What do you think?
Rate this book
Scouse Gothic 3: All you need is… blood?
Life can be difficult – even when you’re dead.
Lathom lies awake. His nights are plagued by nightmares and his days by hallucinations and cravings for blood. Worse still he’s stone cold sober all the time - immortality has its drawbacks.
Melville has decided to put his past behind him and live for the future - unfortunately his past has other ideas.
Peter is worried that his research might create human vampires - and also that he may already know one.
Frank ponders how to make an omelette without breaking your favourite egg.
And Sheryl wonders if it’s unnatural for vampires to live together. Perhaps, love isn’t all you need – perhaps all you need is blood.
Lathom lies awake. His nights are plagued by nightmares and his days by hallucinations and cravings for blood. Worse still he’s stone cold sober all the time - immortality has its drawbacks.
Melville has decided to put his past behind him and live for the future - unfortunately his past has other ideas.
Peter is worried that his research might create human vampires - and also that he may already know one.
Frank ponders how to make an omelette without breaking your favourite egg.
And Sheryl wonders if it’s unnatural for vampires to live together. Perhaps, love isn’t all you need – perhaps all you need is blood.
225 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 3, 2017
21 people want to read
About the author
Ian McKinney
6 books17 followersI was born and bred in Liverpool, but after leaving for University I didn't return to live in the city for many years.
When I did return I found the city had changed out of all recognition; gone were the boarded up shops and derelict docks, replaced by a modern vibrant city.
However many of the old buildings I remembered from my youth still remained, even if they now had different uses. An abandoned docks was now a tourist destination, and a church now a night club.
It was this that inspired to write the Scouse Gothic books.
When I did return I found the city had changed out of all recognition; gone were the boarded up shops and derelict docks, replaced by a modern vibrant city.
However many of the old buildings I remembered from my youth still remained, even if they now had different uses. An abandoned docks was now a tourist destination, and a church now a night club.
It was this that inspired to write the Scouse Gothic books.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 19, 2019
Scouse Gothic 3 finds Melville and Sheryl undergoing a crisis in their relationship, which escalates when Melville’s maker, Isabella, and her deadly “sister” arrive in Liverpool. Meanwhile, Kelly is hard at work on another dastardly plot, Latham is wondering whether he ought to disappear, and young Peter doesn’t know whether he’s more worried that his lab research has created a version of Frankenstein and or that his girlfriend Natasha might be a vampire. Somehow McKinney ties (almost) all of it together for a satisfying ending to the trilogy…or not? After all, can you really trust a talking bird? Great series!
June 2, 2019
This is Book 3 in the series, and it nicely picks up from its predecessor.
Once again, there’s nothing typical or traditional about this vampire story, and that may be the reason you either love it or you don’t.
The whole trilogy is so unique, it’s really hard to do justice to describing it. Just don’t be put off if you’re not into vampire tales—we’re talking modern-day vampires here, the type who hang out in Liverpool pubs.
Its signature tune involves cleverly combining the surreal & fictional world of vampires with the reality of current-day Liverpool, the city’s history, and other historical events. If you’ve never visited Liverpool, you’ll have a list of plenty of places to see after reading these books. You’ll even have some maps to get you started!
Gruesome, humourous, and thoroughly entertaining, Book 3 again has some key characters as its cornerstone, with some new ones in the mix too. Melville’s trying hard to move on, but he’s finding it’s not an easy task!
Another page-turner of a read with its various subplots and locations. And a surprise ending.
Kind of sad that there isn’t a Book 4 to pick up next, but who knows? Maybe author Ian McKinney will let Melville do an encore...his bloodthirsty and cocktail-thirsty fans certainly hope so!
Once again, there’s nothing typical or traditional about this vampire story, and that may be the reason you either love it or you don’t.
The whole trilogy is so unique, it’s really hard to do justice to describing it. Just don’t be put off if you’re not into vampire tales—we’re talking modern-day vampires here, the type who hang out in Liverpool pubs.
Its signature tune involves cleverly combining the surreal & fictional world of vampires with the reality of current-day Liverpool, the city’s history, and other historical events. If you’ve never visited Liverpool, you’ll have a list of plenty of places to see after reading these books. You’ll even have some maps to get you started!
Gruesome, humourous, and thoroughly entertaining, Book 3 again has some key characters as its cornerstone, with some new ones in the mix too. Melville’s trying hard to move on, but he’s finding it’s not an easy task!
Another page-turner of a read with its various subplots and locations. And a surprise ending.
Kind of sad that there isn’t a Book 4 to pick up next, but who knows? Maybe author Ian McKinney will let Melville do an encore...his bloodthirsty and cocktail-thirsty fans certainly hope so!
August 20, 2018
I read the entire trilogy in a week. I simply couldn't wait to find out what happened to the central characters - and, of course, Frank the Liverpool Pigeon (that's when he's not being something else, of course). There are scores to be settled among the vampire community of Liverpool and book 3 settles a whole lot of them. I can say little else or I will be dealing out spoilers. Suffice it to say, Book 3 delivers on all fronts - characters, plot, suspense, humour and great, great atmosphere. If you know Liverpool before you read it, you'll recognise the locations. If you don't, jot them down on a list and visit when you're next in town. The author captures their essence perfectly - along with the uniquely Scouse sense of humour at the heart of this great city. Scouse Gothic books 1, 2 and 3 form a glorious excursion into a dark, scary world where reality and unreality frequently become confused and the vampires may not have fangs or Christopher Lee capes, but they certainly bite - with a vengeance.
July 9, 2019
Read all three books on holiday and got the best tan as I hardly moved from my sun bed even got the waiters to make up the cocktails 😂. A riveting read great characters , full of twists and turns and family feuds while also being fun and a bit scary, the Liverpool backdrop was great as I knew the areas as described. Read this book, I recommend it even if horror is not your genre it’s not entirely a horror story. By the way Shery’ls Liver bird is very strong and the Contessa’s Bellini is delicious
August 3, 2019
Fantastic... all three of these books have kept me entertained, enthralled and educated about my own city!!!
Ian’s storytelling is gripping and the characters are all so enjoyable... it’s funny how I always like the bad guys the best...
A solid 4 stars... this is for the whole series too
Ian’s storytelling is gripping and the characters are all so enjoyable... it’s funny how I always like the bad guys the best...
A solid 4 stars... this is for the whole series too
December 31, 2019
a really good end to a marvellous trilogy thoroughly enjoyed them all.
January 2, 2021
Wow
What an end to the series. Fantastic, loved the whole trilogy and this was the perfect ending for it. The locales are great, as is the whole premise of the series. Only downside is that it is over. I became so immersed in the story and characters.
What an end to the series. Fantastic, loved the whole trilogy and this was the perfect ending for it. The locales are great, as is the whole premise of the series. Only downside is that it is over. I became so immersed in the story and characters.
February 26, 2017
I really enjoyed reading this last installment (or is it??) of the scouse gothic books, I loved how the story continued on from books 1 and 2 and how book 3 was full of twists and turns just like the others. I enjoyed reading how the whole story came together in the end. I do feel a bit sad that I won't get to read about the characters anymore as I felt a part of their lives with each book I read and always looked forward to the next book being released. I hope Ian will continue to work on more books in the future or even a sneaky book 4 for the scouse gothic series. xxx
March 6, 2020
Another great read! The third in Ian McKinney's Scouse Gothic series and every bit as entertaining as the previous two. I thoroughly enjoyed the characters, the story and of course, the setting (in my Liverpool home).
The story picks up all the threads from the previous two books and with just the right amount of thrill, gore and humour delivers a very satisfying ending.
Could there be more stories in the future? I certainly hope so.
The story picks up all the threads from the previous two books and with just the right amount of thrill, gore and humour delivers a very satisfying ending.
Could there be more stories in the future? I certainly hope so.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews