?

As I said, this book is just okay for me. It doesn’t really stand out, but at the same time it is an easy read. I kept waiting to get sucked into  the book but that never happened. Maybe with book two.

Rating: C

Recent Reviews:
The Book Pushers – C-
Urban Fantasy Investigations – 3/5
My Bookish Ways
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