Title: Crimson is the Night (A Vampire Novelette)

Authors: Beverley Lee & Nicole Eigener

Release date: December 13th, 2021

And here we are! First review of this new year – 2022. And you know what? It’s a review of my final read of 2021! Even better – it’s a book written by one of the best out there (Lee) and a new author to me (Eigener) who I’ll definite be grabbing her novel that features some of the characters in here.

Interestingly (and I’ve made this known before), I’m not a big vampire fiction fan. At times I find it to be a lot of the same and fairly predictable. I’ve only read Lee’s first book of the Gabriel Davenport series (which is related to this) but absolutely loved the take she had on this subgenre. Also – from what I gather from this novelette) Eigener tackles her characters with flair and flashes of darkness, which has my interest big time.

I will say – it is stated at the start of this – that this takes place after Lee’s trilogy and Eigener’s debut. As I mentioned, I’ve only read the first of Lee’s series, but I couldn’t hold off on reading this, and wanted to show my support to these two awesome ladies. I can see a few instances where maybe there is some spoilers at play, but I suspect overall those might be minor.

What I liked: The story follows a meeting in an old mansion/castle of sorts, between Lee and Eigener’s characters. They’ve all heard of each other and are interested in how the others live, survive and function. Especially considering one of them has lived on their own for centuries.

One part of the vampire lore/vampire fiction that I’ve always loved is the moving chess pieces that seems to be their psyche. Each posturing, strutting and boasting about their kills and their decadence. This occurs to a minor, minor amount within, but mostly, it was a story about two vampires who mutually admire each other and discover a little bit more about themselves. It was a fascinating psychological look, instead of your typical slash and fangs. Additionally, one thing I loved was how they touched upon vampires fluid sexuality but left it at that. It was a nice thing to see that in a shorter page count precious real estate wasn’t taken up by unnecessary sex. I don’t say that as a prude or against any of that, but I felt it offered a really unique, humanizing aspect of these typical killing creatures.

Lastly, the ending of this was sublime, touching and even a bit melancholy. As the two come to accept their reality and their place within the world and where they see themselves going. I really liked how it set up things for potential follow-ups.

What I didn’t like: These two authors really made most of the shorter word count, but the one thing I wish I would’ve had a little bit more of was a more solid description of the location. Now, I say that knowing I didn’t read the prior entries, but the setting was fascinating and I wanted more.

Why you should buy this: Well – you don’t have to buy it! It’s offered as a free ebook if you sign up for either Beverley or Nicole’s email list (which I’ll include the links below). But why should you read this? They’ve crafted a fast-paced, introspective look at two very different types of these undead creatures and it works very, very well. A seamless crafting between these two authors and the story works phenomenally.

Definitely a read you don’t want to miss!

5/5

Beverley Lee’s website;

https://beverleylee.com/

Nicole Eigener’s website;

https://thevampire.org/

And if you want to dive into the other world’s

The Making of Gabriel Davenport by Beverley Lee (Book 1 of the Gabriel Davenport Series)

Beguiled by Night by Nicole Eigener