Intent on revenge William preys upon those he holds responsible for his disfigurement, until he stumbles across something odd. Rather than finding a man and a call boy having a good time in the hotel room the boy is having blood removed in a dazed state. Curious, he sits with the man and hears his far-fetched story about being essentially a vampire, but not like the traditional ones. They live for long periods but are not immortal, can go in the sun, and each has their own unique set of powers that increase when they are better fed. Still, to believe this man the entirety of history as it is known is a lie and was instead guided by this kind.
I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. You may notice that the last review I wrote was also by Morton Leader. I promise you this was not by design. In fact, the writing styles between the two books differ so greatly that I didn't think to check the author at any point up till writing this review.
The book started off on a weak point, in my opinion, and I almost stopped reading. We start by seeing a cult-like church protesting LGBTQ+ which results in someone throwing a Molotov cocktail into the cab of a truck, seemingly killing a very young boy who didn't want to be there in the first place. Who shouldn't have been there. From there the book picks up where the boy is now an adult and is exacting his revenge on those he feels is responsible for his disfigurement. The rolling of the eyes here is real.
Still, because of this we are able to meet the true main character of the book Marcus and hear his story. While the book takes place in the United States there are a lot of British terms within the book as well as multiple scenes in other countries. Not only as Marcus tells the story of not only himself, but his people, but also as we meet up with others and find how they reached the point Marcus was not present for.
This book is a dark fantasy and is not without merit once you get past that first chapter. I went from hating the book and being completely over it to enjoying it by the time it was all said and done. Can't say I agree with how the book ended, but you will see what I mean there for yourself.
I've complained about the bad, but really it wasn't prevalent. Marcus is a creature with an unusually large lifespan that has vampire-like qualities. However, their weaknesses are very different. Take enough damage they die. Salt water will melt them. And they can die of old age. They are born only and cannot be made. Unique, but interesting. Salt water was a bit weird, though.
We see different viewpoints throughout the book from those of his kind wanting to help humans advance in exchange for blood, those wanting to rule over humans and take what they want, and Marcus who just wants to co-exist peacefully. A you live your life and I'll live mine mentality. With how this book started it is surprising there is anyone with that mentality in this book, but I digress.
We hear about multiple points in history (most of which American readers won't recall unless you are a foreign history buff-of which I am not) that are not quite like the books tell us. Instead it is described how these events came to pass through more supernatural means. Humans are often the "bad guys" in this book as they are frequently the aggressors. Not saying that the group who wanted to use humans as cattle was in the right, however, I find it hard to believe it would have gotten to that point if the humans hadn't treated them as slaves to do their bidding for so long.
This book is available on Kindle Unlimited or buy it on Amazon for $3.94 by clicking here.
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