by Lucius Valiant
Release Date: December 27, 2023
2023 Thornhill Publishing
Ebook ARC; 270 Pages
ISBN: 978-1738402939
ASIN: B0CJ3Z46Q2
Genre: Fiction / Horror / Vampires
Source: Review copy from publisher
4.5 / 5 Stars
Summary
Haunted by the tragic loss of his sister Elizabeth to the Black
Death in 1665, Gabriel embarks on a perilous journey through time to
rescue her from death's embrace. But time travel is a dangerous gamble,
fraught with unpredictable consequences.
Landing in the plague-ridden London of the past, Gabriel faces a tremendous challenge: stripped of his vampiric powers, he must gain the favor of the undead twins, Isadore and Isadora, guardians of the immortal blood. All while contending with the swirling rumors about his true nature, surprise visits from Octavia Thornhill, a fledgling who might hold a grudge against him, and Malm Westminster, a plague doctor with a terrible secret.
My Thoughts
Deep Graves is the second entry in The Thornhill Vampire Chronicles, and while I don't think you necessarily need to read the first book in order to enjoy this, it will definitely give you a different perspective of Gabriel and some more background information. Gabriel is a lot nicer of a person in this book than in the first one, and perhaps his circumstances, going back to the 17th century, and being stripped of his vampiric powers have given him a new understanding of the 'gift' he was given. I liked seeing him struggle to gain the upper hand in situations over which he would normal have total control, so I found this book, and the development of Gabriel's character, quite intriguing.
First of all, I love that the author chose to have Gabriel go back in time to 1665 London in the midst of the Great Plague. The historical details were fascinating and I enjoyed reading about all the ways the people tried to protect themselves during the break-out. But it was also heartbreaking to read about, knowing that over 75 000 people died, possibly over 100 000, and the fear that would have inflicted on people trying to protect themselves. Therefore, I loved the story line about Malm Westminster, the plague doctor, and the opportunities someone like him would have taken advantage of as well as the profit he would have made during this time period. I thought the author wrote about the time period quite well and did a lot of research about it so that you felt like you were right there.
Gabriel was a lot nicer in this book than in the first one, something I appreciated. Now let me be clear, I loved him in the first book as I hate it when vampires are romanticized and when they are 'cute', so I loved Gabriel's ruthlessness in the first book. His behaviour was different in this one because he was not a vampire for most of the book having misjudged his return to the past, so he had to play nice or face never being a vampire again, and I liked seeing him grovel a bit.
The story moved along quickly, with quite a few twists and turns I wasn't expecting, one big one that actually shocked me and now I am wondering how the author will deal with this in the third book. It was interesting to meet Elizabeth and I really liked her character; she is tough, with strong morals, and although Gabriel constantly mentions how similar she is to him, I don't quite think so as Gabriel is a lot more ruthless and selfish.
Verdict
Deep Graves is a book about a deeply flawed character, but one to whom you can relate as he cares deeply about his family and only wants to protect them. Because he is mostly human in this one, you get to see a much-different Gabriel, so that was interesting to see. He was completely obsessed with getting his vampiric powers back and that pretty much drove everything he did. My only concern: What about his mother? He was so wrapped up in protecting Elizabeth, but there was little mention or thought about his mother, and this bothered me. Definitely looking forward to reading the next entry in this series.
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