Publisher: Kensington
Publish Date: February 7th
How I got this book: ARC from publisher
He lives to kill monsters. He keeps his city safe. And his silver hollow-points and back-from-the-dead abilities help him take out any kind of supernatural threat. But now an immortal evil has this bad-ass bounty hunter dead in its sights. . .
Ever since a monster murdered his family, Deacon Chalk hunts any creature that preys on the innocent. So when a pretty vampire girl “hires” him to eliminate a fellow slayer, Deacon goes to warn him–and barely escapes a vampire ambush. Now he’s got a way-inexperienced newbie hunter to protect and everything from bloodsuckers to cursed immortals on his trail. There’s also a malevolent force controlling the living and the undead, hellbent on turning Deacon’s greatest loss into the one weapon that could destroy him. . .
*Blurb from Goodreads*
Tuck is debuting his new series, Deacon Chalk Occult Bounty Hunter, with  Blood and Bullets.  This is a hard review for me to write, because while I really enjoyed the story, the book also didn’t work for me in a lot of ways.
Deacon lives for one thing and one thing only: killing vampires to avenge his family. His whole life seems to revolve around killing vampires and evil creatures, he even has a little extra kick in his blood to help him get the job done that no one else can do. One night, an ambush is set that has Deacon coming closer than ever to death, and he is determined to find out who wants him dead. With his rag-tag team of friends, Deacon goes to extremes to find the immortal who wants his head on a plate, and comes close to loosing everything.
This book is filled with fast packed action scenes. At every turn it seems as if Deacon is kicking vampire ass. But at the same time, it doesn’t seem to help the story move at a quick pace. It took awhile for the book to get moving quickly, and I found that I put the book down quite a few times before things got to a point where I was sucked into the story line.
I also felt as if this story was one that I had already read before. It had a lot of the same elements from JF Lewis’ Void City Series. They both have heroes that own strip clubs, are obsessed with their cars, have an assorted group of friends that help them fight evil, and are unique in their supernatural fighting abilities. At the same time, there were enough differences for me to enjoy the story, but the similarities were just enough that I always felt like it was a story that had been done before.
One of the things that I did like was that Deacon wasn’t a total asshat. I have read a few UF stories with a male protagonist written by a male author in which the hero came off as a douche. I was glad to see that Deacon’s character didn’t adopt that style. He was morally sound, devoted to his beloved wife, and dedicated to take out evil, regardless of the cost to himself. He cared for his group of friends, protected them in all possible ways, and was an all around likeable guy. I wanted to cheer for him and see him triumph in the end.
I think that fans of the urban fantasy genre who are always looking for stories with male leads will enjoy this. Although for me it moved at a slower pace than I would have liked, the plot and characters did eventually pull me in and keep me engaged. I am looking forward to future books in the series, especially if we get to see more of Deacon and his budding relationship.
All in all I had some mixed feelings about this one. On one hand, I really enjoyed the overall story, but as I said before, it didn’t feel like it was a brand new story and that dragged it down for me a bit. I do hope that Tuck can continue to develop the series and characters and create a unique aspect to the series.
I give Blood and Bullets a C-
Thanks to Kensington, I have a finished copy of Blood and Bullets to giveaway. Please leave a comment to be entered to win. Giveaway ends February 13th and open internationally. Good luck!
Ive read a few mixed reviews on this one but something about everyone of them appeals to me, I think the bit about the guy not being an asshat, and I’d love to check it out.
Thanks for the review.
Would love to read this!
I really looking forward to trying this one out. Sounds like it going to be good.
Darn. I was looking forward to this one, but I swore to myself that I wouldn’t read another UF where to protag works at nightclub or strip joint. It’s a cliche I just cannot handle anymore.
From what I’ve heard of this book, I’m looking forward to reading it.
Sounds very interesting and good. Please enter me in contest. Tore923@aol.com
Thanks for the great post and giveaway! I’ve been reading such great buzz about this book! I’ve been looking for a good urban/paranormal fantasy that wasn’t so heavy on the romance/angst. This sounds exactly what I was looking for 🙂
Mixed reviews or not, it’s refreshing to see a book written by a man with a male lead. Would love to win it.
MJB
msmjb65 AT gmail DOT com
Woozier, a story finally about a Hunter. It has been awhile since I read a book about a Hunter. Would love reading this book.
Thanks for your honest review. The book sounds interesting.
Hear a lot about this book. I’d like to read it myself. Thanks for the giveaway!
This is the first I have heard of BLOOD AND BULLETS. It looks interesting.
marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com
I was hoping the book would be as great as the cover, still, you said you enjoyed it, so I’d like to give it a try.
acm05atjuno.com
This book just caught my eye the other day and I added it to my TBR list! It sounds so good! Thanks so much for the giveaway:)
Gotta say that just the fact that it’s a male protag has me wanting to read this, but I have to ask, is this written in 1st POV?
Sounds good, I’ve heard good things about it.
-Yodamom
thanks for your great review – I would love to read the book
@Sara: If it makes you feel any better, there is not a lot of screen time spent at the actual strip club. But yeah, I feel ya. 🙂
@CK: Yes, it is told in the 1st person POV. You can read a small excerpt at B&N at the bottom of the page here: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/blood-and-bullets-james-r-tuck/1102036641
I’m very interested in reading this. Sometimes it’s really great to have a male lead instead of a female in one of these stories.
@MinnChica: Le sigh. Did I miss the decree from the heavens that stated all UF must be written in 1stPOV or they will be voted off the island?
@CK: You didn’t get the memo?? I thought everybody did…. *wink*
Pingback: Review: Blood and Bullets by James R. Tuck | Smexy Books
Thanks for the giveaway!
I’ve really been wanting to read this. I love the cover– and he’s a funny, snarky guy:)
Pick me
I am so impressed with this Author, got to love his guts and how he peservered and finally got published. Would love to win his books!
The reviewer made some good points (and, I always enjoy reading a review offering insights as opposed to simply trying to “sell” the book).
Although the rating was a C-, I am still looking forward to reading this as I am always on the lookout for authors new to me.
Thanks,
Sara