Innocent Blood by James Rollins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Action-packed, great read with a notes of Biblical history as the background. I received Innocent Blood as an e-Arc from Edelweiss. It is the second in a series about the Order of Sanguines and two outsiders that have been recruited to assist them in their search for a holy book. The group is in direct competition with a group called The Belial that has also been searching for the book but with the goal of causing a cataclysmic event. The trio from The Blood Gospel are brought back together to continue on the path that The Blood Gospel search has set them on. A reader can read this book and enjoy it without having read the first one, but, they will be missing a lot of the history of the events and the first book was quite exciting.

Innocent Blood starts off where The Blood Gospel leaves off with each member of the trio having stepped back into their own lives. Rhun, one of the Sanguinists, is in trouble and missing. Jordan, a member of the military recruited to help in the search, is burying the members of his team that were lost in The Blood Gospel and Erin, the final member of the trio (or is she?) is teaching at university. Events start to unfold that draw them back together and we learn more about Rhun's past and the history of the Sanguinists. We also learn more about how Rhun became a part of the Sanguinists and how the organization began.

There are some real surprises in this book! Though it was a bit long it is so full of suspense and action that it does not take long to move through the story. This series would really appeal to armchair travel readers as well as history buffs. It looks like there is at least one more in this series and I look forward to reading it!

Guest Post/Interview with Rachel of Dirt Diary by Anna Staniszewski

Anna: Hey, Rachel. Well, this is kind of weird. I’m not used to talking to you when other people are around. Mostly it’s just in my head.

Rachel: Um, yeah. Hi. Not to be totally rude or anything but I have some brownies in the oven, so can we speed this up?

Anna: Okay, let’s get right to the point. Your life is full of embarrassing moments. Can you share your worst ones with us?

Rachel: What? I’m not going to tell complete strangers about things like that!

Anna: Come on. I’m sure you have a good story about Steve Mueller. Ever since you’ve had a crush on him, you freeze up whenever he’s around.

Rachel: Oh my goldfish, who told you I have a crush on him? Well, it’s not true. He’s just…I mean, he’s gorgeous, but he doesn’t even know I exist.

Anna: That’s not entirely true. Didn’t he ask you to spy on his girlfriend?

Rachel: Will you stop telling everyone my secrets? Ugh, fine. Yes, he asked me to poke around Briana’s room while I’m there with my mom’s cleaning service. I know spying on someone sounds bad, but you don’t how horrible Briana is. She goes out of her way to make my life a living hell, so if she’s cheating on Steve then doesn’t he have a right to know?

Anna: Well...

Rachel: Holy fried bananas, are you defending Briana? You’re the one who created her. You know how evil she is.

Anna: Sorry, I guess it wasn’t fair to unleash a harpy like that on you, but spying on her is—

Rachel: I know it’s not the most moral thing, but you don’t know how desperate I am. If I find any secrets on Briana then Steve will pay me for them, and if I can save up enough money then I can pay back the cash I stole from my college fund before my mom finds out. Oh no! My mom isn’t going to read this, is she?

Anna: No, your secret is safe with us. So, is there any other dirt you want to share?

Rachel: No way! Besides, I think I smell my brownies burning. Can you do me a favor, though? In the next book, can you make my life a little less mortifying?

Anna: Sorry, kiddo. You’re stuck with me for two more embarrassment-filled books!

Born in Poland and raised in the United States, Anna Staniszewski grew up loving stories in both Polish and English. When she’s not writing, Anna spends her time teaching, reading, and challenging unicorns to games of hopscotch. She is the author of the My Very UnFairy Tale Life series, published by Sourcebooks Jabberwocky. Look for the first book in Anna’s next tween series, The Dirt Diary, in January 2014, and visit her at www.annastan.com.