Review & Giveaway: Thunder and Blood by Stacey Voss

thunder

  • Paperback: 230 pages
  • Publisher: Donner Publishing (April 27, 2009)
  • ISBN-10: 0981251609
  • Source: Author
  •  

    Two sisters, Sarah and Christine, are on their way to a girl-only weekend at a luxurious spa.  Sarah walked in on her husband and her neighbor/friend having an affair and needed a weekend to get away and attempt to heal her severely battered self-esteem. So, they decided to make a short trek across the Canadian border into the United States. 

    Their road trip started off without a hitch.  But shortly into the trip, a thick fog begins to roll in.

    What normally was a vista of rolling hills, majestic forests, and lush farmland, was now obscured by a thick mantle of mist.  The vapours were sliding over the hood and widnshield of the car like blankets of silk and the combined effect was eerie.

    As they drove through the thick fog they noticed the road had become rougher. They spot a light in the fog and decide to pull over.  The light was coming from a small, rustic-looking house.  The sisters head up to the house and are greeted by a couple, Gerwin and Elke.  As soon as Sarah and Christine stepped into the house, it was as though they were taking a step back in time. The house was lit by an old oil lantern and the furniture was hand-crafted.  The modern convenience of indoor plumbing was also lacking, the girls soon discovered after deciding to stay overnight at the couple’s home.  The girls asked questions about the couple’s background and the responses were always quite vague.

    The next morning, the girls pack up again and prepare to head out.  They ask for directions back to the main road and again, the responses they receive are very vague.  Gerwin simply suggests that they head back the way they came. Sarah and Christine follow his advice and are once again on their way.  The decided there was no sense in attempting to go to the spa, so they attempt to head back home.

    Their plans are thwarted when the car begins to shutter and rolls to a stop.  Christine soon discovers that Sarah has come down with a fever and offers to go and look for help. Before doing so, Sarah attempts to use her cell phone to call for help but she is unable to get a signal.  So Christine heads out to look for help.  Sarah, lethargic due to her fever, curls up and quickly falls asleep.

    Sarah awakens to find that Christine has not returned. She starts blaring the horn in the hopes that someone hears her. She turns on the radio and gets nothing but static.  She is startled when someone knocks on the car window. She rolls down the window and is greeted by man with a relaxed tone of voice.  His name is Hillard and claims he was camping in the woods. When he heard the sound of the car horn, he walked over to see what the commotion was all about.

    Hillard convinces Sarah to get out of the car and agrees to help her look for her sister. As they begin to walk down the road, Sarah notices a piece of broken plastic on the ground: the cell phone she’d given to Christine before she headed out on her trek.

    Meanwhile, Christine has awoken in a cell with a dull, aching head. She learns from her cell-mate that she is in the dungeon of a man known as Lord Radek.  Before she can learn more, she is pulled from her cell and taken to Lord Radek.

    Radek informs Christine that she was found wandering the road by a few of his men.  Radek further confuses Christine by referring to her as a “new visitor from the fog” and a gift to him. Christine is rewarded with nicer accomodations: a sleeping room full of large ornate furnishings.

    Separated, Sarah and Christine soon learn that they are no longer in the world in which they were familiar. The fog was a gate to another world, one led by vampire lords.  The currency is blood; visitors that pass through the fog are offered up as gifts to Lord Radek. They soon learn they are trapped in this world forever, and must fight to protect their lives…and their souls!

    Thunder and Blood is a chilling and addictive read. The detailed characterization instantly draws you in and makes you feel a part of the story.  Lord Radek, while he is considered the villian in this tale, is intoxicating. Voss’s writing is intoxicating as well. It is easy to become absorbed in this book.  I certainly did! I read it in one sitting!   What I loved most was the vampire aspect of the story.  They aren’t the sparkly vampires of the Twilight books, but true vampires!  Therefore, I highly recommend this for fans of “real” vampires!

    Stacey will be stopping by Jenn’s Bookshelves periodically throughout the day, so please feel free to ask her any questions!

    Now on to the giveaway!  I have a signed copy of Thunder and Blood available for one lucky reader!  For five-runners up, I have an autographed bookmark!

    To enter the contest, ask Stacey a question or answer the following question: Who is your favorite literarly vampire?  I promise not to delete your comment if you respond with “Edward!”   Tweet and/or blog about it for extra entries.  Leave a comment with each of your extra entries with a direct link to your blog post/tweet.   Contest ends at midnight Eastern Time on Saturday, October 31st. 

    This contest is now over!

    Posted in Current Giveaways, Review, Thriller | 36 Comments

    It’s Monday! What Are You Reading This Week?

    It’s Monday! What Are You Reading This Week? This is a weekly event to list the books completed last week, the books currently being reading, and the books to be finish this week. It was created by J.Kaye’s Book Blog, so stop by and join in!

    Books Completed Last Week

    Thanks to the readathon, I got a ton of reading done this past week!

    Burning for Revenge (The Tomorrow Series #5) by John Marsden (audio)
    The Rapture by Liz Jensen

    The Widow’s Season by Laura Brodie
    City of Bones (Mortal Instruments) by Cassandra Clare
    Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
    Dead Until Dark (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 1) by Charlaine Harris
    Ruined by Paula Morris
    The Price by Alexandra Sokoloff

    Currently Reading

    Dracula The Un-Dead by Dacre Stoker and Ian Holt
    Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
    Thunder and Blood by Stacey Voss
    The Night is for Hunting (The Tomorrow Series #6) by John Marsden (audio)

    Books to Complete This Week

    Damnable by Hank Schwaeble
    The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
    The Cutting by James Hayman
    His Father’s Son by Bentley Little

    What are you reading this week?

    Posted in It's Monday What Are you Reading This Week | 16 Comments

    Winners of Spoon by Robert Greer

    Sorry for the delay! With all the prep for the readathon, I completely forgot to announce the winners of this contest!  Without any further delay….

    Winners

    The winners have been contacted via email and have 48 hrs to respond.  The books will be sent directly from the publisher. Thanks to all who entered!

    Posted in Blog Post | 3 Comments

    Readathon: Update & Wrap-Up Meme

    Progress Report:

    • Title of book(s) read since last update: Currently reading Ruined by Paula Morris
    • Thoughts on current read: Love the New Orleans setting!
    • Number of books read since you started: 4.5
    • Pages read since last update: 79 (four year old woke up at 6 AM!)
    • Running total of pages read since you started: 1627 pages
    • Amount of time spent reading since last update: 46 minutes (see note above about son’s wake-up time!)
    • Running total of time spent reading since you started: 18 hrs.
    • Location: Husband’s recliner

    Snack Intake: none

    1. Which hour was most daunting for you?

    It was definitely around 2 AM. I had already taken one nap yet I was still so tired my eyes couldn’t focus.  So, I went to sleep until 6 am!

    2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?

    I definitely enjoyed reading Life As We Knew It.  It was a pretty dark read, but still kept my interest.  I also enjoyed reading the Sookie books.  They were pretty easy reads that didn’t require too much concentration.

    3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?

    I guess this year cheerleaders were assigned blogs to cheer for? I understand the point, but it just seemed a little odd for people who have never visited my blog to cheer for me.  Granted, I do know some of my cheerleaders, and they were all amazing.  Just saying….

    4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?

    Twitter! I think it was even more effective this time around!  I liked being able to log on and see a bunch of cheerleaders and other readers offering their support!

    5. How many books did you read?

    Four and a half.

    6. What were the names of the books you read?

    Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
    City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
    The Price by Alexandra Sokoloff
    Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
    Ruined by Paula Morris

    7. Which book did you enjoy most?

    I actually enjoyed all of these. I probably enjoyed Ruined the most because it’s set in New Orleans (a city I’ve always been drawn to).

    8. Which did you enjoy least?

    There were a few books I tried to read during the readathon that didn’t grab my attention. I don’t think this was a fault of the book, just not the right book at the time.

    9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?

    Not a cheerleader.

    10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?

    I’ll definitely participate again! And I’d like to continue to be a reader

    Posted in Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-thon | 18 Comments

    Readathon: Update 5, Hour 18

    It’s 2:33 AM.  I’m hitting the sack until about 6.  Can’t get eyes to focus on reading anymore.

    Progress Report:

    • Title of book(s) read since last update: Dead Until Dark, Charlaine Harris
    • Thoughts on current read: Noticed a distinct difference between the book and the HBO series.
    • Number of books read since you started: 4
    • Pages read since last update: 118
    • Running total of pages read since you started: 1548 pages
    • Amount of time spent reading since last update: 60 minutes
    • Running total of time spent reading since you started: 14 hrs
    • Location: Reading Chair

    Snack Intake: none

    Posted in Uncategorized | 9 Comments

    Readathon: Update #4, End of Hour 15

    *Note: I’m prescheduling this post at 10:31 PM EST.  I’m headed to bed to read, which may lead to a short nap.  If you still see this note, I am sleeping and these totals reflect my progress up until this point.

    Progress Report:

    • Title of book(s) read since last update: Currently reading Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
    • Thoughts on current read: This is a quick reread since it’s been some time since I started the series.  I find I truly enjoy the books more than the series.
    • Number of books read since you started: 3.5
    • Pages read since last update: 156
    • Running total of pages read since you started: 1412 pages
    • Amount of time spent reading since last update: 180 minutes
    • Running total of time spent reading since you started: 13.5 hours
    • Location: Bed

    Snack Intake: A few more cookies (cinnamon sugar and chocolate chip)

    Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

    Readathon: Update #3, End of Hour 11

    Progress Report:

    • Title of book(s) read since last update: The Price by Alexandra Sokoloff
    • Thoughts on current read: Haven’t started 4th Book, but The Price really made me think!
    • Number of books read since you started: 3
    • Pages read since last update: 335
    • Running total of pages read since you started: 1256pages
    • Amount of time spent reading since last update: 230 minutes
    • Running total of time spent reading since you started: 10 hours
    • Location: Reading Chair

    Snack Intake: Dinner: smoked chicken, macaroni and cheese.  Dessert: a few cookies 🙂

    Posted in Uncategorized | 14 Comments

    Readathon: Update #2, End of Hour 7

    Progress Report:

    • Title of book(s) read since last update: Currently reading City of Bones by Cassandra Clare.
    • Thoughts on current read: Fabulous!  Just what I needed for my second read!
    • Number of books read since you started: 1.5
    • Pages read since last update: 320
    • Running total of pages read since you started: 657 pages
    • Amount of time spent reading since last update: 200 minutes
    • Running total of time spent reading since you started: 6 hours
    • Location: Reading Chair
    • Snack Intake: Salami & cheese, one chocolate chip cookie
    Posted in Uncategorized | 8 Comments

    Readathon: Update #1: Hour 4

    I’m “borrowing” the format of Readathon veteran, “Irish” from Ticket to Anywhere.  I’m altering it a bit to keep things short.

    Progress Report:

    • Title of book(s) read since last update: Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
      • Thoughts on current read: Just finished Life as We Knew it.  Very heartbreaking and haunting tale.  I feel guilty snacking on cookies and pizza rolls after reading the struggle this family endured.
        • Number of books read since you started: 1 books
        • Pages read since last update: 337

        • Running total of pages read since you started: 337 pages
        • Amount of time spent reading since last update: 200 minutes
          • Running total of time spent reading since you started: 200 minutes
          • Location: Reading Chair
          • Snack Intake:
          • Breakfast: blueberry cake donut
          • Snack: cinnamon roll
          • Lunch: Pizza rolls

          I’ll be back in four hours!  You may have noticed I installed a twitter widget off to the left.  I am updating every hour on twitter and you can now see my updates without leaving my blog!

          Thanks to all the cheerleaders for your outstanding support!

          Posted in Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-thon | 11 Comments

          It’s Time for the 24 Hour Readathon!!

          deweys-readathonbutton

          I’m so excited!  It’s finally here!  The activity I’ve look forward to the most!

          I’ve been busy preparing!  I have my initial stack of books:

          102_1486

          And I was busy baking last night:

          102_1488

          Cinnamon rolls are in the oven and should be ready right at start time.

          So I don’t inundate my readers with posts, I will only be doing blog posts every three to four hours.  I will update hourly on twitter, so feel free to follow me (@jennsbookshelf).

          Just as a reminder, I will be reading for two charities, so please wish me luck!  Ok, I’ll be back in a few hours!!

          Posted in Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-thon | 16 Comments