“I do not remember being bitten. I wish I did, for then I would know the creature who did this to me and I would have a purpose, to track him down and repay him for the poisoned gift he gave me.”

Back in the 13th Century, Will was destined to be Earl of Mercia. He never lived to inherit his title, struck down by a strange illness and buried beneath the city walls. But Will was not dead, and only now, seven lonely centuries later, does he begin to understand that there was a reason for all of this, that he has a destiny. To find it though, he will need help, and as ever, he will need blood.

“When the time comes, will you sacrifice her?”

Characters: Will is a vampire, waking after a long sleep. He is struggling to figure out why now, what has drawn him to wake. He is brooding and confused trying to figure out the mystery to the puzzle that unravels each hour that he is awake. Eloise is a homeless girl who seems to be part of this mystery he has to figure out. She is pretty relaxed, easy going and very comfortable being alone. He finds her one night being bullied and rescues her, only to return after finding out she may be exactly who he’s been searching for.

Plot: Will wakes only to be drawn out into the night towards a man who tries to give him answers. But Will’s need to feed is stronger than his desire to learn. He is left only with a notebook with pictures of the girl and stories that seem familiar, but just off the the scale of remembering. He has to escape a shapeshifting demon that is trying to kill him, as well as rescue the girl to find the answers.

Originality: The setting of the story along with the plot driving the mystery holds the most of the originality to the story. Will never met his maker, he’s a lost soul and for a vampire doesn’t travel around much. For somebody that has eternity to live, he really doesn’t do much living. Well until this story beings and Eloise and the demon enter his life

Writing: The writing is very atmospheric. The visuals of the city, the dangerous night scenes on the street as well as the beautiful Cathedral that a lot of the story takes place in. My absolute favorite part of the novel is the setting. The Cathedral itself could be listed as it’s own character. There is a constant feeling of anticipation and danger looming over the story.

Krista’s Review: This is my second time reading the novel and I loved it as much this time around as the first. I wanted to re-read it before I jumped into the second book in the series Alchemy. I enjoy that the author is able to give us Will’s history with bits and pieces of his experiences wrapped into the current day story. His family, people and events that he lived through over the last 700 years, all interweaving into the plot of this story. It really helps you connect with Will’s character and amps up the readers want for him to succeed  even though he is miserable. He and Eloise are perfect partners, clinging to each other for support and friendship.