Twelve by Jasper Kent

CLASSIFICATION: Set in 1812 during the French invasion of Russia — specifically the Battle of Borodino, the capture and fires of Moscow, the retreat from Moscow, and the Battle of Berezina — with the primary antagonists being vampires, Twelve is much like the book describes itself... a vibrant blend of detailed historical fiction and heart-stopping supernatural horror. I was reminded of a cross between a Bernard Cornwell novel, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles, and “Baltimore, or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire.”

FORMAT/INFO: Twelve is 480 pages long divided over two Parts, thirty-two Roman-numbered chapters, and a ... Read More

Thirteen Years Later by Jasper Kent

CLASSIFICATION: Like its predecessor Twelve, Thirteen Years Later is a “vibrant blend of detailed historical fiction” and vampire horror. Think Bernard Cornwell meets Bram Stoker meets Anne Rice’s THE VAMPIRE CHRONICLES meets Baltimore, or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire.

FORMAT/INFO: Thirteen Years Later is 500 pages long divided over three Parts, thirty-seven Roman-numbered chapters, a Prologue, and an Epilogue. Also includes a map, an Author’s Note, a Historical Note, a Selected Romanov Family Tree, and information on the Decembrists. Narration is in the third-person via Aleksei Ivanonvich Danilov — the star of Twelve, Aleksandr Pavlovich (the ... Read More

The Third Section by Jasper Kent

PLOT SUMMARY: Russia, 1855.  After forty years of peace in Europe, war rages. In the Crimea, the city of Sevastopol is besieged. In the north, Saint Petersburg is blockaded. But in Moscow there is one who needs only to sit and wait — wait for the death of an aging tsar, and for the curse upon his blood to be passed to a new generation.

As their country grows weaker, a man and a woman — unaware of the hidden ties that bind them — must come to terms with their shared legacy. In Moscow, Tamara Valentinovna Komarova uncovers a brutal murder. It seems this is not the first killing of its kind, but the most recent in a sequence of similar murders that have been committed since 1812.

And in Sevastopol, Dmitry Alekseevich Danilov faces not only the guns of the combined armies of Britain and France, but must also make a stand against creatures that his father had thought buried beneath... Read More