Review: Nice Story With a Few Inconsistencies & a Saccharine End
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 12 9, 2012
When I read "The Vampire With the Dragon Tattoo (Spinoza Series #1)".  I enjoyed it.  We had a tragic hero who couldn't get over the fact that he killed his son.  In "The Vampire Who Played Dead (Spinoza Series #2)", we saw Spinoza having a relationship with Roxi, he still had a lot of angst, but he had his work and he had a small group of people whom he cared for.  He was rejoining the human race.For me this series was about character development. (Not to mention the vampire thrills) However, I feel the ending of this book was a cheat.  I realize even with the new knowledge Spinoza would not be the winner for the most psychologically healthy human, however, by using her skill, I felt it kept Spinoza from growing.  In other words it was the difference between being handed a car on your 16th birthday or working hard to purchase your own car.  You still have the car, but the emotions are different.As for parts of the story: If Nastassa was so powerful, why would they bring her out every night?  What did they gain by having her on "stage"? I felt the "bond" between Veronica and Spinoza was a plot necessity without there being any set up for it.  Why would they have bonded.  He hadn't seen her for two years and just once after she became a vampire.I also began to feel as if there were inconsistencies between the short stories.  In "Tatoo", he turned to dust, in "Played Dead" she steamed, in "Iron Mask" they "whisped away" and that was just in the way they died.  In "Tatoo", Veronica changed because of a bite, why didn't Mrs. Perkins change in "Played Dead"?  I feel if you are going to create a universe please have be consistent in the laws of the universe.SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERSI think it comes down to choice and destiny.  even if Spinoza's son was destined to die.  It was still Spinoza's drinking and driving that killed him.  Spinoza chose to drink and drive.  Destiny didn't make him.  I have no problem with his son loving him still and forgiving Spinoza.  But that should have been just another rung in Spinoza's character recovery, it shouldn't have shot him up the whole ladder.CONCLUSION CONCLUSION CONCLUSION CONCLUSION CONCLUSION CONCLUSION CONCLUSION CONCLUSIONIf you don't mind little inconsistencies and a decent story I say buy this.  I enjoyed most of it and it seems a lot of people disagree with my take on the ending and enjoyed it.However, if you little inconsistencies bother you and new out of the blue abilities do bother you.  Skip it.Personally, I'm going to go back to the Samantha Moon Series, I stopped reading them because of the cliffhangers, but now I have the boxed set and the latest so I'll see if they are as good as I remember.