Blood Life
Author: Gianna Perada
Genre: Paranormal Horror
Summary:
Blood
Life is a vampire/witch thriller full of blood, magic, love, violence, and sex.
The witches and vampires of the fictional world of the Spectrum have united and
created a race of half-breeds called the Combined. These are very powerful
entities, but their race has been threatened by a rogue vampire with very old,
powerful blood named Lokee, son of the Great Witch, Devendra. This story is
about letting Fate play out, but in all its turmoil, trying to save one woman
who will be the key to saving the Combined.
Can the Combined's strongest adversary form an army to defeat them, or will the power of three keep the race on top? Centered around the lives of four integral characters, Blood Life is a fresh and unique paranormal adventure. Meet Devendra, a powerful witch descended from one of the first lineages; Lokee, her son and worst enemy; Roman, her friend and companion; and Alethea, the key to it all...
Blood Life is a full-length paranormal horror novel that will appeal to lovers
of paranormal, dark fantasy, horror fiction, witches, vampires, and
supernatural horror.
The channel seemed deeper, the troughs and rivets in the road more
treacherous. Every rushed step seemed more dangerous and awkward. The
city, with its dark gray ceiling, closed in around him and shoved him
through the atmosphere. Mud clumped against his boots and his shirt had
reached the frail point of hanging off his shoulders as he fell through
his doorway.
The odor of the room reached him as he was rising
from his knees. A solid, coarse smell that relentlessly tortures the
senses; the rancor of fresh blood overwhelmed him.
“Alexandria,” her name rang out, yet he did not realize he shouted it.
The
exhaustion of the clamor brought him to rest against the wall in the
hallway. Her name rang out from his throat again, still uncontrollable.
His vision was stolen to a mass on the floor in the sitting room. What
used to be a wonderful, skilled woman, of witch’s blood, lay
unmercifully dead.
Roman covered his mouth, sweat beading along
his forehead, and walked in to get a closer look. Elizabeth was
stripped; scratches and bruises covered her body. It was the position of
her body that told him a rape had taken place before her death, or
maybe after.
He lifted her blood-drenched hand to find her
forefinger absent. A broach of Amethyst that her mother had given to her
before she died, sat quietly in a puddle of bile and saliva in front of
Elizabeth’s open mouth. Roman backed up the way he came, sick with fear
and denial. He could not bring himself to look away from her petrified
eyes, open and locked on his.
Sliding down against the wall,
Roman fell into view of the bathroom. Laughing, taunting voices filled
his head. He frantically looked around to find nobody there. The pure
ivory basin and polished marble floor were now a reservoir. The wooden
shutters with broken glass allowed lines of light to seep through,
revealing small portions of the red coating on the floor and walls.
Overflowing, trickling droplets down the side of the basin were streams
of liquid life; but through Roman’s eyes, they were signs of
Alexandria’s death.
His first step came out from under him, as
his body was crushed across the room and against the basin. Already
weeping and shaking his head to try to shut out the voices, he lifted
his eyes over the rim to find Alexandria’s lifeless body.
Complete, haunting, silence.
Streaks
of her blood marked the wallpaper: four lines, two intertwined and
braided down the middle with one straight on either side of the
formation.
Marked, he thought as he ran his fingers along the
gashes, smearing the blood. He dropped to his knees beside the tub,
reaching into the water to collect Alexandria into his arms. He pulled
her to him, sobbing, suffocating himself in the tender flesh of her
neck.
“NOOOOOO!” he screamed to the ceiling. “WAKE UP!!” He
pinched himself, finding no satisfaction; he beat his own head against
the tub, trying to beat himself out of the nightmare, the trick.
He
found himself outside the house aimlessly searching the surroundings
with blind eyes. He held fast to Alexandria, carrying her with him. The
weight pushed him back down to his knees. He looked up and saw the sky
revolve and twist. He witnessed no Gods above him.
“Have the
ethereal angels been lost,” he cried at the top of his lungs. “Can you
strike me down, or have you lost your lightning arms? Now I am truly
here to stand against this term of mortal torment alone. I have lost my
will to live!” Gravity brought him face down. He protected Alexandria’s
limp head from the dirt.
“There is no one left to heal this
hideous wretch, nobody to choose my mortality. Oh, if I could free my
soul from this pressing time of mourning, if I could drop my aegis and
expose my heart, there would still be no God to take its rhythm. Who
would allow this withered corpse to fall into the covenant of the earth
and join my Alexandria?”
He laid her body down softly in front of him. Smoothing her hair back, he kissed her eyelids, closing them to give her peace.
A strong, masculine hold pulled his head from her chest.
“Stand, Roman!”
Reluctantly
pulling his grasp from his love, Roman stood up. Swaying on his feet,
he tilted his head down, unable to look away from Alexandria’s unmoving
form.
Slowly, he convinced himself to lift his eyes and study
the force that had demanded his attention. He found himself staring into
the face of the woman from the pub. Her velvet garments were whirling
and enraged.
“She is just resting . . . isn’t she?” His words tore at the woman, her face grew darker and she reached out to take his hand.
He snapped his arms away as she did. “You filthy witch—” his voice couldn’t unleash the rage in his heart, “—I’ll burn you!”
He
lunged with all his might, only to land at her feet. He turned and
scrambled back over to Alexandria, protecting her from the woman.
She stood, frowning down at him. “You would be mad to try.”
“Her
blood—” he gathered her body into his arms again, holding her out for
the woman to view, “—you drained her blood . . . you took her from me.”
He found himself choking on tears again as he lay on the ground and pulled Alexandria on top of him, cradling her to his chest.
“No,
not me,” the woman answered solemnly. “Lokee took her life; I am your
protector, but I could not save her. If I left you, you would have ended
up as Alexandria is now. Don’t you dare blame me! I, Devendra, have
been with you.”
Roman looked up at her, surprised by her name and
familiarity. Devendra leaned down and took Alexandria into her own
arms, carrying her away.
Roman jumped up, following her to a
grove of redwood trees not far from town. The walk seemed to take hours,
as he fell countless times, weeping and unable go any further. Devendra
urged him on, promising a light at the end of his tunnel.
Moments
later, they reached a bed of roses, fresh and at full bloom. Devendra
laid Alexandria down on them, murmuring a soft, sweet prayer, then with a
thrust of her hand, ripped open the Earth and lowered Alexandria’s body
down into it—safe to rest in peace.
Review:
Blood Life is an interesting paranormal horror/thriller novel intertwined with steamy supernatural romance. The main plot deals with Devendra, a very powerful witch who is descended from one of the first witch lines; Lokee, who is her
son as well as her worst enemy; Roman, her friend and companion; and Alethea, who just happens to be the key to
it all. The story also revolves around the Combined, who are a half-breed race of vampires and witches. In the war between vampires, witches, and the Combined - who will come out on top?
This
novel is a fast-paced paranormal thriller with a really unique plot. The romance portion of the book was a bit of a shock
to me because I normally don't read that genre, but it was quite steamy
and made the tension between the characters palpable throughout
the novel and kept their relationships complicated and tense. The writing is very well done and the characters are
believably flawed and exciting to read about. I love all things paranormal, and the author manages to match two of my favorites (vampires and witches) together in a whirlwind of a paranormal adventure with a thriller's pace.
About the Author:
Growing up in North Beach during the late 70s/early 80s, Gianna Perada fell in love with the written word at the tender age of 7. Her mother bought her a diary that year for Christmas, and instead of using it as a day-to-day ramble-fest, little Gianna used it to pen short stories with dark undertones and clever twists and turns, influenced by two of her favorite TV shows at the time: The Alfred Hitchcock Hour and The Twilight Zone, and her favorite author, Edgar Allen Poe. Along came a fascination with horror films and the supernatural. She began writing Blood Life roughly 15 years ago and has rewritten it about 100 times since, having trouble letting it go. Working for several years as a copy-editor and book layout designer for small publishing houses and authors, she woke up the morning of March 15, 2012, looked over at her laptop, and finally said, "Today's the day I say goodbye to you." And so she did... she's got four cats, a rat dog, and an overwhelming workload. Working on the prequel to Blood Life, slated for release by Halloween, 2012. Stay tuned!
Growing up in North Beach during the late 70s/early 80s, Gianna Perada fell in love with the written word at the tender age of 7. Her mother bought her a diary that year for Christmas, and instead of using it as a day-to-day ramble-fest, little Gianna used it to pen short stories with dark undertones and clever twists and turns, influenced by two of her favorite TV shows at the time: The Alfred Hitchcock Hour and The Twilight Zone, and her favorite author, Edgar Allen Poe. Along came a fascination with horror films and the supernatural. She began writing Blood Life roughly 15 years ago and has rewritten it about 100 times since, having trouble letting it go. Working for several years as a copy-editor and book layout designer for small publishing houses and authors, she woke up the morning of March 15, 2012, looked over at her laptop, and finally said, "Today's the day I say goodbye to you." And so she did... she's got four cats, a rat dog, and an overwhelming workload. Working on the prequel to Blood Life, slated for release by Halloween, 2012. Stay tuned!
Where you can find Gianna:
Tour Wide Giveaway: Dark Mind Book Tours in conjunction with the author is holding a big tour wide giveaway! Check out the details and enter over at their site - here.
Thank you, Steph! =)
ReplyDeleteI love your blog!!
ReplyDelete