Däm'Um: Song of the Vam P?r's Blood Junky
The One Blood Series Book One
Stavros
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Publisher: Crazy Duck Press (CDP)
Date of Publication: September 2010
ISBN: 9780982812112
Number of pages: 384
Cover Artist: Stavros
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Book Description:
"Nothing is easier than self-deceit. For what each man wishes, than he also believes to be true."
- Demosthenes
As the first book in the epic One Blood Series, Blood Junky sets the stage to an original tale of vampires. Culled from over 15 years of research and development, the book is an easy introduction into the vibrant and realistic world of vampirism that Stavros has crafted. More of a psychological thriller, Blood Junky spans the globe, telling a unique tale of obsession from two distinct time periods in the life of the main character, Linnet Pevensey.
Blood Junky's lyrical fiction is flawlessly woven with historically accurate places, people, and events, which is just one of the reasons why the book has been called "one of the best vampire novels ever written…I think that this one has the potential to become a new classic in the genre." (Lori Bowland; LivingDeadMedia.com Review: 2011) Blood Junky establishes new pathos and mythos for the immortal bloodsucker that present a more logical, and scientifically plausible, reality for how vampires could truly exist. Though each book of the One Blood series was conceived as part of an ever-widening, ever-increasing story line, Blood Junky is self-contained and can be read independently.
Linnet Pevensey is 256 years old, and she's feeling every inch of it. Besieged by a wall of painful memories, longing for simpler times, she's secluded herself off from the world. Lin's roommate, Z, is unpredictable. A century-old vampire whose blood parasite has begun its last cycle, she is enthralled in every possible way to avoid the here and now. And fate is moving them both toward clandestine events.
Ryan Silva is a good looking, soulful songbird that has never had a problem getting any girl he's ever wanted. That is…until he met Z. But getting the alluring punk's attention is proving more difficult than he'd ever imagined. Seduced by desires to have Z feed from him, Ryan's lines of reality blur, locking him on a downward spiral that threatens to destroy, not just his soul, but his very life if he does not stop stalking the vampires.
Dominique De'Paul, the freed blood slave of the ancient race, is unsure if she'll be able to stop the tides of war and its inevitable genocide that have come knocking at her door. She can't hide from the fact that her Children of Evensong are in peril! And the clock is running out! An emissary from the African warrior tribe has been dispatched to discern Mother Night's threat to the human race, and it looks as if her darling Linnet will be sacrificed to the man's passions in order to save her precious brood.
Weaving through the consciousness of time, between past and present, this uniquely intense journey of obsession & love travels the globe from modern day Los Angeles to the bygone eras of London, Tangiers, Africa, and the exotic lands of São Paulo, Brazil. Blood Junky is the first installment to an elaborate voyage of redemption, and the history of our world.
Praise for Blood Junky
"One of the best vampire novels ever written!"
-Lori Bowland, Living Dead Media.com
"I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book. I couldn't put it down."
-Denise F. Gowen-Krueger, "Paranormal Investigator", MI.
"Finally, vampires are awesome again!"
-Howard Wendell, MD. 5 out 5 Star Amazon Review
"Mythology is totally original and fascinating."
-Tara Hall, The blood Crossed Writer - VA.
"I was reading so diligently, I bit my own tongue!"
-Ryan Parson - Badmoon Productions.
"Captivating! Kept me up until 3am. I just couldn't set it down."
-Maria Barth, Long Beach, MD.
"A delicious new twist on vampires."
-Dan Mahoney, Washington DC
"It kept me on the edge of my seat!"
-Paula Atkins, Denver, CO.
"I already predict that the endearingly sociopathic punk vampire "Z" will give Rice's much beloved Lestat, (a long time favorite of mine), a run for his money as this series unfolds."
-Leigh-Cheri, Franklin, TN.
"I love Z! She's so spunky and fun. I love the contrast between her and Lin, its amazing how they've stayed together for so long - they're like the vampiric odd couple!"
-Tina Losh, Baltimore, MD
"This is not your typical Vampire novel, and Stavros is not your typical writer. This story has layers."
-Paula S. - Prince Frederick, MD
"All Hail Blood Junky!!!!!"
-Ashley Nichole Ramirez, Aberdeen, MD
"Originality is a true feat to achieve in a genre that has recently become uber trendy to the point of banality. Blood Junky may be his first published book, but as his biography attests, (writer, musician, poet, photographer, painter, graphic designer, and award winning filmmaker), Stavros is no neophyte in the arena of creative endeavors; the sheer magnitude and cohesiveness of this work is a testament to a craft well-honed."
-Leigh-Cheri, Franklin, TN.
"As the pages turn, each paragraph overflows with vivacious and seductive description, the reader cannot resist being pulled onto the page."
-Lauren Donahoo - Fairfax, VA
"The writing is gorgeous. You don't see writing like this anymore. It's classically lyrical; robust and packed full of metaphors."
-Tara Hall, The blood Crossed Writer - VA
"This is vampire literature how it used to be, and how it should be again."
-Tara Hall, The blood Crossed Writer - VA.
"Stavros brings fresh life and punk vibrancy to the Vampire genre with this tale of two strong women caught in the longstanding tradition of a mysterious and powerful dynasty. Blood Junky mixes the world of the cultured and restrained with the hedonistic, misguided, and sometimes violent lost souls coming to terms with their dark powers. Getting to know the striking Dominique De'Paul and the beautiful Linnet Pevensey as their lives entwine down through the centuries is pure pleasure."
-Carol A. Russell, Writer and Editor
"This novel has a distinct style which can be characterized as being like a very rich dessert. It's like crème brulee on a literary level."
-Lori Bowland, Living Dead Media.com
"Stavros has created a very unique realm where vampires and science fiction meet head-on. Purchasing Blood Junky and adding this book to anyone's book shelf is a must!!"
-Amy J. Ramsey, Ramsey's Reviews. 5 out of 5 Stars.
"Essential Reading"
- Horror Snark Review, March 21st
Excerpt:
Z let Manuel drop the e-pill onto her outstretched tongue. It wasn't the first time that he saw her teeth, the protruding fang-like canines. He thought her obsession with vampires was a bit trendy. Blasé even. He never considered the possibility that they weren't retrofitted Halloween memorabilia. It never really crossed his mind to ask her about them either. The two of 'em were always too busy dancing, or drinking; partying until dawn. Everyone's a freak, thought Manuel. Who am I to judge? The only thing that mattered was…getting freaky.
Manuel could handle freaks. He fit right in; snuggled like a tight- fitting condom. From his close-cropped, blond dyed hair with its tufts of color shooting out in long plumes like a peacock all the way down to his platform shoes and leather underwear, which he hoped some classic built sailor was going to be pulling off with his teeth tonight. Manuel always felt at home with the misfits. It was all the normal people that worried him. All the Regular Joes, the common shopper folk, out there turning the world into a shithole, building a better bomb; they were the ones that were going to kill him. They were the ones that just didn't get it.
The lights of the disco gyrated like a spinning top. A heavy bass pulse triturated. Z couldn't stop moving, even if she wanted too. And she didn't want to. She felt the tablet of ecstasy melt on her tongue and felt the angry twinge of pain from her blood parasite within. She figured the thing should have been used to her excessive alcohol and drug use by now. Fuck it if it wasn't. She fed it. And she fed it well. All the in-between moments were hers and hers to do with as she damned well pleased.
It pleased Z to dance. To dance among the crushing throng of the living, wrapped in their luxurious warmth, their collective heat. She moved among them soaking up the vivacious energy. She let them press upon her a vivid impression of living so that she could become like a Phoenix, an imitation of life, and rise to the top of the heap a perfected being of the curse, a reflecting pool of radiant, effervescent energy, bristling on the edge of possibility. So that she could dive into this humid sea of flesh without losing control. Z twirled. She let the music take her like a lover, place its hands on her hips, and drive her inhibitions wild. Her teeth twittered on edge. She was on the verge of some pure movement that her limbs had never concocted before.
That guy to my left, behind the chatty brunette, is still watching me. Z loved it when someone watched her. She was a divine spectacle of brilliance. A thunderclap of god light. They should all fuckin' watch me! Z's amazing. They should bow down to my every whim. Submit to my devilish merriment. Bow. Bow. Bow. Her thoughts echoed to the beat as she cut her sway into a sensual, syncopated rhythm. Her hands slowly traversed the landscape of her undulating body. She imagined that she knew what Eve felt like on the night that she seduced Adam. She felt her snake coiling along the curves of her spine, down past the small of her back, to those two luscious mounds of her perfectly formed ass. Z embraced the stranger's eyes as if they were kisses. She reveled in the fact that if he was going to watch her…then she was damn sure gonna give him a show!
My Review:
I was given a free copy of the book from the author for my honest opinion.
Linnet is thinking of Queen Elizabeth I. with her having all that power and the commander of armies and having power to rule over a country and make new laws if she so desired but yet she could not take a lover to her bed without disgracing her country. She is thinking what is the propose of having all that power if you could not be happy yourself. You can please all these people but not yourself. What is wrong with this picture? Linnet compared it to a cigarette saying what good is a cigarette if you don't have a lighter? I know that there is a difference in the times but still. I say no matter where you are from or what time you are from you should still treat everyone the same. We are all one. I say treat the lady with respect albeit the same respect you would anyone else but don't follow the lady around wanting to know her every move. In this day and time isn't there a law against that? One that is called stalking? I know I know I am getting off subject here sorry.
Linnet's only brother, William had died of consumption the year before she was born. All of her life Linnet lived in the spotlight of a brother that she never knew. She was more or less blamed for his death. I can just image what was said in her home by her parents no less. They were probably always putting her down for the things she did. It probably never matter if she always did thing to perfection it was probably never good enough for her parents. She was probably made to feel like a disappointment to her parents and no matter how hard she tried she could never please them. In their eyes she would never be good enough all because she was female and not male. But that was how it was in her day and to an extinct is still that way even today.
Nsia had spent years studying the Vam Pyr race and tracking down Dominique. He wanted to talk to her about the war that he believed was brewing between their races. Nsia's grandfather was one of the ones years ago that helped start a treaty of sorts between the two spices that would keep the peace. The Vamps would not go around attacking humans and the humans would not hunt down vamps and kill them for no reason. But Nsia thought that after all these years that the vamps of this generation did not know or did not care about the agreement made with his grandfather. Or maybe something has was going on with the vamps causing them to break the agreement. It could just as well been the humans that was causing all the problems. Nsia just wanted to find out the truth and put a stop to it. Nsia like his grandfather thought the two races could live in harmony if they both chose to do so. Nsia wants to find out all he can about the different Vam Pyr races. He needs to find a way to stop the war that may be coming. He just wants to keep the peace between the two species.
Blood Junky is unlike any vampire book I have ever read before. I liked how it went from one time period to the other telling each ones story. It told of Linnet's life before she became a vampire. Blood Junky is also a story of how three people loved and cared for each other very much. Linnet loved Nsia and Dominique both very much but each in her own way and even in different ways too but she loved both of them. If you are looking for a book about vampires that is different than any you have read so far then I highly recommended Blood Junky.
Däm'Um: Song of the Vam P?r's Love in Vein
The One Blood Series Book Two
Stavros
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Publisher: Crazy Duck Press (CDP)
Date of Publication: August 2011
ISBN: 9780982812174
Number of pages: 454
Cover Artist: Stavros
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Book Description:
"Love is a serious mental disease"
- Plato, 428 BC - 348 BC
When one's life is long, the opportunity for sin is great. How great, then, are the sins of a vampire strung to the wheel of fate?
This is the driving question that consumes the continuing saga from the critically-acclaimed novel, Blood Junky. Beginning just mere hours after the last page of Blood Junky has turned with "some of the best vampiric characters ever written in a novel," (Lori Bowland; LivingDeadMedia.com, 2011) Stavros takes the story to new heights. Love in Vein is a tale of crime and consequence, of love and sacrifice, intricately woven with real historic events. Set amidst gorgeous southwestern landscapes, a seemingly innocuous journey unravels a tapestry of events that threatens to crush the lives of all who are stitched into fate's delicate skein.
Linnet Pevensey is a two hundred and fifty-six-year-old Child of Evensong. Plagued by the memories of a horrific sandstorm in 1934 and the brutal murder of an entire farming village, she has been locked into returning to the scene of the crime every decade looking for redemption. With the wild, violent, and unpredictable century-old vampire Z joining Lin on her ritual, the two lost souls have wreaked havoc in their own right, killing and burning their feed sites, to cover their tracks, when Lin feels the pull to return to that northeastern corner of New Mexico.
Now, as they barrel down the road to that hallowed site, pursued by two Arizona homicide detectives, Lin finds hope for her salvation in the form of a young medical student named Sarah Somers. But Sarah is more than just a stranger that Lin has met along the way. She is the spitting image of one of the slain villagers from the massacre that haunts the vampire.
Sarah's uncanny resemblance to the murdered woman draws Lin into a deep emotional journey of karma and lies. She abandons her long time friend for the young woman, causing unsettling repercussions that pits her very soul against her dark vampiric nature.
Will Lin risk her sanity to save the girl that destiny has re-birthed for her, or will she become the monster that she has always feared?
As with each book of the One Blood Series, it was conceived as part of an ever-widening, ever-increasing story line, but is self-contained and can be read independently. Love in Vein is a pulse-pounding horror novel fueled with an adrenaline-induced joyride on the wrong side of night!
Praise for Love in Vein
"Attn Vamp Lit Lovers - Finally a writer on par with Anne Rice."
- Crystal Gimesh, TN
"I cannot wait to dive into this book - I have a girl crush on Z:-)"
- Crystal Gimesh, TN
From Lori Bowland, LivingDeadMedia.com:
"Once again the author creates a superior universe filled with an entirely new culture of vampires."
"In the previous novel, I compared 'Blood Junky' to a very rich dessert, but 'Love In Vein' is a full course meal. The series is a gift for those that love vampire fiction."
"It has some of the best vampiric characters ever written in a novel."
"Vampire novels of the past have included some very formulaic visions of simple blood exchange. Yes, there is an exchange of blood but this series adds more to the basic scheme. It breaks many molds and expectations of this being another generic story of immortal bloodsuckers. This series and more directly this novel is comparable with, and at times, surpasses the 'Vampire Chronicles' by Anne Rice."
Excerpt:
Sergeant John Wallace walked atop the charred rubble of the Priyaranjan's convenience store. The acrid smoke and false campfire smell couldn't cover up the scent of burnt human remains. Putrid.
"Hhrrmm," grumbled the leathery faced Sergeant as he stepped on a pair of melted sunglasses.
The whole thing had an all too familiar vibe tugging at the pit in his gut.
"M.O. appears the same," affirmed Lieutenant Mauldune as she stepped up to the veteran police detective in her smart shoes, holding her notebook open. "An accelerant was used, localized near the bodies; ignited for maximum incineration. Fire spread outward from the register. Most likely something from the store." She flipped her notebook shut and surveyed the grim remains. "We'll get the full report in a few days and know for sure."
"It's them," Wallace uttered from a stern face. "Got their stink all over it." "If so," the detective announced. "Then that means they're back." "Apparently." Wallace picked up a piece of burnt wood that used to be a part of the building's roof.
"If they continue the pattern like last time," the Lieutenant declared, "that means they're heading East."
The bitter sergeant tossed the charred piece of wood completely unlike skipping stones across the ocean's surface. It landed with a tiny clank. Two ambulance attendants walked past them carrying the well- done husk of one of the two men that were trapped in the fire. Wallace's eyes dropped to the black plastic body bag. Its filled folds were all too familiar. Wallace lifted his gaze to the Indian woman crying with her daughter, arm-in-arm, just outside of the police line. They don't need to see this.
"Poor bastard," he muttered.
Lieutenant Mauldune looked up from the body bag to her partner. She wasn't with Phoenix Metro when Wallace worked a similar scene where his nephew, Stephen, was killed in exactly the same way. From what she learned around the water cooler Wallace found out for certain that it was his nephew in the blaze from the Medical Examiner's report. Hell of a way to learn that you just lost kin. Kate empathized with the man, but couldn't even begin to understand what he must be going through right now, reliving that horror. His eyes were like two glassy steel bars of rancor. They'd gotten word about the fire over the radio. John went stark white and quiet and didn't tell her where he was driving until they were almost there. He had more years and experience with Phoenix than she did, but she had the rank. In the small town from where she'd transferred she had risen quickly through the department from a few lucky busts. She'd reached the glass ceiling there and wanted something more. A bit of excitement, really. Coming to the big city, working with the seasoned grumbler, gave her more all right. John had seen enough of the brutal underbelly of humanity to make him cold, make him blow jurisdiction to trek all the way to Bullhead City on a hunch.
From what little she knew of the case ten years ago, the Sergeant's nephew and two others were murdered at work. A possible robbery or drug connection to one of the other victims was pursued. Each of the casualties had their throats torn out and the convenience store was burned to destroy evidence. The killers were never brought to justice. That kind of unanswered crime was just the kind of thing that kept gnawing at a man if he let it. Could consume him if he wasn't strong enough. The Sergeant was never one to get too carried away with his feelings or even talk like he had them. But Kate knew they were there. She knew he was feeling something. That his stomach had to be pulling itself into tiny balls and knots about now.
"Maybe it's not even them," she tried offering an alternative view. "Maybe-"
"It's them."
Ignoring the Lieutenant, he walked back to the car. Mauldune sighed and looked at the black ground feeling stupid and followed him to the unmarked police cruiser. She had to do it. He couldn't button himself up like this. He was a big man, had the years on the force. He knew the score.
"You know it's not our concern, Sarge?" she hollered after him. "Locals got the lead on this and if you're right, they're outta State by now. Federal Jurisdiction. The Chief is all ready to haul our keisters in a sling for breaching city limits. "
"Hhhrrmm."
The Sergeant opened the driver side door and glanced up at the sky. He took a long minute staring at those slow moving Arizona clouds and felt cool breezes brush over him lightly. He pulled a grim face down and looked at the women who'd just lost their husband and father speaking with one of Bullhead City's finest. John thought about the look on his sister's face when he told her about Stephen and how she and her husband held one another as he delivered the news - two lonely souls adrift in a sea of pain. The Indian women held each other in the exactly same manner now.
"Kate," he said after a time. "You're a good cop. You don't want nothin' to do with this."
"Sarge?" she pleaded with him.
He only raised his eyebrows, saying to her in his silent reproach, 'I'm not letting these sick fucks get away with it again.' He slid behind the steering wheel.
"Sarge..." He had to see reason!
He leaned across the seat. "You can get a ride from one of the other units."
Damn him! A ball formed in Kate Mauldune's chest. She knew what he was going to do. He was going to run off, be all cavalier and John Wayne, and bring in the two suspects that he'd been gunning for since his nephew Stephen had been senselessly murdered. It was macho and bullheaded, and she knew he knew it. And worse yet, she knew he didn't give a damn. This was exactly the kind of thing that she was hoping to avoid when she found out the circumstances of their two-hour drive across the desert. The Chief is going to hand him his ass if I let him do this. Against her better judgement Mauldune opened the passenger side door and slid into the seat and confronted Wallace's hardened gaze. She stammered, nervous like a June fly, and then heard a different set of words tumble from her mouth than what she had planned to say. To her own surprise, Kate uttered, "Let's do it."
Wallace just stared at her. "Hhrrmmm?"
She stared back, but didn't growl. Any second now and she'd loose her nerve. She wished that he'd just start the car and get going. Kate closed her door and sealed the deal as a handful of codes and regulations that they were about to break flitted through her head. Wallace fired up the unmarked ride and together they set off like some great cowboy movie across the plains of a southwestern sky.
My Review:
I was given a free copy of the book from the author for my honest opinion.
Linnet and Z are on their way to New Mexico one of many road trips that they often make. Linnet is not always thrilled with these road trips seeing how Z is always the culprit for these little rides. But it is Linnet's car so she goes a long for the ride. But this is one trip that Linnet makes every year. Linnet goes back to the place where the storm happened in New Mexico every year. Linnet is such a good person that she always has a hard time saying no to Z or anybody for that matter. Linnet feels real bad for Z since she found out that Z's blood parasite is dying. She lets her get away with anything.
I enjoyed reading the new twist on vampires about their Jadaraa Soo which is a blood parasite. This blood parasite lives under the skin of the vampires and is always hungry for blood. The Jadaraa Soo is a whole new twist on the vampire genre for me. I have not read any other book that even speaks of a blood parasite or even a Jadaraa Soo, although the Jadaraa Soo did make the series more interesting. In Love in Vein Linnet and Z are being chased or hunted by a police detective who is out to get them. But this detective is in for a real surprise because he doesn't have a clue as to what he is hunting.
Linnet didn't like the monster that she had become. She didn't like that she had to bite humans and drink their blood in order to survive. No matter how hard she fought it the parasite inside of her would always win out. Linnet would always loose and drink from someone and they would die. She couldn't control what she had become. But she was a vampire and had no choice she was only doing what became natural to her as a vampire even though she still held on to her humanity in ways.
I highly recommend Love in Vein if you are looking for something different in your vampire books or paranormal reading list. If you are looking for something that is just slightly different than your normal take on vampires then Love in Vein is the book for you.
About the Author:
Notorious Poet. Fool. Born in Washington DC. Stavros was a writer and editor for The Independent Underground Magazine. Raised in Southern Maryland, he fled the Chesapeake Bay to the wilds of the New Mexican desert. He is a single father of two, whose poetic works have been published in several online and print publications, including Central Avenue, The Sword That Cuts Through Stone, Poets Against The War, Conceptions Southwest, The Mynd, Imagine: Creative Arts Journal, and Bartleby, where he won a specialty award for his poem, Blackbird.
In 1999, he won an Official Selection into the Writer's on the Edge Festival for his play, The Redline. In 2001, he created the Poetry Television Project for public cable access in Albuquerque, NM. All eight volumes of Ptv's ground-breaking show were broadcast to over 100,000 viewers on a network of regional PAC channels throughout the Southwest and Baltimore. He helped to launch Unpublished Magazine, sponsored the monthly poetry series, The Word Café, in the Duke city, and produced a political compilation, Poetic Democracy. In 2007, he released the award-winning documentary film, Committing Poetry in Times of War.
In 2010, he launched the production management company, Organic Ghetto, and released its first imprint, Crazy Duck Press, with his first novel, Blood Junky. Blood Junky received exceptional praise and review, even being called "one of the best vampire novels ever written," by Living Dead Media. The following year he helped to launch BioGamer Girl, undertook a bigger East coast tour where he began selling his original photographic art, and released two new novels through Crazy Duck Press. Dead Girl: A Romantic Zombie Tale of Revenge features a stunning full-color cover and twelve black and white illustrations from tattoo artist, Charles Hearn. Blood Junky's sequel, Love in Vein, cemented the One Blood series with its continuation of the story, garnering such review as to claim that the book and the series is "comparable with, and at times surpasses, the 'Vampire Chronicles' by Anne Rice."
In 2012, Stavros joined forces with the Vampire Professor, Bertena Varney, M.A.M.Ed, to co-create the nonfiction annual anthology, Vampire News, and officially became a Fangsmith with the creation of Organic Ghetto's second imprint, Kaos Kustom Fangs. He rounded out the year by writing and editing screenplays for the One Blood Transmedia Project, recording Dead Girl as an audio book, and undertaking his biggest national marketing campaign, The Book & Fang Tour.
In 2013, he and the Vampire Professor released the second volume of Vampire News: The (not so) End Times Edition and is currently working on writing and growing his imprints. Stavros is also a musician who has scored commercials, film shorts, documentaries, and television programs.
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