An enthralling and rousing vampire tale that will leave readers waiting for the sequel.
A vampire who’s recently escaped unknown captors has an inexplicable link to an emergency room nurse in this erotic thriller.
Vampire Dante Gabriel was 18 years old when he suddenly awakened in captivity. His masked abductors tortured him while a female vampire consumed his blood and forced him to drink hers. Upon somehow escaping, Dante returns to his New Orleans hometown and, desperate for sustenance, raids a hospital blood bank. It’s there he meets nurse Erin Hamilton, and the two have an undeniable bond: He’s drawn to her, and she trusts him but can’t explain why. Dante resists their mutual lust, fearing he won’t be able to control his vampiric tendencies. Reconnecting with his vampire family, Dante confirms what he already suspected: He had been missing for nearly a decade. He also learns his father and uncle went looking for him and never returned. Dante is plagued by memories of his trauma, sometimes hearing the voice of the mysterious female vampire, who called herself his queen. His indecision over Erin is a continuous struggle, as he initiates sexual encounters with her but retreats before either is sated. At the same time, secrets surrounding both of them slowly come to light. In her saga, Hardt (Misadventures with a Rock Star, 2018, etc.) avoids piling on vampire lore, wisely concentrating on the human element. In fact, the story debunks some supernatural conventions, including lethal sunlight and vampire immortality. The book, a collection of three seamlessly connected novellas, persistently teases the couple’s inevitable sex. But interactions without fulfillment are no less steamy, as they’re brimming with bulges, groans, and “wet kisses.” The concurrent mystery is surprisingly sharp, with questions about the enigmatic queen, the couple’s bond, and even how Dante managed to escape. Likewise, intermittent perspective from the queen adds suspense: She’s undoubtedly still watching Dante and, it seems, waiting for something. Unfortunately, there’s no climax, at least regarding the plot, as most questions are left unresolved. But as this installment is the first of a trilogy, answers should follow in later volumes.
An enthralling and rousing vampire tale that will leave readers waiting for the sequel.Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-64263-012-1
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Waterhouse Press
Review Posted Online: July 5, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An author to watch, Buehlman is now two for two in delivering eerie, offbeat novels with admirable literary skill.
Cormac McCarthy's The Road meets Chaucer's Canterbury Tales in this frightful medieval epic about an orphan girl with visionary powers in plague-devastated France.
The year is 1348. The conflict between France and England is nothing compared to the all-out war building between good angels and fallen ones for control of heaven (though a scene in which soldiers are massacred by a rainbow of arrows is pretty horrific). Among mortals, only the girl, Delphine, knows of the cataclysm to come. Angels speak to her, issuing warnings—and a command to run. A pack of thieves is about to carry her off and rape her when she is saved by a disgraced knight, Thomas, with whom she teams on a march across the parched landscape. Survivors desperate for food have made donkey a delicacy and don't mind eating human flesh. The few healthy people left lock themselves in, not wanting to risk contact with strangers, no matter how dire the strangers' needs. To venture out at night is suicidal: Horrific forces swirl about, ravaging living forms. Lethal black clouds, tentacled water creatures and assorted monsters are comfortable in the daylight hours as well. The knight and a third fellow journeyer, a priest, have difficulty believing Delphine's visions are real, but with oblivion lurking in every shadow, they don't have any choice but to trust her. The question becomes, can she trust herself? Buehlman, who drew upon his love of Fitzgerald and Hemingway in his acclaimed Southern horror novel, Those Across the River (2011), slips effortlessly into a different kind of literary sensibility, one that doesn't scrimp on earthy humor and lyrical writing in the face of unspeakable horrors. The power of suggestion is the author's strong suit, along with first-rate storytelling talent.
An author to watch, Buehlman is now two for two in delivering eerie, offbeat novels with admirable literary skill.Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-937007-86-7
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Ace/Berkley
Review Posted Online: Sept. 1, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2012
At Buckkeep in the Six Duchies, young Fitz, the bastard son of Prince Chivalry, is raised as a stablehand by old warrior Burrich. But when Chivalry dies without legitimate issue—murdered, it's rumored—Fitz, at the orders of King Shrewd, is brought into the palace and trained in the knightly and courtly arts. Meanwhile, secretly at night, he receives instruction from another bastard, Chade, in the assassin's craft. Now, King Shrewd's subjects are imperiled by the visits of the Red-Ship Raiders—formidable warriors who pillage the seacoasts and turn their human victims into vicious, destructive zombies. Since rehabilitating the zombies proves impossible, it's Fitz's task to go abroad covertly and kill them as quickly and humanely as possible. Shrewd orders that Fitz be taught the Skill—mental powers of telepathy and coercion possessed by all those of the royal line; his teacher is Galen, a sadistic ally of the popinjay Prince Regal, who hates Fitz all the more for his loyalty to Shrewd's other son, the stalwart soldier Verity. Galen brutalizes Fitz and, unknown to anyone, implants a mental block that prevents Fitz from using the Skill. Later, Shrewd decrees that, to cement an alliance, Verity shall wed the Princess Kettricken, heir to a remote yet rich mountain kingdom. Verity, occupied with Skillfully keeping the Red-Ship Raiders at bay, can't go to collect his bride, so Regal and Fitz are sent. Finally, Fitz must discover the depths of Regal's perfidy, recapture his true Skill, win Kettricken's heart for Verity, and help Verity defeat the Raiders. An intriguing, controlled, and remarkably assured debut, at once satisfyingly self-contained yet leaving plenty of scope for future extensions and embellishments.
Pub Date: April 17, 1995
ISBN: 0-553-37445-1
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Spectra/Bantam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1995
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