The Strigoi series is addictive. In Strigoi, Marek is betrayed and sent to hell. In Tread the Darkness, Marek is reunited with his family and adjusting to modern times. The focus of Three Come Unbidden is the love life of Marek as well as the love life of Dan. Still unseen by Marek, Ravagiu is operating in the background and planning on taking Marek’s family down.
Marek—now known as Mark Stryker—has relocated to the beautiful city of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. He now owns and runs a highly successful restaurant.
Because of a painting, The Naked Incubus, hanging in his restaurant, Marek meets an old lover, Jenny. If you remember, she is the artist who painted this, and Marek was her model and inspiration. She has aged, but he hasn’t. Awkward. But that doesn’t stop true love, or at least as true a love as an adventurieri can feel. Marek is finally happy, but will this happiness last?
While helping Jenny, Marek discovers that his blood has even more healing power than he realized. He also discovers he has more family than he realized.
Marek doesn’t realize it, but Ravagiu is also in New Orleans. Taking advantage of the destruction that Hurricane Katrina unleashed upon the city, Ravagiu is killing as many as he can, using the destruction to cover up his crimes.
Ravagiu is having a group of young men do his “dirty” work for him. These young men believe that Ravagiu is a human who wants to destroy vampires. He deceives Jenny’s grandson into helping him, and Dan is their first victim.
What is going on in Dan’s love life? He has been celibate for a very long time because he is confused about his sexual orientation. He claims to be attracted to guys, but he isn’t completely sure. Two people in his life that he has become “very close” to, Maggie and Timothy, cause him to realize that he may not be who he thought he was.
Marek is still hunting down his enemy, Ravagiu, but not all of his time is spent focusing on revenge. What does a vampire in the modern world like to read? Marek absolutely loves all the vampire books that are out there. One of his favorite authors is Linda Nightingale, who wrote Sinner’s Opera.
Does he watch any television? Shows that have to do with vampires, like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, are favorites. He finds the misconceptions that most have about vampires humorous and entertaining.
Strigoi, Tread the Darkness, and Three Come Unbidden are some of the best vampire books that I’ve ever read. If you are a fan of vampire fiction, I highly recommend the books in this series.
Yes, the book ends in a cliffhanger. It left me with questions I hope will be answered in the next book in this series, Shadow Duet.
I was sent a copy of Three Come Unbidden in exchange for an honest review. If you would like to read your own copy of this book, I’ve provided an Amazon link for you below.
Amazon Link: Shadow Passion
Recommended Articles:
Stigoi – a Review
Tread the Darkness – a Review
The Night Man Cometh – a Review
Why Vampires? – Guest Post by Tony-Paul de Vissage
Favorite Sentences:
Many of the bodies found in the rubble by searchers died from Mircea’s fangs rather than Katrina’s fury.
The trees were dark and shadowed, the moon making pale streaks along the masts of his wings and silvering his hair.
The radiator chose that moment to jangle like a cow bell.
New Words Learned:
dentine – a calcareous material similar to but harder and denser than bone that composes the principal mass of a tooth
maladroit – lacking in adroitness; unskillful; awkward; bungling; tactless
About the Author:
A writer of French Huguenot extraction, Tony-Paul de Vissage’s first movie memory is of being six years old, viewing the old Universal horror flick, Dracula’s Daughter on television, and being scared sleepless–and that may explain a lifelong interest in vampires.
This was further inspired when the author was kidnapped by a band of transplanted Romanian vampires sightseeing in the South. Having never seen a human who wasn’t frightened of them, they offered to pay the youngster’s way through college if he would become an author and write about vampires in a positive manner. He agreed, was returned to his parents (who were also grateful for the tuition offer since it let them off the hook) and continued to keep in touch with his supernatural mentors.
Though the author didn’t begin writing horror–or any other genre–until after graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from a well-known Southern University (and a second in Graphic Art), that one particular interest—and the promise made to his mentors—survived a liberal arts’ education and the scorn of friends and family. Marriage, parenthood, divorce, and a variety of occupations ranging from stage work to doctor’s assistant took precedent over writing for several years, as did moving from one United States coast to another.
Eventually that first story—a short story about the hapless vampire Clan Andriescu—was published. A voracious reader whose personal library has been shipped more than 3,000 miles, Tony-Paul has read hundreds of vampire tales and viewed more than as many movies.
TP currently has twenty-five novels published, twenty-three under the Class Act Books imprint. His next novel, Absinthe Eternal, will be released in February 2018.
