Killers Never Die by Chelsea Burton Dunn

The war between the immortal races who are involved in the Masquerade (Vampires, Witches, Werewolves, and Chenja) is still very much active. In the past, the Werewolves were aligned with the Witches and the Vampires with the Chenja, but after the ceremony that was supposed to make the leader of the Werewolves into something more powerful than a mere Werewolf went so wrong, the alliances seem to be shifting. There is obviously something happening between the Werewolves and the Witches that appears to indicate that they may no longer be allies, and the Vampires have been unable to get a response from the Chenja, so it would appear that their alliance may be crumbling as well. But what is actually going on and how it will affect what happens among the various races remains to be seen.

I read a review copy of this book and enjoyed it. It involves Vampires and Werewolves, both of which most of us are already familiar with, as well as Chenja, which are a race of shapeshifters from Japanese mythos that I was unfamiliar with before reading this series. The main character, Ace, is the elder who runs the Vampire Coven in London. She is also the mother to the first ever born Vampire, Octavian. Her biological brother, Alexander, is the leader of the London Werewolf pack, and thus her enemy. And that's just the beginning of what's going on in this book. I will warn you that as these races are at war, there is violence and bloodshed involved in this story. And not everyone will have a happy ending. But if you are willing to give this book a try, I think you will enjoy it. I did.

I also enjoyed learning about Octavian and his unique circumstances within this story. Vampire children do not grow in the way human children do, so while he appears to at times age overnight, he is also a fair bit innocent, though very observant and intuitive for a young vampire. And for me, he was one of the more interesting characters in this book. Some of his comments and questions throughout really hit the mark and showed that he was not unaware of what others thought about him and his unique nature.

If you enjoy reading Vampire, Werewolf, Witch, and Chenja stories, then I would suggest giving this series a try. I would recommend starting with book one before reading this one though, as that will explain and answer some questions you might have if you were to simply begin with this book. But even if you decide to start with this one instead, there are enough clues throughout to allow you to guess at what you missed by skipping book one. It is a darker and more violent story than the author's other series (By Moonlight), but it is just as enjoyable in its own way.

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