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Aleveria

Aleveria / KarenL

Releasing the Demons

Releasing the Demons - L.D. Rose I received a copy of this book from the author for an unbiased review.

I reiterate - an unbiased review. I even let her know when she contacted me that I'm not a big Vampire chick, but if she was okay with that, I'd read it. Kinda glad I said yes. I deliberately stayed away from any other reviews before reading Releasing the Demons, but I understand the 4+ star rating. I can also see why it got a few pans, although I don't agree with those - and it's just a taste thing - nothing against those reviewers at all. There is a lot of violence, viscera, bleakness, y'know... blood and guts. I was okay with it in this setting - it made sense to me.

I'd like to talk about one of the main characters, NYC. Releasing the Demons is set in a future version of NYC where Vampires are real, they're not "sparkly," and they definitely don't want to be lovey-dovey with human-kind. A few locations around the city are described in detail, and I could definitely picture them rather vividly in my mind as I read. I've been there quite a few times, and in and around the locations mentioned, so it was pretty cool to have this alternate reality dystopian version of them laid out like a vampiric "playground".

The living & breathing characters were just as evocative. Our Hero, Blaze, is almost every adjective you can throw at him. Even a couple of the derogatory ones. For the most part though, he's a good guy. His life is dedicated to, and made for, eradicating the vampire threat. Throughout the book we get a detailed account of his tortured past, which gives us valuable insight into his character - directly related to this story. We also get to know his brothers, who are all incredible in their own ways. They have supernatural abilities, but they are definitely not Gods. Each of them pay dearly for their gifts, but feel compelled to use them to help others.

Our heroine, Detective Valerie Medeiros, has lived through her share of heartbreaking trials. Some at the hands of monstrous creatures, some because of the world that developed around them, and even sadly just to the normal things that happen in our real world today. While this does cause friction between them, ultimately I think their common experiences draw them together and make them stronger.

Val is a BAMF through the whole book. Even when confronted with the most vile of propaganda, she is forced to confront Blaze and almost follows through. It was definitely a tense moment for me. One of the things this tale does very well - it makes the villains really hateful.

So to sum up, I very much enjoyed this installment, and I have the second book ready to go. I'll probably have to read some other books in-between due to some deadlines, but I'm looking forward to [b:Black Bullet|32716471|Black Bullet (The Order of The Senary #2)|L.D. Rose|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1477779679s/32716471.jpg|53296822] when I can get to it. Sooner rather than later. :-)

4 solid stars.