Last night after I stepped away from the computer to get some inside steps in and check social media, I found I'd been tagged in the first review for the first installment of Before the Blood.
First of all, as an indie author waaaaaaaay down on the author pecking scale, I'm blessed to have any readers at all.
But I've been blessed beyond imaginings to have this one fan who is as passionate about my series as she is. In fact, books two and three in the BryonySeries trilogy have only one review a piece on Amazon - and they both came from her.
How did she discover the series? We're Facebook acquaintances. She had seen references to it from my blog postings. And she bought the first book on a whim, not expecting much.
Of course, it's very fitting that a BryonySeries fan be named "Rose."
At any rate, I'd rather have one review like this one than hundreds that simply say, "Great read! Can't wait for the next one!"
Because reviews like this one show the reader relished the story and give other readers an idea if this is the book for them - without spoilers.
BTW, I only have two and a half more chapters to check in the proof copy of the second installment.
The book that
begins a tale of subtle horror beyond imagining
January 30, 2019
Verified
Purchase
What I relish
most about Denise Baran-Unland’s writing is her lack of sentimental meandering
when it comes to evil. You won’t find vampires that glimmer or glisten or glow.
Even Bram Stoker’s enigmatic Count Dracula is too refined and delicate for the
likes of Unland.
Despite his
Byronic looks and Mozartian musical talent, John Simons, from Unland’s Bryony
series is very clearly a predator. And in her tales, a predator and potential
prey can never be true friend, much less lovers.
In my opinion,
Unland’s Bryony series is a masterpiece. I read each book at least twice. The
only other books I’ve read more than once are, “The Once and Future King” by
Terrence White and Tolkein’s Hobbit and LOTR.
After finishing
Bryony, I was bereft. I found myself mourning her multifaceted characters and
complex plot. I needed to understand what made these individuals tick.
Before the
Blood: John Simons (BTB) is a prequel to Bryony. While Bryony begins as the
meanderings of a vulnerable, lovelorn girl, BTB is stark in its unvarnished
reality. It’s as if the teenage protagonist from Bryony has grown old and wise
and is determined to share her observations and wisdom before she passes from
this world.
In Bryony, John
Simons is an ill-fated vampire who desperately yearned to atone for his past.
BTB is his life as a mortal = literally before the blood. Early on in BTB,
patriarch Abbott Simons makes an observation following the birth of unwanted
son, John Simons:
"Why is it
always the blood..."
Thus, we’re made
to understand that even before John Simons was initiated into the realm of the
undead, there was a fatal flaw that ultimately led to his demise.
Though BTB may
be loosely classified as Gothic Horror, it's doesn't readily conform to a
specific genre. Indeed, BTB works on a
variety of levels. Literally, it is a cautionary tale of a musically gifted,
rebellious son who is compelled to create his own legend rather than live in his
father's shadow. We follow John Simons from the pinnacle of his success to the
basement of his despair. Anyone who has suffered failure will identify with the
fey characters.
On another
level, BTB is a study in family dysfunction. Superficially, the Simons family
is the very picture of the rags to riches American Dream. The self-made
millionaire, his salt-of-the-earth wife and their son, who is blessed with
musical genius rivaling that of Mozart. But, beneath the Simons genteel surface
lies an ugly reality rife with Oedipal undertones.
Indeed, Sigmund
Freud would clap his hands in glee at the sheer number of lunatics that grace
the pages of BTB.
Humor is used to
coax the reader into opening the door to the closet where family skeletons
dwell. The use of archetypes is ingenious. Grandma Spencer, a seemingly
harmless, albeit eccentric, old woman morphs into the Hindu goddess Kali, best
known for devouring her children and wearing a necklace of their skulls. And
there's the devil in the guise of a tipsy, whimsical Bacchus who giggles his way
into convincing hapless victims into selling their soul. It's easy to avoid
those who appear evil. But, society's most successful killers appear harmless.
Ted Bundy comes to mind.
The third level
of BTB is the creeping sense of horror. This isn't the shock of zombies
snacking on human entrails. It's more the quicksand of Alfred Hitchcock's
"Psycho," where seemingly normal people remove their mask. Like
Hitchcock, Unland hides nasty little surprises between the lines. She
encourages you to use your imagination, where your most primal fears dwell. The
suspense builds slowly and paralyzingly. Unland's monsters are terrifying
because they are real.
I enjoyed
"Before the Blood: John Simons," the book that started it all. I can
barely contain myself waiting for the next installment.
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