Brian Lindenmuth reviews: Half the Blood of Brooklyn by Charlie Huston
War is on the way and every Vampyre in Manhattan cab feel it coming. The balance of power has shifted and the conflicting agendas of Vampyre Clans have destabilized relations. Joe has a new assignment: Go to Brooklyn to investigate the violent demise of a blood dealer. It puts him face to face with the strangest Vampyres he's ever met – from a tasteless crew who flaunts their talents as circus freaks to a family who prays together as often as they slay together.
Each of the Joe Pitt Casebooks tends to shed some light on some of the different clans, in No Dominion Pitt ventured into the territory of The Hood. The death of a blood dealer in the beginning of Half the Blood of Brooklyn acts as the catalyst for Pitt to venture out into the territory of some new clans to the series. Minor, lesser clans that hold less turf then the major clans do.
The general atmosphere of the book is that of impending doom. A major war is drawing closer and sides are being chosen. No clan, regardless of size or prior allegiance, will be able to stay out of it.
As the middle book of a five book series there is some set-up happening in order to make way for the final books. I really liked the end of this book and the blind-sided feeling that it produces.
By the end of Half the Blood of Brooklyn decisions that have been put off will have been made; changes in the Vampyre clan structure will have taken place and everything will be shaken up. Pitt hasn't so much burned all of his bridges as he has completely blown them up and ends the book, literally, with a declaration of war.