Tag: vampire

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#BookReview: Ephraim’s Awakening by David McAfee

Stunning Return Has Me Absolutely Enraptured. I’ve been talking about McAfee’s 33AD and its resultant Bachiyr series for (nearly?) 15 yrs now. I found it back then because Amazon was insistent on recommending it to me in my early Kindle era, and eventually I picked it up… and was immediately hooked. Opening in the titular year with a vampire assassin killing another vampire who had become a believer in this charismatic rabbi from Nazareth and having a Roman centurion stumble into the aftermath, I was immediately hooked. To this day, I’ve never seen any other vampire tale done quite like this, and I’ve never seen any other historical fiction tale done quite like this either. It was a perfect combination of both, and I’ve been a fan of McAfee ever since.

But something happened over the next few years, and by the time I met him circa 2016, he had already stopped writing, even though I’d been recommending his books to basically anyone who had ears. Seriously, over the years I think I’ve recommended 33AD more than I’ve recommended any book from any author not named Jeremy Robinson – who, incidentally, designed the cover for 33AD that has remained all these years.

So for roughly a decade now I’ve been begging and teasing McAfee to write again. At all.

And y’all… this is the result of that begging and teasing.

WE FINALLY GET NEW BACHIYR CONTENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, this is just a 14 page short story that could well have been expanded into its own trilogy. The opening scene alone would have been an extremely worthy of its own full novel – and thus I need y’all to read this book, and then the Bachiyr series as a whole if you haven’t yet – and help me convince McAfee of this.

But as a “reintroduction” that also fills in at least some of the gap and sets the stage for the opening of 33AD, this is truly a tremendous effort that does exactly that.

And then there is even more recently written lore that McAfee has shown me, but I’m not sure when or in what form he will release *that*. I for one was even more impressed with that bit than this short story – and this short story is *AWESOME* in and of itself.

So read this short story. Contact McAfee via his Substack or whatever other mechanisms he establishes in his re-emergence. Beg him both to expand the opening scene here into a full novel and to *keep writing* this time. Because he is truly talented and this is a spin on vampire lore that blurs the edges of so many different genres that it is truly interesting in so many ways, and it has always been fun to try to guess what the next year/ event would be in this series. I truly did not expect him to ever go where he did in the opening scene of this story, and I’m so very glad we got even a scene there. But I absolutely want to see that entire story, and I need your help to get it.

Very much recommended. Obviously. 😉

PS: Speaking to McAfee further, I’ve learned that the additional lore is actually included in his newsletter on Substack. You’re going to want to sign up, because it is really good.

This review of Ephraim’s Awakening by David McAfee was originally written on April 27, 2026.

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#BookReview: Hera’s Lament by Shaun Griffin

Unforced Errors Leave Bitter Aftertaste In Otherwise Solid Conclusion. It seems like every book in this trilogy, Griffin seeks to explore almost an entirely separate genre of books… all while telling what is essentially a scifi vampire story.

Here, we get into a near-dystopia, where in the fallout from Book 2, Faith has been unleashing the vampire virus all across America in an attempt to lure Anastasia out.

And yet again, the story absolutely works. We get a lot of excellent vampire action, we get the expected human soldiers, we get human tech trying to give humans an edge on the vampires, truly all of the expected stuff one typically sees in a book like this, done particularly well within this story.

Along the way, we even get some strong character growth from both Faith and Anastasia, which is always awesome to see.

Indeed, as a conclusion to this trilogy, this book was *nearly* perfect. But there are a couple of elements in the last 10% or so that give a bitter aftertaste, and at least one of the two was absolutely unforced – preachy politics that had no real place anywhere in this story.

The other… to avoid spoilers, I have to be a bit circumspect in describing, so allow me to mention that I tell a particular story often, I think I may have mentioned it in a review here or there, that I once read another trilogy specifically because its last book was getting *DESTROYED* in the reviews over the ending. All I can say here is that my thoughts on the ending of that trilogy and this one… well, there are reasons I say this one leaves a bitter aftertaste. As an action sequence, it was actually rather badass. But did it work for that character as portrayed to that point? How about you, oh reader of my review, read this trilogy and tell us in your own review whether you think I’m off base here.

Still, truly, truly excellent work on this entire trilogy and even this book itself. Easily one of the best vampire trilogies I’ve ever read, right up there with David McAfee’s Bachiyr series and *well* above that fucking sparkling “vampire” one. Is it Stoker? No. But is it an awesome, gory thrill ride with some interesting twists on the overall lore? Absolutely.

Very much recommended.

This review of Hera’s Lament by Shaun Griffin was originally written on March 13, 2025.

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#BookReview: Hera’s Scream by Shaun Griffin

Series Second Sets Up Spectacular Climax. Seriously, this book does its job as the second book in a trilogy really quite well, resolving many of the lingering threads from Book 1 while furthering certain other threads and setting up what should truly be one *epic* climax in Book 3. Here, Griffin manages to tie up a lot of the loose ends from Book 1, maybe by stepping away from the hard boiled noir a touch and leaning a touch more into the more scifi/ action elements, but while remaining true to the world created in Book 1.

And then that ending.

DAYUM even I wish I already had Book 3 in my hands, and I’m pretty sure that as I write this review on December 6, 2024, Griffin is still *writing* said book. 🙂

Truly one of the better trilogies to come out in 2024-2025, and very much recommended.

This review of Hera’s Scream by Shaun Griffin was originally written on December 6, 2024.

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#BookReview: The Vampire’s Valet by Kent Holloway

Stoker Meets Doyle With A Touch Of The MCU Approach. If you love the non-sparkly, dark, horrific, brooding, *evil* vampire lore… you’re gonna love this book. If you love the Sherlock Holmes type detective tale, perhaps with a more solo “beat people until they give you answers” Batman/ Jack Reacher type bent… you’re gonna love this book. If you like MCU style storytelling with a shared universe with lots of different well known characters… you’re gonna love this book.

Here, Holloway clearly shows that he too is a massive fan of all of the above, and he uses his skills as a writer to manage to combine elements of each into a cohesive tale that works both on its own and works to set up a “League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” type saga. At just under 300 pages, this isn’t the shortest book out there, but it provides just enough… *ahem* red meat *ahem*… to tell its tale well without overstaying its welcome (a danger, with these types of characters, just sayin) and while effectively both satisfying the reader of this tale and leaving them wanting a subsequent tale in this shared universe.

Meaning the book did its job on all fronts, and did them all well.

Now I just need y’all to fall in love with this book and start preaching its wonders so we can see how far Holloway can take it. 😉

Very much recommended.

This review of The Vampire’s Valet by Kent Holloway was originally written on August 7, 2024.

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#BookReview: Hera’s Curse by Shaun Griffin

Fascinating Blend Of Rare/ Unique Spin On Vampire Lore With Action. This is one of those debut books you don’t get very often at all, one where very nearly everything within it works to perfection to make you want that next book… ummm… now please. We get an almost Without Remorse by Tom Clancy storyline going on… that quickly transitions to include vampires. Except when we get into the vampire lore of this particular tale… it isn’t the usual stuff. Griffin has taken some usual concepts and worked them his own way, adding his own touches along the way, and produced a very different and very intriguing take on the idea.

And yes, like any book claiming to be a noir, we get the hard boiled detective and his storyline connecting pretty well everything in the book as well.

But then, surprise… *more* interesting developments of a type not often seen these days in particular, used late in perhaps a bit of a rush… but apparently meant to setup a rather explosive Book 2.

The last third of this book in particular, you’re going to be racing through, breathless as you can’t wait to see what happens next…

And then that tease of an ending, in the most delicious ways. Yes, this book does its primary purpose of making you want the *next* one quite well, so let’s all help this debut author know that we want to get that next book ASAP… go buy the book already, read it, and help spread the word!

Very much recommended.

This review of Hera’s Curse by Shaun Griffin was originally written on May 31, 2024.

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#BookReview: Ghost Walk by Pandora Pine

Great Continuation – With An Intriguing Twist On Vampires. This is Book 9 of this particular spinoff series and something around book 30 or so of the overall universe, so if you’re particularly sensitive to any remote spoilers of previous books… you don’t want to start here (but should absolutely read this entire excellent universe). If you’re just looking for a good story with a decent entry point and don’t mind reading previous books to get the details on what you’ve missed so far… this is an *excellent* story to start with. Many/ most of the characters from the overall universe make an appearance here, particularly the recurring ones, and the usual hijinks of a police procedural-ish tale unfold. Though with seemingly more pop-culture references this time around, including an excellent chapter-closing line about going off to an interview with a vampire. And yes, there actually is a remarkable twist on the overall vampire mythos, along with some excellent commentary about said mythos to boot. Truly an excellent work and very much recommended.

This review of Ghost Walk by Pandora Pine was originally written on September 15, 2020.