Review: If You Had A Chance At Immortality, Would You Take It?
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 29, 2013
If you had a chance at immortality, would you take it?  This is a recurring question throughout The Stone Masters Vampire Series.  In the fourth (and best) installment, Bohemian, author Vanessa Fewings poses the question once more.  Inspector Ingrid Jansen who was introduced in the third book, A Vampire's Dominion, makes it clear that it's not easy being in love with a man who is a vampire and it is even more difficult being in love with a man who is the equivalent of a vampire king. More than anything Ingrid desires a normal relationship with Jadeon Artimas who has transitioned from being the son of a man who dedicated his life to annihilating vampires to being the most powerful vampire on earth.In her role as one of Scotland Yard's finest, Ingrid is called upon to investigate Lord Rupert Hauville, a possible counterfeiter, but in the course of her investigation she discovers there may be a more sinister element to the crime linking Hauville to the vampire world.  Thus begins a complex plot which takes Ingrid back to a world of people and places she thought she'd left behind.As with all the Stone Masters books, Bohemian reads a bit like a Comedy Noir. Even though there is a lot of serious vampire business going on, there are also characters who are downright comedic...enter the lovable Paradom, an enormous bat-like creature, who hangs from chandeliers and eats cat food.Then there is Orpheus who achieves immortality in A Vampire's Rise only to find himself in a unique union with Jadeon in A Vampire's Reckoning and A Vampire's Dominion.  Orpheus is gifted with a wry sense of humor that belies a long and often violent tenure as an immortal.When I accepted the challenge to review Bohemian even though I had not read any of the previous books in the series, I took the opportunity to read all of the books preceding Bohemian prior to my review.  Whether or not this is fair, I don't know, but it gave me a unique perspective on Vanessa Fewings' growth as an author and I must say she exceeded my expectations.  The author's vampires are old school.  For fans of other vampire series, these will be more in the mold of Anne Rice and Bram Stoker rather than J. R. Ward. These immortals have a preternatural beauty, they read thoughts, they don't age, they don't need to eat...although the prospect of eternal life without chocolate definitely gives me pause.Bohemian ends with a rather shocking climax and because I read all of the series within a brief time span, I can see that the previous books have been pointing to this very climax.  I, for one, am anxious to see where the creative mind of Vanessa Fewings will take her readers in the next book of the series.Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book directly from the author.  I was not paid to read or review this book.  All opinions are my own, and I was never influenced by anything or anyone.