Customer Reviews

Blood Son (Silhouette Nocturne)

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4 star:		(1)
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In this February Silhouette Nocturne release, Elizabeth Martin has left the comfort of academia and traveled to a small Czech village in hopes of tracking down her lost twin brother David. David sent her a plea for help and all the clues point to some kind of vampire misdeed. At a remote Czech inn, once a Catholic convent, Elizabeth runs into Joesph, a Dhampir (the offspring of a vampire and a human). Together, they plan to hunt down the vampires surrounding the small Czech inn and save David from the madness, psychological or vampire-instilled, encircling him.

Elizabeth is drawn to this dhampir with an almost supernatural pull. But can she trust this man who moves her very soul? He promises to help her but will the vampire part of him overtake the goodness of his human side? Will their escalating passion endanger their mission? Is he truly beside her to help or does he have some hidden plan of his own? Dhampir's are rumored to be mercenaries....

Blood Son is the perfect romance read for someone seeking the unusual. The author's vampire historical research colors the legend with depth and intrigue. Orloff shapes the tale into a pièce de résistance romance by layering the familiar vampire legends with new aspects and twists. Both the romance and the suspense are riveting ---even long after the reader reaches the end!

Orloff's romance captivates the reader's mind and soul. Sideline reflections on evil --- the Holocaust and serial killers --- enrich this novel in unexpected ways. The legend of the hawthorne bush and the undying faith of the Catholic convent sisters who once inhabited the now Czech inn cast a circle of the sacred around the characters --- and also in the reader's heart. Even the secondary plot details and questions of this novel fascinate the reader's imagination. What is insanity? What is heredity? What is evil? What is love?

Erica Orloff's vampire thriller Blood Son is a masterpiece romance!

I picked up one of the Nocturne books from Harlequin (the paranormal romance) and got BLOOD SON by Erica Orloff. Its my first time reading her and too the Nocturne line. I do have a few that came out but haven't had the chance to read yet. This is a paranormal romance with a Dhampir (he's half vamp and half human) which is the first I'm reading of a Dhampir. In this, the vampires are bad ones (just like some romance books has the good vampires and the bad vampires). So its a very unique story! Really feel so much for both the Hero and Heroine in this one (Elizabeth and Josef). Really recommend this one if you like them a darker. I don't usually read those that are darker but I got so pulled into this one! I'm still awed with scenes I'm remembering and know they are going to stay with me a long time! Its very captivating with all the characters too (David the brother, the inn keepers). This author Erica Orloff really has a voice in her writing that just gets your body to anticipate more of the story that its a total adventure from start to finish that I didn't want to get up for anything. I really can't wait to read more of hers. I hope too more are planned for her to write in the Nocturne line.

Elizabeth and David are much closer to one another than most twins are because they suffered from the same trauma of losing their father to suicide. When David emails his sister from Prague that he is in trouble, she drops everything to rush over there. In the Czech Republic she learns her brother was staying at the isolated Hawthorn Inn in the Karkonosze Mountains. When she arrives at the inn, the owners, Ann and Zoltan warn her that vampires come out at night to kill.

Staying at a cottage on the grounds is Josef, a dhampire whose vampiric father killed his human mother. She sees him kill wolves with Hawthorn tipped arrows and is horrified to see them transform into vampires. She explains to Josef that she searches for her brother David, but believes the vampires have him and are keeping him alive. She bases her feelings on visions; Josef agrees to help her rescue David because he loves her, but knows he will have to kill his sire, chief of the vampire clan.

Erica Orloff has written an exciting and bitingly delicious vampire romantic thriller in which the protagonists fall in love despite the danger they face that might mean there is no tomorrow for them. Josef, a dhampire suffering from an arthritic like condition, is a Byronic hero who expects to die fighting vampires. Elizabeth loves him, but also admires his courage as he refuses to succumb to the lure of the dark. There is plenty of neck biting action as well in this bloody good supernatural tale.

Harriet Klausner

Of all the books in the Silhouette Nocturne line, this one stands apart as a highly unusual and well-written story that diverges from the usual romantic vampire fare.

Scholar Elizabeth Martin comes to the mountains of the Czech Republic, looking for her twin David after she receives a cryptic and panicked email from him. With the help of a local innkeeper and his wife, and their mysterious permanent guest Josef Darecky, she sets out in search of him, finding that her brother has been captured by vampires, and it is only Josef, a Dhampir, the legendary scion of a vampire and a human woman, who can help her rescue her brother.

This story definately takes a departure from the typical modern vampires-as-romantic-misunderstood-heroes and brings the reader closer to the vampires of Eastern European legend and of Bram Stoker's take on it: fearsome, life-sucking, inhuman monsters. They remind me not a little of Max Schreck as Count Orlok in "Nosferatu", or -- for that matter -- the Nosferatu clan of White Wolf's World of Darkness Vampire RPGs. And in creating a Dhampir hero, Erica Orloff makes use of a too-often overlooked creature to contrast them: a being who alone, despite chronic physical pain, has the tenacity and skill to successfully track and slay vampires. There's a definate feeling of menace and foreboding running through this story, which is a welcome change of pace in paranormal romance. Maybe the love scene came a little too soon in the story for me, but that's a minor carp compared to how refreshingly original this story is for the Silhouette line.

Elizabeth Martin's twin brother, David, is missing in Prague. The only clue she has is a bizarre email sent by David referring to some unknown evil; she fears the insanity that took their father's life has now overcome her dear brother. Instead of madness, however, she uncovers that David has been kidnapped by vampires, that she until now have only given credence to in stories. Josef Darecky is her best chance at rescuing David but will this reticent Dhampir be willing to help?

BLOOD SON hearkens back to the classic Dracula style vampire stories. The overall atmosphere is reminiscent of those eerie and often chilling tales but with a modern twist to make it quite unique. Not many authors can succeed at this particular style without the story become campy but Ms. Orloff proves she can create just the right aura to make this story work in the modern day setting. Elizabeth's own doubts resonate with readers and make the unbelievable seem believable in this sexy but sometimes chilling tale.

BLOOD SON is a welcome addition to the vast realm of vampire lore available. Erica Orloff does a superb job at crafting realistic characters. The attraction between Elizabeth and Josef simply sizzles while the evil nature of the vampires oozes off the page. This contrast makes for a taut storyline with just the right touch of romance and tension. BLOOD SON is a definite keeper for any vampire lover's shelf!

COURTESY OF CK2S KWIPS AND KRITIQUES

Same song, second verse. How many times can we read the same story with essentially the same characters and the same dialog? I mean. COME ONE PEOPLE! Give your readers SOME credit and get a little inventive!

It's like there's a Style Guide out there full of trite phrases, scenes, and plotlines that all new romance authors are using. Note to authors, IGNORE THE STYLE GUIDE!

Do not buy this novel unless you need it to throw at someone.