Laura Wright: MARK OF THE VAMPIRE

Author:  Laura Wright

Series:  MARK OF THE VAMPIRE 
Plot Type:  SMR

Ratings:  V4-5, S4-5, H2

Publisher and Titles:  Signet Eclipse
       Eternal Hunger (10/2010)
       Eternal Kiss (4/2011)
       "Eternal Blood" (e-novella, 1/2012)
       Eternal Captive (2/2012)
       Eternal Beast (8/2012)
       "Eternal Beauty" (e-novella, 4/2103)
       Eternal Demon (5/2013)
       Eternal Sin (11/2013)

     This post was revised and updated on 1/21/13 to include a review of the fourth novel in the series: Eternal Beast. That reviews appears first, followed by an overview of the world-building and a review of the first four novels:

       BOOK 5:  Eternal Beast              

      At this point in the story, the cast of characters includes the three Roman brothers, the five Mutore siblings created by Cruen, and various mates. The two sets of brothers share some parentage. Here is a list of the good guys:

   > Pavan Alexander Roman and his Impure mate, Sara Donohue (Gray's sister; she is newly pregnant as this story begins)

   > Pavan Nicholas Roman and his Pavan mate, Kate Everborn

   > Pavan Lucian (Luca) Roman (who has the DNA of a Breeding Male) and his Pavan mate, Bronwyn Kettler (parents of the infant, Lucy)  

   > Impure Grey Donohue and his Mutore mate, Dillon, a shape-shifting jaguar Beast

   > Erion: a shape-shifting Mutore demon Beast, who is the father of the young boy, Ladd (who is being raised by Nicholas and Kate)
   > Lycos: a shape-shifting Mutore wolf Beast

   > Phane: a shape-shifting Mutore hawk Beast

   > Helos: a shape-shifting Mutore water Beast

 

     This book completes the love story of the Impure, Gray Donohue, and the veana/Mutore, Dillon, and it's just as anguished and conflicted as you would imagine. As the story opens, Dillon (in her jaguar form) is recaptured by her Mutore brothers and returned to her locked cell in the warded mansion of the Roman brothers, where she is unable to regain her human form. When Dillon demands to see Gray, he visits her cell and touches her face/muzzle, whereupon, both feel a dramatic electrical (and sexual) charge and Dillon begins to transform into her human/veana form. As soon as Gray takes his hands away, she becomes a jaguar once again. Now right here, the reader knows that the two are definitely bonded mates, but the couple themselves don't realize (or admit) this until the book is almost at its end.

     Dillon has had a horrible childhood—raped as a teenager while Cruen, her "father," watched as that violent act forced her first shift into her jaguar form. She doesn't trust people, particularly men, and she definitely doesn't trust Gray, even though she has rescued him from danger several times, and vice versa. She vows that she will never belong to anyone ever again. Gray fights against his devastating attraction to her, but can't seem to resist. Cue the angst as we watch them stumble along on the rocky road to their HEA.

     Gray has dedicated his life to leading the Impure revolt against the Order, and he can't understand why Dillon doesn't have the same deep hatred for the Order as he does. Gray and his team of Impure revolutionaries have figured out a way to hack into the Order's mental network, and they hope to use that information to spy on the Order. Unfortunately, the Order is smarter and more psychically talented than the revolutionaries so that scheme doesn't go smoothly. 

     The action part of the plot involves the Order and their attempts to capture  and blood-castrate Gray and capture and kill Dillon. Related story lines include the return of Celestine ("Cellie"), Gray and Sara's mother; the burgeoning of Erion's fatherly feelings for his biological child (aka balas), Ladd; and the construction of a new credenti for the Impures.

    At one point in this book, the Mutore brothers discover that what Cruen told them about never having mates is not true, and that he has lied to them about other aspects of their biological make-up and their true genetic history. They also learn a shocking new fact about Cruen's own genetics. This book, like the previous ones, ends in a cliff-hanger as Cruen pulls a major power play that sends Erion off on a quest that will be detailed in the next novel, Eternal Demon. Click HERE to read an excerpt.

    Just a few nit-picks: First, the copy proofing must have been skipped over completely because there are several homonym errors (e.g., bare for bear). Second, there is a major continuity problem in one scene in which Gray and Dillon meet up with Uma to plan a break-in into the Paleo that very night. Then we see Gray traveling on a subway for a secretive meeting with Cellie. Then he travels back to the Impure headquarters for a sparring session with Dillon. Finally, the original trio does their break-in thing. All of these events supposedly occur over a period of a few hours. It's an awkward sequence with too many activities over too large an area to to fit into the proposed time frame. 

     There are a few problems with the romance as well. First, there's the angst, which reaches levels of repetitiveness that are beyond belief. Even though we (the readers) know that Gray and Dillon are true mates, they—unbelievably—don't seem to recognize the situation they are in. When Uma finally points out to Gray that he has Dillon's mating mark on his hand, both he and Dillon are shocked..SHOCKED! How could Gray have missed seeing that jaguar-shaped mark all this time. At this point, the author gives Gray an anguished internal monologue in which he thinks: "How hadn't he seen this lurking beneath all that ravaged skin? Maybe because the mark was the same color as his skin. Maybe because he so rarely looked at his scars—his deformity..." (p. 192) But he also muses, "There was no mistaking it...the outline of the jaguar was clearly stamped into the web of burn scars, even down to the rosette pattern on its fur." (p. 192) Why didn't the author just place the mark on Gray's back? Then, I might have believed that he never saw it, but not when the mark is in plain sight on his hand. All in all, I have to say that this isn't the strongest novel in the series. It feels more transitional than the others—a place to fill in some new information about the heroes and a chance to allow the villain to make a major move against the good guys.

       WORLD-BUILDING              

     Vampire life is complicated in this series, which is set on the East Coast, primarily in New York City. Vamps are ruled by the inevitably powerful, corrupt, and arrogant council that we find in many vampire series, here called the Eternal Order. Most vamps (the conventional ones) live in small villages called credenti, feeding on homegrown grains and seeds with weekly supplements of small vials of blood provided by the Order. They cover their wrists and necks with purity cloths to show symbolically that they will not be fed upon or feed on each other.

     There are two types of vampires: pavens (Purebloods) and Impurebloods (aka, Impures—those of mixed blood). A female pavan is called a veana. The Order attempts to control the size of the Impure population by castrating the males and sterilizing the females.  The Impures have no powers and have limited use of their fangs. They are treated as second class citizens—often used as servants or soldiers by the pavens. Understandably, some of the Impures have decided that enough is enough, and they have started an underground rebellion against the Order and the pavens.

     There are two types of pavens. Most pavens are regular Purebloods with two Pureblood parents, but a few are the children of Breeding Males. Her's how one Breeding Male describes himself: "a genetically altered Pureblood vampire who could breed on command and choose the sex of its offspring." (Eternal Beast, p. 52) Long ago, the Order selected a few paven males with the purest blood to become full-time breeders. Using various methods, they genetically altered each one to amp up his sex drive, and they removed all aspects of his humanity. Families were encouraged to bring their female pavens to be bred if they achieved their Meta (sexual maturity) without showing the mark of their true mates. This guaranteed that unmarked women would produce Pureblood children and not be tempted to mate with a human. Unfortunately, the women victimized by these experiences were generally not willing participants, and many took their frustrations out on their unwanted offspring. Although the practice of using Breeding Males ended long ago, its effects still ripple through the vampire community. In rare instances, the children of Breeding Males were born as shape-shifting beasts (Mutore), and most—but not all—of these unfortunate infants were killed soon after birth.

     This series focuses on the three Roman brothers, all the offspring of the same Breeding Male but different females, and all having had horrific childhood experiences that have left them trusting only one other. In each book, one brother is forced to go though morpho prematurely. Morpho is supposed to occur naturally when a male paven reaches the age of 300 years and is at the height of his powers. The pros of the morpho state are increased speed and power; the cons are extreme sun sensitivity (no more day walking), an increased need for blood, and an extremely powerful urge to find his true mate, who will have a mark on her body that matches his own and identifies her to him (thus the series title). The Order insists that the Roman brothers go through morpho early, primarily at the behest of Cruen, one of their members—and the primary villain of the series. The brothers hate the Order for a number of reasons, chief of which is the Order's indifference to the brutal treatment of the children of Breeding Males. After the brothers escaped from their nightmarish childhood homes, they declared themselves free of the Order, and they are not at all happy that the Order still has power over them. In each book, one of the brothers finds his true mate as he tries to fulfill the task set by the Order and keep both of them alive. 

     This is a solid SMR series with a rich mythology that goes far beyond the traditional vampire lore. The leading characters are well developed, with each brother having his own distinctive personality. Although the females are sexually submissive, they are intelligent and courageous. Click HERE for links to two blog interviews  in which the author discusses the series.

       BOOK 1: Eternal Hunger       

     As the series opens, Alexander Roman, the eldest brother, finds himself unwillingly going through morpho at the behest of the Order. Alexander is soon summoned to meet with the Order, where he learns that he must catch and kill a rogue vampire within a specified time limit or his brother, Nicholas, will also be forced into early morpho. One night, Alexander finds himself on the doorstep of Dr. Sara Donohue, a human psychiatrist who works with patients who have suffered some type of trauma. Sara has a brother, Gray, who is in a catatonic state in the psychiatric facility in which she works. Gray was horribly burned in a fire that Sara accidentally set when they were both children, so she feels responsible for his condition. Alexander and Sara are immediately attracted to one another, and their love story plays out in the usual angst-filled, up-and-down manner with an HEA at the end. As it turns out, Sara and Gray's mother kept some big secrets from them, and they are not quite as human as they thought they were. In addition to the romance, the plot also follows the brothers as they attempt to capture Ethan Dare, an Impure who is leading a rebellion against Purebloods. Click HERE to read an excerpt.

       BOOK 2: Eternal Kiss       

     Nicholas is the middle brother, and as the story opens, he is in the midst of his morpho. The brothers are still on the trail of Ethan Dare and his gang of Impures, but they haven't had much success in tracking him down. One night, Nicholas receives a message from one of his snitches, and when he arrives at the appointed place, he is met by a gorgeous paven woman, Kate Everborne, who tells him that she has brought him his son, Ladd. Kate is on probation, having been imprisoned by the Order for killing her abusive father. When she and Ladd witness the murder of Ladd's mother, the dying woman begs Kate to take the boy to his father, Nicholas Roman. Kate plans to dump the boy with Nicholas and return quickly to her credenti before the Order realizes that she is missing. Her plans are spoiled when the Order tracks her down before she can make it home. Nicholas is stunned on several levels. First, he doesn't believe that he has a son, and second, he is immediately attracted to Kate.

     In the meantime, Dare is in cahoots with Cruen, a powerful and villainous member of the Order, to capture Ladd and bring him to the Order so that his blood can be tested to determine if he is a descendant of the Breeding Male. Cruen has his own plans for the future, and they center on his ascendancy to greater powers. Dare is at Cruen's mercy because Cruen is holding his pregnant human wife hostage and because Dare needs Cruen's blood periodically to maintain his powers. The plot follows the romance of Nicholas and Kate as they try to protect Ladd, capture Dare, and deal with Cruen's villainous shenanigans with the Order.

     Once again, each of the romantic leads has many angst-filled inner monologues. Both have secrets that they are not willing to share, and both have trust issues that, at times, seem insurmountable. This is a satisfying addition to the series as the series arc becomes clearer and Cruen's plots are revealed. Click HERE to read an excerpt.

       E-Novella 1: Eternal Blood       

     This very short novella sets the stage for the romance between Gray Donohue and the cold-hearted paven, Dillon, who has always appeared to have an unrequited love for Gray's sister, Sara. In the introduction, the author says, "Gray has always intrigued me: his struggles with his past, his closed mind and fire-ravaged hands and his need to shut off the world and give in to the pleasures of the body." As the story opens, Gray considers joining an Impure resistance group, but after meeting with them, he rejects the idea and goes back to his womanizing life. Then, he is captured by the Order and sent to the Paleo—the grim, underground location where the Order blood-castrates Impure males and females so that they cannot reproduce. While in the Paleo, Gray meets Samuel Kendrick, a man who was a close friend of his parents. Samuel begins to divulge some long-held secrets about Gray's family, but before he has a chance to finish, he is dragged away for castration. Gray watches while a "female clad in long red robes ...appeared directly at the side of the stone slab. Gray watched as her mouth opened, so wide it split her features in two, and brick red fangs descended menacingly. She was on Samuel in less than an instant, striking hard—entering his vein with a hiss and a crack, sucking the life's blood from his desire and his maleness as though it belonged to her." Before the Order thugs can castrate Gray, Dillon leaps in to rescue him. She takes him back to her home, where they have a single passionate moment before she turns her back on him once again. As the story ends, Gray goes back to the Impure resistance group with new resolve to become involved in their struggle.

     This novella fills in some missing information about the Donohue family and explains the reason that Gray joins the Impure resistance movement. The graphic sex in this story is definitely at a level 5. Click HERE to read an excerpt.

       BOOK 3:  Eternal Captive              

     Lucian, the youngest Roman brother, is destined to be the only one of his brothers to have the gene of the Breeding Male. This has been hinted at in previous books, and in Eternal Captive, it comes true. Lucian has been an arrogant, nasty jerk in the previous books, hiding his fears behind a tough, thuggish exterior. His single weakness is Bronwyn Kettler, a young paven who is a talented genealogist. As this book begins, Bronwyn has faked a mate mark and betrothed herself to her best friend Synjon because she is afraid that Lucian is her true mate and she is deathly afraid of mating with a Breeding Male. Bronwyn's sister was forcibly mated with a Breeding Male, and died horribly during her pregnancy, and Bronwyn wants to make sure this doesn't happen to her.

     Cruen is up to his usual dirty tricks as he manipulates Lucian and Bronwyn into a situation in which they are marooned alone on a deserted island with no escape unless they have sex. If they do have sex, Lucian will immediately turn into a Breeding Male, a monster with an overpowering sexual drive and no humanity to temper it—and the thing that Bronwyn most fears in the world. Forcing Lucian's transformation is Cruen's chance to start his own pure master race of vampires—all under his control. The plot follows the incredibly rocky romance between Lucian and Bronwyn as they try to find a way to avoid having Lucian fall into Cruen's hands. The plot is filled with twists and turns, with supporting characters playing major roles in the resolution of the conflict.

     This is by far the most anguished love story of the series so far. Lucian is in a hopeless situation through much of the book, and Bronwyn isn't the strongest of heroines through most of the first half of the story. The story line is compelling, and the action is violent and continuous. Click HERE to read an excerpt.

MaryJanice Davidson: QUEEN BETSY (UNDEAD) SERIES

Author:  MaryJanice Davidson

Series:  QUEEN BETSY (UNDEAD) 
Plot Type: Paranormal Chick Lit (CH)

Ratings:  V4, S4, H4

Titles:  Here is a complete list of the short stories, novellas, and novels in MaryJanice Davidson's QUEEN BETSY (UNDEAD) series in reading order, straight from her Facebook page, where she says, "To keep the continuity of the story, you should read the books in this order":

  1. "Love’s Prisoner" (in Secrets 6 anthology)(2000)

  2. "Jared’s Wolf" (in Secrets 8 anthology) (2002)

  3. Undead & Unwed (novel 1, 2002)
  4. "Dead Girls Don’t Dance" (in Cravings anthology) (2004)

  5. Undead & Unemployed (novel 2, 2004)

  6. "Biting in Plain Sight" (in Bite anthology) (2004)

  7. Derik’s Bane (2005)

  8. Undead & Unappreciated novel 3, (2005)

  9. Undead & Unreturnable (novel 4, 2005)

 10. Dead & Loving It (2006)

 11. Undead & Unpopular (novel 5, 2006)

 12. "Driftwood" (in Over the Moon anthology) (2007)

 13. Undead & Uneasy (novel 6, 2007)

 14. Dead Over Heels (2008)

 15. Undead & Unworthy (novel 7, 2008)

 16. Undead & Unwelcome novel 8, (2009)
 17. Undead & Unfinished (novel 9, 2010)

 18. Undead & Undermined (novel 10, 2011) 

 19. Undead & Unstable (novel 11, 6/2012)

     This blog entry WAS revised and updated ON 7/19/12 to include a review of the 11th novel in this series, Undead & Unstable. That review comes at the VERY end of this entry, preceded by an overview of the world-building and reviews of books 9 and 10.

     Books 9, 10, and 11 form a trilogy within the series in which Betsy travels backward and forward in time, causes lots of trouble by changing events, and then returns to the present where she is forced to deal with the consequences of her well-meaning, but reckless, actions. For those who need a refresher course on Betsy's life, Davidson includes introductory sections in each book that summarize the major action in the series so far. 

        WORLD-BUILDING        
     Elizabeth "Betsy" Taylor is a former model turned vampire, whose special non-vampiric characteristics (e.g., not sun sensitive, not allergic to human food, not repulsed by religious objects) make her the prophesied queen of the vampires. Her love interest is her tall, dark, and handsome vampire king, Eric Sinclair.

     Supporting characters include Betsy's wealthy African American BFF, Jessica; her gay doctor friend, Marc; her half sister, Laura (the devil's daughter); police detective and former flame, Nick; and Eric's sire and assistant, Tina. Together, they solve various supernatural mysteries while causing many of their own problems through carelessness and lack of foresight. The series follows Betsy as she familiarizes herself with vampire life, comes to grips with her queenly role, and establishes a romantic relationship with Eric. All the while, Betsy continues to build her collection of designer clothes and, especially, shoes. The tone of the series is generally humorous, but the vampire battles are quite violent, with frequent beheadings and dismemberments.

     The first six books take Betsy from initial vampirehood to marriage. In "A Note to the Reader" at the beginning of Undead & Unworthy, Davidson says that this book and the next two should be considered "a trilogy within a series," with their own story arc that includes the evolving relationship between Betsy and Laura.

     Check out the answers to FAQs at MJ's Facebook page.

        BOOK 9:  Undead & Unfinished        
    This book takes a much darker turn than the preceding books. One amazon.com reader compares it to Charles Dickens's Christmas Carol because Betsy is forced by supernatural events to examine her own life and her relationships with her closest friends, particularly Eric Sinclair. The basic plot involves some time traveling as Betsy and Laura go back in time to alter events in both Eric's and Tina's lives. Then they take a trip to the future, where Betsy learns that she's not as nice a person as she'd always hoped to be. As Betsy and Laura visit past events, Betsy thoughtlessly makes some changes that will come back to haunt her.

        BOOK 10:  Undead & Undermined        

     As book two in the trilogy opens, Betsy is back from her time travels. In fact, she wakes up on a morgue table in Chicago just moments before a buzz saw hits her brain. When she eventually gets home safely (brain secure, if not totally in gear), Betsy learns the consequences of her irresponsible behavior while she and Laura were tripping through the ether on their time-traveling journey in the previous book. Betsy discovers to her horror that her own memories of past events don't match what everyone else remembers—all because Betsy couldn't help herself from making a few alterations while she was visiting the past. Betsy spends much of this book trying to get her memories to sync up with the new reality.

     Davidson reveals her reason for Betsy's reality shift on a page of quotations at the beginning of this book. She includes the definition for retroactive continuity (aka retcon), a literary device in which the author alters previously established facts in a fictional work. Authors use retcons when they want to move a story (or series) in a direction that would not be possible if earlier history remained unchanged. Here's an example of a change that shows up early in the story: Nick does not hate Betsy for biting him, because on this new time line, she never bit him. Now, he is a friend, which he never could have been in the earlier time line. The whole book is like that, with some events and characters undergoing big changes and other events and characters essentially remaining the same. In addition to working on her memory problems, Betsy is obsessed with the fear that she will become the horrible person that she saw in the future, so she needs to figure out how to prevent that. The book includes one more trip to hell for Betsy and Laura, where Betsy learns that Satan doesn't want her dead and that Laura doesn't always tell the truth.

     For me, this book was not as successful as the previous one. The sarcastic one-liners and the frenetic stream-of-consciousness quips overpowered what was already a thin plot line. All of the action takes place in the few hours after Betsy returns from her undead Chicago experience. We do have some characters who return from the dead and one who, tragically, leaves this mortal life, but in the end, Betsy is still just muddling on—as usual.

        BOOK 11:  Undead & Unstable        

     This is the final book in the time travel trilogy. As the story opens, Betsy is still reeling with grief over Marc's suicide and worrying about the fact that evil future Betsy will use Sinclair's skin to make the Book of the Dead. Once again, the story plays out over an extremely short time span that is filled mostly with Betsy's inane, repetitive, and endless stream-of-consciousness patter that emphasizes her narcissistic approach to life. For example, she never once sees or thinks about her friend Jessica without letting loose a barrage of disparaging remarks about Jessica's fat, pregnant belly. That gets old in the early chapters and excruciating by the end of the book.

     The plot follows Betsy as she dithers through a few days of her life (as usual). People keep telling her that she has to accept her responsibilities as vampire queen and do something to stop the world from ending in the manner that she and Laura witnessed during their time travel to the future. Satan and Ancient (future) Betsy keep dropping in and hinting that it's way past time for present-day Betsy to do something about all of this, and Betsy keeps dragging her feet, babbling about shoes and dogs and smoothies—anything to keep from facing reality. Honestly, if I had a 30-something friend who behaved like this, I'd drag her to therapy and/or slip her some lithium. 

     The dialogues between Betsy and her friends (Jessica, Nick/Dick, Marc [oh, yes, he's back—but in an undead form], Antonia, and Garrett) go on for pages and pages, frequently without identification markers, so I frequently had to stop and reread in order to figure out who said what (although it didn't really matter much in the long run). Sinclair's character has regressed to a cardboard pretty boy wandering in and out of scenes murmuring sweet nothings to Betsy ("my own") or to a disembodied voice in Betsy's head giving her wise counsel that she totally ignores. After a climactic scene in Hell, Betsy solves her most difficult future-related problems, but she alienates Laura in the process. 

     I used to laugh out loud as I read the earlier books in this series, but I didn't laugh once during this book. I'm disappointed in the book as a whole, and the best I can say is that at least it does resolve all of the conflict that originated back in book 9.

Barb Hendee: VAMPIRE MEMORIES

Author: Barb Hendee

Series: VAMPIRE MEMORIES
Plot Type: UF

Ratings: V-5, S-3, H-1

Publisher and Titles:  Roc

      Blood Memories (10/2008)

      Hunting Memories (10/2009)

      Memories of Envy (10/2010)

      In Memories We Fear (10/2011) 

      Ghosts of Memories (10/2012) (FINAL)

     This post was revised and updated on 11/8/12 to include a review of the fifth and FINAL book in this series: Ghosts of Memories. That review appears first, followed by an overview of the world-building and summaries and/or reviews of the first four books: 

          BOOK 5:  Ghosts of Memories          

     As the story opens, Eleisha's group is living quietly in Portland, Oregon, in an old church that they have renovated into apartments for themselves and any future vampire boarders they can find. When Wade and Seamus locate a pair of vampires in Seattle, Wade, Eleisha, and Philip head off to investigate. Meanwhile, Julian's ghostly minion, Mary, has been spying on Eleisha's church-home, and Julian is soon on their trail.

     Mary is still enraged at Julian for killing her lover, Jasper, in the previous book, but Julian has calmed her down by promising to send her back to the gray realm so that she can be reunited with Jasper. But first, Mary has to complete this job. Mary isn't sure that she believes Julian, but she does what he tells her—for awhile, at least.

     The two vampires in Seattle are Christian Lefevre and Ivory Daniels. Christian is an Elder—one of the powerful vampires that Julian is tracking down—and his gift is to be able to plant suggestions into both human and vampire minds. Christian is Ivory's sire and partner, and they travel around the country scamming rich people into believing that Julian can communicate with ghosts and make them speak through Ivory. Both he and Ivory are powerful telepaths.

     When Eleisha and her group meet up with Christian, Eleisha attempts to convince him and Ivory to return to Portland and live at the church. Christian, however, has other plans, and he begins using his gift against our team of good guys. Since this is the last book in the series, you already know that a final showdown with Julian is in the offing, but Christian's devious activities create some twists and turns in the plot line.

     This series has been so strong all the way along, that I wasn't at all worried that the final book would be any different. Unfortunately, there's one big—gigantic, really—hole in the plot that spoils everything. The reader is aware of Christian's gift because it is made quite clear early on in the story. But all of Christian's nefarious plans can work only if Eleisha and her crew don't know what he is capable of. Then, Christian allows Eleisha to read his memories, and she sees several instances in which he planted suggestions into other vampires' minds. But she doesn't seem to realize or to act on what she has seen. She is shocked by some of his memories, but she shows no sign of having seen Christian using his gift—which is impossible to believe. Eleisha is a smart woman with a deep understanding of vampiric gifts, and she has read other people's memories any number of times. There is no logical reason that she would somehow forget or not notice the power of Christian's ability to plant mental suggestions. She is already uncomfortable with him and is not sure why. So...this is a authorial manipulation that turns into a huge glitch in the logical flow of the story. I wish I could be more positive about this book, but this plot malfunction is just too big to ignore. Of course, if you've been reading the series, you'll probably still want to read it just to see what happens to Julian and to find out if everyone makes it through safely. I suggest that you get it from your local library.

          WORLD-BUILDING          

     This series comes from one of the authors of the NOBLE DEAD SAGA, but this one takes place in the present-day Pacific Northwest rather than in Medieval Europe.

     In this world, vampires originally followed four laws that helped them live as harmoniously and inconspicuously as possible among humans. Here are those laws as they are summarized in In Memories We Fear (pp. 238-239):

    1. No vampire shall kill to feed.

     2. No vampire shall make another until reaching the age of on hundred years as an undead, and no vampire shall ever make more than one companion within the span of a hundred years.

     3. No vampire shall make another without the consent of the mortal.

     4. The maker must teach the new vampire all methods of proper survival and all four of the laws in order to protect the secrecy of our kind.

     Most vampires generally have, or can develop, varying types of telepathic powers, and they use those powers to glamour the humans they feed from. Unfortunately for Julian Ashton, the series villain, his father broke vampire rule 3, and Julian was born without any psychic abilities. Therefore, he couldn't hypnotize his human prey to make them forget about his feeding, so he had to kill every one of them. The other vampires decided to kill Julian because of his inability to follow their laws, but Julian discovered their plans and killed (beheaded) most of them instead. Julian is still on the look-out for older vampires who follow and might continue to spread knowledge of the hated laws. 

     Here is Julian's tragic history in a nutshell: "One of our most trusted elders lost his reason, and he made three sons in the span of a scant few years. As a result, one of them was born unto us with no telepathic abilities at all. None. His name is Julian. He cannot follow the first law." (Memories of Envy, p. 239) 

     The story arc for the series focuses on Eleisha Clevon's search for more vampires who can be trained to feed without killing, to use their telepathic powers in a good way, and to live "underground" in the mortal world. The high rating in violence is particularly due to several graphic blood-lust scenes in Memories of Envy.

     Barb Hendee proved that she was a great story teller in her venerable series NOBLE DEAD, and she continues that tradition here. The characters are fully developed, and the action follows the trajectory that she sets in book 1: Eleisha's determination to save the vampire race by teaching them the "right" way to live amongst humans. Julian makes a fine villain, tragic in his vampiric flaws and driven by his need to eliminate all of the elder vampires who lived by laws that he could not follow. Much of each story follows the characters as they interact with one another, each coming from a different era of time and each having wildly different histories, but all looking for a family that needs them and accepts them for what they are. The sensuality level for the series is quite low because in this world, vampires feel no strong emotions and definitely don't feel passionate toward one another, that is, until Eleisha begins sharing Robert's memories, first with Philip and then with Wade.

          BOOK 1:  Blood Memories          

     The series opens with Edward, a vampire worn down by countless years of darkness, committing suicide by walking into the sun. His spectacular death draws unwelcome attention from human vampire executioners, so Edward's vampire friends, Eleisha Clevon and her ward, William Ashton, must go on the run. 

     After making a positive connection with one of the hunters (Wade Sheffield, a telepathic mortal and former police psychologist) and with two vampires from her past (Julian Ashton, a remorseless killer who is Eleisha's maker, and Philip Branté, a troubled friend), Eleisha finds her own kind of freedom.

    Early on, Eleisha doesn't know about the vampires' four rules because Julian has kept them from her, but she has the right idea about feeding, and she is ecstatic when she learns that she can feed but still leave her human prey alive. 

          BOOK 2:  Hunting Memories          
     In the second book, Eleisha, Philip, and Wade try to make a new life for themselves as they find two more vampires (Robert Brighton and Rose de Spenser) and a ghost (Seamus de Spenser, Rose's long-dead cousin), but they must always be on the alert for attacks from Julian, because Julian is still searching for any of the older vampires who may have escaped his sword. 

     Robert is definitely one of Julian's chief targets because he is 500 years old and was one of the vampires who existed back when Julian began his onslaught.

          BOOK 3:  Memories of Envy          

     In book 3, the group now consists of Eleisha, Wade, Philip, Rose, and Seamus the ghost. The plot follows the group as they become involved with Simone, a sinister female vampire who was turned in the 1920s. 

     The story lines include flashbacks to earlier parts of the vampires' lives, sometimes centuries ago. 

     Eleisha is definitely the lynch pin of her little group. Wade and Philip worry constantly about her feelings about them; Rose looks to her for protection and safety; and Seamus sees her as his leader, the one who has set them on this mission, which gives meaning to his long, cold existence.  

          BOOK 4:  In Memories We Fear           

    In this book, Eleisha's group still has the same members as in book 3: Eleisha, Wade, Philip, Rose, and Seamus the ghost. As the story begins, Wade locates evidence of a feral vampire in London, so the group sets to track him down. That feral vamp is named Maxim, and he is on a rampage, terrorizing London. 

     Julian has sent his ghost, Mary Jordane, to spy on Eleisha's group, and he plans to interrupt their plans and kill Maxim, with the assistance of Jasper Nesland, the vampire he recently created to serve him. Much of the story focuses on Maxim as Eleisha reads his memories in order to learn his history and judge his potential for rehabilitation. In the meantime, Philip and Eleisha clash when Philip decides that Maxim is not redeemable and must die. 

     Another story line focuses on Julian as he interacts with Mary and Jasper, who appear to have fallen in love with one another and are united in their fear of Julian.

    The meaning of the title goes back to book 2, Hunting Memories, when Eleisha read all of Robert's memories, which included the fact that Philip was once as feral as Maxim is now. Philip is afraid that if he allows the horrific Maxim to live, Eleisha will be reminded of how awful he was in Robert's memories and will be so revolted that she will turn her back on their developing relationship. A related plot thread has Eleisha sharing one of Robert's more pleasant and passionate memories with Philip, resulting in deeper feelings between than either of them thought possible.

Breaking News: "Fang-tastic Fiction" in the newspaper and on TV

Fang-tastic Fiction has had some great publicity this week, both in the newspaper and on television. 

On October 21st, the Elyria (OH) Chronicle-Telegram  ran a great story about the book and about the paranormal fiction program that I will be presenting at the North Ridgeville Library on Tuesday, October 26th, at 7:00 p.m. Here's a link to that interview.

On October 22nd, the ABC-TV affiliate in Cleveland (Channel 5) did an interview, which appeared on their "Live on 5" program. Here's a link to that interview.