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    Dying Bites
    Dying Bites
    Dying Bites
    Audiobook9 hours

    Dying Bites

    Written by D.D. Barant

    Narrated by Johanna Parker

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Her job description is the "tracking and apprehension of mentally-fractured killers." What this really means in FBI profiler Jace Valchek's brave new world-one in which only one percent of the population is human-is that a woman's work is never done. And real is getting stranger every day . . .Jace has been ripped from her reality by David Cassius, the vampire head of the NSA. He knows that she's the best there is in the business, and David needs her help in solving a series of gruesome murders of vampires and werewolves. David's world-one that also includes lycanthropes and golems-is one with little knowledge of mental illness. An insane serial killer is a threat the NSA has no experience with. But Jace does. Stranded in a reality where Bela Lugosi is a bigger box office draw than Bruce Willis and every full moon is Mardi Gras, Jace must now hunt down a fellow human before he brings the entire planet to the brink of madness. Or she may never see her own world again . . .
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateJun 29, 2012
    ISBN9781452678566
    Dying Bites

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    Reviews for Dying Bites

    3.5/5

    203 ratings25 reviews

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    • 4/5
      This is the second book I've read recently where the main character is an ordinary human in a supernatural world. The twist this time is that Jace is pulled from our non-magical world to an alternate reality, where vampires and werewolves are the majority and humans the minority. She's an expert profiler for the FBI, and her skills are badly needed in a world where they've never had to deal with serial killers before.Really liked Jace, and she handled being in a new world a lot better than I would have. Might have had something to do with her job and personality, but she coped pretty well. Enjoyed the secondary characters too, from the friendly Dr. Pete to her liaison Gretchen to the nerdy forensic scientist Eisfanger to her new partner Charlie. Of course, Dr. Pete and Dr.Eisfanger are werewolves, Gretchen is a vampire, and Charlie? Charlie is a golem, infused with the spirit of a tyrannosaurus rex. Hey, that's a great quality to have in a partner, and it doesn't hurt that Charlie has a wicked sense of humor to boot!Thought that this was a good start to a new series, and I'm looking forward to seeing how Jace adjusts to her new world. I also enjoyed the alternate reality bits and learning about how different this new world was from ours. People are people no matter what, even if they are vampires or werewolves. :)Gave this a 4/5 for it's good plot, interesting and likable characters, well paced action, and the central mystery of discovering the serial killer. Recommended to anyone who enjoys the urban fantasy world where supernaturals have regular jobs instead of being all mysterious and stereotypical.
    • 3/5
      An FBI profiler is pulled from our world into a world where vampires and werewolves are majority. They don't have human weaknesses (insanity). That is why they need Jace to help them catch the killer. She gets a golem bodyguard, who is one of the best characters in the book, and she is told she won't be allowed to go home until the killer is caught.
    • 3/5
      The promo material for this book made it sound funnier than it turned out to be, and it took me a while to get over having the voice of Sookie Stackhouse (from the audiobook series) talking from the perspective of a different character. I even stopped half way through the book to listen to something else. But I did return to it and enjoyed it well enough to finish it. I'm just not sure if I enjoyed it enough to read the next book in the series. I read a LOT of books that feature weres and vampires and other common inhabitants of urban fantasy, and this one didn't really set itself apart with any memorable distinguishing features, other than being in an alternate universe. I also had a hard time believing Jace could adapt to this alternate universe so quickly, but maybe later stories will reveal more about what in her background would've made her so flexible.
    • 4/5
      I've read a large amount of urban fantasy, so I've become pretty picky in the process.

      First off, this isn't remotely in the paranormal romance genre, so there aren't 30-page-long awkward attempts at porn, or a heroine that spends more time worrying about a guy's rock-hard abs instead of catching a murderer.

      Rather, you have a thrill-ride of a book that reminds me a bit of the Rachel Caine "Weather Warden" books in tone. And, for once, we have a heroine/FBI agent who is much more concerned with the case than any peripheral drama--hallelujah!

      I hope to see more books from D.D. Barant and more of this series!
    • 2/5
      The second half is considerably better than the first--it was at that point that I quit checking how many pages were left. A lot of the book, though, is just the main character scoping out potential paramours. She's surrounded by guys and they're all interested. Borrrring.
    • 4/5
      Very good and interesting twist on the whole Vampire/Werewolf thing. I will be continuing this series, but I do have a nagging suspicion that it might end up being like the Anita Blake series--start strong and then turn into a Harlequin Romance series.
    • 4/5
      It's like a crime mystery and urban fantasy all rolled into one with a strong female lead of course I liked it!
    • 3/5
      I liked this book but I didn't love it. I have had a copy of this book for years and finally decided to dust it off and give it a try. There were some things about the book that I really enjoyed and other things that made me question why things happened the way that they did. This was a pretty fast listen for me and I did enjoy the overall story.I liked the overall premise of the story. Jace is an FBI profiler that is pulled into an alternate reality to help solve a crime. The alternate reality is filled with vampires, shifters, and other interesting beings with humans as a small minority. The paranormal beings in this reality are not prone to mental illness but there is a killer on the loose targeting the paranormal population that happens to be human so Jace has been enlisted to help.The population of these realities are so different but I was amazed by how much everything looked like our world. Language was mostly the same. Cars developed in the same manner. There were some difference but I really would have thought that there would be a whole lot more since these really were different worlds. According to the story, the worlds became different when guns were invented in our world and not used in theirs. It just seemed strange to me.I did think that the story was exciting. The murders were quite interesting and I was really interesting in learning who was responsible. There were several surprises along the way that I did not see coming. I liked the characters in the book well enough. Jace was tough and smart but I kept thinking that she adjusted to everything a whole lot faster than could be expected. I really liked Charlie, her golem assistant, and thought that many of the other secondary characters were equally well done.One of the reasons that I decided to pick up this audiobook was Johanna Parker's narration. I am someone that listens to audiobooks at regular speed and don't like to speed things up. I immediately felt this book was going really fast so I check to see if I had changed a setting on my device since the narrator seemed to be talking really fast. I decreased the speed of the narration and was able to enjoy the story much more from that point forward. I did like the range of voices that she used in this book although I did have a bit of trouble keeping everyone straight for a time. I would encourage anyone interested in the series to give it a try. I thought that it had a lot of unique points and found it to be rather entertaining. I am not sure if I will continue on with the series at this point but I am glad I gave this one a shot.
    • 4/5
      Very good read, I enjoyed this book a lot and will probably read the sequel. FBI profiler Jace Valchek has just been reassigned -- to an alternate world. The world is populated mostly with vampires, lycanthropes and golems, with humans being an endangered species. But Jace is a specialist in the criminally insane, and this world now has its first serial killer. The world in this book was well imagined and described, and Jace makes an appealing heroine who is tough enough to be believable. Although infected with the usual sarcastic humor urban fantasy seems to be plagued with, it doesn't overwhelm the plot, and some of it was actually funny.
    • 2/5
      I was really intrigued by the idea of this book. What mostly interested me was the change-up to the traditional urban fantasy where, instead of editing the current world, the author took her character and placed her in a parallel one.
      So where did everything go wrong? I don't entirely know, but I think a lot of the problems can be traced back to the fact that the world wasn't well-built enough to make it either interesting or believable. There was entirely too much explanation of HOW the two worlds paralleled and not enough action to counteract all the exposition.
      For another thing, the two worlds are miraculously EXACTLY alike other than the fact that one world has guns, and the other world has... supernatural creatures. That is literally the ONLY difference. Because of this extreme lack of difference, the two worlds may as well have been combined, or else the editors should have removed the elaborate descriptions of the "differences" between the two worlds to help the pacing.
      I had no major issues with the characters, and I was particularly fond of Charlie - which was surprising considering vampires are generally more my thing. Well, I take that back. I had one really huge issue with Jace: after her initial complaint, she basically just accepted the fact that she was to take up permanent residence within this alternate reality, that she would now live her life at the whim of a vampire who basically killed most of her entire species. And all she wants out of it is an office and some plants? Hahahaha what???
      Since I didn't exactly DISlike it, I'll probably try out the next book in the series. I'm expecting most of the exposition to be missing from now on since the world is now established, and that might help with the pacing and character development.
    • 4/5
      This is the first book in the The Bloodhound Files. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the rest of the series.
      Jace is smart, funny, strong and very likable. Her partner, Charlie, a golem has a wonderful dry wit and the other supporting characters mesh well.
    • 3/5
      I liked this book and I liked the characters, but it never really captured my imagination.
    • 3/5
      Audio- ( 2.7 stars)
      I liked it, I didn't like it. it was thrilling, it was annoying. This has to be the most conflicting book I have read this year. I am a big urban fantasy/mystery fan and this did have that feel. But, yes there is a but- it didn't flow evenly. I wanted more time with the story and less time with Jace. I liked it enough to continue the series.
      The Positives- I liked the CSI feel to the detective work. I liked the world where vampires, lycanthropes and golems rule. It was a fresh new angle, with a devastating past history. The side characters all had a unique perspectives and abilities. Charlie, The Gollum was a show stealer. he is the reason I am continuing the series. I think he should have been the center of the story he was much more interesting than Jace. Jace, a smart, often stubborn to a ridiculous level, Psychological Profiler- when she's is thinking work, she's good.
      The negatives-Alternate universes/realities are hard for me to read. I just have a hard time going between what is her and what is there. I had some issues with inconsistency with the blending of the two realities. Somethings blended because of fans and yet another didn't because they didn't know anything about that world ? *Conflicting bits* I also thought she took the whole ripped out of my reality thing way to easily, it needed more conflict. Jace talking to her brain was very irritating. Jace was rude, hurtful, and acted mean to a couple of the characters. I am not a fan of mean. The narrator on the audio made Jace sound like a spoiled teenager.
    • 5/5
      The world of The Bloodhound Files is, in my estimation, one of the more interesting written of today. Based upon a world in which humans are very much in the minority, the story pulls you in and doesn't let you go. As an FBI profiler, Jace Valchek is drawn across into a world filled by vampires, werewolves and golums, and humans are a tiny portion of the population.

      This is definitely an 'edge of your seat' storyline. Jace is drawn into this new world by the equivalent of the head of the NSA, and is dumped directly into saving the world from madness - madness this world has never known before. And, even though these are the same "people" who actually pushed the humans to the edge of extinction, you can't help but like them. And Barant goes out of her way to make her Jace believable. She isn't a super-woman, but a hard working, tough minded woman working hard to get herself back home.

      The story is excellent, the characters are likable (and 'hate-able' too) and everything is done very much like the very best of the mystery/suspense thrillers - just with vampires, werewolves, and golums. Politics, angst, interracial stressors, it is all there, and all facinating as seen from Barant's angle.

      And yes, I own them all, and love them all . . .

      The Bloodhound Files:

      Dying Bites (The Bloodhound Files, Book 1)
      Death Blows (The Bloodhound Files, Book 2)
      Killing Rocks (The Bloodhound Files, Book 3)
      Undead to the World: The Bloodhound Files
    • 4/5
      Jace Valchek is taken from this world and brought into a world where normal humanity are rare, where vampires and werewolves are quite common. Jace is an FBI profiler and is brought to investigate killings, a serial killer who appears to be human, is killing supernaturals in very particular places. She's got to adapt to a new world and investigate the killings. It's complicated and involved and I should have liked it more, but it's just a little bit off. I'm hoping it's just issues with the first book, because the concept is cool and it shows a lot of promise. Jace is nicely jaded but also wide-eyed with the situation she finds herself in.
    • 4/5
      A blend of action, police-procedural, and urban fantasy, DYING BITES is both a gateway drug and a satisfying book in this own right.
    • 3/5
      In a crowded genre, Dying Bites is fresh. The premise is so simple that it feels obvious, which is the mark of a really ingenious idea: Jace Valcheck is an FBI profiler pulled into another dimension, a same-yet-different world where humans make up only 1% of the population. In this new world, vampires and werewolves have all the physical advantages and all the political power; humans are barely scraping by.

      There are some original twists on vamps and weres - like the spell that allows vampires to reproduce by donating biological years to their child, with the baby growing one year older for each six months the parents age - but the really fun new addition is golems. In Barant's world, the golems are technologically advanced versions of the clay statues of legend; a slaughtered animal's spirit is fused with sand and then poured into a plastic casing. The golems don't eat, don't sleep, don't have sex, and can't swim (they're too heavy!). Jace, as a weak human, is assigned a very intimidating golem bodyguard, Charlie, made from the spirit of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. For all his limitations, Charlie is just about the best character in the novel - he has a dry wit, a dapper style, and he's utterly fearless. I didn't expect to find the golems very interesting, but it only took a few pages with Charlie before I was totally sold.

      The storyline could be an episode of CSI, with the addition of supernatural beings. The NSA is tracking a serial killer, a human murderer with three victims under his belt. The NSA bigwigs are certain that the guy is crazy, and that's why they need Jace. Vampires and Werewolves are immune to mental illness, and with so few humans around there is little knowledge of such diseases. Her expertise is literally non-existent in this parallel world.

      I was really hooked on the plot as Jace pieces together an understanding of the villain's motives and, simultaneously, discovers that she can't trust her own team. The murders are clearly political in nature - a human being outraged at the way his species is treated - and the NSA people don't feel like telling Jace about all the horrors and atrocities fueling the killer's anger. At some point, as the information trickles in, Jace starts to wonder if she's on the right side.

      Mixed in with all this good stuff are a few pretty serious flaws. First of all, all the romantic elements here are horribly botched. There isn't one moment of sexual tension that felt real to me. All the men capable of having urges in this book are attracted to Jace - that's annoying. It's especially annoying because these guys give off vibes which seem really low key to me - "That Jace Valcheck, she's spunky and good-looking, wouldn't mind sleeping with her" - but Jace interprets these mild urges as cause for serious drama, which made me think she was a little pathetic.

      Which brings me to my biggest problem with the novel: Jace. She is supposed to be a consummate professional but she is not. In the course of this one novel she gets drunk on the job, she sleeps with a colleague, and she goes AWOL repeatedly. In general, if Jace has to choose between calmly taking control of a situation and running off half-cocked, she'll go for the latter. As a character, she felt incoherent to me.

      I've been reading urban fantasy for a long time now, and it's harder and harder to hook me on a series. Books that would have put an author on my auto-buy list five years ago don't make the cut anymore. There's just a lot more out there, and fans can afford to have higher standards. This one would have made the cut a couple of years ago. Today? I'm not so sure.
    • 4/5
      FBI profiler Jace Valchek opted for a career in law enforcement to put away predators - the mentally disturbed kind. But when she wakes up from a really bad dream to find she's been abducted by the NSA from an alternate universe to track down one of their worst serial killers, Jace is in for a whole new kind of crazy. In this reality, humans make up a mere one percent of the population. Someone's been targeting the vampires and werewolves that make up the majority of the world's population, and the bloody, gruesome murders point to an insane, human killer. It's a job that's tailor made for someone with Jace's skills, but this time she's not sure if the right side of the law might not be the wrong side to be on...One of the more unique premises for an urban fantasy I've read recently, and I'm looking forward to reading more.
    • 3/5
      This started off fairly strong, but I began to lose interest as things progressed. By about halfway in, I just wasn't hooked. Points for the world-building and some of the ideas. Maybe I'll try it again some other time.
    • 5/5
      Dying Bites: The Bloodhound Files by DD Barant is a good, fun, urban fantasy with a twist: monsters (such as vampires, werewolves, and golems) exist in alternative worlds, and the heroine, Jace, is pulled into one of those worlds. Jace has been deliberately brought into the alternate universe because of her skills. She is a serial killer profiler and the alternate universe needs her expertise to solve a case. It is a very well done cross-over of two of my favorite genres (detective/profiler and urban fantasy). The combination makes the story unique and fresh, and the characters make the story captivating. The heroine, Jace, is a complex character; she is somewhat jaded, irreverent, and sarcastic. She lives to work and deals with her stressful job by laughing it off. She doesn't have much of a social life since a very acrimonious & painful split with her boyfriend. She has a hard time adjusting to being uprooted from her universe and dropped into another one, but gets caught up in the case and begins to adapt. She is helped by a vampire colleague Gretchen, a Golem bodyguard Charlie (who is a wonderful character and a perfect balance to Jace), and the dishy werewolf Dr. Pete. The supporting cast are all complex & authentic characters. Jace herself is completely believable, likeable, and fun -- she struck me as a cross between Kate Daniels and Clarice Starling. The world-building is detailed, consistent; the author has created a very interesting world in which I hope to spend more time.
    • 4/5
      Between the gore, the first person present narrative, and the please-no-love-triangles mantra I kept chanting, I feel like I shouldn't like this, but I'm a sucker for a competent, smart-ass heroine. Overall, I enjoyed the story and found the alternate Earth the author created to be fascinating -- I'm still trying to wrap my head around the idea of vampires being Muslim Shintoists. Another major plus: whenever a character has an accent, be it Japanese or French-Canadian, the author just says that instead of trying to write in dialect (thank you!).I think my favorite part, though, is Jace's burgeoning friendship with her golem bodyguard, Charlie: "... where I come from [we have] partners. A partner is a person who watches your back, points out when you're screwing up, trusts you completely and occasionally saves your life. They do that for you... and you do that for them." We glare at each other for a long moment. "Problem is," he says at last, "we're here, not there." "Doesn't make a damn bit of difference to me." He considers this. "You know, that'd be a lot more reassuring if you weren't so damned fragile." "I'm fragile? At least I don't burst into tears when I'm feeling unappreciated." "True. You're more likely to shoot something." "I find it therapeutic. You should try it sometime." "No thanks. I'll stick to knitting tea cozies and sobbing into my pillow." "We done?" "Pretty much."NB: While the murder victims' deaths are gruesome, the descriptions aren't gratuitous. Also, the swearing is mild and the sex takes place off screen.
    • 4/5
      Dying Bites exceeded my expectations! I was immediately drawn in by the world building, which is by far the best part of the story. I loved the concept of an alternate reality in which supernatural creatures have made humans an endangered species. The historical details of this reality are so similar, yet so different from our world - from Hitler’s genocide, to war in the Middle East, everything is slightly off, and I find it fascinating. One major difference I enjoyed is that guns do not exist in this alternate universe. As you can imagine, this presents some interesting and hilarious challenges for our heroine, an FBI agent from our world who is very attached to her firearm.The story is well written, and the descriptive prose is particularly vivid. The protagonist, Jace, is brazen, snarky, and fearless to the point of stupidity... yet likable. It’s difficult not to sympathize with her as she is thrown into a new world and suddenly has to learn how to navigate the supernatural. The ethical dilemmas Jace faces are gut wrenching. In a world where humans are fighting for survival, she can’t help but question who she can trust and whose side she should take. I really felt Jace’s sense of sadness, hopelessness, and inner conflict, which made me root for her despite her occasional dumb behavior.The supporting cast is well drawn, especially Charlie, a golem and Jace’s new partner. He’s the perfect counterpoint to Jace’s mood swings, and he doesn’t take crap from her or anyone. The plot is fast paced and the mystery intriguing, though I’m surprised that we don’t get to see more of Jace’s profiling abilities since she’s supposed to be a criminal profiler. I also could have done without as much relationship angst, but it didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the story. Action packed and entertaining, Dying Bites was a fun adventure, especially as the last few chapters devolved into a furious race to save the world from am insane terrorist. All in all, this was a surprisingly good read, and I’m looking forward to reading Death Blows, the second book in The Bloodhound Files series.
    • 3/5
      Quick Thoughts - Derivative, fast paced, Good Beach Read, Don't think too much reading this.Review: Jace is a profiler with the FBI. She is taken from her own world to a modern day society where there is magic and the majority of the population is Vampires and Werewolves. Its an interesting take, but there isn't anything new with this book. The world is exactly the same as ours, even the computers work together! The vampires and werewolves are essentially human, there is nothing that differentiates them from each other and humans, besides the blood drinking and changing into a wolf. Jace is a typical female hero character that is taking urban fantasy by storm - that is walks around with a chip on her shoulder, doesn't listen to anybody, sarcastic, and quickly sleeps with somebody in the book. I really want to see a lead female character that is grounded in real life, maybe has a family and friends. That isn't to say Jace is badly written, but her character is a bit cardboard, and there is not much depth to her decisions.This book is a quick read, but it feels like so many other books out there. It would make a good beach read if you are looking for a book with a bit of action, but not a lot of the romance that you find in books of similar nature (there is one or two love scenes, but the romance is not the bulk of the story)
    • 4/5
      It has the requisite sassy, smart, butt-kicking heroine, but with a refreshingly unique sense of humor.
    • 4/5
      I liked Dying Bites. I didn't love it like I loved reading Suzanne McLeod, Devon Monk or Ilona Andrews. There's no denying that DD Barant can tell (write?) a good story. There's plot, twists and turns, suprises, and humor. There's also scenes of horrific sadistic killings, which is probably why I didn't love the book.The main character, Jace has been brought over from earth to another dimension, another parallel earth. Only this world has a teeny tiny percentage of humans. Everyone else is vampire (pire), thrope (lycanthrope) or lem (golem). There are sorcerers which are humans. Jace is brought over to solve a series of killings by an alledgedly insane human. She is assigned to this worlds version of the FBI, which is her job in her world.DD Barant has done well with the world building. Almost anything you can imagine here, he has addressed for there. Music, TV shows, courier services, the nazis, all the different wars we had and there counterparts for their world; there is bigotry and superiority expressed by the different races. That would be natural, though not commendable. I found the worldbuilding very imaginative. Jace didn't seem like a woman though; to me she read like a man, or how I would imagine a man to think (could be totally wrong, though I have three sons and a husband....). But I guess not all women are the same anyway. I certainly don't have a lot of "feminine" traits (hate shopping). I liked the character's toughness, and her extremely smart-assed attitude. I like smart-ass. I especially liked the relationship between Jace and Charlie, the golem assigned to protect her. The murders she has to solve though are very sadistic, reminiscent of the "Saw"-like movies that have come out. I'm not really into those type of movies, so that's what lowered my enjoyment of this book. The murders were very imaginative, but too sadistic for me, (and not a fun sadistic). If you like torture/horror movies along with your humor and a good mystery you'll like this book. The writing was good, the plot and mystery was excellant, as was the world itself. I also liked that you learned about the world as Jace learned about it. That was great. At this point I'm not sure if I would read a sequel. I kind of want to, because I did enjoy Jace's and Charles' jabs at each other, as well as Gretchen and Jace. I'm just not sure if I want to read anymore sadistic murder. There is an excerpt of the second book (Death Blows) at the end of Dying Bites. I like the title puns also, always enjoy those type of titles.