Skinwalker
31. Faith Hunter, Skinwalker
Jane Yellowrock is a bike-riding badass who makes a living by hunting and killing rogue vampires. Now she faces her most challenging assignment yet: she’s been hired to take down a rogue vamp who’s been terrorizing New Orleans, murdering vamps and humans alike. To complicate matters, she’s been hired by another vampire, which creates a complex interdependence between her and the local vamp community. Jane will need to use all her skills to complete her mission, including the one skill nobody knows about: she is a skinwalker, a shapeshifter capable of transforming into almost any creature by virtue of her Cherokee blood. As Jane tracks the rogue vamp all over New Orleans, she also delves into the secrets of her own past.
I won this book in a read-a-thon contest, and it’s definitely not the sort of book I’d have picked up on my own. Therefore, I had low expectations when I started this book, and unfortunately the novel gave me no reason to change my mind. There were a couple things that I liked, most notably the New Orleans setting. I’ve never been there, but I think Hunter depicts the city very well. The descriptions of smells in particular are very evocative - which is appropriate, since Jane often experiences the city as her animal alter-ego. I also enjoyed the scene where Jane goes to church; that’s not something I often see in mainstream fiction, but it’s a relatable, humanizing detail for me.
What I didn’t like is a much longer list, and Jane herself is at the top of it. Her penchant for being The Best At Everything gets old quickly; she can kick anyone’s ass, she always has a sarcastic one-liner at the ready, she has every male character in the book chasing her, she has magical powers, etc. etc. I also really did not like the scenes told from her alter-ego’s point of view. Writing from an animal’s perspective in the first person is a difficult feat, and leaving out articles and the verb “to be” just doesn’t cut it. Finally, the descriptions of Jane’s weaponry are incredibly unrealistic. At one point she hides a stake, a cross, and a gun in her hair; at another she carries something like thirteen crosses and thirteen stakes on her person. I’m sorry, but I just don’t buy it; for one thing, she’d jingle every time she moved! Ultimately, I’m just not interested enough to continue with the series, and I’ve read much better books in the urban fantasy genre.