Vampires of the Scarlet Order [Paperback]

David Lee Summers (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2005

Vampires of the Scarlet Order is an action-adventure novel about an elite cadre of vampire mercenaries who have worked throughout history as pinpoint assassins. Under the command of Desmond, Lord Draco, the Scarlet Order was involved in wars with the Ottoman Empire, The French Revolution and even the conquest of the Americas. Now, at the dawn of the 21st century, vampires are too expensive, too untrustworthy, and frankly, too passé for governments to employ any longer. Nanotechnology can be employed to engineer more reliable super soldiers. What's a vampire got to do for job security?

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A fun book to sink your teeth into and for those readers with a taste for inventive vampire fiction. -- reviewed by Roy van der Aa from The Ink-Artnews.

Product Details

• Paperback: 238 pages
• Publisher: LBF Books (May 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 097545336X
• ISBN-13: 978-0975453360
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,715,706 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David Lee Summers is an author, editor and astronomer living somewhere between the western and final frontiers in Southern New Mexico. His novels are The Solar Sea, The Pirates of Sufiro, Children of the Old Stars, Heirs of the New Earth, and Vampires of the Scarlet Order. His short stories and poems have appeared in numerous magazines including Realms of Fantasy, Star*Line, The Santa Clara Review, and Black Petals. David is also the founding editor of Tales of the Talisman Magazine.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Vampies as mercenaries, June 30, 2005

By 

DAVID B. RILEY (Vail, CO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vampires of the Scarlet Order (Paperback)

Taking advantage of the unique powers and abilities of vampires, over the centuries an elite corps of vampires have operated as assassins. Now, at the start of the twenty-first century, vampires are too expensive and too much trouble for governments to hire them anymore.

This is the premise in a truly fresh tale about vampires. The story spans a time period over eight hundred years, but the climax of the story takes place in New Mexico. Here, the government has changed its tactics and now wants super soldiers made from technology, rather than vampires, to do its dirty deeds. What is a vampire to do?

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars David Lee Summers is the Master Chef of the vampire feast .., November 21, 2005

By 

Pat Mullan (County Galway, Ireland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vampires of the Scarlet Order (Paperback)

How many people know that Bram Stoker, the creator of Dracula, was an Irishman? They all know about Yeats and Wilde and Shaw - but few know that Bram Stoker was born in Dublin. Being an Irishman myself, I've always felt ownership of the vampire story, Bella Lugosi's Transylvanian accent notwithstanding.

In Vampires of the Scarlet Order David Lee Summers has raised the vampire story away from those simple, but dramatic, tales of blood-sucking creatures of the evening who return to their coffins in the morning. He chronicles a parallel vampire world that has marched through the momentous events of our history, starting in 15th century Europe and emerging in contemporary times in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Ah, Las Cruces, The Crosses, what a potent image and location for his family of vampires.

Starting in Spain in 1491, we meet Lord Draco who heads a group of vampire mercenaries, The Scarlet Order, operating for the Vatican. (Yes, Dan Brown isn't original when it comes to Vatican conspiracies and skulduggery). Lord Draco turns Rodolfo de Cordoba, a young Castillian who has lost his father in the war with the Moors, into a vampire and initiates him into the Scarlet Order.

We move through dramatic events of the 16th to the 20th centuries with a surprise waiting especially for me in the 16th century when Lord Draco and Rudolfo de Cordoba meet the legendary Irish Sea Captain and Pirate, Grace O'Malley (Granuaille) in the late 16th century - in the middle of the battle for Venice between the fleet of the Ottoman Empire and the fleet of the Pope's Holy Roman Empire. (Granuaille still 'lives' here in the west of Ireland - the castle she shared with one of her partners, Donal O'Flaherty, is now a fine up-market hotel!).

Reaching the present time in New Mexico we find the canvas enlarged to capture another parallel universe where the Manitou of the Native Americans act as guides to The Scarlet Order as they fight secret government agencies operating out of the Los Alamos laboratories who are creating their own brand of soldier, scientifically designed to incorporate the abilities of the vampire.

David Lee Summers' dialogue is believable, his storytelling strong, his artistry strengthened by his scientific background as an astronomer. He has used a diary-like method of telling the story, much of it told in the first person from the points of view of each of the central characters in the story. This is difficult to do without interrupting story continuity for the reader. But he has accomplished it by making us care about the characters, about making us feel sympathy for a vampire who has just killed and is suffering remorse and loss of human existence.

Just like a master chef, David Lee Summers, folds all these ingredients together in a totally seamless way. If you like the world of vampires, you'll like Vampires of The Scarlet Order.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An awesome piece of vampire literature!, January 20, 2009

By 

Mr. G. Barrass - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Vampires of the Scarlet Order (Paperback)

I picked up Vampires of the Scarlet Order as I have been a reader and great fan of the vampire genre for over thirty years and always love the opportunity to experience a different writer's take on the subject.
I was not disappointed and neither will you.
The story begins in the Middle Ages, during the reign of The Ottoman Empire, and from this point onwards remains steeped in history as it takes us through the years and across the globe until we reach our very own dark times. Alongside the vampire protagonists the story contains many historical personages, including Billy the Kid and the pirate Grace O'Malley, Summers doing a fine job of incorporating his Scarlet Order history with our know timelines.
The Scarlet Order are an elite group of vampire mercenaries that appear throughout history creating major twists and turns in humanity's fate. The vampire characters interact with this history from the Middle Ages right through to modern times in a quite believable manner. It is an action packed tale that never pauses for breath throughout.
Not to give too much of the plot away, but the protagonists, soon find themselves pitted against foes whom even they, the elite of the undead, find it difficult to vanquish.
Full to the brim with conspiracies, twists and turns and characters whose adventures keep you hooked to every page, I wholeheartedly recommend this book to all fans of horror fiction.
Making the unbelievable seem real and turning what we perceive as monsters into heroes, is no mean feat. Summers takes this task in hand and has obviously had a great time in writing one of the best vampire novels that I have read in years.
Well done Mr Summers, and with the worlds and secret histories that you've created, I hope to read more from you regarding these characters in the future.