For Blake Beck, it proves to be no ordinary day when he finds a razor blade in the morning mail. As Director of Black Ops within the CAC, Blake hardly expected the morning mail to include a letter from his boss telling him to kill himself.
The razor blade is intended to be Blake's ticket to Shades – the realm beyond life where all souls go to await their celestial paperwork. Following his instincts to save himself, Blake soon finds himself caught in the frontlines of the age-old war between Dæth, the ruler of Shades, and Mr. Ferre, the first undead.
As the uncovering of a mystical medieval manuscript threatens to turn the tide of the war, Blake has no choice but to embark on a fateful hunt to secure the manuscript’s hidden secrets, while his old nemesis Vincenzo looms in the shadows, out to claim the secrets first. Unfortunately, the resurfacing of Blake's one true love, as well as his own sense of right and wrong, threatens to put an end to his endeavors as Blake discovers that he is merely a pawn in the chess game of gods...
5/5 Stars - An interesting and exciting new take on vampires set in a truly brilliant universe
A real page turner. Once you get caught in the creative, exciting and brilliant universe that sets the frame for Shades - the demise of Blake Beck, you just want to learn more and travel deeper. A new and unique vampire story in a universe that truly makes you want to keep reading with an interesting mix of faction and philosophy that makes you wonder - are there greater powers and are they playing games?I give this book my warmest recommendations and are eagerly waiting for the next step in the demise of Blake Beck!
4/5 Stars - Vampires and Heroes!
Blake Beck, a new kind of hero. I thoroughly enjoyed this wonderful story, and its decent into the next realm "Shades". It becomes a mystical battle of the shadows, and it's a unique story. I recently became a fan of vampires and the world of other realms, and this story just spoke to me. Truly enjoyable and a wondrous energetic read!I received this book free in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. ~Amy's Bookshelf Reviews
5/5 Stars - A fantastic book with an intelligent story combining history
A fantastic book with an intelligent story combining history, famous cities and art and a refreshing new take on what is beyond this life. A classic story of the great game of power in an universe that always makes you wonder what comes next.
A very nice read that I can highly recommend, an interesting new take on the vampire genre
5/5 Stars - This is a grown-up urban fantasy story
This is a grown-up urban fantasy story with a ton of historical, philosophical and factual depth. The mysteries (some times very real!) of art, architecture and history is masterfully woven into a story of life beyond death. The story is a fast paced and action filled, yet still philosophical and with a focus on historical detail.
5/5 Stars - Enjoyably well written story: Vampires and a new purgatory...
I enjoyed the unexpected depth of this book a lot: if you want you can read it as a page turning vampire mystery, but you can also delve into the others layers of existentialism, history, art and philosophy that lies brilliantly and yet undisturbingly fluent beneath. In some ways it reminds me of Umberto Ecos "The Name of the rose" with the opportunities of reading it at different levels. I also see the Dan Brown-ish faction angle that allows you to google and find the mentioned art if you want to have a look......some of us do :-)To me the stage setting character of the earl and the well thought out realm of Shades really lifts the book.Normally I don't read vampire novels but fantasy, mystery, crime and sometimes historic genres (mainly Ken Follet) but this took me away to another ingenious unexpected realm. I recommend it even though you do not usually read the genre and I expect also if you already read vampire novels- since this (to my knowledge) is a new take on vampire lore. Enjoy.
4/5 - Better than Dan Brown not quite up in the Neil Gaiman sky...
A page turner in the genre of magic realism that is at cross between Dan Browm and Neil Gaiman. Better than Dan Brown not quite up in the Neil Gaiman sky but who can blame him. Good book!
5/5 Stars - An interesting and exciting new take on vampires set in a truly brilliant universe
A real page turner. Once you get caught in the creative, exciting and brilliant universe that sets the frame for Shades - the demise of Blake Beck, you just want to learn more and travel deeper. A new and unique vampire story in a universe that truly makes you want to keep reading with an interesting mix of faction and philosophy that makes you wonder - are there greater powers and are they playing games?
I give this book my warmest recommendations and are eagerly waiting for the next step in the demise of Blake Beck!
5/5 Stars - An interesting and exciting new take on vampires set in a truly brilliant universe
A real page turner. Once you get caught in the creative, exciting and brilliant universe that sets the frame for Shades - the demise of Blake Beck, you just want to learn more and travel deeper. A new and unique vampire story in a universe that truly makes you want to keep reading with an interesting mix of faction and philosophy that makes you wonder - are there greater powers and are they playing games?
I give this book my warmest recommendations and are eagerly waiting for the next step in the demise of Blake Beck!
