I received this book via the author, John Reinhard Dizon. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of this review.
Published by Self Publish on February 23, 2014
Length: 145 pages
Reviewing eARC Rating:
Defence attorney Celeste Maher has seen her share of gruesome cases, but nothing as disturbing as the crime her client, Velimir Radojka, is accused of.
After Celeste is unexpectedly arrested for her client’s murder, his boyfriend, Detective Shea Tyrone, gets on the case. Soon, Shea has several problems to deal with: bloodless corpses, street gangs and rumors of human sacrifice.
Something connects all this to the Count, and Shea is determined to find out why.
Entangled in a web of ritual murders spanning two continents, Shea and Celeste uncover disturbing connections to the crime lord himself... and a Serbian vampire legend.
This book is nothing like I expected! Vampir by John Reinhard Dizon is a cross between a crime drama like Law and Order and a cheesy black and white horror film, minus the cheesy parts. The story begins with a news report about Celeste Maher, a prominent NYC lawyer, being arrested as a suspect in the murder of Count Velimir Radojka. This Count was her client and had been arrested for a string of murders/disapperances involving throats being slit and blood drained from his victims. Homicide detective Shea Tyrone arrives at the precinct to speak to his long-term girlfriend Celeste after her arrest, he also happened to be the detective on the Radojka case.
This story is by no means my typical read, however I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this book and found I wasn’t able to sit it down. As I said earlier the plot plays out much like the crime dramas that were so popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Though the focus is Celeste telling her side of the story to the questioning officers, a majority of the plot is played out in flashbacks told from Celeste’s, Shea’s, a priest’s, and Radojka’s POVs. For me I found it a little hard to follow at first, but after a couple chapters of the back and forth POVs and the flip from past to present the story flowed well. Instead of focusing on the problem presented on the first page (Celeste’s arrest for the murder of Radojka), the story focuses on the ritualistic killings that Radojka was arrested for.
I found the characters well developed and relatable for the most part. There were instances however that I felt could have been left out of the story, like Celeste giving Shea a blow job. To me that didn’t add to the story or the characters, I felt it was just an attempt to add some sex into the story when it could have just been alluded to. Anyways that’s my personal thoughts on the subject.
Overall, the story was just ok. I would give it a solid 3.5 to 4 stars. The twist ending was a nice surprise for me and actually upped how much I enjoyed the entire book. If you like crime novels or horror novels, than I think you would enjoy this book.
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