I was disappointed by this one... I thought I would really get into it, given the blurb (vampires, mages, political intrigue thick on the ground), but just could not. The character of Kerwin was interesting, but Mathias just did nothing for me. It didn't help that the beginning of the book reads like a series of vignettes, twined together but not as tightly as I would have liked - it felt almost like a series of short stories, and I have a difficult time with shorts because they never get deep enough for me. From other comments, I understand that things eventually tighten up and there is a larger themed story - that may have held my attention better, but frankly I couldn't generate enough enthusiasm to keep slogging through the attempts by Mathias/Kerwin at badinage to get there... This one was not for me.

Integral isn't bad once you get into the story.  It gets off to a rocky start not because it's badly written, but because you aren't given much of a reason to care. It took a long time to connect to the protagonists - two Vampire investigators (similar to FBI agents but the country is run by corporations rather than a federal government).  The initial half of the novel are seemingly unrelated cases, giving it the feel of an anthology or serial.  There’s more meat when you get to the core story of a Mage who breaks out of their university (prison) and is forced to assassinate a vampire leader.  The duo, plus a warden from the university and the Mage herself are forced to deal with the fallout.

There are numerous loose ends left - the drug jester, the individual bitten who may or may not be an undiscovered Mage left to turn into a vampire after an attack by a drug mad vampire, the so called vampire God, and how the hell did her foot continue to work after being glued back on.  It's a bit of a mess.  There is potential there, but it isn't fully realized.  Bits and pieces are very good, so maybe the next novel will be better.  This one needs some work.

3 / 5

I received a copy of Integral from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

--Crittermom

Review will go live on Monday July 17, 2017 @ 6:32am PST ~ (https://theartisanpenguin.com/book-reviews/2017/review-integral-visceral-book-1)

Vampires and Mages?!, these are two of my favourite things to read about in speculative fiction, so I was sold on this book the moment I read the description. Having now finished reading Integral, I'm happy to report that I wasn't oversold at all.

The time is 2029 and the world's governments have collapsed, corporations have taken over the management of people, places and things, always with a notation of governing to improve their bottom line. Matthias and Frank, vampires, are two investigators for Noxcorp, the public face of the ancient vampire council. When a human is murdered, and it looks like a vampire did the deed, it's up to Matthias and Frank to find the fiend before the public does. Things turn complicated when the University charged with "protecting" the magical born turns to Noxcorp for their assistance in tracking down one of their escaped mages, Sandra. Quickly Matthias and Frank find themselves caught in the middle of a power grab, and Sandra appears to be at the centre of it all.

Each chapter in Integral (Visceral Book 1) is an "episode", so the whole novel sort of jumps a little bit in it's narration, but it works. I found this futuristic world quite believable, despite the presence of vampires and mages. The idea that corporations will take over, not unrealistic to me at all. I also found the vampires in Integral to be refreshing, I don't want to say anything more why I found them refreshing for fear of spoiling the story (if you really want to know, just send me a message and I'll explain).

I found Integral to be an interesting story, and I loved having vampires and mages mixed together. There is a rather long battle sequence near the end of the book, and while it was actually well written, I personally would have liked it to be a little shorter. The mages are also treated poorly, that whole be afraid of what you don't understand type thing, that I would love to have more background on, their history sort of thing. I can only hope that if Thielen write a sequel, I'll get some more background on the mages.