Every Friday, we here @ Del Rey Spectra will place a 50 page excerpt of a selected title on Suvudu. Whether it be science fiction, epic fantasy, alternate history, horror, urban fantasy, paranormal, the possibilities are endless.
Cherie Priest. She has been wowing readers with her amazing, steampunk Clockwork Century series, and rightfully so. The books are fantastic. But she has other tricks up her sleeves. In just over a week, Spectra will be releasing BLOODSHOT, Cherie’s first foray into urban fantasy. Let me tell you: this book is good, really good. Filled with excitement, great characters, and a plot chock full of suspense, action, and snappy dialogue. Here’s what Del Rey Spectra editor David Pomerico had to say about the book:
“Cherie Priest has been a rising star in the sci-fi and fantasy world, especially with the success of 2009’s Boneshaker (Tor). So it would be easy to say that when the opportunity came to work with her on Bloodshot, editor Anne Groell had plenty of motivation regardless of what the book was about. But oh, there was no need to fret on that count!
Because Bloodshot is a great novel…and is also truly a departure from Cherie’s previous work. It’s a in a different genre (urban fantasy), with a different sensibility (vampire-thief rather than steampunk), and a much different scope (character-driven adventures versus brilliant world-build).
What isn’t a departure, though, is the fact that Cherie is such a fantastic writer, and Bloodshot simply allows readers to experience that talent in a different light.
Bloodshot is one of the books we’re all geared up for here at Spectra and Del Rey, and the buzz we’ve been hearing about this book from fans and people in-house has been enormous. Put another way: it was a 24/7 job at New York and San Diego Comic-Cons to ensure that no one walked off with our advance copies! Between the fun story, the exciting new character in Raylene, and the amazing cover, I think Bloodshot is going to be a big book in 2011. As Anne always says when people ask about the novel: “Read the first paragraph and try not to get hooked.”
Lucky for you, you get to read the first 50 pages.”
Here’s a little summary of the book:
When you’re one of the best thieves in the world, nobody is going to bat an eye if you introduce yourself as a “specialist in antiquities acquisition.” Raylene Pendle fits that description to a T. The fact that she’s also a vampire pretty much ensures that anyone with a problem is going to keep it to themselves.
As thrilling as her life has been, though, Raylene–known in the thieving community as Cheshire Red–is still intrigued when she is offered her latest job. A man named Ian Stott is interested in finding secret government documents about the research that has left him virtually sightless. If she wasn’t caught up in the fact that Ian is incredibly charming, the fact that he too is a vampire–and the first one to ask her to do a job for him–has her interest piqued. But where the case will take her–the frozen outskirts of Minneapolis and the mean streets of Atlanta, running from a psychotic government scientist while trying to protect, of all things, a drag queen–may be more than even she can handle. It’s gonna be one hell of a ride, though.
Sounds good, yes?
As always, feel free to give us feedback in the comments. Or let us know on Twitter via a direct message to our esteemed Twitter maven, editor David Pomerico: www.twitter.com/delreyspectra . Or write on the wall of our Facebook page: Like us at www.facebook.com/delreyspectra .
Please enjoy this extensive excerpt of Bloodshot, which will be available in trade paperback and ebook on 1/25.
