Blood Blade (US
By Marcus Pelegrimas (Website - Blog)
Publisher: Eos (January 27, 2009)
Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
Excerpt
Publisher's Blurb:
There is a world you don't know about, inhabited by supernatural creatures of darkness—vampires, werewolves, and all manner of savage, impossible beasts that live for terror and slaughter and blood. They are all around us but you cannot see them, for knowledge of their presence—so close and so hungry—would surely drive any ordinary human insane.
But for centuries a special breed of hunter has kept the monsters at bay, preventing them from breaking through the increasingly fragile barriers protecting our mortal realm.
These guardians are called skinners.
But beware . . . for there are very few of them left.
UPDATE! Here is the rest of the blurb, as provided by the author. See the comments for more of his remarks.
Cole Warnecki used to think werewolves feared silver bullets and vampires were sexy party animals allergic to holy water. Real life is never that simple.
Once Cole gets a look at what’s really out there, he cannot escape it. Shapeshifters have tracked his scent over thousands of miles to reclaim a legendary weapon. A killer named Misonyk has whipped a growing number of blood suckers into a frenzy. A fiery brunette named Paige seems like a welcome distraction, but she only wants to teach Cole how to fight. And then there’s Henry. Skinners are the most experienced monster killers out there and even they don’t know what to make of Henry.
Mulluane's Take:
I could not find out a whole lot of information on this one. It did not help that the author's website seems to be still under construction. Even worse, I am SO not into the current vampire, werewolf, urban fantasy craze. However, if I was, it sounds intriguing enough I guess. This review will give you a good idea of what to expect: SciFiGuy.ca. Plus, there is another nice review here: Darque Reviews.
Tia's Take:
I have no trouble reading about vampires as long as they are not protagonists. It's the demonic (and I consider vampires to be demonic) protagonists that I have trouble with. Here, they seem to be solidly in the antagonist category. However, I'm not into blood and gore--I prefer my horror to scare me, not gross me out. The novel's title hints at lots of blood, so we'll see if Raven likes the sound of this one.
5 comments:
I don't mind vampires as protagonists or antagonists, and I definitely like dark fiction, but for me this blurb is missing a hook that would make me want to pick up the book. Maybe the story and characters themselves are exceptional and original, but in the blurb I only see elements I've seen before.
I thought the same thing! Setting? Check. Antagonists? Check. Protagonist? Curiously missing . . .
Are we reading about one of the skinners? A new skinner? An old hand at skinning? An assistant to a skinner? Maybe the opening pages will give us a clue.
I completely agree about the back copy. It does seem a little sparse. I'm the author and I still couldn't get them to change it! I was allowed to write some more copy that appears on the inside of the book, though. See if this is a little better:
Cole Warnecki used to think werewolves feared silver bullets
and vampires were sexy party animals allergic to holy water.
Real life is never that simple.
Once Cole gets a look at what’s really out there, he cannot escape it. Shapeshifters have tracked his scent over thousands of miles to reclaim a legendary weapon. A killer named Misonyk has whipped a growing number of blood suckers into a frenzy. A fiery brunette named Paige seems like a welcome distraction, but she only wants to teach Cole how to fight. And then there’s Henry. Skinners are the most experienced monster killers out there and even they don’t know what to make of Henry.
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Also, the vampires are definitely antagonists and there is a good amount of blood. Hope this helps!
Ooo, Henry sounds cool. Thanks; that does help! I will update this post with the "rest" of the blurb!
Yes, that helps. Thanks, Marcus. Now I'm intrigued.
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