A modern vampire story that takes the reader on a journey of twists and turns…

It’s incredibly brave for an author to put together a book where the lead character suffers from anxiety and OCD; something which makes Nocturnal Blood a unique modern, and rewarding reading experience.

Leia Walker narrates the story using a style of writing that very much places the reader in her head. She overthinks, worries and generally struggles with her thoughts for a majority of the time. To begin with I found this slowed things down but the more it unfolds the more I found myself supporting what is a phenomenally brave character. Her development throughout mirrors and runs parallel with the story as a whole which is essentially a road trip of discovery into the world of vampirsim across the US and Canada. So you could say Leia’s individual path is a journey inside a journey.

She is joined by Sophie, whom in early stages reveals herself to be a vampire. You could say they are polar opposites to begin with and their chemistry grows along the way. Together they embark on a trip that is part escape and part chase.

Seeing as this is a vampire story there are the usual tropes that Sophie explains in part and some are discovered as events unfold. There is also a whole host of new original ideas and terminology much of which could be explored in potential sequels which I would be very interested in reading.

Overall I found Nocturnal Blood to be a highly readable tale of bravery, friendship, character development and vampires; a genre in modern times that doesn’t get nearly enough credit especially when stories like this exist. Even though I downloaded the E-version of this book I thought I would also mention the cover art is fantastic!

5 Stars