I'm still confused after reading this one. There are too many characters to keep track off. You are given hints about important things that define what is happening and what Genny is doing, but never enough to remove the confusion. By the time things are revealed I've forgotten why they're important. I think there's a good world, a good character and a good story in here somewhere but there's so much happening and so little explained that I'm pretty much lost the entire time. Even with the story wrapped up I'm still not sure about half of what happened. All this confusion prevented me from forming a relationship with any of the characters or any sense of excitement because I kept getting distracted by my confusion.

For the record I am not a reader who gets confused easily. Really the opposite - usually I string even the most confusing story around and I'm a long time UF reader so this type of book is nothing new for me. It's just too much at one time for me. ( )

A pretty interesting start. ( )

The Sweet Scent Of Blood is the first in the Spellcrackers.com series and British author Suzanne McLeod's debut book. The story is jam packed with action, the plot is intricate and the world building complex; which keeps you guessing to the end.

The Sweet Scent Of Blood hooks you from the beginning and takes you on a wild ride through a modern London where supernaturals exist side by side with the mundane. Suzanne McLeod has written vampires the way they should be written, as well as a array of witches, trolls and other supernaturals.

As a long time book addict, it's not often I come across a book that that I absolutely adore; that leaves me excited for the next instalment without having a giant cliffhanger killing me with frustration. But what I loved most was reading an urban fantasy that takes place in familiar settings. To see these places the author describes, in a new light.

If you like Dark urban Fantasy which don't need explicit scenes or cliffhangers to keep you wanting more, you'll love this book. ( )

This is a book that manages to hit all the tropes in the urban fantasy genre. We have a plucky heroine with a secret past that must remain hidden at all the times. There are handsome vampires that are dangerous. And, a magical mystery that must be solved.

Its fairly typical, hitting pretty much every stereotype out there, but it does manage to breath life into a genre that is overrun with the same plot and the same characters.

First - the world. Its quite amazing. The author manages to create something that integrates the magic with modern. The magic helped created the modern world, for example, cell phones. This world has cell phones that function as a cell phone should - but there is a magical component that makes it work. Its one of the best examples of this I've read in the urban fantasy genre.

But- it does have problems. Genny, as a character is a bit less cardboard than normal, but still suffers from girl set apart from the world trope. She has deep dark secrets that if it got out, would set half the world looking for her. Than there are the vampires. There are depicted as being beautiful, smart, hip (thanks to an image campaign) and scary. This book follows that trope, but actually makes vampires seem scary. Genny spends most of her time worrying about them, but of course, there is one good one, and while love doesn't happen, its hinted at.

The book also suffers from too many characters - I had problems keeping them all straight. Genny also spent too much time worrying about bloodsucking fiends - and the action was often confusing to follow. As the first book published by the author, there's enough good stuff in this book that I suspect the next book will have improved greatly.

Overall, its a fun read. It will never be great litrature, but a fun diversion for a slow weekend. ( )

Twenty pages into this book I decided that, starred reviews notwithstanding, paranormal urban fantasy is not for me. Did not finish.