More drama returns to Chicago – this time in the shape of
riots. Riots with firebombs targets that are close to the vampires – including their
blood supply and Grey House. Naturally this threat has to be investigated and
countered – as much as they can counter the growing anti-vampire attitude.
But the rioters don’t behave as would be expected – there’s
definitely something behind them and perhaps one of their many enemies is
pulling strings and hiding a more nefarious agenda
And the GP is suffering from its own conflict – Darius has
had a blow to his authority and his chief rival has his gaze fixed on Cadogan
House.
Whenever you have any kind of “whodunnit” or “whydunnit”
mystery, you have a problem. There’s a problem between keeping the story going
but at the same time not tipping your hand early. It’s simply hard to keep the
pacing going while maintaining the mystery – it’s very easy for a book to
become boring while everyone sits around frustrated, with no leads. At the same
time, too many side plots can derail the plot and make the mystery seem almost
background.
Biting Bad does a good job of maintaining that pacing. We
have side plots – related to Grey House and the ill vampire which nicely tie
into the overall mystery. And there are other side-plots –Mallory, Merit’s
parents, the GP – that fit the idea that your whole world doesn’t stop to allow
you to focus on one issue. That said, I think both the parents and the GP were
rather unnecessary in this book and added nothing to the overall plot and, as
explained below, didn’t make a whole lot of sense.
I can see some excellent hooks in this book – I see
Mallory joining the house, perhaps Catcher as well and House Cadogan in general
building a supernatural coalition its own way. I can see shades of them setting
up their own organisation, especially considering the actions of House Grey and
the GP. I like these hints of future action that don’t have to be spelled out,
merely implied and suggested for future plot hooks. That said, I found the ending frustrating in
that the consequences of it were not shown.
In terms of Merit I think we have some improvements on some
levels – her considerations about her relationships with both Ethan and Mallory
(and even with other vampires within the House, like Helen) point towards some
very belated character growth. Even her interactions with her family suggest
we’re edging up to something resembling growth which is long overdue. She has
some good ideas – both in the investigation and also with using the press to
try and counter their negative image. The ideas are good but not genius – but
at the same time no-one hailed her as the world’s most awesome tactical genius
for her basic ideas as has happened in previous books. She has competent ideas,
she was expected to provide competent ideas and her competent ideas were
praised for their competence. It was nice to see.
The flip side is that Merit’s previous strength – her
combat skills – were sorely lacking this book. Now, far be it from me to hold
up skill with weapons as proof of a strong female character, but one of the
main reasons Merit is Sentinel at all is because she is physically dangerous.
It’s why she can spar competently with a man several centuries her senior. This
is the reason for her rank – beyond her competent ideas and beyond the fact
Ethan has the hots for her; she is sentinel because she is physically capable
and because she doesn’t bow to Ethan. We saw neither of these things in this
book. I can understand her losing to the GP – given his age and power – but
being taken down by a human wielding a kitchen knife? Merit is better than
that. I could take one comic disaster to have everyone laughing – but where was
the counter moment? Where was the moment where Merit kicked arse and showed her
strength?
But the main problem I have with this book is how some of
the characters are developed and how that fits into the world – I either have
trouble accepting them as they are or believing their actions. Some of these
decisions could be explained if you extrapolate a whole lot of back story – but
that’s not shown in the book and I’m engaging in mental gymnastics to justify the
characters.
Primarily, I just do not get Ethan – or rather I don’t
believe Ethan. He’s supposed to be 400 years old but he really doesn’t act like
it. He acts young, he acts very insecure for his age and, in many cases, Merit
feels more mature than he is. I’m particularly bemused by his somewhat
deferential attitude towards Merit’s father rather than just turning round and
pointing out who is the elder, the more experienced, etc. Why does Ethan
constantly feel so… helpless, so out of his depth?
Which fits neatly with my not understanding Cadogan House. Ethan is 400 years old and the House predates him. Ethan has wealth enough to change cars – expensive Bentleys and Austin Martins – on a whim. Yet Merit’s father tries to invest in the house for a controlling interest? Just how much money does Merit’s dad have? And why isn’t Ethan turning round and laughing at the idea that he needs input from someone 350 years his junior? Why isn’t he pointing out that Cadogan House, made up of several vampires who have been making money for decades (if not centuries) and its stock of discarded luxury cars is quite capable of buying and selling Merit’s dad 8 or 9 times over. And if this isn’t true then WHY does Ethan spend money so casually – and WHY isn’t it true?
I need some explanation as to why Merit’s father’s
suggestion isn’t just laughable?
On the subject of motivations that baffle me – just what
is the GP, supreme head of all vampires – actually trying to achieve? They are,
after all, centuries old so I assume there’s a motivation behind their actions
beyond “let’s screw things up for shits and giggles.” Their actions against
Cadogan house from the very beginning have always been poorly explained – quite
literally acting against the best wishes of vampires in general, not just the
house. But this book – trying to force House Grey out on the street? A random
GP member flying in from England with virtually no back up to attack a house
full of rogues that most outnumber him several times over? Why do this? Why do
any of this? It just doesn’t make sense without a boatload of explanation we
don’t get.
And the mayor of Chicago, no matter what her prejudices are, is making excuses for people firebombing buildings? And how did the person behind all this even manage to organise such careful, precise rioting? It just doesn’t follow – is it even possible? Can you whip up a frenzied mob and then unleash them with military precision, make them target only what you want them to target, in exactly the way you want them to do so then stand down afterwards - AND ensure that all those swept up in the arrests afterwards keep shtum afterwards? Because that’s not how mobs work. The problem with this is it also rather ruins the mystery for me – the whole idea that the mystery is solvable falls flat when it relies on rather dubious action.
There are other issues I have with the book – there’s
that perennial irritation “don’t you just wish we were human and could avoid
all the drama!” which rather avoids the fact that, were Ethan human, he would
be dead 350 years ago. It’s a pet hate of mine to have supernaturals that have
a shed load of benefits to then bemoan their super powers. I can understand her
being irritated by the drama they have to put up with – but trying to force a
theme of Merit being tempted by a return to humanity.
There continues to be a general lack of marginalised
characters in the book. We have a couple of POC, but they’re more mentioned
than present and certainly not any kind of major character, by any stretch.
This is exacerbated by the series continual appropriation of marginalised
issues and “fantastic racism”.
One improvement we do have, though, is that there are a
few more women hanging around Merit. Her fellow female guards are popping up
more often, Mallory is on the redemption train and it’s clear that Merit has –
or could easily have – a good relationship with her mother, sister and
sister-in-law. I hope that these connections are developed more and become more
prominent – the genre has too many female protagonists with few, if any, good
female friends or social network.
The time line doesn’t work for me though – this entire
series has apparently took place over a year. A year? That doesn’t really fit –
it can’t all be crammed into a year. But one thing that does work from this –
and help lessen the whole appropriation elements – is that Merit acknowledges
that in that year humans have had to put up with an awful lot of supernatural
weirdness and worry. Humanity has a reason to be wary of the supernatural in
their midst.
In all this book has ups and downs, much like the series.
I find myself liking the world, the stories and the characters and then having
these flaws among all three that just don’t work for me. Everything is good –
spotted with these big holes: plot holes, character holes, motivation holes
that ruin the overall fabric of the story. They stop what could be a perfectly
good (albeit not awesome) series from truly reaching its potential because
every time I get into the story I fall down another hole.
