Blood Ties the Books Behind the TV Series
Tanya Huff’s Vampire Books are Winners
In 1989, Tanya Huff was a fantasy writer with four books to her credit. While working at Bakka, the science fiction book store in Toronto, Huff observed the intense devotion of readers of vampire books to their genre. She explains that, “in a desperate search for something decent to read, they’ll cross their fingers and pick up just about anything with fangs on the cover”. Needing to pay the mortgage, she decided to hop on the vampire bandwagon.
The “Blood” books were published pre-Buffy, pre-Twilight, pre-Sookie and were an immediate success. There are five books in the series which debuted with Blood Price in 1991.
Blood Price (#1, DAW Books, 1991)
The pilot episode of the Blood Ties television series closely tracks Blood Price. The book introduces Vicki Nelson, ex-Toronto homicide detective. Due to a vision problem, Vicki opted to leave the police force rather than spend her career working a desk. Vicki is a smart, strong, independent woman who doesn’t take any guff from anyone. After hanging out her private investigator shingle, she’s worked a series of routine cases for about a year when she encounters a very unusual case. She witnesses a murder with supernatural elements. During the course of her investigation, she is reunited with her former homicide partner and lover, Michael Celluci. She also meets Henry Fitzroy who seems to have an unusual interest in the case. By the end of the book, Vicki has learned that Henry is a 450-year old vampire and the illegitimate son of King Henry VIII. The book is fast-paced with strong characterization and snappy dialogue. Blood Price establishes the romantic triangle between Vicki, Henry and Mike which is one of the strongest elements of the series.
Blood Trail (#2, DAW Books, 1992)
Blood Trail finds Vicki helping Henry’s werewolf friends who are being systemically hunted and killed. The werewolf clan in Blood Trail is more like a clan of shape shifters. They basically live in human form as a family or “pack”, but can shape shift into wolf form at any time. Huff creates a whole culture of were society with its own distinct rules and conventions.
Blood Lines (#3, DAW Books, 1993)
Blood Lines shares the bare outlines of the plot with the episode from Season 2 entitled, “Wrapped”. However, the book is actually much more of a nail biter. In the television episode, the mummy is vaguely Peruvian and is played to cheesy perfection by Danny Trejo. In the book, the mummy is from ancient Egypt and is delightfully evil. He plans to take over the city of Toronto (and ultimately the world) by putting spells on the top officials of the provincial government. The mummy identifies Vicki as a threat and arranges to have her arrested and tossed into a secured psychiatric unit. Celluci and Henry are forced to work together in order to save her. Blood Lines is one of the strongest books in the series for its intense pacing and suspense
Blood Pact (#4, DAW Books, 1993)
In Blood Pact Vicki is devastated by the death of her mother. Amidst her grief is the fact that things are coming to a head in her relationships with Henry and Mike. Each wants her to commit solely to him. Vicki is torn between both men and is trying her darnedest to keep each from declaring his feelings for her and thus forcing her to choose. The unexpected death of Vicki’s mother unites Mike and Henry in an uneasy alliance as they now must support Vicki through a difficult time. Life becomes even more complicated when during the funeral, Vicki discovers that her mother’s body is not in the casket.
With elements of the Frankenstein myth combined with Vicki’s heart-wrenching grief and guilt over her mother’s death, Blood Pact is one of the more intense in the series. The stakes are raised even higher when Henry is captured by the bad guys who have Vicki’s mother’s body.
The ending is spooky, heart-stopping and heart-breaking. According to Huff, Blood Pact was supposed to be the end of the series. Without spoiling the end of Blood Pact, the conclusion to that book seemed a pretty decisive ending to the series.
Before reading Blood Debt, the short stories “This Town Ain’t Big Enough” and “The Cards Also Say” should be read in order to maintain the continuity of the series.
Blood Debt (#5, DAW Books, 1997)
Blood Debt re-teams the characters (albeit in a new configuration) to help Henry deal with a ghost who is haunting him. Each sunset upon waking, a ghost appears to Henry. The ghost seems to want Henry’s help, but is not very verbal in expressing the kind of help it seeks. Henry calls Vicki in to help him investigate after his initial refusal to help the ghost results in the deaths of innocent bystanders. Mike comes along to provide assistance. While not the strongest entry in the series, Blood Debt reveals what happens to the three characters after the profound changes described at the end of Blood Pact.
Blood Bank (#6, DAW Books, 2006)
After the publication of Blood Pact, Huff began writing short stories about her trio. In 2006, Huff published Blood Bank, the collection of nine short stories based on the characters.
The “Blood” books feature a tough heroine, sexy romantic leads, sharp dialogue, lots of unresolved sexual tension and suspense with a paranormal twist. In addition, for fans of the television series, the books lead to a deeper appreciation of the characters.
To learn about the differences between the books and the television series (of which there are many), see “Blood Ties the Books vs. the TV Series”.
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