Pro Luce Habere Volumes 1 & 2 (On the Soul Series, Book II) [Kindle Edition]

Krisi Keley (Author)

Book Description

What does a vampire see when he dies?

The death, destruction and darkness rife in human history…
and the living light in the human soul which somehow shines through it all.
A horrific deception that just may lead to the ultimate truth he’s sought for eight centuries…
and mystical visions of a little girl who could hold the key to the mystery of a legend as old as mankind.

Dying isn’t the end of knowledge; it’s only the beginning.

(Two full-length novels combined in one edition.)
Pro Luce Habere is a stand-alone prequel, but no matter in which order they are read, to prepare for the mystery's final solution, don't miss Book I: On the Soul of a Vampire.

Product Details

• File Size: 847 KB
• Print Length: 535 pages
• Publisher: TreasureLine Publishing (November 23, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B006D3YET6
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #781,482 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredibly Great Value - Highly Recommend! March 8, 2012

By Ellen Gable Hrkach VINE™ VOICE

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Pro Luce Habere (combined Volumes I and II) tells the story of Valéry, the protagonist vampire from "On the Soul of A Vampire" and his life before he became a vampire and the many years following.

At the beginning of the novel, the year is 1212 and Valéry is a 14 year old on fire for God and his faith. He leaves home to join the Children's Crusade only to end up in slavery at the hands of the people he sought to convert. Four years later, near death from a beating, his "maker," Lukios, an ancient vampire, saves him from death but Valéry now must kill others to survive. At first, he refuses, but he eventually settles into a pattern of killing those who have hurt him or those he considers criminals.

I especially appreciate her character study of Valery, who is no ordinary vampire. He's a vampire with a conscience. He's a vampire who is struggling with his faith in God (not unlike many mortal humans).

In one scene, he plans to kill a woman who has wronged him, then he realizes she is pregnant and leaves her alone (one of the best scenes of the book because it shows Valéry's compassion).

Despite the fact that he is a vampire, it has become easier to love and empathize with Valéry as a complex character who has a conscience. And in the end, it begs the question: What is God's plan of salvation for this vampire with a conscience? Is there any hope for him? Is there any hope for any of us, for that matter? Of course, the answer is there is always hope.

In the second half of this combined edition, Valery continues to be haunted by the darkness and death he has seen in the human world around him.... Yet he is unable to escape the sense of wrong in what he's become so he seeks a new world (in North America), free of the Old World's pain. Valery continues in his struggle to understand the battle between light and darkness, both within his victims and within himself, as mystical dreams and repeating the mistakes of his maker lead him towards the truth eight hundred years of pain have tried to have him deny.

There is no denying that Krisi Keley is a gifted writer who can weave intricate story lines and create characters so real it's hard to believe they're fictional.

I enjoyed advancing through time with Valery and his "child," Michel. The setting, language and historical accuracy are done extremely well and I could easily picture Valery and the other characters in the different time periods (I found it amusing to picture the two of them in 60's garb...). Valery is definitely a character with contrasts. He kills others to stay alive, then at one point he reflects on the destruction and sometimes pointlessness of war.

As I've said in my reviews of Keley's other books, I don't normally read "vampire" or paranormal novels, but Keley's writing is so beautiful, I want to relish each word and sentence. I especially appreciate the Catholic themes of free will, redemption and God's unconditional love.

Valery's dependence on Michel for companionship leads to a chilling climax that had me quickly clicking the forward button on the Kindle.

Beautiful language, Catholic themes, complex story, well-defined and believable characters make this a wonderfully intense read! Keley is an incredibly gifted author, one whose future books I look forward to reading.

This edition is two novels in one and is an incredibly great value! I highly recommend it!

Ellen Gable Hrkach
award-winning author Read more ›

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A rich and stunning vampire tale May 31, 2012

By Karin Kaufman

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

In 1212 Valéry Castellane, then fourteen years old and bursting with love for God, joins the Children's Crusade on a journey to the Holy Land to peacefully convert its inhabitants. Along the way, Valéry and the other children endure hardship, shipwrecks, and, ultimately, for the surviving children, slavery at the hands of the very people they'd hoped to convert.

Four years later, Valéry, near death from a beating, is saved by his "maker," an ancient and beautiful vampire named Lukios. But at a terrible price. Instead of dying a mortal's death and at last seeing the light of heaven, Valéry, now an immortal vampire, must abandon thoughts of heaven and kill to survive.

His faith all but destroyed by his experiences and "new life," Valéry begins a journey stretching over three centuries, from Alexandria to the port of Genoa and beyond, across much of medieval Europe, including his native Kingdom of Arles. Traveling both alone and with Lukios, he searches desperately for meaning in what has happened to him. And because he must, he learns to kill.

After reading the first few paragraphs of volume 1 of Pro Luce Habere (To Have Before the Light), I suspected I was in for something different. I was. There is a richness to the language here that evokes just the right tone and conveys both the time period in which the book is set and the passage of time--of centuries unfolding. Ms. Keley is, simply put, a brilliant writer.

And she can tell a story. In Valéry she's created a rich, complex character you care deeply about, even as he takes human lives. In spite of it all, you sense the potential for great good in him. His anger with God and his struggle to not quite become the "creature" he says he is are, well, very human.... It doesn't hurt that Ms. Keley somehow manages to infuse her vampire death scenes with beauty and love (love of the vampire for his victim and vice versa).

I highly recommend this book. And I guarantee that after you read both volumes of Pro Luce Habere, you're going to want to continue with Valéry's story in Keley's On the Soul of a Vampire. Read more ›

5.0 out of 5 stars Pro Luce Habrere 1 & 2 April 12, 2013

By Tei

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Love this book! Enjoyed going back to the beginning of a vampire's creation and following him to the present. Finding out that even a monster has ethics was eye opening.

More About the Author

Krisi Keley was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and now lives in Chester County with her family and seven dogs. Pro Luce Habere is the sequel to her debut novel, On the Soul of a Vampire. A writer and artist with a degree in theology and education in foreign and classical languages, she has always been intrigued with supernatural, paranormal and horror fiction and how these myths try to answer humankind's questions about the spiritual, good vs. evil and the nature of man. She currently works as a freelance editor while finishing Genesis, Book III of the On the Soul series, in which she plans to share more new theories about both vampires and angels and their relationship to the human soul.