Blood Society [Kindle Edition]

Jeffrey Thomas (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

On the holiday Sicilians call Giorno dei Morti — "The Day of the Dead" — Attilio Augusta meets a beautiful woman while paying his respects in a crypt. She is the same woman he once met in that crypt as a young boy. She hasn't aged a day.

Soon Attilio is making love with this woman.

Soon, he is fighting to save himself from the jaws of a ravenous monster.

In Chicago, crime lord Alphonse Capone is introduced to a new mobster in town. A man who, unthinkably, demands a share of Capone's empire. A man who was once called Attilio Augusta. A man who is no longer merely human.

Blood Society follows the career of an undying mafioso from Chicago in the 1920s to Boston in the 1990s. Along his blood-splattered path he will face traitorous comrades, a dangerously obsessed priest, the same volatile woman who turned him so many years before, and ultimately an enemy band of gangsters who are beings like himself…

Beings that cross at will into a mysterious alternate world. Beings that transform into hideous creatures impervious to bullets, knives and bombs…

Creatures with a thirst for money, power and…blood.

Blood Society is an epic supernatural horror novel by Jeffrey Thomas, author of the cult classics Letters From Hades and Punktown.

About the Author

Jeffrey Thomas (born 1957[) is a prolific writer of science fiction and horror, best known for his stories set in the nightmarish future city called Punktown, such as the novel Deadstock (Solaris Books) and the collection Punktown (Ministry of Whimsy Press), from which a story was reprinted in St. Martin’s The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror #14. His fiction has also been reprinted in Daw’s The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII, The Year’s Best Fantastic Fiction and Quick Chills II: The Best Horror Fiction from the Specialty Press. He has been a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award (Best First Novel) for Monstrocity, and a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Deadstock. Other books by Thomas include the novels Letters from Hades (Bedlam Press) and Monstrocity (Prime Books), and the novella Godhead Dying Downwards (Earthling Publications). The German edition of Punktown has cover art by H. R. Giger. Jeffrey Thomas lives in Massachusetts. Visit him online at: www.jeffreyethomas.com

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 515 KB
• Publisher: Necro Publications (November 6, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0064APN34
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #550,669 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

I am the author of such science fiction/horror novels as DEADSTOCK (finalist for the John W. Campbell Award), BLUE WAR, HEALTH AGENT, MONSTROCITY (finalist for the Bram Stoker Award), THE FALL OF HADES, LETTERS FROM HADES, UGLY HEAVEN/BEAUTIFUL HELL (coauthored with Carlton Mellick III), THOUGHT FORMS, and A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET: THE DREAM DEALERS. My short story collections include PUNKTOWN, VOICES FROM PUNKTOWN, PUNKTOWN: SHADES OF GREY (coauthored with Scott Thomas), NOCTURNAL EMISSIONS, UNHOLY DIMENSIONS, VOICES FROM HADES, THIRTEEN SPECIMENS, DOOMSDAYS, and AAAIIIEEE!!!. Stories of mine have been reprinted in THE YEAR'S BEST FANTASY AND HORROR and THE YEAR'S BEST HORROR STORIES. Though I consider Vietnam (my wife's place of origin) my second home, I am a resident of ye olde Massachusetts. Visit my blog at www.JeffreyEThomas.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Modern vamp horror with old world elegance, January 18, 2012

By 

Tara - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blood Society (Paperback)

Don't mind my 4 stars. I'm weird like that, reserving 5 stars for classic lit that I really love, or children's novels that really strike me.
So, I suppose my 4-star is a 5-star for me in the world of modern horror. BLOOD SOCIETY is a cool, cool novel. I knew I was in for a literary treat of modern vamp horror when the prologue was preceded by quotes from a saint and a medieval poet of hell. Then I got sucked in by the prologue, set in the catacombs of the Capuchin monks of Sicily, and I thought "Oh, we're really going IN." And in we did go, the author pulling me along side-by-side with the protagonist who'd been there before, and then through it all again as a boy seeing his grandfather's resting place there for the first time. I won't talk of the tour of the catacombs, just go in and experience it for yourself, it's, well, COOL. Part One next, 1950's Capone-era Chicago, SWEET. Capone's even a character in the book, nice. Get ready for page-turning shoot-outs and an even deeper dive into our lead vampire's psyche and horrors of his bodily physics & blood needs. Jump ahead yet again, and follow our freakish, badass yet eloquent vampire along to the 1990s and run-ins with international Asian gangs, heh. I bet Thomas had huge fun writing this book - it's violent, artistic, classy, bitterly romantic & sexy horror, wonderfully researched and you'll like the characters, there are more than what I mentioned here, and they are all beauts.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An artful entry into the mainstream horror genre, November 8, 2011

By 

D. Anderson - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blood Society (Hardcover)

Blood Society is not a novel about vampires. But it also kind of is. Jeffrey Thomas (Punktown, Unholy Dimensions) gives us a unique view of the Vampire Mythos (or the Undead/Ghoul Mythos) by creating a world where undead creatures are a lot more realistic and horrific than the pansy reiterations we've been going through as a culture lately.

A timely and much needed entry into "vampire genre" that also doubles as a historical novel (I'll get to that in a minute), Blood Society gets here just in time to save us from sparkling vegan vampires. Again, 'vampire' may not be an appropriate word. The novel features supernatural ghoul like creatures that follow some of the basic vampire rules, and abandon others; resulting a thankfully potent fusion of old and new. The creatures here have a more animal like appearance when they transform (something that also has some cool original flair to it) reminiscent of Bram Stokers Dracula, where we see Gary Oldman as a wolf-bat like creature. Blood Society takes that concept and cranks it up to 11.

What we also have here, is a nice historical novel. The major centerpiece of the book, from a time period perspective (several decades are spanned in the book) is the 1920's Al Capone Gangster Era. Thomas has his command of Historical Knowledge on full display here, we have realistic times, places, and details that converge with the realistic tone of the story and the resulting story is full of interesting layers. It is also an accomplishment just having blended the two genres (historical/horror) so entertainingly; we get an accurate glimpse into the 1920's but we still get gun battles. It delivers a pace that doesn't disappoint.

Another place that Blood Society succeeds is in 'satisfying' the reader. What could have been a short story or novella (a brief story with just the Al Capone stuff) is expanded into a tale that spans from Italy in the early 1900's to the 1990's, giving the reader a complete end, and perhaps even a bulkier beginning (a short story may have not featured as much initial set up). Strong themes of death and immortality are strewn throughout, giving the reader the satisfaction of having to dig past the words on the paper and giving them the opportunity to interpret a greater message. Jeffrey Thomas is a seasoned writer and a will reward the thoughtful and insightful reader.

If you're tired of average stories of the undead, and want something new and brilliantly rendered by a master artist, give Blood Society a shot.