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kirkw1972's review
5.0
For far too long vampire books have been dominated by twinkly emo teenage stories or paranormal romances it's easy to forget that they were originally bloodthirsty killers hell bent on destroying humanity. Thank heavens then for Crimson Siege for reminding us.
Set in the late 1800's bounty hunter Milosh has captured vampire Prince, Stefan and has taken him to the distant outpost town run by Anton Yoska, the only man to have survived the slaughter of his regiment in the vampire wars. Stefan's mother wants him back and is prepared to start another war to do so. It's brutal and bloody and I really enjoyed it. No one can be trusted, even Yoska as he's hiding one of the biggest secrets of all.
The action starts from the very first page and doesn't let up until the end. It sucks you in from the start and is a real page turner. It's full of twists and turns, people betraying each other and lots of blood. Excellent read and 'm looking forward to reading the next book.
Set in the late 1800's bounty hunter Milosh has captured vampire Prince, Stefan and has taken him to the distant outpost town run by Anton Yoska, the only man to have survived the slaughter of his regiment in the vampire wars. Stefan's mother wants him back and is prepared to start another war to do so. It's brutal and bloody and I really enjoyed it. No one can be trusted, even Yoska as he's hiding one of the biggest secrets of all.
The action starts from the very first page and doesn't let up until the end. It sucks you in from the start and is a real page turner. It's full of twists and turns, people betraying each other and lots of blood. Excellent read and 'm looking forward to reading the next book.
ljwrites85's review
4.0
Anton Yoska survived the savage vampire wars and now is Lord Marshal of a small town called Brejnei. He leads a quiet life until his old army comrade Milosh Drubrick, with his ragtag band of bounty hunters, drag a vampire into the sleepy village. The vampire is none other than aristocrat, Stephan Modjeski and his family especially his ‘mother’ Kristina will stop at nothing to get him back. Who will survive?
This is beautifully written, Gothic and a little disturbing at times. Personally I wouldn’t class it as horror, just mainly because I think horror should have me terrified and shivering under a cover, but I did think it was a good fast paced action story.
I loved the character of Anton, he’s devoted to his wife even though she is dying from fever, and determined to uphold the law even if it costs him his life. Apart from Pavel, his young deputy, Anton seemed to be surrounded by horrible people. Twisted Count Kravnik, who had been sent to over see the execution of two poachers, Nickru his other deputy who wanted his job and finally the bounty hunters who frankly seemed worse than the vampires!
I wouldn’t say this book is overly gory but I will warn you there are some really brutal themes in the book, rape is one of them, though thankfully it’s not actually shown within the pages, just referred to.
If I had one issue it would be the language was a little too modern (the use of the word ‘hot’ when describing a woman springs to mind), I kept having to remind myself it was meant to be set in the 19th century.
Overall a good start to the series and I’m interested to see what the author does next!
This is beautifully written, Gothic and a little disturbing at times. Personally I wouldn’t class it as horror, just mainly because I think horror should have me terrified and shivering under a cover, but I did think it was a good fast paced action story.
I loved the character of Anton, he’s devoted to his wife even though she is dying from fever, and determined to uphold the law even if it costs him his life. Apart from Pavel, his young deputy, Anton seemed to be surrounded by horrible people. Twisted Count Kravnik, who had been sent to over see the execution of two poachers, Nickru his other deputy who wanted his job and finally the bounty hunters who frankly seemed worse than the vampires!
I wouldn’t say this book is overly gory but I will warn you there are some really brutal themes in the book, rape is one of them, though thankfully it’s not actually shown within the pages, just referred to.
If I had one issue it would be the language was a little too modern (the use of the word ‘hot’ when describing a woman springs to mind), I kept having to remind myself it was meant to be set in the 19th century.
Overall a good start to the series and I’m interested to see what the author does next!
jessbookishlife's review
5.0
I have always enjoyed vampire stories. I love to see how the author takes the theme (vampires) and make it their own. With "Crimson Siege", Jay Raven give us a book full of excitement, action, horror, vampires and crazy moments that I can't even describe because the book was so good.
It was so different from all the other vampire books I have read, and that made it refreshing to me. It that gothic vibe that I quite enjoy in a vampire book with that touch or horror that just makes it scary and unexpected. And it made me remember the first time I read Dracula, and how wowed I was about it.
My writer side appreciated the concept of the book a lot. I have 2 worlds I have developed in the vampire genre, and in one of them I am trying to get this gothic, raw and real feeling in it, and Jay's books just made me inspired to get out even more of my comfort zone (in terms of writing) and try new styles of writing and develop my own vibe in the vampire genre. So I want to thank Jay for getting me excited about this genre again.
As a reader that loves the genre, I must say that I love that this is also an historical fiction book. It gave the book a nice set for the characters and plot to develop. From the first characters we met to the last one, no matter if they were main characters or not, they get your full attention, and as they keep growing and changing, you follow their lives throughout the events in the book, and I can't wait to read the next book and know more.
Trust, revenge, power, war, relationships... Twists and turns... You get a full of emotion journey through a vivid world that Jay created. If you love horror, paranormal and vampires, this is the book for you and, personally, I can't wait to read the next one.
[Thank you Rachel, at Rachel’s Random Resources, and Jay for the eCopy of the book and for allowing me to be a part of this blog tour and give my honest review.]
It was so different from all the other vampire books I have read, and that made it refreshing to me. It that gothic vibe that I quite enjoy in a vampire book with that touch or horror that just makes it scary and unexpected. And it made me remember the first time I read Dracula, and how wowed I was about it.
My writer side appreciated the concept of the book a lot. I have 2 worlds I have developed in the vampire genre, and in one of them I am trying to get this gothic, raw and real feeling in it, and Jay's books just made me inspired to get out even more of my comfort zone (in terms of writing) and try new styles of writing and develop my own vibe in the vampire genre. So I want to thank Jay for getting me excited about this genre again.
As a reader that loves the genre, I must say that I love that this is also an historical fiction book. It gave the book a nice set for the characters and plot to develop. From the first characters we met to the last one, no matter if they were main characters or not, they get your full attention, and as they keep growing and changing, you follow their lives throughout the events in the book, and I can't wait to read the next book and know more.
Trust, revenge, power, war, relationships... Twists and turns... You get a full of emotion journey through a vivid world that Jay created. If you love horror, paranormal and vampires, this is the book for you and, personally, I can't wait to read the next one.
[Thank you Rachel, at Rachel’s Random Resources, and Jay for the eCopy of the book and for allowing me to be a part of this blog tour and give my honest review.]
kimchi84's review
4.0
It has certainly been a long time since I have read a horror and this certainly didn't disappoint. It was a nice change from the chick - lit and other genres I seem to be reading recently. This was fast paced, edge of seat, gripping, and sometimes disturbing, but in my opinion it's not a good horror if you haven't got something sick, twisted and disturbing lurking around.
Obviously teen vampires and Dracula etc have been done to death but this was a whole new take on a vampire story. This is set in the time of werewolves and vampires in Transylvania. But definitely not in the traditional sense. Wonderfully written and didn't hang around, you were quickly transported to the next scene and character.
We are introduced to a lot of characters, each and every one of them very different and for that reason it is very difficult to single any of them out. With Anton, I felt there was always something bubbling beneath the surface. Milosh, I wasn't a fan of, but for me it's the sort of person he is. Irina, a bit sick and twisted, always trying to seduce the men in her life and others. Quintz, quite comical if you ask me and the list of characters goes on and on....
I really enjoyed this welcome change and would certainly recommend it to others that like reading horror. I'm looking forward to the next instalment and can't wait to pick it up. No spoilers as normal, but there's certainly one hell of a twist in it too!
I'm going to give this book a well deserved 4/5 rating.
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