RED CAN’T REMEMBER HER PAST. BUT HER ENEMIES REMEMBER HER… AND WANT REVENGE. In the dark underworld, she is known as Red, a witch trained as a supernatural bounty hunter, where she came from is a mystery. When a murdered model washes up on a beach, Red knows the bite marks on the victim can mean only one thing. Teaming up with Lucas, a punk rock vampire with a soul, Red goes to Los Angeles to … soul, Red goes to Los Angeles to investigate.
Instead of angels in the shadow of the Hollywood Sign, she only finds more bodies. And a city run by a vampire queen in Lululemon teetering on the brink of supernatural civil war.
Red needs to keep her wits sharp. And her stake sharper. Or she’ll die before she even learns her real name…
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The reviews are in!
“Buffy Summers meets Nancy Drew in an LA murder mystery.”
“It was gritty, thoughtful, it had original characters and Lordy, I loved the action! Red can be by backup anytime, and bring friends, too.”
“This is an incredible book, I honestly read it in one go!”
“A strong beginning which draws you straight into Red’s world, with intriguing and smoldering characters. Leaves you wanting more.”
A Witch Called Red is the first book of the Red Witch Chronicles, a gritty urban fantasy series containing magic, complicated characters, paranormal adventure, and vampire mayhem along with swearing, violence, and sexual situations. If you liked the snark of the Hollows series, the thrilling action of the Mercy Thompson series, and the dark fantasy world-building of the Kate Daniels series, then this is for you!
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She does not know who she is but her enemies do. Life is not easy for her and she has been trained to be a bounty hunter of supernatural beings. She will investigate a murder of a vampire. Will she learn her true name? Will.She did before she learns it? What will the story take you? See where it will go
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
A witch with superpowers, if only she could use them. A deadly enemy of vampires, well most of them, but with a memory that only starts a year ago, so Red doesn’t know who she is, what she’s capable of, or how to do it. On top of all those problems, she gets in the middle of an immense power struggle between two warring vampire factions. A complicated story with many twists, and a hint of Red’s powers about to go nuclear, but not in book 1.
AMAZING, I was given a free review copy for leaving an honest review. I was hooked from beginning to end.
This book started off very slow. Then shortly after Red reaches L.A. and meets a couple vampires, the mystery of Red’s unoriginal face and her predecessor’s history with the two kept me intrigued and ready for more. Valentine’s urban fantasy world does a great job of adding supernatural elements to the present day without making the human parts feel fake. The sequel has been added to my TBR pile.
A woman does not have any memory of her past when she wakes in a hospital. A hunter is there when she awakes. She decides to stay with the hunter and becomes his apprentice. He calls her Red because of her red hair. When they go to LA to help a friend of Vic’s things really get interesting. This a mystery of sorts and you won’t get the ID of the person behind the murders until the end. This book has been an interesting read. I recommend this book and can’t wait to start the next in the series. I was given a free copy of this book at my request and this is my honest review.
Great read. I was hooked on the story from the start and finished the book quickly. This book glhas everything in it and I look forward to the rest of the series.
Valentine has set up an interesting backdrop to this novel that was probably inspired by the vampire character, Angel, in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. When Angel killed a gypsy, her father cursed him by restoring his soul so that he could feel the guilt of decades of his horrific actions. In A Witch Called Red, the man who restored the vampires’ souls publicized how to do it so that now, a significant percentage of vampires are “handicapped” with genuine human emotions. It’s a fascinating, and as far as I know unique, setting.
The witch of the title is an amnesiac who is found by a vampire hunter after apparently surviving a vampire attack. Discovering her past is a significant motivating factor for Red that is made more complicated by her strong resemblance to a woman many of the vampires in the story knew a century earlier. We don’t get total satisfaction here as the mystery of Red’s past is something clearly intended to be further explored in the next novel but many of these tantalizing clues captured my interest and made me eager to learn more.
The actual plot of this book is a murder mystery that quickly becomes enmeshed in complex vampire politics. I love well done politics and vampires with their centuries-long grudges really enrich a good political mystery. Valentine takes full advantage of these possibilities and it’s a major strength of the novel.
So this is a strong book with lots of actions and a good mystery forming its core, but I do have two complaints to register. First, the novel is at least twenty percent too long mostly because of endlessly chatty dialogue that didn’t do much to advance the plot. Second, there is a really unfortunate break with basic physics toward the end of the book—melting a bullet in flight doesn’t cause the molten metal to lose its forward momentum and drop straight to the ground. Other than these two things, A Witch Called Red, is a great opening to a new series and promises more excitement to come.
I received this book free from Voracious Readers Only in exchange for an honest review.
If you like the Anita Blake series, you’ll like this. Definitely a mystery that’s hard to solve with plenty of action and intrigue. Fun characters that you get to know more every chapter. I didn’t want to put it down. Can’t wait to continue this adventure.
A great book from Sami!
Great read for all the Buffy enthusiasts out there 😉
An action-packed story perfect for those who love badass heroines and supernatural creatures.
Typically I have issues when the main character has memory loss and doesn’t remember hardly anything. I usually feel lost and it takes away from the story. This was NOT the case with this one. Yes, Red doesn’t remember who (or what) she is or basically anything about herself or her past. I didn’t feel lost because she didn’t let it stop her. She still lived her life in the present. Then as she did discover bits and pieces it was a journey I took with her. Vic was a perfect partner/mentor for her. Loved his nerdiness. Secondary characters were fantastic. Plenty of action and story was fast paced. Loved it! Fantastic debut nove
If you’re feeling nostalgic for the vampires of the 80s and 90s, you’ll love this book. These aren’t the new sparkly, heart-of-gold vampires who would do anything for love. Instead, this book is about manipulative, brutal killers who can hold a grudge for centuries. It’s a throwback to Buffy the Vampire Slayer in all the best ways.
Red doesn’t know who she is. When people start to recognize her face, you think you’re going to learn about her past. But instead, she gets thrown into a centuries-old controversy because she looks just like a long-dead witch with a big reputation. She’s trained to hunt vampires but now she gets thrown in over her head when a dead model is just the beginning of a much bigger case.
The book moves along quickly without a lot of unnecessary description. I was a little surprised at first when it skimmed over the typical investigation of the crime scenes, but it turned out that these weren’t important. Instead, most of the action focuses on people trying to prevent Red and her mentor from investigating their case. And while Red’s mysterious background seemed like a distraction at first, it turned out to tie into the main plot by the end.
There’s a bit of a love triangle but the romance isn’t the focus. Red cares less about the two vampires who are vying for her attention and more about manipulating both of them for information. She’s not an inexperienced young girl, she knows it’s dangerous to get too close to a vampire and tries to protect herself.
The only time that I felt things dragged on was when the witty banter sometimes went long. I expected some banter in the noir-style PI story, but the characters tend to go back and forth a few too many times before they actually get anywhere with their conversation. And literally everyone has a witty comeback all the time. It would have been refreshing to see someone speak straight once in a while or fumble on their retorts, at least from the humans.
But overall it was an entertaining story and I will be reading the next book in the series to find out what happens next. The good news is that book #2 just came out. I recommend it to fans of Buffy, Anne Rice, Anita Blake, and The Lost Boys.
Good story about someone who doesn’t know where she comes from, but has enemies from her past to deal with. Add in the supernatural element and it is a fun read.
This was such a great book with wonderful characters and an engaging plot. I loved how the story played out and I could not put it down. I really enjoyed the book and I would recommend it to others.
I received an ARC and am voluntarily leaving a review
A Witch Called Red (Red Witch Chronicles #1), my second read from author Sami Valentine. A continuation of the tale began in Down & Out Witch (Red Witch Chronicles #0). A well-written work. I look forward to the next book in this series. (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 – July 24, 2018).
A Witch Called Red is a fantastic character. She’s searching for her past while fighting evil vampires and trying to learn how to use her magic. Red and Vic went to LA to help Vic’s old mentor, a souled vampire private detective, with a case. The case turns out to be much more complicated than anticipated and mired in vampire politics. Both the characters and the storyline are complex and interesting and the book sets up a new series well. I received an advance copy of this book and voluntarily left a review.
A Witch Called Red is Book 1 in the Red Witch Chronicles by Sami Valentine. This is a superbly written story in a compelling and complex world with well developed and interesting characters. Red is a witch who wakes in the hospital with vampire bites and no memory. Vic, her savior and a supernatural bounty hunter, agrees to train Red. Red and Vic are on there way to LA to help Quinn, Vic’s friend who has requested help. This is a fast paced, action packed, page turning thrill ride with twists/turns, suspense, mystery, danger. Am anxiously waiting for the next in series to see what Sami has in store for Red, Vic an Quinn. Highly recommended. Received a free copy from StoryOrigin and this is my voluntary review.
3.5 stars
I really enjoy a supernatural mystery so I was excited about this book. I felt there were some things done well and with intent. For example, the story is told from Red’s perspective and Red has lost her memory. She has some cursory knowledge but doesn’t remember a lot. So the novel feels a little chaotic at times but I think Red’s life would feel like that. She would constantly be trying to catch up and feel a little off kilter.
An example of something I didn’t like is that we stayed in the dark about some things. If I was Red and had these gaps I would be pushing Vic for more info. How are different groups divided? Who is in them? Who knows about the different groups? At the beginning I got the impression that vampires and other supernaturals were hidden and spent a great deal of the book trying to place this story in a whole society. I would have liked a bit more world building so I was certain where everyone fit in this society.
I have recently learned there is a prequel and so I might read that and gain a better understanding of the world and the players in it.
I think I will read the next book to see how the story continues. If you decide to read it I hope you enjoy the story more than I did. Happy reading.
Fyi, I received this book from StoryOrigin.
This book started with excitement from the beginning to the end. Red, a witch, wasn’t sure of who she was but she sure did know what to do with a vampire or rather to a vampire. Her partner Vic is a hunter who found her beaten and bitten with vampire bites all over her with amnesia . As they work for the Alliance together they slowly try to figure just who she really is
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.