A Chip in His Shoulder by L.A. Witt

Summary:

“Contract killer” is a fitting job for a vampire, and it suits Liam just fine. Cast down from the wealth and status of the Sky for taking a human lover, Liam lurks in the poor and pollution-choked Gutter, killing to survive. Between his natural strengths and his Cybernetix mods, no mark has ever escaped him.

Liam’s ex-lover Daniel is the heir to Cybernetix—and its greatest threat. Horrified by people less man than machine and the exploitation of Gutter factory workers, he’d rather destroy Cybernetix than inherit it . . . if his father doesn’t destroy him first.

Years of anger and a heap of mods have kept Daniel and Liam apart. When Liam is hired to slaughter a man in his glass Sky tower, he walks right into a Daniel-shaped trap. Daniel’s father has betrayed them both, and only by working together can Daniel and Liam survive the coming day. They have no reason to trust each other, but as the dawn looms, a bargain that began with the simple urge to live soon reminds them of the love they once shared. Can they find each other again, or will the Cybernetix assassins find them first?

Reviewer: PurpleRose
Liam is a vampire assassin sent to eliminate his ex-lover, Daniel, who caused Liam to be tossed out from the Sky Towers. Because of Daniel he lost everything - his wealth, his status - and even his family rejected him for taking on a human lover. He's now forced to live down below in the Gutter, which is thick with pollution and littered with thieves, He becomes an assassin and sets out to enhance his already considerable vampiric strengths by getting more Cybernetix nano implants - so called mods - that allow him to take on even more hits.

Daniel who is the heir to Cybernetix which is owned by his father, is disgusted with the thought of anyone installing mods into their bodies. He's been working to find a way to bring Cybernetix down, but first he must survive Liam, who has been hired to kill him by his own father...

Liam has to figure out how to get out of the trap he has stumbled into, save Daniel, and get them out before Daniel's father manages to get them both killed. Neither is sure they can trust the other, yet they'll have to work together if they want to make it out of Sky Towers alive. But first, they have to overcome all the anger, hurt, and resentment, and maybe find love beneath it all.

I was really excited about reading this, as all L.A. Witt books I've read have been very enjoyable! I wasn't wrong, all in all it was a good read. It has that lover scourned and out for revenge feel. Plus you get a vampire who is a hired contract killer *fans self* - you gotta love that!

I wasn't so sure about the idea of cyber mods being implanted into a vampire, it's a bit iffy. I mean, why would a vampire need to enhance his senses, shouldn't he already be enhanced enough? Everything did happen a little fast, I barely got a feel for the chemistry between Liam and Daniel. It felt as though we didn't learn enough about the time when they knew each other before, or how it came to be they were ripped apart. Some backstory would have been helpful! It seemed to me the story was just starting to take off when it abruptly came to an end. I do feel it could have been longer - suppose we can hope for a sequel.

In all I'd give this 3.5 stars as I did enjoy it, but felt it all happened a bit too fast.

Review Courtesy Of: ManicReaders