Reviewed by Chris

TITLE:  Drinker of Blood

SERIES:  SPECTR 2 #3

AUTHOR:  Jordan L. Hawk

PUBLISHER:  Widdershins Press

LENGTH:  84 pages

RELEASE DATE:  March 17, 2017

BLURB:  

An outbreak of demon attacks across Charleston has worn SPECTR agent John Starkweather to the bone. Now a new threat faces his team: a demon with bullet—and bite—proof skin, which can’t be stopped by ordinary means.

John’s only solace comes in the form of his lovers: Caleb Jansen and the vampire spirit Gray. Caleb and Gray have their own problems, however. Unbeknownst to John, they’ve been tracking a mysterious entity across the city. And after they finally come face to face with their quarry, nothing will ever be the same.

REVIEW:  

The monster. The demon. The fiend.*

As far as anyone can tell Gray–and by possession, Caleb–is neigh on indestructible. But that doesn’t mean they can’t be hurt. And he and Caleb are going to be in for a world of hurt if they can’t keep their boss at SPECTR happy. Which, going from their last meeting, is about as likely as Caleb becoming a SPECTR poster-boy. But if they keep their head down–and don’t let on to what they do in their off-time–they might just manage to avoid being thrown down a deep dark hole never to be seen again. Too bad something new and dangerous is haunting the city that has the potential to change everything. Or kill everyone.

So, basically a regular Monday then. Yummy.

There is just so much I want to say about this book, but like 3/4 of it would be massive spoilers so I’m just gonna fanboy for a bit and hope you all go read this pronto so we can talk about it like happy little book’a’holics.

I absolutely loved this next episode in the SPECTR series. And I have very much come to view each of these novellas like TV episodes in a short highly interconnected series (BBC style!). They build off each other magnificently, slowly ratcheting up the tension, but also are self-contained enough that I don’t mind having to wait half a year or more between each episode. This story is a great third episode as well. By the end of this story things are right at the point of change. I can easily see that several plot lines have just reached the tipping point and that little piece of safety that Caleb, Gray, and John tried to make out of the end of the first series is about to be blown apart. And boy am I stoked to watch is crumble.

The stakes are high in this book, and the whole thing from start to finish had me on the edge of my seat. I was actually kinda worried about Gray and Caleb in this book, and I love that the author was able to make me worry when I was getting kinda comfortable in the idea that nothing could really touch Gray. I thought most of the threat was going to be relationship stuff, but having a Big Bad that was really badass was awesome.

Oh, and the relationship stuff. Yummy. And I’m not just talking about the sex–but really, I adore their whole three-way so I’m always down for that–but I can start to see where some major cracks are going to form in later books and I can not wait. I don’t wanna spoil the suprise, but it is kinda ridiculous how much I’m looking forward to having their relationship tested in the upcoming books.

Ugh, this was just so good and I really hope I don’t have to wait too long for the next one. Also, if anyone wants to actually make this a tv show (which, highly unlikely, but a boy can dream can’t he?) I would so eat that up and ask for thirds. These stories might be short, but they know how to pack a punch and keep you begging for more. And I have no problem with getting on my knees for that.

*Based loosely on a line from Beowulf: “Till the monster stirred, that demon, that fiend”

RATING:  

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