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Energy Vampire
Bloodbound: Reverberations follows vampire-investigator as he races against time, monsters, and his own demons to save his partner in a world split between harsh realities and the haunting beauty of the Other Realm. What inspired the dynamic between Hunter, Kai, and Gibson?
Hunter and Kai are based on the relationship I share with my husband, Tyler. I would say there are aspects of our personalities, history, and experiences woven into their dynamic, just in different proportions than mine and Tyler’s. Gibson, on the other hand, has no real basis on anyone I’ve known personally. I feel he has no filter – like Sophia Petrillo of The Golden Girls – but for many centuries he lacked a moral barometer which allowed him to get away with literal murder in the past.
The Order feels both mythic and bureaucratically terrifying. Was it based on any real-world systems or structures?
I see most bureaucracies as a hellscape – too many cooks not only spoiling the broth but offering their own opinions as to how it got that way. The chain of communication and command always breaks down and never fails to cause chaos. No better way to demonstrate that, I felt, than at an underground organization whose sole mission is to prevent chaos!
How did you develop the concept of a “siphonic” vampire, and what does that metaphor mean to you?
I based the idea on the concept of an ‘energy vampire,’ which traditionally just means someone who wishes to be the center of attention. From that, I developed a demon that feeds off what you’d call “palpable energy,” or the moods created in tense and emotionally-charged situations. Add in the traditional concept of a vampire feeding off a life force, and voila – a demon (or demon-vampire hybrid) that can sustain itself on other people’s anger, fear, and other negative emotions.
If Bloodbound were adapted into a movie, who would you cast as Hunter, Kai, and Gibson?
I’d love Joe Alwyn as Hunter—he already has the sandy hair and that quiet intensity. Darren Barnet would nail Kai’s self-assured warmth, and Ludi Lin brings the long black hair and enigmatic edge Gibson needs.
Author Links: GoodReads | X (Twitter) | Bluesky } Website | Amazon
When vampire agent Kai Taylor is framed for a brutal murder, the secretive organization known as The Order activates its last resort: Safe Harbor, a deadly countdown that gives his allies six months to prove his innocence. As the clock runs down, a tangled investigation unfolds – one that stretches across dimensions, unearths buried betrayals, and reveals a conspiracy deeper than anyone imagined.
Meanwhile, Hunter Reeves – a vampire-demon hybrid still learning to control his volatile powers – must confront both external enemies and the darkness within. Alongside Kai and their partner Gibson, he navigates love, guilt, and a siphonic hunger that threatens to consume him.
But a forgotten past haunts them all. In a parallel narrative, we return to Kai’s earliest mission, where another frame-up nearly destroyed him – and where the seeds of a much larger war were first sown.
Reverberations is the fifth installment in the genre-defying Bloodbound series – a bold, queer, supernatural thriller blending espionage, horror, and romance. The past is bleeding into the present.
Bloodbound: Reverberations
Bloodbound: Reverberations is an emotionally charged blend of supernatural intrigue and found-family drama. Set across both our world and a richly imagined “Other Realm,” the story follows Hunter Reeves, a vampire-investigator entangled in a deadly bureaucratic countdown to prove the innocence of Kai with Safe Harbor. With the help of his lovers Kai and Gibson, each complex in their own right, Hunter faces internal demons, literal monsters, and the tangled politics of a secretive organization known as The Order. At the heart of it all lies a powerful question: What makes us lose ourselves, and how far will we go to hold on?
I was genuinely pulled into this book’s rhythm. Chase McPherson’s writing is lush without being bloated, cinematic yet deeply personal. The dialogue sings. It’s sharp, fast, and carries real emotional weight. The characters feel lived-in, like old friends with bad habits. Hunter’s struggle with his siphonic nature, the way he feeds on energy, not just blood, mirrors so much of what it means to crave validation, success, and love. The relationship between Hunter, Kai, and Gibson is tender, prickly, and sometimes painfully raw. I bought into them completely. McPherson doesn’t shy away from messiness, and thank god for that.
The plot barrels ahead with twists and turns, alternate selves, ancient crimes, venom-fueled conspiracies, but I sometimes found myself missing the quiet. That said, when the book does pause, it delivers real gut punches: a whispered plea for comfort, a shared meal soaked in sunlight, a song born from longing. It’s those little beats that made me care deeply about these people and their strange, dangerous lives. And I have to say the flashbacks to 1901 were chilling. That sequence alone could’ve been a novella.
Bloodbound: Reverberations is a weird, wild, and heartfelt ride. It’s part supernatural thriller, part slow-burn romance, part rock-band fever dream, and somehow, it all works. If you like stories with found families, alternate realities, and just enough bite (pun intended), this one’s for you. Fans of The Umbrella Academy, Buffy, or queer speculative fiction will feel right at home.
Pages: 162 | ASIN: B0F4SNS9TK
Beyond the Limits of Tastefulness
Bloodbound: Alternate Tracks follows a once-human vampire and his maker as they face off with a rival faction and battle their own inner turmoil. Where did the idea for this novel come from?
I was toying with ways to extend the Bloodbound universe, to bend or even snap the genres of existing vampire fantasy and create something entirely mine. One day, I had a random thought: What if twins (or multiples for that matter) weren’t meant to be born in the same world – what if they were each allotted their own universe to exist in, and what if we could see what other paths those alternate versions might take? I decided to explore that concept in the Bloodbound saga.
Do you have a favorite character in this novel? One that was especially enjoyable to write?
Exploring a different version of your own main character is especially delicious if they don’t abide by the same constrictions or even morals. I didn’t want Hunter II to be a polar opposite – I didn’t want him to be the proverbial ‘evil twin’ … but instead I wanted him to be more morally ambiguous, at least starting off. This Hunter lives a rockstar lifestyle and can also be unapologetically violent. We’ll learn there’s a purpose for that as we go along.
What draws you to the horror genre?
A genre that encourages you – dares you – to push boundaries and go beyond the limits of tastefulness? What’s not to love? Add in a fantasy world where the laws of physics may not strictly apply, and you’ve got the makings for some really entertaining (read: gross) things to write about.
Can fans of the Bloodbound series look forward to another installment soon? What are you currently working on?
Bloodbound 4 (Extreme Temperatures – https://books2read.com/Bloodbound4/ ) is already out. Coincidentally, the very night I was given this interview, I had just finished the first draft of Bloodbound 5: Reverberations – which lets us see even more of Hunter II and reveals his true allegiances. I’ll be releasing ‘Reverberations’ later this year.
In the meantime, May 6 will see the release of my first collection of short stories – called “Body Parts.” It’s 13 body horror tales of varying tones – some are seriously disturbing, some take a more humorous tack, but in all of them I tried pushing some of those boundaries I spoke of earlier! https://books2read.com/BodyPartsBook
And July 1 will see the reboot of another old series of mine. The first volume of “Abel X,” Echoes of Demons, combines two original novellas I first wrote in the mid 2010s based off a role-playing game character I created. https://books2read.com/AbelXEchoes
Author Links: GoodReads | Amazon
When a demon with the ability to traverse dimensions and kill on contact breaks into our realm, Kai and The Order are tasked with finding and stopping the ever-growing threat, which involves asking the alternate-world Hunter and his bandmates for help. However, the other realm’s version of Hunter appears to have an agenda of his own and won’t think twice about opting for brutality to achieve his goals.
Praise for Alternate Tracks:
If you like queer romance, secret organizations, chaotic polycules, and lots of sarcastic flirting mixed with visceral horror, this is your book. It’s not a subtle book. But it’s a fun one. Bold, sexy, weird, and somehow heartfelt—Alternate Tracks doesn’t just bite, it leaves a mark. (Thomas Anderson, Literary Titan)
Bloodbound: Extreme Temperatures
Extreme Temperatures is a gritty and emotionally-charged supernatural novel that dives deep into the tumultuous life of Hunter, a vampire with a demon’s blood and a chip on his shoulder the size of Texas. The story kicks off in a raucous biker bar, where Hunter’s thirst for blood, for identity, for understanding sets off a chain of events that unravel his past and ignite his inner turmoil. Alongside complex allies and lovers like Gibson and Kai, Hunter battles not just external enemies, but the firestorm erupting inside him as he begins to literally burn with the onset of his demon puberty. The narrative explores themes of identity, betrayal, found family, and the painful journey toward self-acceptance, with a cast of supernatural beings navigating loyalty and loss in a world that’s as violent as it is emotionally raw.
I enjoyed the writing style. It’s brash, fast, and pulsing with tension. The prose punches through scenes with vivid violence and palpable emotion. There’s blood, there’s sex, there’s fire—sometimes all at once. And somehow, it works. The balance between raw supernatural action and aching vulnerability is impressive. The characters don’t just react to their world; they bleed through it, and the world bleeds right back. Hunter is infuriating and lovable all at once. He’s damaged goods, and you feel every splinter. Even when he lashes out, you get it. You want to scream at him, then hug him, then scream again. And that, to me, is good storytelling.
The story isn’t for the faint of heart. It hits heavy emotional beats—abandonment, identity crisis, the scars of betrayal—and it does so while vampires are biting throats and werewolves are shifting mid-fight. At times, I found myself reeling, not because the plot was confusing (it’s actually paced very well), but because the emotional intensity rarely lets up. The stakes are always high, the emotions raw, the danger close. Still, the underlying themes hit home: what does it mean to be yourself when your origins are ripped away? How do you forgive someone who shattered you without meaning to? And how do you keep from burning the world down when you’re on fire inside?
Extreme Temperatures is a wild and heartfelt ride. It’s angry, it’s tender, it’s fierce, and it’s not interested in sugarcoating the path to healing. This is a book for readers who like their vampires with more bite than brooding, who crave supernatural drama that digs into the heart as much as it tears through flesh. If you enjoy character-driven stories where the monsters are just as broken as the humans they once were, this one’s for you.
Pages: 240 | ASIN : B0DZYQX31N
Creating Something Entirely Mine
Bloodbound: Alternate Tracks follows a once-human vampire and his maker as they face off with a rival faction and battle their own inner turmoil. Where did the idea for this novel come from?
I was toying with ways to extend the Bloodbound universe, to bend or even snap the genres of existing vampire fantasy and create something entirely mine. One day I had a random thought: What if twins (or multiples for that matter) weren’t meant to be born in the same world – what if they were each allotted their own universe to exist in, and what if we could see what other paths those alternate versions might take? I decided to explore that concept in the Bloodbound saga.
Do you have a favorite character in this novel? One that was especially enjoyable to write?
Exploring a different version of your own main character is especially delicious if they don’t abide by the same constrictions or even morals. I didn’t want Hunter II to be a polar opposite – I didn’t want him to be the proverbial ‘evil twin’ … but instead I wanted him to be more morally ambiguous, at least starting off. This Hunter lives a rockstar lifestyle and can also be unapologetically violent. We’ll learn there’s a purpose for that as we go along.
What draws you to the horror genre?
A genre that encourages you – dares you – to push boundaries and go beyond the limits of tastefulness? What’s not to love? Add in a fantasy world where the laws of physics may not strictly apply, and you’ve got the makings for some really entertaining (read: gross) things to write about.
Can fans of the Bloodbound series look forward to another installment soon? What are you currently working on?
Bloodbound 4 (Extreme Temperatures – https://books2read.com/Bloodbound4/ ) is already out. Coincidentally, the very night I was given this interview, I had just finished the first draft of Bloodbound 5: Reverberations – which lets us see even more of Hunter II and reveals his true allegiances. I’ll be releasing ‘Reverberations’ later this year.
In the meantime, May 6 will see the release of my first collection of short stories – called “Body Parts.” It’s 13 body horror tales of varying tones – some are seriously disturbing, some take a more humorous tack, but in all of them I tried pushing some of those boundaries I spoke of earlier! https://books2read.com/BodyPartsBook
And July 1 will see the reboot of another old series of mine. The first volume of “Abel X,” Echoes of Demons, combines two original novellas I first wrote in the mid 2010s based off a role-playing game character I created. https://books2read.com/AbelXEchoes
Author Links: GoodReads | Amazon
When a demon with the ability to traverse dimensions and kill on contact breaks into our realm, Kai and The Order are tasked with finding and stopping the ever-growing threat, which involves asking the alternate-world Hunter and his bandmates for help. However, the other realm’s version of Hunter appears to have an agenda of his own and won’t think twice about opting for brutality to achieve his goals.
Bloodbound: Alternate Tracks
Bloodbound: Alternate Tracks drops readers headfirst into a pulsating world of supernatural espionage, romantic chaos, and moral grey zones. Think queer vampire secret agents mixed with gothic glam rock and high-stakes interdimensional danger. The story follows Hunter, a once-human vampire with hidden demonic roots, his maker-lover Kai, and their ancient, emotionally-complex partner Gibson as they battle both external threats from a rival faction called The Crown and internal turmoil about identity, power, and love. It’s urban fantasy, but not the moody, fog-soaked kind. This one crackles with neon, music, blood, and banter.
McPherson’s writing is this punchy mix of earnest and irreverent, and it works. The dialogue sparkles. Hunter’s snarky quips, Kai’s quiet intensity, Gibson’s flamboyant menace. They all clash and collide in the best ways. One of my favorite scenes has to be the opening in the artist suite where Mickey, the shady manager, gets drained dry by the lead singer of a vampiric rock band. That moment sets the tone: flashy, brutal, and a little unhinged. Later, the scene where Kai ends up in a weird alternate reality Dallas, able to walk in sunlight, ordering a sandwich like some confused immortal tourist was hilarious and oddly sad. The worldbuilding balances camp and dread in a way that feels totally unique.
The alternate universe storyline was wild, and while I love a good multiverse twist, it got a little dizzying with all the doubles and overlapping identities. Still, I loved how emotionally grounded it stayed. Even while being hunted, poisoned, or half-possessed, the characters are still trying to figure out their feelings. I genuinely felt for Hunter during his blood transfusion scene—his fear, his longing for Kai, his vulnerability. And the twist with the demon venom was dark. Really dark. The emotional undercurrents carry the high-concept fantasy, which I didn’t see coming.
I would absolutely recommend this book. It’s perfect for fans of urban fantasy who are tired of the same old brooding loner vampire tropes. If you like queer romance, secret organizations, chaotic polycules, and lots of sarcastic flirting mixed with visceral horror, this is your book. It’s not a subtle book. But it’s a fun one. Bold, sexy, weird, and somehow heartfelt—Bloodbound: Alternate Tracks doesn’t just bite, it leaves a mark.
Pages: 214 | ASIN : B0DWLNL79M
The New Vampire Blood
Bloodbound: West of Nowhere follows a human-turned-vampire as he navigates a complicated relationship with his partner as he begins to realize his newly-acquired powers may be more than he bargained for. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
In improvisation, students are taught the “Yes, and” technique. If your scene partner says you’re a racing driver with a limp, you take the character prompt and you add something extra to top it. In creating Bloodbound, I wanted my vampires to break as many tropes as possible and then add my own special twist, create my own universe and lore.
I decided to make Hunter a cambion, that is to say, have him be the offspring of a demon and a human, because I thought that might be a neat twist on your standard vampire story – what if the human wasn’t just a human when he was turned? Then I had to determine what kind of demon might be in his lineage. And from that came my own “Yes, and:” Did it necessarily have to be a single demon? What if there’s more than one in his bloodline, and all of those individual traits, when mixed with the new vampire blood, could yield interesting results?
We start exploring this at the end of Book 1, Reawakening, and develop it further into what we call “Mind’s Eye” in this book. Hunter can use a heightened telepathic ability to find a person’s deepest, darkest fears – imagined, maybe a real-life trauma. He can then alter the immediate space around him (and his target) to project a recreation of that dream or that memory. It’s like putting on a VR device without the goofy-looking equipment.
But it’s certainly not the only thing he’ll be able to do…
Do you have a favorite scene in this installment of the Bloodbound series? One that was especially fun to craft?
It’s a tie for two scenes. One is my homage to the Wayside School series of children’s books by Louis Sachar, which I could easily point to as the books that inspired me to write. In that lore, the school is a skyscraper, one classroom on each floor. There’s no 19th story, and there’s a series of chapters, each labeled Chapter 19, in which a character is stuck on the nonexistent 19th floor. I have a segment in West of Nowhere in which my characters are stuck in a time loop, and the first portion of that chapter repeats a few times with minor differences – including a different chapter title with a repeating number – before a character realizes what’s going on and breaks the loop.
The second is a trope-breaker: Vampire fans may know the old lore that one must be invited into a stranger’s residence in order to go inside. We have a scene in which it’s explained that “Welcome” mats count as implied permission by way of printed word. I got a giggle while writing it and I hope it’s met with a few by the reader!
What intrigues you about the horror and supernatural genres?
Horror is universal – we all have fears, both rational and irrational, and they can all manifest in beautiful, bizarre ways. I think the trick, the challenge, is how to craft the visual in a way that may touch different people in radically different ways. It’s the same reason why supernatural stories attract me: that genre is an extension of a creator’s aspirations, and that could cause so many different reactions from an audience who consumes that story and then thinks: ‘What would I do, how would I react, if I could do this?’
Can you give us a peek inside book 3? Where will it take readers?
Book 3 is called Alternate Tracks, and it explores the concept and tropes of alternate timelines and planes of existence. Hunter will discover a few more of his latent demonic powers, a possible ally or enemy, and we’ll have a pile of mobile goo that can drain the lifeblood and moisture from any being it touches heading toward South Padre Island during Spring Break!
Author Links: GoodReads | Amazon
While he tries to control this new power, Hunter, his lover, Kai, and fellow agents from the Dallas bureau are summoned to San Francisco, where there is evidence a project to mutate ordinary citizens into human-animal hybrids has resumed.
What Hunter learns about his true self could help in tracking down those responsible – and could put his comrades in mortal jeopardy.
Praise for West of Nowhere:
McPherson’s style awakens old world vampire stories and entwines them with mystery/thriller overtones, making the resultant narrative decidedly unique… West of Nowhere weaves a wealth of supernatural fantasy components together, interlacing them with themes of belonging and regret into one intense, fast-moving story. —The BookLife Prize
Fans of The Dresden Files or The Southern Vampire Mysteries (but with more edge and less camp) will find a lot to enjoy here. It’s fast, it’s dark, and it leaves you with just enough unease to keep the lights on at night. (Thomas Anderson, Literary Titan)
Bloodbound: West of Nowhere
Some books pull you in slowly, letting you wade into the deep, dark waters at your own pace. Bloodbound: West of Nowhere is not one of those books. It grabs you by the collar and drags you into a world where supernatural horror, crime, and espionage twist together into a story that never slows down. We follow Hunter Reeves, a former human now turned vampire, as he juggles his work for a secretive organization called The Order, his complicated relationship with his vampire partner Kai, and the eerie realization that his own powers might be far more terrifying than he ever imagined. The novel mixes shadowy conspiracies, gruesome experiments that merge human DNA with animal traits, and a seductive yet dangerous villain who seems to know more about Hunter than he should.
This book has some of the best elements of a horror-thriller: tension, gore, and mystery. The writing is quick and sharp, never lingering too long before throwing something new at you. The horror here isn’t just in the supernatural—it’s in the manipulation, the psychological torment, and the weight of past trauma that bleeds into every character’s decisions. The way McPherson handles Hunter’s struggle with his identity and abilities is intense and gut-wrenching. Plus, there’s an undercurrent of paranoia that runs through the book. Who can be trusted? Who’s using who? It keeps you second-guessing everything. And then there’s Gibson, the seductive wildcard antagonist, who injects an eerie charm into the mix. Every interaction between him and Hunter feels like playing with fire.
With so much happening at once it’s easy to feel swept up in the chaos. Some sections are rich with detail, which, while informative, occasionally slow things down right when the tension is building. The romance elements add depth to the story, though they sometimes take the spotlight in ways that soften the horror’s edge. And while Hunter’s evolving abilities are fascinating, they develop so rapidly that it can be tricky to fully grasp their limits and impact.
If you love horror novels that blend blood-soaked action with supernatural intrigue then this is a book worth picking up. Fans of The Dresden Files or The Southern Vampire Mysteries (but with more edge and less camp) will find a lot to enjoy here. It’s fast, it’s dark, and it leaves you with just enough unease to keep the lights on at night.
Pages: 252 | ASIN : B0DWLZ9W76
LITERARY TITAN 