Cherie Priest - Hellbent

Witty, fast-paced, and fabulous, Bloodshot is a refreshing addition to the urban fantasy genre. Priests darkly hilarious tale will leave readers anxious for more adventures with the charmingly neurotic Raylene and her unlikely entourage. A vastly entertaining read!

J EANIENE F ROST , New York Times bestselling author of This Side of the Grave

With Bloodshot, Priest catapults the kick-ass urban fantasy heroine into the realm of the truly bad-ass. Raylenes fascinating mix of the old ultra-violence with snark and self-deprecation had me riveted. The combination of such an interesting character with a plot that continually out-thunk me makes Bloodshot one of my favorite reads this year.

N ICOLE P EELER , author of Tempests Legacy

Cherie Priests urban fantasy debut is a fun, fast-paced adventure with a dash of romance and a heaping scoop of conspiracy. Im looking forward to more, especially if Sister Rose is onstage.

L UCY A. S NYDER , author of Shotgun Sorceress

Bloodshot is, hands down, my favorite urban fantasy book of 2010. By turns frightening, funny, and fabulous, it was a joy to read and damn near impossible to put down. Its a ton of fun, brim-full of Cheries wonderful, quirky voice and deliciously twisted imagination. More, please!

K AT R ICHARDSON , author of Labyrinth

Cherie Priest delivers a fantastic urban fantasy that takes us back to the genres noir roots and proves theres still new blood to be found in old tropes. The engrossing, complex mystery and smart, refreshing heroine makes this one a must-read for genre fans!

K ELLY M EDING , author of Another Kind of Dead

Cherie Priests Bloodshot is fun from start to finish. A new, unique take on vampires coupled with Priests excellent writing makes for something very special. True quality always shows, and Bloodshot definitely shows it. I loved it!

S TACIA K ANE , author of Unholy Ghosts

Wickedly sharp plotting and unforgettable characters make this a standout book. Priests novels are a must-read if you like your vampires with fangs.

C AITLIN K ITTREDGE , author of Bone Gods

A 100-year-old vampire thief runs afoul of secret biological experimentersfirst of an urban fantasy series from the versatile author of Boneshaker. Brutally unsentimental narrator Raylene makes a quirky and charming if bloodthirsty host. A refreshing and addictive lure for readers uninterested in fangs, bats, capes and hissing.

Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Steampunk and gothic author Priest dives into urban fantasy with this entertaining conspiracy thriller. Raylenes breezy, first-person voice and quirky views on life add plenty of bite to the story.

Publishers Weekly

Priest writes a fast-paced mix of caper novel and thriller that features realistically flawed characters. Plenty of action and a fairly high body count (mostly bad guys) make this a good suggestion for fans of Christopher Farnsworths Blood Oath and other crime readers who dont mind a few vampires.

Booklist

Priest at her strongest, combining action with a few laughs and a razor-sharp wit I heartily enjoyed this one. Cherie Priest is one of the freshest and most original voices on the shelves today. Bloodshot, which begins a new series, is the perfect introduction to this smart and sassy writer. Ill be eagerly waiting for the next Raylene story.

Owlcat Mountain Reviews

Priest puts enough of a twist on this vampire book to make it a worthwhile read. Perfect for: Fans of vampire books and those who like strong, snarky heroines.

TriCities

A great, fun read with a very different take on vampires than most books offer.

Suicide Girls

Even if youve been experiencing some vampire fatigue lately, Cherie Priests smart-mouth, sticky-fingered protagonist is still worth spending 350 pages with. Instead of trying to reinvent the vampire genre, Priest just gives it new life and potency. This book only needs one thing to be fantastic, and thats Raylenes voice. Theres an entertainingly aggressive wackiness about her. Shes witty and sharp and excellently lecherous.

io9

Hellbent is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

A Spectra Trade Paperback Original

Copyright 2011 by Cherie Priest

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Spectra, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

S PECTRA and the portrayal of a boxed s are trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Priest, Cherie.
Hellbent / Cherie Priest.
p. cm. (Cheshire Red reports ; bk. 2)
eISBN: 978-0-345-52063-0
1. ThievesFiction. 2. VampiresFiction. 3. Seattle (Wash.)Fiction.
I. Title.
PS3616.R537H45 2011
813.6dc22
2011019398

www.ballantinebooks.com

Cover design: Jae Song
Cover illustration: based on Shutterstock images by argo 74 (woman), Velychko (cobbled street), Jason
Stitt (hand and gun), Ermes (faade)

v3.1

I t sounded like a good idea at the time, which is probably going to be on my tombstonealong with a catty footnote about poor impulse control. But when Horace Bishop called me, practically breathless with delight and greed, telling me he was in Portland so we should get together and have a drink or something, I said okay, even though I probably shouldve said Id sooner wear plaid.

I dont wear plaid. Ever.

I dont wear orange, eithernot that theres anything inherently wrong with it. Really, its more of a coloring thing. Im a solid winterblue-black hair and so fair Im practically translucent; it comes with being undead. Orange always makes me look like Im having liver problems, so I skip itjust like deep down I suspected I ought to skip that date with Horace, but what was I going to do? He already knew where I lived (roughly), and he already knew my price scale (more or less), and he was practically my agent. Or my pimp.

Anyway, Horace was vibratingtalking so fast I could hardly understand him. And what was he doing on the West Coast? He promised to tell me in person, and since he was flying back to New York from the Seattle-Tacoma airport, it wasnt terribly far out of his way to bounce into town for a conspiratorial adult beverage.

I waited for him at a bar on Capitol Hill. I dont live in that neighborhood anymore, but thats the point. He knows I live in Seattle, but the less specific his knowledge is, the happier I am. The truth is, I kind of trust him. I mean, if I were wounded and bloody and practically dying in New York City and I had no place else to go, I could probably fling myself onto his couch and generally assume that he wouldnt stake me in my sleep. After all, Ive earned him a metric assload of money over the years. And money has to mean something, doesnt it?

Yes, I totally laughed a little, just now.

I know good and well he might sell me out for the next best offer that presented itself, but Id like to think hed hesitate. Just for a second or two, if for no other reason than the fact that Im very, very good at my joband that Im excessively vindictive. Even if he could reliably replace me, he couldnt assume I wouldnt track him down later and peel his toenails off.