The seventh book in the must-read series The Second Species opens with Marek Strigoi and his family being banished, and Cezar Strigoi is to take Marek’s place as taietor, the prince’s assassin. Cezar soon tires of this job for he is mainly sent to execute others for crimes of the heart.
Cezar now understands what all those who were taietor before him have suffered. He now understands why they were so standoffish, why they were so alone.
The longer he is taietor, the more his demeanor changes, the harsher he becomes, and the more his home falls into disrepair.
This book is different from the first six in that it’s focus is on Cezar and his struggle with what he has to do. He does kill for the prince, but every time he does, he loses a bit more of his own soul. And what did he need his soul for anyway? He has now lost everything, including his wife and daughters, who are now afraid of him.
He could never understand why so many adventurieri were besotted with human women. Then he meets Elle. Her adventurieri lover and supposed father of their unborn child gave up her name in order to escape death. But he didn’t deserve her. Cezar falls head over heels in love with her when he goes to kill her.
Now Cezar is determined to find a way to change the law that forbids the mating of adventurieri and humans. Will he succeed?
Many things that we already know about are gone over again in this book, but they are gone into more deeply. We end up with a better understanding of what has gone on behind the scenes.
This book is now out of print and has limited availability. Just in case you get lucky and a copy of it shows up on Amazon, I’ve provided a link for you to purchase it.
Amazon Link: Shadow Slayer
If you are a member of Scribd, the book is available on this site to be downloaded and read. Just click on the link below.
https://www.scribd.com/book/281413085/Shadow-Slayer
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Favorite Sentences:
With an eye to the future and the problems Marek Strigoi’s survival might bring with it, Stjpan kept track of the family’s whereabouts over the centuries.
Just now the Strigoi were in one of the American states, in a city heavily entrenched with magic.
When he chose to think about it, which wasn’t that often, Cezar now understood why Marek had become such a recluse.
Would they see his figure at the base of the dome’s supports and ignore what their brains, if not their eyes, told them, convincing themselves he was simply a large bird?
To say Sir Nigel was shocked to nearly collide with the body materializing in the open doorway, and then discovering it was the taietor once again in his home, was an understatement.
New Words Learned:
bailey – the defensive wall surrounding the outer court of a castle
puling – whining; whimpering
spoor – a track or trail, especially that of a wild animal pursued as game
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.
