Customer Reviews

Dark Lullaby

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book rambled on through a fairly stupid vampire's angst. It started out well & then the plot went on a road-trip & never returned. It didn't even get into WHY her sister was killing musicians! What did it mean? Where was it going? What a waste of money. If only you could return books like you can return anything else you're not satisfied with!

Courtesy of CK2S Kwips and Kritiques

Ashara Konrad has been around a long time. She was immortal, a vampire, converted two centuries previous, by her evil twin sister, Zariaz. Presently, Ash is a photographer, well known for her photos of popular musicians. Her latest job is with the up and coming band, Darkside. Little does she know fate's plans for her brought on by this job.

Liam Archer is the lead singer for Darkside. He is extremely talented, with looks most men would envy. He and Ash hit it off immediately, finding they are mutually attracted. A relationship takes off immediately, leading up to Ash traveling with the band on their tour of the US. The only thing in their way is her secret... for how can she tell him she is immortal, requiring blood to survive, and dying every morning as the sun comes up?

Just when things seem to be going so well, trouble appears. It turns out Zariaz, whom was thought to be destroyed a very long time ago by the Dark Council, is in fact very much alive and tracking Ash. She wants revenge, but she also needs Ash's help to complete the curse that will make Zar the strongest vampire in existence. Zar must drink from 1000 musicians to gain the abilities to write the song which will ensure her power forever. And it looks like Liam and Darkside have been marked for death. Can Liam and Ash's love overpower the evil insanity of Zar? Will she be defeated before her plans are fulfilled?

Ms. Wilson has quite an intriguing story here. One will find everything from voodoo curses and "zombies" to love and adventure... and don't forget the vampire cat! Who else would have thought of working music into a vampire legend? The story flows effortlessly, with a surprising plot twist at the end, and the reader will not be able to put it down. This reviewer had to force herself not to read it while supposedly working, so engrossed was she. The romance between Ash and Liam is fantastic, made more complex by the secrets she must keep, and the very real threat Zar poses. The vampire rules present in this story are slightly different from the traditional, made original by the author's imagination.

Ashara and Liam are very real people, with strengths and weaknesses like everyone. They are portrayed so vividly that one will be able to imagine meeting them on a dark street some night, or in a loud night club. Zar is wickedly malevolent, feared by her enemies, and her sister, while respected and possibly even loved by her henchmen. There are plenty of secondary characters as well, also beautifully depicted, right down to Lovecraft, Ash's Siamese cat.

If one wants to read a refreshingly original vampire romance, this is the book to read. There is plenty to keep one interested and dying for the resolution. Also of note, the story ends in such a way to keep this reviewer gasping in surprise, eager to read the next chapter in the story, which hopefully Ms. Wilson will provide. Be sure to run to the computer and order a copy today, it will not disappoint.

© Kelley A. Hartsell, January 2004. All rights reserved.

One hot Los Angeles night Ashara Konrad was introduced to Liam Archer. Lead singer of Darkside, Liam is as exquisite as a god, stirring in Ashara feelings that she had thought were long dead. To her surprise she found herself falling in love again. Happily it seemed as though Liam returned her feelings. Could their newly born love survive the resurrection an ancient Voodoo curse authored by Ashara's own twin?

Dark Lullaby is yet another winner from cross-genre specialist Staci Layne Wilson. Her primary characters as well as her secondary ones are believable, their goals sympathetic. Additionally, Ms. Wilson's knowledge of 60s and 70s music is incredible. She weaves music history and myth through her story with enviable ease. Her work in 2003 has been fabulous. One can only hope to see more of this talented author in 2004.

-Brenda Thatcher, All About Murder

Author Staci Layne Wilson has created a fantastical vampire tale in Dark Lullaby--an enthralling tale about vampires, voodoo, and the bonds of blood & love...

Haunted by her evil twin's menacing ways, vampire Ashara Konrad battles voodoo and an ancient curse to keep her soul from falling to the dark side. Complicating the matter is her heart's desire for Liam Archer, a musical genius turned rockstar. But Liam is more than just the latest pop icon, he's a soul as one with the night as is Ashara.

Traveling throughout the U.S. and Europe, fighting Zariaz and her evil doings, Ashara and Liam enter the realm of dark vampires, and tainted voodoo.

Miss Wilson has created true to life characters with real emotions and depth. Their own strengths are put to the test as they try the strengths and weaknesses of the bonds of blood and love. Dark Lullaby is a great read. I highly recommend this book to fans of vampire fiction, and dark romantic fantasy.
- TellTalePress Reviews

Their mother was a voodoo priestess, but the twin daughters Ashara and Zariaz were as different as day and night. Ash never wanted to become involved with voodoo while Zariaz reveled in it. On their twenty-first birthday, Zariaz and her assistants turned her sister into a vampire but she only killed those people who were evil. On the other hand, Zariaz was killing musicians at such a rapid pace that the vampire council condemned her to death.

Six decades later, Ashara sees a picture of her twin impersonating her and she knows that Zariaz needs to eliminate her. She is afraid, not so much for herself but for the love of her life Liam Archer, the singer for the up and coming rock group Darkside. As Zariaz comes closer, the terror mounts, and Ashara forces herself to give Liam up and join her sister in her mad quest. Liam however is not what he seems and has no intention of giving up the woman of his heart, no matter what he has to do to keep her.

Staci Layne Wilson is one of the most imaginative and refreshing writers of vampire romances of the new millennium. Her vampires mirror people as some are good, some are evil and some are insane. One of the cutest parts of DARK LULLABY is Ashara's vampire cat sleeps with her in her coffin. This book deserves a second bite

Harriet Klausner

Ms. Wilson has done an awesome job of inventing this vampire world. You believe it is real and you are drawn into her world of rock and roll and vampires. You are hooked from the first and you don't want to come out till you know the answers. Are Liam and Ashara going to be able to have a relationship and what kind of relationship can they have? And the suspense that Zariaz brings will have you on the edge of your seat. If you love rock and roll and stories of vampires you will love this book, and you won't want to put it down till the end. Is it the end? I doubt it and hope its not because I love this world that Ms. Wilson has invented and hope to read lots more.

Ashara is beyond the typical brooding regretful vampires of many stories we see out there today. Yes, she has her moments of regret, but not in a way that consumes the entire storyline. Ashara makes the very best of good and bad fortune, lessons learned along the way are taken to heart as she makes her way in the world of human's, choosing a career she loves and making a rather successful life for herself, one many actual human's would envy.
Although not over-indulgent, Ashara embraces her feminine sensual side, taking risks, falling in love ... and bedding down the man to whom she becomes intensely attracted and mysteriously connected. She is the embodiment of the erotic mysterious woman that many women long to be, if only in their most private fantasies.
Ms. Wilson takes us on whirlwind journey through Ashara's disturbing and life changing past ... into the adventures of her present-day life ... and leaves us tantalized at the future possibilities.
I certainly was left aroused and wanting more.

It's the year 1971, and famous rocks stars are dying within only short months of each other. Death can't naturally be claiming such stars as Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, and Janis Joplin in such a short time span - can it?

Ashara Konrad thinks she may know the identity of the killer. She and her identical twin sisters are both vampires, but that's where the similarities between the two of them end. Ashara is kind, vulnerable, loving and picky when it comes to her meals (preferring to only kill the old and the corrupt). Her sister, Zariaz, on the other hand delights in torturing the innocent. Her cold and dangerous nature cost her the love of one remarkable man - Ludwig Van Beethoven, in 1811. When he chose Ashara over her sister, Zariaz was devastated, and set into motion her "one thousand musicians" curse. Her plan was to kill one thousand musicians, which would take the place of the one she couldn't have.

With this one book, Staci Layne Wilson has catapulted herself to the top of my favorite vampire authors list. Her characters are extremely realistic. They're each given depth, and believable motivations, and there isn't a stereotypical one among them! The relationship that develops between Ashara and Liam, the lead singer for a new band called "Darkside" is exquisite. It follows the patterns of every relationship I've ever been in (of course, culminating in that happily-ever-after ending which is the trademark of romance novels).

The setting was another aspect of the novel that both impressed and surprised me. I wasn't around in the 70s, so I didn't expect to be too interested in the time period being depicted here. And yet, Staci Layne Wilson's ability to describe the setting captivated me. Everything from the tie-died sweaters to the bellbottom jeans and the marijuana which was so prevalent in the bloodstreams of Ashara's victims served to take me away to another time and place.

A beautifully written, fresh vampire novel - don't miss this one!

The year is 1971, and Ashara, a vampire show biz journalist, investigates the bloody harvest that the Grim Reaper has brought in California: Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, and how many others?
Ashara knows exactly how many. She also knows when it had begun. Long ago, before she had become a vampire. When she inspired Ludwig Von Beethoven to write his immortal music, and her twin sister, Zariaz, reveled in the razorblade-dangerous voodoo magic inherited from their mother. Now Ashara's lover is Liam Archer, the frontman of Darkside, and he will have to die too, for an ancient curse demands that a thousand musicians would be sacrificed for the creation of the ultimate magic song. The one that would trap souls.
Ashara knows the curse will not cease, not until the end of Zariaz herself. The ancient magic that rules their destinies is stronger than any of them, but is it stronger than love?
Add to the mix a vampire council, a vampire cat and the riveting post-modern Gothic style, and you have a fascinating book. It's original, it's colorful, and it hums with energy. It's written with authenticity that makes it seem almost too real. Turn the music up but don't go out after dark... that cat prowling between the trash bins might be a vampire, too!
DARK LULLABY is full of drumbeats of action, guitar riffs of romance and ominous rhythms of horror, and it must take its place in this month's top chart.