Title: ‘Salvation of the Damned’Author: Theresa Meyers
Pages: 63
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Standalone/Series: Novella
Publisher: Silhouette
I have an unhealthy attachment to vampires in fiction, but I believe that every reader has that guilty pleasure, which he/she wishes to keep a secret. I’ve read enough books to know the ins and outs about vampires. Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance in general are no mystery to me, but Meyers’ offering manages to balance between familiarity and uncharted waters.
It’s Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Evaline should be having fun, but her life is neither pleasant nor exciting, until handsome Raphael sweeps her off her feet and takes her to a gathering that possibly spells her death. It turns out that Evaline is not just an accountant, but the sole human being that can save the entire vampire race by being sacrificed. An additional kick to the groin is the fact that Evaline is also Rapahel’s reincarnated former lover, whom he also sacrificed a millennia prior.
It’s a first to see a willing human sacrifice, which is eager to screw life in order for a race with an unsavory rep to survive for the upcoming millennia. Meyers throws some good ideas re the vampires, giving them a more victimized nature and a not so menacing nature. Background is good and the ritual to save a whole race is an untypical element. The reincarnation is a nifty decision, but whatever strength these elements provide, the execution takes away.
Meyers has no control over what happens in her story. Crucial information is revealed at most inappropriate moments, thus killing early chances for building suspense or weaving a mystery or teasing the reader to turn the page. It is why the good ideas never delivered any satisfaction whatsoever. The reader is told, rather than shown, which is the bigger damper. The prose is at best derivative. Word choices trigger déjà vu at a steady pace and it even ruins the heated sex, which I have never seen before.
The Verdict: [C-] I am not an ass, generally, but I seldom come across a written work that I reject almost wholly.
4 comments:
Ah hell, I had hopes of this one. Will give it a try anyway.
Yup, I wanted to love it as well. The cover art is stunning and the blurb was great, but yeah, the author has a long way to walk.
I see exactly what you are saying... great blurb but potential to build something great from plot summary unfulfilled.
[@murf61]
Velma, good to see you. And yeah, I say that there is promise. Meyers does think outside the box, but the potential is not even tapped.
The blurb was my own take though. The official blurb is different and vaguer.
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