Sheâs a vampire. She's a witch. And she's heartless... literally.
Mercy died twice. Once when she became a vampire. Again, when her own father had her heart cut out of her chest. But Mercyâs guide in the Craft had other ideas. The essence of her heart, now bound to her brother's soul, revived the vampire witch. But the Order of the Morning Dawn will stop at nothing to eliminate her. An organization devoted to two tasks-burning witches and vanquishing vampires-will literally go to hell and back in an effort to liberate Mercy's brother's soul and end Mercyâs vampiric life. If Mercy wants to live she must go to hell herself and capture her brotherâs soul before the Order can get to him. Will Mercy survive, or will the Order finally eliminate one of the most notorious vampires in existence?
Bloody Hell is the first book in Theophilus Monroe's Legacy of a Vampire Witch series. These vampires donât sparkle. If Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles ever met the Mayfair witches you might end up with a character like Mercy Brown. She is a ruthless, badass, snarky anti-hero straight out of your worst nightmares. But you will want to root for her nonetheless!
Sheâs a vampire. She's a witch. And she's heartless... literally.
Mercy died twice. Once when she became a vampire. Again, when her own father had her heart cut out of her chest. But Mercyâs guide in the Craft had other ideas. The essence of her heart, now bound to her brother's soul, revived the vampire witch. But the Order of the Morning Dawn will stop at nothing to eliminate her. An organization devoted to two tasks-burning witches and vanquishing vampires-will literally go to hell and back in an effort to liberate Mercy's brother's soul and end Mercyâs vampiric life. If Mercy wants to live she must go to hell herself and capture her brotherâs soul before the Order can get to him. Will Mercy survive, or will the Order finally eliminate one of the most notorious vampires in existence?
Bloody Hell is the first book in Theophilus Monroe's Legacy of a Vampire Witch series. These vampires donât sparkle. If Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles ever met the Mayfair witches you might end up with a character like Mercy Brown. She is a ruthless, badass, snarky anti-hero straight out of your worst nightmares. But you will want to root for her nonetheless!
Present DayÂ
It wasnât the first time Iâd been to hell, though on this occasion it was by my own insistence. It was also the first time Iâd been here in the flesh. And I went with the girl who would later become the Voodoo Queen. It was a delicate relationship between me and Annabelle Mulledy; we hated each other, but we also needed each other. It was in her interest that I continued to deem her an asset, of more use to me than not.Â
They say that hell is all fire and brimstone. Iâm sure parts of it are like that, but I never went there. I was more interested in the cold, dark part of hell. The place where cursed spirits roam, including the spirits of presently-staked vampiresâand, thanks to a witch, my brother.
âEdwin!â I cried out, hoping my long-dead brotherâs spirit might respond. He had been dead for more than a century and the better part of another. But it was his soul, cursed by the remains of my vampiric heart, that kept me alive.Â
A wraith darted past my face, the cold chill of the vampire spirit frosting my cheek. This was the part of hell where vampires went when they were staked. Iâd sent more than my share here myself. After what had happened to me, I could never bring myself to burn their heartsâthe only way to ensure a vampire never comes back. I was the only exception to that rule. More than once, hunters who had heard of my exploits tracked me down and staked my chest. The horror on their faces when I laughed and sank my fangs into their necks after theyâd staked me was the real prize. It isnât the blood itself that we vampires craveâitâs souls, and human souls cohere in their blood. The more terrified the soul is when I feed upon it, the better it tastes.Â
A second wraith struck me in the chest. I extended my wand and zapped it with sunlight. You canât kill the dead, but sunlight on a vampireâs wraith makes hell itself seem like a vacation. He wouldnât fuck with me again. Annabelle didnât know I was also a witchâand with her, I was playing my cards close to the chest. I quickly pocketed my wand. Thankfully, she hadnât seen it. Annabelle was here on an errand of her own, a foolâs errand my sire had effectively blackmailed her to complete. If she knew the full reason I was here, sheâd hardly comply. And we needed her. She was the only person we knew who could cut a literal gate into hell. It was the only way I could come here in the flesh.
In my human life theyâd given me the name Mercy. Mercy Brown. I still used the nameâmy first name, anyway. I relished the irony of it. In my human life, before I was turned, Iâd been a witch. Only recently did I resume my practice of the Craft. As much as I relished the flavor of human souls, the dark arts gave me a different kind of thrill. Another source of power. And nothing tastes better on my palate than power. Besides blood, of course.
I could hear the wraith Iâd burned with sunlight screeching in the distance. Thatâs right, I thought, tell the others. Let them fear me more than they already do. Hell, half of the vampires here Iâd staked myself. It was no wonder theyâd attack me.Â
There was only one I was seeking, and it wasnât going to be a pleasant reunion. It might even be the death of me. But I didnât have a choice.Â
Bloody Hell got off to a great start. I understood Mercy's struggle and her turning into a very special kind of vampire. Where I had a lot of problems was the sense of time. The book starts in the 1890's, but you never would have guessed it if the date wasn't under the chapter number. The language and actions spoke of a time 100 years later.
The story drags for a while as Mercy grows older and more powerful. Ramon was an interesting diversion, but it lasted far too long. It was just page after page of how horrible they could both be. This middle section was just a lot of gore. It wasn't graphic or overly descriptive, but it was death after death, page after page. It didn't seem to take the characters anywhere in their development. It did pull the story slightly forward, as all the killings brought the attention of vampire hunters, but I think it could have happened in a much less draw out way.
There were also several inconsistencies in the storyline, where later parts of the book seemed to forget things that had happened earlier or directly contradict them - especially when it came to Mercy's abilities and relationships with her sire, Nico, and Ramon.
There were some really great one line quotes in the story that I really got a kick out of and showed the promise of what the story could have been. I would have liked to see more about the voodoo and the people from Nico's past. It was glossed over and I think the lack of details there made the story a little confusing when the author was trying to pull all the strings back together. To be honest, I'm still not sure what happened at the end even though I read the last 25 pages or so several times.