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Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN num: 9780765354006
ISBN number: 0765354004
Label: Tor Paranormal Romance
Manufacturer: Tor Paranormal Romance
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 336
Printing Date: 2006-03
Publishing house: Tor Paranormal Romance
Release Date: March 07, 2006
Sale Popularity Level: 65699
Studio: Tor Paranormal Romance
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Product Description:
Kate Reilly has a hard time trusting people.
Six years ago, the love of her life turned her over to the vampire parasites who call themselves the Thrall. Katie survives the powerful bite of the master parasite only to discover that the Thrall’s venom, coupled with her own natural psychic ability, has transformed her. Now she is subsequent in line to be the Thrall Queen--and each day might be her last as a human.
Tom, a handsome firefighter, arouses all of Katie’s dormant senses, but her heart shies away. After Dylan’s betrayal, how can she trust any man—even a seemingly perfect and terribly sexy werewolf?
Tom’s sincerity--and sex appeal--begins to wear down Katie’s defenses. But his increasingly insistent charm hides a potentially deadly secret: his werewolf pack is hiding the one person who can stop the Thrall from completing Katie's transformation into Queen--and they won't give her up.
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Rated by buyers 
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_Touch of Evil_ is a mixed bag. There were aspects of it that I liked a great deal, and aspects that didn't work for me.
First, the good: Adams and Clamp's vampires and werewolves are different from the usual fare. The vampires in _Touch of Evil_ are victims of a parasite and ruled by a hive mind; the werewolves are matriarchal and not tied to the lunar cycle.
Kate's "Not Prey" status, which is a sort of vampire diplomatic immunity, may be the most interesting plot device in _Touch of Evil_. Being Not Prey affords Kate certain privileges, but all of them are lost if she exhibits any "prey" behaviors. This means that she can't do what most of us would do in her shoes: run like hell. Watching Kate endeavor to evade her enemies without appearing to "run" is nail-biting stuff.
In addition, I have to applaud Adams and Clamp for the climactic scene of _Touch of Evil_. This physical and psychic battle for Kate's body and soul had me on the edge of my seat. It's followed by several very moving scenes.
_Touch of Evil_ is also a great example of how religion can be incorporated into a fantasy novel without being heavy-handed. Kate's Catholicism is a source of comfort to her and provides meaningful symbolism to some scenes, but neither the character nor the authors ever get preachy.
Now, for what didn't work:
First of all, there's characterization. Kate, at times, feels too close to the "tough loner mouthy heroine" who has become just as ubiquitous in urban fantasy as the "farm boy with a great destiny" is in high fantasy. Another characterization problem involves Amanda, a secondary antagonist. Her backstory is that she was once Kate's best friend, but she's such an over-the-top harpy that I have trouble believing they were ever friends at all.
(Several of my favorite scenes involve Kate's renovations on her loft building and her affection for two former pets. Part of this may be just that I'm a sucker for old buildings and cute fuzzy critters. But I think it's also because these are rare glimpses into a Kate who really is an interesting character underneath all the urban-fantasy stereotypes. I want to see more of that Kate.)
There are numerous editing issues: random superfluous words, wrong homonyms, the number of years since Kate's breakup suddenly changing from six to two. There's an awkward "dream sequence" toward the beginning of the novel that gives the reader Kate's whole life history in one big expository lump.
_Touch of Evil_ is interesting, but uneven. Kudos to C.T. Adams and Cathy Clamp for the incredible suspense of the climax, though.
Rated by buyers 
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Kate Reilly is a former pro volleyball player, a landlord, a bonded courier... and Not Prey. Which means pretty much what it says. The Thrall, commonly known as "vampires" because of their similarities to the fictional monsters (heh) are parasitic organisms that survive in human hosts and they view humans as hosts, herd (Renfields, more or less), Not Prey, and prey (anyone else--those they feed on). There are very few Not Prey. Kate earned that distinction by killing the former queen when her ex-fiance turned her over to the Thrall. She's been bitten, so she can feel the call of the Thrall.
Now the new queen, Monica, is dying (human hosts don't last long), and she's determined to have Kate as her successor.
Kate meets love interest, firefighter Tom Bishop, when he asks about renting an apartment in her building after his landlord illegally evicts him because he's a lycanthrope.
This is a page-turning, action-packed story with clever, thorough worldbuilding and some wonderful characters. The emotional aspect is understated, but all the more affecting because of that. For example, Tom's feelings when Kate accepts his lycanthropy without question aren't elaborated on, but they're obvious nonetheless.
And may I say kudos to C. T. and Cathy for giving us vampires who aren't fluffy bunnies. I'm looking forward to reading the subsequent book in this unusual world.
Rated by buyers 
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The market is glutted these days with paranormal romance/ urban fantasy novels with vampires and werewolves as characters.
C.T. Adams and Cathy Clamp put an interesting spin on the whole angsty/attractive/killer vampire more. Instead of being the undead, vampirism is caused by a parasite which is part of a hive ruled by a queen. It is transmitted via saliva. The problem is that the parasite uses up the host body that it uses to become the queen. The old queen wants the main character, Katie, to become the new queen.
The premise of the story is interesting. Werewolves are matriarchal (a departure from other paranormal romance/urban fantasy), vamps are parasites.
The main character, Katie, is dangerously near Mary Sue-ism, but is saved by the fact that she gets the crap kicked out of her throughout the entire book. The conclusion of the novel offers a possibility that the character is growing and maturing through her experiences. However, as another reviewer stated, I had difficulty actually liking or relating to any of the characters. They are all extreme examples of their character type.
However, I have hope that the second book in the series will rely less on stereotypes and more on actual characters as less exposition is neccesary to explain the world in which the story occurs.
Rated by buyers 
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I really wanted to like this book after reading the premise. Wow a new take on vampires! I like it! I bought this book and it's sequel at the same time just based on that alone. Too bad. It took over 100 pages before anything more than a splash of background took shape. I just couldn't quite like Kate,despite the dirt that had been done her. This only became worse as we met her love interest...they had zero chemistry. I found myself hoping that their early relationship troubles would end their ill conceived courtship especially when the self absorbed heroine discovers the difficulty this could and has caused him and also others like him. She even admits she's not in love with the guy at that point and still mucks up things (I mean really are there not any other men in the world for her to insult and mentally screw over).
I mean seriously! She admits that she is not a kung-fu master but takes on a task alone because she decides she is the all mighty protector even though a whole group of others have taken on the task before she even gets involved. Knowing she may be being followed all over the place she still tracks down a person who she knows she could endanger by her presence...see the problem with Kate!!! Not just stubborn as she likes to think she is but a self-important jerk of a woman. Sheesh!
The villains were interesting and I found myself sympathizing more with the maggot-y Thrall and their fight to survive than the heros (except Mary and her band...I liked them). From the distribution of the reviews I see that this is the type of book you either really like or hate. I am firmly on the disliking side of the scale.
I gave it more than one star because the premise is good and I did like the world she made. Just wished Kate wasn't in it.
Rated by buyers 
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First, I want to say I enjoyed the very first of the Sazi tales and thought I'd give this new series a shot. That being said ...
I cannot understand the glowing reviews on this page. First problem - the main character Kate. She is uninteresting. A stereotype of the "strong and independent" female heroine -- owns her own apartment building but won't charge the high rents the neighborhood commands because she just doesn't have the heart for it. She is also the resident 'handy-man' who does all the repair and maintenance work herself. The authors might as well have given her a job as a waitress as an international courier since her job is totally irrelevant to the story and we never see her at work. Perhaps the most significant fault of all were Kate's inner monologues. I do not need to read an entire page devoted to why she enjoyed the British comedy "Fawlty Towers" and ordered the collection of DVDs. This does not add depth to her character or give me an inside look at her personality. Instead, it was boring, useless information useful for nothing more than "filler" and reads like the authors went off on a tangent while writing this book and forgot to continue with the story.
My second problem: Tom, the werewolf fireman/calendar model and Kate's new tenant and love-interest of the book - although calling him a love interest implies there was sexual tension between the two of them -- there wasn't -- or that they fall in love. Naturally, he claims to by the book's end, but I wasn't buying it. Tom's entrance to Kate's life was not believable -- he was being forcibly evicted from his old apartment because the landlord was prejudiced against werewolves. Kate, Ms. Independent, decides to come to his rescue and gives the landlord a comeuppance in front of Tom and all his firemen buddies while loaning her truck to move his furniture to her building. This totally neutered Tom as far as I'm concerned, mainly because of the authors' description of Tom's reaction -- awed gratitude, and he then spends another few pages drooling over her at dinner and showering her with compliments. As far as Tom being a werewolf, this was never illustrated, only referred to as a given fact. His pack is matriarchal, so apparently he is culturally conditioned to taking orders from a female.
The plot, while innovative and original, was too complicated and frankly, I don't have the energy to waste trying to criticize it. However, if you'd like an incisive and well thought-out review of the DVD collection "Fawlty Towers" -- read this book.
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