My fellow TouchPoint Press author, Chris DeFazio’s A History in Blood was recently nominated for the 2014 RONE Award by InD’tale magazine.

The voting period is at week five. What does that mean? This week (April 7-12) is the voting period for Chris’s novel. Why don’t you hop over and vote for A History in Blood under the  Suspense/Thriller category? Chris would appreciate it and so would his fans!

Not registered at InD’tale? That’s okay. It only as a second and it’s free!

For those who’ve not yet read the novel, InD’tale reviewer Natasza Waters describes it as “…an absolutely outstanding read!”  InD’tale awarded Chris’s novel with  5 stars and the Crowned Heart for Excellence. You can read Natasza’s review here.

Of course I love the book or I wouldn’t be writing this post. I don’t simply love the book because it’s written by a fellow TouchPoint author–the book is excellent!

A History in Blood is different from the other vampire novels out there. Like many readers have said, when I first realized Chris’s book was a vampire story, I thought: “Just what we need. Another writer on the vamp bandwagon.”

Boy, was I wrong!

Chris has successfully merged the darkness of the vampire persona with the modern world in such a way that the reader can’t help but imagine the setting and characters as real. This isn’t your average vamp where blood and gore consumes his life. The protagonist, Julian Brownell (aka Titus Acilius, aka Christian Beauparlant) 2000-year-old Roman legionary turned modern-day vampire, life struggles of love, loss and confusion. He’s going through a depression and just heard the words he never thought he’d hear: “I want a divorce.” And if that’s not enough to floor even a human spouse, his wife proceeds to tell him that she’s in love with someone else. Wow, talk about a slap to the male ego. I don’t know if I’d have the guts to tell my vamp husband I’m not in love with him anymore. But, wait! Lisa Brownell has no idea she’s been married to a vampire for the past 15 years. In the midst of Julian’s personal struggles, he manages to keep up with his human job (he’s an ER doc, like the author), then things go from bad to worse. He’s being hunted by a deadliest vamp hunters of all time.

My personal view of A History in Blood? I read the Kindle version. I give it 5 stars. It’s not a typical (or stereotypical, for that matter) vamp novel. This book has spot-on historical elements and includes aspects of life to which any reader can relate. Life’s not always sunshine and roses or even cold comfortable coffins (a vamp stereotype, by the way)–each day brings a new event, some good and some bad. It’s how we deal with the bad that defines who we are–human or otherwise. And Julian is learning to deal.