Kristopher Norris

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Right out of the gate I have to say that the title is a bit misleading, but I can't say how without dropping too many clues about the story and its resolution (at least this book's resolution - who knows what will happen in future installments). Don't judge this story by its title alone, as you would be doing both it and yourself an injustice.

The story opens with our not so lovable protagonist Vincent Black sitting in a casino in Vegas, at a blackjack table of all places. And his is winning, lots. It is here that he is first approached by William, a member of The Guild. Though of course he has no idea who or what the Guild is, yet.

The next time Vincent meets William is in his own house, when he wakes to finds William calmly sitting in a chair in his bedroom. Between the bullets he sends flying toward William and the story William tells him, Vincent's life has just changed radically, though again he has yet to understand just how deep this change is going to be.

He flies to England with William, Terry, and Carmen. Both Terry and Carmen are hitters like himself, though they call themselves hunters since they only hunt vampires, not humans. All of which Vincent thins is total BS until he meets his first vampire.

Within a week of being in England, where the Guild is busily trying to recruit him to their cause, Vincent and his new 'friends' are attacked by four vampires. The strangest part of the attack isn't that Vincent takes out some of the vamps without freezing, and thereby saving their drivers life, but that he knew the vampires were attacking before they actually did, and he knew exactly how many of them there were, again before the fight began. Though he saved the driver from the vampire that had pulled him through the windshield, no one even saw William get abducted.

Shortly after regrouping at estate Vincent puts two and two together and realizes that Carmen is William's daughter. This causes him to feel badly for her, something he is not experienced with. Always a loner, coming from some sort of very messed up background, Vincent is struggling with the feelings of friendship is having for both Terry and Carmen. For Carmen the feelings are running deeper than friendship, and it is a two-way street that is making them both happy and uncomfortable at the same time.

From here the story takes an unexpected turn, and new allies and alliances are formed as everyone begins to prepare for what looks to be an all-out war between several groups. Vincent and team must decide which side they will back, and once they do things really start to move, including the work that Vincent does with his new allies. It seems that Vincent is either a witch, necromancer, or something similar, as he has several powers similar to vampires, and he has bucket-loads of raw power. He is even strong enough to hold the stare of a three thousand year old Master vampire without coming under his sway.

This is a fascinating look at the world of vampires and humans, and all of their similarities and differences. It gets a bit challenging at times as the story is told solely from Vincent's POV, and sometimes he is just thinking to himself, but other times he is specifically talking to the reader, and there aren't many cues to let the reader know when he is switching between his 'voices.' Otherwise it is an enjoyable read (a few typos, but that happens to pretty much everyone), with a nice blend of scene-setting, action, and character development. I'll be watching for the sequel!… (altro)