"400 year old vampire Ian Redd joined British Intelligence during the Cold War. But after the Berlin Wall came down they decided they no longer needed his services. He was retired, almost permanently."
Pages: 446 pages
Publisher: Michael J. Lee
Published: October 25th, 2011
Form: E-book (provided by the author for an honest review)
Genre: Paranormal Romance / Romantic Suspense
Series: Ian Redd/Larissa Barton Adventures #1
Amazon: Buy / $5.74
Excerpt: Saving Larissa
Ian is over 400 year old vampire, he spent the Cold war with the British Intelligent service until they decided he was no longer needed, Ian escaped to Ohio and has been living a civil life until one evening he walks into an ambush, a reminder of Grigori and old enemy who brings back memories of Viola Natch and his first ever operation with the service. Viola’s death by Grigori was something he never forgave, so now that he’s tracking Grigori’s henchmen to Connecticut he can’t believe his eyes when out of the house he’s surveying walks out Viola.
Larissa hadn’t had an easy life, but what’s messing her up even to a degree darker is nightmares she can’t ignore, nightmares the scare the bejesus out of her most night, except those where a tall dark and handsome man appears calling her Viola. So when the man turns up as she’s working the late shift as a barista in her crap job she sees the man of her dreams, and he calls her Viola. Before she can think straight she’s attacked and saved by a vampire. And nothing is what it has seemed…
Someone called this a mix between James Bond and Dracula, and that hit’s home pretty good!
I really liked this book, I like action with my love stories, and vampires as well, so this was perfect!
Ian is an interesting character, calm, very human like, wants to do something for his country and hence becomes an operative and gets to use the skills learned to help England.
Larissa is a bit dry, sarcastic character with a nice powerful but soft side, she’s the fish out of water type in the beginning of this story, but comes to navigate the new world with a fun view of it.
From Russia from Blood is a great mix of thriller and romance! Enough of both and a story that moves effortlessly forward, with right amounts of action, romance, discovery and twists to keep the reader absorbed in the story.
This is a book for readers who like their vampires English and their heroine’s witty - and if you have a soft spot for spies and the vampire kind of Bond, then here you go, you don’t want to miss this one!
Excerpt of "From Russia with Blood"
Instantly he was right next to her. One hand gripped her shoulder and yanked her backward. His other hand held something that flashed brightly. There was a loud echoing sound.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
Gunfire. He’s got a gun!
Larissa stumbled away from Ian. She saw the speeding auto tear down the center of the road. It swerved toward her as she ran.
There was a dark alley immediately behind her. She sprinted into it. It looked narrow. She didn’t think a car could follow. She hoped it couldn’t.
She was ten steps down the alley when she heard a huge crash behind her. She felt it too and half stumbled for a few steps. Larissa whipped her head around and saw the car with its hood crumpled around the corner of the alley. The headlights were flickering and the horn blared.
She slowed a little bit. The car horn stopped blaring. The driver’s side door opened with a crunch and a large man in a dark suit kicked his way out. He staggered into the mouth of the alley clutching his forehead. Larissa saw blood oozing from a cut on his scalp. Then she saw the gun in his other hand. The man raised it at her.
She stood frozen. Was this it? The moment her dreams had warned her about?
Pop! Pop! Pop!
It was the same sound as before. Sharp and loud like fireworks on the Fourth of July. The man hadn’t fired. He stumbled and then fell awkwardly to the ground. She’d never seen a dead body before but she knew that man was dead. He lay in such a twisted manner there could be no doubt.
A shadow approached the alley.
Larissa tore herself from the spot and ran.
She looked back once and saw a tall figure enter the alley. She was on the verge of recognizing him when she smacked into something large and heavy.
Two burly men had jumped out of the shadows and she had run right into their arms. She screamed with all her might as they lifted her off the ground. She kicked and flailed around.
“Is this her?” asked one man in a rough voice.
“Who cares. Shut her up!” came the answer.
A hand like sandpaper clamped down over her mouth and smothered her screams. She saw the black metal of a gun barrel. It hovered above her forehead. She bit down hard on the hand but it wouldn’t let go, even as her teeth tore through the skin.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw the tall figure streaking down the alley toward them. It was Ian. He was moving faster than any man she’d ever seen. It didn’t seem real. She’d been to the Central Park Zoo once. There she’d seen a snow leopard dash across its enclosure. It moved so fast and so fluid, like lightning. That was what it was like watching Ian move. There was nothing human about it.
Her attackers dropped her. She fell on her butt as Ian collided with the two of them like a train. There was a flurry of blows. One dropped to the ground. He crumpled like the man at the mouth of the alley and Larissa knew he was dead.
She backed away from the fight. Broken glass and other bits of debris scraped and cut her hands and rear end but she barely noticed. She was too busy watching the fight. What little fight there was.
Ian seized the other man. The brute was nearly twice his size but Ian held him tight and forced him to his knees. They were standing over a sodium lamp and by its pale light she saw the fangs gleaming inside Ian’s mouth.
"Tricks for Inspiration and the Synopsis from Hell!"
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About the Author:
Michael J. Lee was born in the Midwest and has spent time out on the East Coast and in LA. He learned the craft of screenwriting the hard way, as a barely paid reader. That’s how he got a good feel for writing form and the craft of storytelling. His approach to a story is a lot like Bruce Lee's approach to fighting, absorb what is useful.
Lee published his first paranormal romance, My Frankenstein, recently. It's been an adventure – and now he’s on to book 2, From Russia with Blood.
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