Blood of the City

by Adrik Kemp

After a century apart, Mack and Jason rediscover their love and lust, but will trying to fit into a modern world keep them together or tear them apart? When vampire lovers Mack and Jason are reunited after decades apart, they think of nothing but each other’s company. But over time, Mack’s old-world views conflict with Jason’s liberated life, and it throws them into a spiral of confused despair. When Mack seeks solace in the arms of another and Jason’s ex-lover Greg is murdered, their relationship breaks down and Mack flees. While in solitude, Mack is handed the surprise opportunity to rekindle a relationship with his returned, now-vampire father, Allen. They return to Sydney to introduce him to Jason, but Jason has already sought revenge on Mack’s lover and committed an atrocity of his own. Fractured so soon after their reunion, the three of them travel back to where it all began, in the country town of Wattlebrook. About Adrik Kemp Adrik is a cross-genre author, specializing in speculative fiction and erotica, but he mainly enjoys writing a mixture of both. His love of reading and writing began at a young age by forgoing nap time for reading the daycare out of books. He used to dream about being friends with Astro Boy and joining the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, sing along to Transformers and secretly indulge in My Little Pony. Invariably, these formed his first celebrity crushes and helped shape the stories he writes today. Even now, Adrik is a big reader and counts among his most cherished authors Kim Stanley Robinson,China Mieville, Clive Barker and Octavia Butler. His all time favorite novels are the original Dune series by Frank Herbert because they are rich in detail and contain a multitude of fascinating allegories for contemporary society despite being written decades ago. He also loves traveling the world and has spent an inordinate amount of time in Japan, but wouldn’t be caught dead in a hostel.

87 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 2, 2016

About the author

Adrik Kemp is an Australian author of speculative fiction, fantasy and horror tales. He identifies as queer, and happily lives in Sydney with his husband.

He has published short stories about aliens, mermaids, interplanetary pen pals, vampire cowboys, AI, ESP and much more. Notably, these have been published through Aurealis Magazine, Third Flatiron Press, Transmundane Press & Pride Publishing. He wants to explore as many varied worlds, situations and relationships as he can through words.

Adrik has a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Technology, Sydney. He was honoured to be the winner of the 2015 OutStanding LGBTIQ Short Story Competition in Sydney, Australia.

Reviews

[True Loveislovereview · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. The continuation of Mack and Jason’s story

Mack and Jason can’t make up their mind, they can’t seem to stay and live together. There’s too much going on, there’s love and hate. So they split.

There’s a lot of rage, violence, and blood on their paths. A nice change of scenery was some club entertainment.
A lovely surprise to find out someone I thought was dead wasn’t, yahhh!
Just as in book one don’t attach yourself, before you know it, they're dead or gone.

The first story, Blood of the Land was bloody, this one was too, rage and anger swallow rational feelings. Thank goodness at the end it all worked out well, but don't expect a sweet romance!
It was a captivating story, it’s a short one, enough developed, pleasantly written, and more clear than the previous one.

[Maryann Kafka · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the sequel to “Blood of the Land” by Adrik Kemp. The first book had readers introduced too: Allen, Evelyn, and son, Mack, who own a cattle station in Australia. Also, Jason and the evil vampires Bela and Zora, who made their way to the new world.

Mack had lived his solitary death at the cattle station for one hundred years. Not knowing what to do he hid himself away and only came out in need of sustenance. For years the rumors spread about Mack and the worst was that he had killed his parents.

When Mack faced Zoran for the last time, he made his way to the city and reunited with Jason. But their relationship didn’t go well. Jason told Mack continuously that he would never fit the life style of the city and it caused Mack to seek support elsewhere. Misunderstandings, an ex lover, brought jealousy and Jason caused his own anger and accusations that drove Mack back to the land.

While trying to find solace Mack is shocked by a large bird. As the bird transforms he finds himself face to face with his father, Allen. So many misunderstandings are cleared up with Allen and Mack reuniting. Mack finds Allen has struggled and suffered at the hands of Zoran, just as Mack had. He finds Allen came out of all the devastation with more sympathy and understanding because of the love of a women who accepted him for what he was.

Allen agrees to return to the city with Mack. Mack introduces Allen to new sites. But when they find Jason, it’s a blood bath and Macks world is turned upside down again. Again, he runs from Jason and returns to the place where he feels he really belongs. What will it take for Jason to see the wrong he’s done? Can anyone help in making this relationship survive or will it all come to an end?

Even with the evil and blood letting, Adrik Kemp adds warmth to this dark tale of vampires. The moments of Allen and Mack reuniting and Allens explanations bring warm moments of understanding and care between father and son. I like the way Allen tries to teach and make his son see the world in a better light.

Allen was my favorite character in “Blood of the Land” and I’m so glad Adrik Kemp brought him back. He was a compassionate, loving, caring, strong father and husband. Mack, I liked too, he was lost and really needed the guidance that his father could only provide.

For me, Jason was still naive and was still seemed to be stuck in the controlling world of his former Masters. His courage failed to come through. Once again, Allen has to share his knowledge and love with Jason to make him understand what he needs to do.

“Blood of the Land” and “Blood of the City are not sweet romance tales but they were interesting when it comes to the eerie world of vampires. I also liked how descriptive it was when it came to Sydney and the wide open spaces of the land.

[Lily · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was hot, steamy, taboo, and captivating. It definitely gets your heart racing! Allen and Mack are reunited after decades apart, but it isn't a completely happy reunion, as complications involving Jason pop up. Jason doesn't seem to have grown too much, but given how long he was under the control of one vampire master then another, that isn't surprising, and felt true to what I would have expected. This was a short read, but it was so easy to get lost in the pages that it was kind of a shock when I returned to the real world after the last page. I would recommend reading the first book before diving into this one, but I have to say I thought this story took it up a notch.

[Ζωή Παππά · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second novella in the series and it is not a standalone. It starts where the first book finished. It's hard to write a review without spoilers but I'll try.
The second book had many intense action scenes just like the first one. The writing was just as beautiful and descriptive and I really liked the pacing. There were some unexpected cameos and surprises and I just loved Mack and Jason's story. That's how I like vampires, dark, tormented and scary.
It was great to get back in this world. I had a fantastic time reading the book.

[Susan65 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Blogger Girls Review

I took a chance when I chose to read this sequel to Blood of the Land because I was really disappointed in book one and especially how it ended. I was entertained enough though to try to see if the parts that left me wanting would be settled in this installment. And for the most part, they were. It is still gruesome, which one should expect from blood thirsty vampires, and Jason and Mack hit rock bottom, again, but it finally ended on a high note and I feel a bit vindicated.

This story doesn’t follow any sweet nor romantic path in the traditional sense and considering the main characters are immortal, blood thirsty and sometimes out of control creatures that live on human blood, is expected. Jason and Mack are both equally to blame in the tragedy that befalls them and to those closest to them. They are, in some ways, completely irrepressible and they each do things that emotionally wound the other. The bummer part is the blood bath left in their wake.

This story worked a whole lot better for me than the first book. I was thrilled that there was truly only one couple this round and I loved that the Mack family history issues were settled. Didn’t expect to see Allen being all civilized and have him accept his son so easily, but it was better than having that drama on top of the Jason drama.

All in all, I took a chance and I’m glad I did. This is not a sparkly and sweet vampire romance, and these guys are truly awful to each other at times, but it was also obvious that they loved each other and that, by the end, it would all work out.

Overall Impression: I really liked it