Kathleen Collins Realm Walker is an action thriller, complete with demons, vampires and werewolves, agencies of supernaturals, or Altereds, and a smoking hot dark fae heroine who likes to slug one back with the boys when she isn't working a case, only instead of whisky, she prefers vampire blood. Julianna Norris is a Walker, a kind of cop for the real world to keep supernatural beings in their place. She’s feisty, private, and has a track record for getting into scrapes and getting out of them with the hair on her fae head just barely intact.
If her supernatural cop duties weren’t stressful enough, Julianna Norris is the mate of vampire Thomas Kendrick who like a lot of literary vampires carries himself with a holier than thou attitude. I kept wanting Julianna to smack him in the face, but like many obnoxious characters, he grew on me, mostly because Collins turns him into a shadowy protective figure who gets to whine about how kick ass his bride is. Julianna's fae magic combined with Kendricks power via union makes her a deadly agent, and a member of the coven. And she can bring it when it comes to work, fighting demons and such. But she's ill prepared for Kendrick's return. In Collins' world a vampire union is akin to marriage. Power is garnered through unions, both superatural and political. Kendrick left Julianna shortly after their union, which was both a powerful and humbling experience for both of them. As a result few know about the union, an affront to Kendrick's ego. The fallout of his leaving is the emotional landscape of the novel. Julianna, in Kendrick's wake, took up a lover, Kendrick's assistant. Julianna’s close friend is Kendrick's sister, who offers her assistance when she needs. Julianna is surrounded by people who wish to protect her from Thomas Kendrick; not to mention her team of altereds, Jeremiah, an elemental, and a werewolf named Nathaniel.
The novel's action sequences revolve around the chase for Nathaniel, Julianna's partner who is possessed by a demon, and the subsequent chase for the demon behind the caper, a demon after Julianna. Along the way, Kendrick has to come to grips with his love for his bride, the demon hunting her, and his own place in Julianna's world. The majority of the book shifts between Julianna and Thomas' perspectives as the action pushes towards a dark fae vampire mage conclusion that will rock supernatural action fans. There's demon possession, and vampire coven betrayal, and lots of red herrings to keep you guessing about character's fates and fortunes.
However, Collins real story is centered around relationships. Marriage, mostly, and how to navigate distances between hearts. Collins' mythology is fairly derivative, but this opening book in a series seeks to lay a foundation. Collins throws words like "union," "the gathering," and "coven" around with abandon. Needless to say much of these words, and words like them, are overdone, but thankfully Collins relies on character descriptions and action more than overused terms for supernatural social norms. I particularly enjoyed the elemental family, and the camaraderie between Julianna and her work mates. Besides the complex relationships she frames, her other strength is her world building skills, mashing up our world with a supernatural bureaucracy that smacks of satire. Sure to please readers of urban fantasy, Realm Walker is an action packed debut. 3 stars.
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