Customer Reviews

Team of Darkness

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

 

 

I met Tony Ruggiero at a sci-fi convention. After hearing him in a panel discussion, I decided to take a chance on one of his books. I am glad that I did.

Team of Darkness really caught my interest. I am fan of military action fiction and a fan of vampire mythology. Ruggiero does a fantastic job of combining the two. His take on vampire creation, history, culture was fresh and interesting rather than just a re-hash of Rice or Stoker. The military side of the story is on par with anybody I've ever read, help in no small part by Ruggiero's 23 years of Naval service

I am definitely looking forward to the up coming Operation Immortal Servitude to continue the story.

Wonderful detail. Couldn't put it down once I started reading. The reader has a chance to get to know the characters. Can't wait for more.

I recently met Tony Ruggiero at a sci-fi literary convention. I noticed his books were not the usual type that I read but I thought a good vampire book might be a nice change. Well let me tell you I read that book in one night I couldn't put it down. I loved how the book was set up. The story really fleshed out the characters of the vampires taking you back to when they were created and inside the struggles of their lives. Once the military takes notice of these creatures its a whirlwind of intrigue from there.

The first thing I thought when I read this book was that Tony Ruggiero has a very keen idea of how the special ops military really works, and that he uses what he knows about that to great effect in this novel. Through his descriptive prose, he really knows how to put us in Kosovo. It helps us to know how the Kosovars feel about occupying forces; we feel the effects of dust and weather. And we learn about Balkan legends, in this case about vampires. Tony has a great ability to choreograph special military operations, even to the extent that in this novel, they feel "real". We see the soldiers' diplomatic- and combat-related concerns. Maybe it's the realism that helps us to see TEAM OF DARKNESS as a different vampire novel; one that, despite its supernatural elements, enthralls us with sumptuous detail that never supplants action.

The Author makes terrific use of his years in the Navy Seals. If you like military intrigue and covert operations with a delightfully refreshing yet blood-sucking twist this book will give you a whole new reason for reading vampire stories again. Barbara Marshall

I had never read any military sci fi, as a girl I am not legally obligated, but my husband had just finished reading "Team of Darkness" and suggested it to me.

I was very impressed with the book. I myself am a vampirologist and bonded very quickly with the main character, an expert in the field of mythology who has been re-assigned to a black ops team that is going to capture a den of vampires to see if they can be trained and used for military purposes. He and I had many of the same questions and concerns.

This was a very brilliant and original story line. His vampires are his own, not a rehash of what everyone else is writing. It gave me a definite feel of how the military works and how a person survives in it. I hope there will be a sequel to this book, as I liked very much several of the characters who survived and I wonder... where are they now?

Terry Bane, author of Actual Factual: Dracula coming Spring 2007