November 2000 by Mosaic Press
Paperback, 171 pages
Review Copy
Book Synopsis
In this collection of stories by Nancy Kilpatrick, Canada's Queen of the Undead, we are exposed to the secret world of vampires. These stories reflect the dark side of humanity including our desires for passion, longevity, power, creativity and control. (Goodreads)
Review
Today Ill be reviewing two books from author Nancy Kilpatrick and Ill begin with my favorite of the two, The Vampire Stories of Nancy Kilpatrick. Well written, diverse and disturbing can sum up these delicious tales of blood, horror and nastiness. Each story which showcased a different element of the Vampire brought new and fresh ideas some Ive never read before, some very well done and some a little to violent for my tastes. I liked the way the stories were broken into different themes appealing to all genres of literature including mysteries, historical, scary, dramatic and erotic tales. The historical tales became fast favorites while most of the erotic (I did enjoy Dark Seduction) and the Bat Tales I could do without. I think what made this collection stand out as a whole was how evenly detailed and nicely put together the stories were. I felt in some I seriously connected with the main character like that of Ronee Sue in Leesville, Louisiana or Armand in Dark Seduction. While reading I never felt left hanging or had missed out on a back story. In Memory of.....a tale from the wife of Bram Stoker, reflecting on her past lover was my favorite out the book along with The Mountain Waits, a dark tale of a small village with a weird habit the night before Halloween sure to send a few chills down your spine.........
A very interesting and entertaining group of stories for any vampire lover out there!
Rating
Very graphic in all areas including explicit sexuality, graphic violence, language, frightening elements and massive amounts of adult content including: depression, murder, demon spawns, things that make you go wow that was gross, gore, blood and intense brooding.
2.5/4- Vampires-Horror
October 2000 by Baskerville Books
Paperback, 276 pages
Review Copy
Book Synopsis
It's London, England, in the 1960s and anything goes. Julien has been around for almost 500 years, and most of that time he's been alone. To Jeanette, in her shallow world, Julien is just another man to be manipulated. Two of the most popular characters in the vampire series "Power of the Blood" meet in this novel of passion and violence, intrigue and revenge......(GoodReads)
Review
The one thing about Nancy Kilpatrick with this being my third taste of her work, she defiantly is a talented writer and the many sides of Nancy show a very eclectic personality in horror writing, unfortunately for me Bloodlover showed a side that just didn't sugar my cornflakes.
Jeannette and Julien are lovers in early London 1960, the two spend most of the novel trying to outdo and one up each other. Although some aspects of their relationship at times were entertaining I found most of their relationship unbelievable. The characters go through an epic journey without really going anywhere, the mind games, betrayals and emotional turmoil that conflict them make up for the lack of travel. I think what was hard for me to connect with and really get into the story was all the overly done descriptions and details of the book. I think the countless number of trivial information about the historical setting took away from the story trying to be told. The one thing I did see in Kilpatrick's writing was the use of over dramatic themes. I think her flair for drama adds a unique touch to her vampires. Although Bloodlover was not for me, many vampire lovers, especially those who like timepieces will appreciate this book.
Rating
Bloodlover is recommended to adult readers only, extremely graphic in sex, language and violence. Also touches on betrayals, jealousy, domination, gore, blood and murder.
1.5/4- Vampires-Horror
Thank you to McArthur & Company for both Review Copies
5 comments:
Nancy Kilpatrick is a superb writer! Thanks for these reviews.
I like horror so I might just have to pick up this author's work. Blood, gore, betrayal and vampires? Count me in.
i love Vampire books i can never get anuff of them.
sasluvbooks(at)yahoo.com
Excellent reviews! I especially agree with your take on Bloodlover- there were times when other vampires were talking and telling their life stories and I remember thinking, who is this guy and why is he talking? I got the point that they had been around a long time and had seen a lot of cruelty and bad things but I didn't think it really advanced the story at all.
Both great reviews, I'm a vamp fan!
I’ve got an award for you, here.
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