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A Character’s Voice is Unique
Fangs for Hire follows a resistance fighter who, after being executed during WWII, is resurrected as a vampire and transforms personal tragedy into a lifelong quest for justice. What inspired you to combine wartime history with vampire fiction?
I am a history buff as well as a science buff, and I enjoy reading historical magazines, historical novels, and watching fascinating documentaries about World War II. I was inspired to write this novella by several influencing creative forces, such as the TV series Forever Knight, about a 13th-century vampire who became a 20th-century cop to save as many innocent humans as possible and redeem his past sins when he fed on the innocent and guilty alike. Another inspiration came from reading about the resistance against the Nazis in occupied Belarus, from 1941 to 1944. I thought: why not combine the dark fantasy and realism of real military conflict to tell a story of an ordinary teenage girl who fought for her country and was presented with a unique opportunity to strike at her enemies after her moral death? The result was Fangs for Hire, and I am very proud to be able to see this project from start to finish. Larisa Tokar is a unique character who is a survivor and a vampire with a human heart that is no longer beating.
Larisa balances confidence, compassion, and ruthlessness throughout the book. How did you approach creating her voice?
This is a very good and interesting question. A character’s voice is unique, and since Larisa is the main protagonist of the story, she has a unique voice and actions that define who she is. Born as an average human female with no special powers and no particular or unique talent, she nevertheless is an honest, kind, and compassionate person. The brutal Nazi invasion of her country and her desire to fight back against a brutal oppressor make her a person not only influenced by Soviet propaganda, but also a young woman who learns not only how to survive but also strikes at the enemy from a unique angle. She narrates the story with strong personal feelings based on her life experience. Her execution, death, and resurrection as a vampire alter her perspective about the war and the dark truth that was hidden from her. Born again as a vampire, with inhuman abilities that make her into a unique warrior, Larisa navigates through years in prison, during and after the war. She survives and adapts to her condition, and learns new skills to help those who deserve her love and respect. Larisa Tokar is a unique kind of time traveler.
The Urtama functions more like an international society than a traditional supernatural clan. How did that idea evolve?
Fangs for Hire is a novella that is related to my other vampire novels such as Beyond Sunlight, Eighteen Forever, Innocent Eyes, Heatseeker, and Before the Dawn. All of them feature a secret race of nightwalkers who call themselves Urtama. They are a very ancient species that have been living alongside mankind before the dawn of recorded history, stretching all the way back before the time of the last Great Ice Age. My idea about vampires came from the realization that, as a secret species, they had to remain in the shadows while adapting to the new times, as humanity had evolved from hunters and gatherers to farmers and eventually to city builders. Urtama represents a secret race of immortals who depend on human blood to survive, and therefore human lives are precious to them. And while I liked reading about supernatural clans and traditional vampire fiction, I imagined a different and secret world of vampires with their own rules and traditions and system of punishments for the crimes against humanity and their fellow immortals. No society can exist without rules and regulations, and Urtama has their own.
What is the next book that you are working on, and when will it be available?
I am currently working on a sword and sorcery story, which has evolved from a short story I wrote in my experimental science fiction and fantasy writing group in the year 2012. It will most likely be a novelette-length, but with a rich, dense, and hopefully interesting story about kingdoms, battles, knights, love, ambition, and ancient super weapons. This is a unique project, because I seldom work on fantasy tales involving warriors and magic. I hope to complete and present the next book for review sometime in the early Fall. For me, writing is a labor of love, and I want to make this story a unique tale that is not only about action, adventure and magic, but also a morality tale with values that remain true both in the real and magical realm. The best part is that my work schedule permits me two days per week to work on my novels, and each novel I write, I want to make it interesting and informative for my readers. Please stay tuned. A new book is coming!
Author Links: GoodReads | Amazon
Fangs for Hire: A Story of the Vampire Larisa Tokar
Fangs for Hire is a fast-moving blend of vampire fiction, wartime drama, and espionage thriller. Its narrator, Larisa Tokar, is a century-old vampire who works as a freelance operative for intelligence agencies, using her supernatural strength, heightened senses, voice imitation, and access to blood memories to pursue dangerous targets. The story alternates between her present-day missions in Paris and her youth in Nazi-occupied Minsk, where she joins the resistance, is betrayed, publicly executed, and resurrected through the intervention of the ancient vampire Andrei Rumin. That structure gives the novella two distinct energies: the brisk confidence of a supernatural spy adventure and the heavier emotional pull of an origin story shaped by war, loss, and survival.
Larisa is the book’s center of gravity, and her blunt, self-assured narration makes her easy to understand even when her actions are ruthless. She enjoys money, travel, history, good company, and the practical advantages of immortality, but she also carries lasting grief over her parents, her friends, and the destruction of the life she expected to have. Her moral code is simple and consistently applied: protect innocent people and reserve violence for those she believes have earned it. That certainty gives the action a pulpy, vigilante quality, while her memories of occupation and execution add a more personal motive beneath the swagger. Her confrontation with Roman Starenko, the officer who betrayed her, brings those sides together in a scene driven by anger, political disillusionment, and long-delayed revenge.
The novella is especially interested in building a complete vampire society. The Urtama have elders, laws, banks, donors, safe houses, political networks, and punishments for anyone who threatens their secrecy. This world feels less like Gothic folklore and more like an international organization that has quietly adapted to every century. The book also spends considerable time on military and political history, often pausing the immediate story to discuss Soviet repression, the German invasion, Napoleon, resistance movements, and the changing shape of Europe. Readers who enjoy historical detail may find this scope rewarding, though the amount of explanation sometimes slows the suspense. While the story could benefit from careful editing, its directness gives it the feeling of Larisa telling her remarkable life story exactly as she remembers it.
I’d recommend Fangs for Hire most strongly to readers who like alternate-history adventures, powerful antiheroines, detailed vampire lore, and action stories with a firm moral divide between predators and their chosen prey. It should also appeal to military-history fans who enjoy seeing real events woven into supernatural fiction. The violence is graphic, and the book includes sexual material, so it’s best suited to adult readers. At heart, this is the story of a young woman whose first life is destroyed by war and whose second life becomes an ongoing campaign against cruelty. By the final pages, Larisa’s immortality feels both like a weapon and a responsibility, leaving her with endless time to remember the past, enjoy the present, and decide what kind of future she’ll help create.
Pages: 145 | ASIN : B0H68MHWVP
Beasts of War
Beasts of War: A Retelling of the Old English Judith by Sarah E Zilkowski is a genuinely gripping and mesmerizing tale of heroism. This retelling of the story of Judith follows a young maiden on her quest to save her beloved village from Holofernes and his thanes, who have pillaged and destroyed so many villages leaving devastation in their path. Judith, the protagonist of the story, is tasked by her Lord to infiltrate the enemy’s camp. She is their last hope at survival.
It is refreshing to read an adaptation of a historical tale focused on the strength of women and the importance of their role within specific periods in time. This is an integral theme within many modern pieces of literature, not often seen when referring to myths and legends, especially religious texts such as the Bible.
The omniscient narrator throughout the novel allows the reader to see the overall picture of what is taking place; although primarily focused on the movements of Judith, there are moments when we move away from her and see what is going on elsewhere, this is enhanced by short bits of italicized information provided as the inner thoughts of other characters. For example, ‘Then again, he thought, I suppose mine do too,’ this is from Lord Cyneric when he recognizes the sorrow in Judith’s eyes.
Throughout this tale, the imagery used is excellently written. It varies so much, from literal graphic phrases such as ‘Slaughtering and butchering’ to contrasting elements that emphasize the gravity of the situation, like when Judith’ stood in an open space’ but ‘felt crushed by her fear.’ Although readers will enjoy metaphors throughout the novel, which refers back to tales and beliefs from the Anglo-Saxon period, when the story is set, the use of her seeing wolves and eagles, which symbolized war, helps build the tension within the overall novel.
Beasts of War: A Retelling of the Old English Judith is a riveting novel that will grip readers from the opening pages. Historical fiction and war drama lovers will find this take on the story exhilarating. Women’s fiction readers will be overjoyed at seeing Judith’s vital role as the dramatic story unfolds.
Pages: 246 | ASIN : B09ML693YF
Fate’s Final Destiny
Fates Final Destiny by E T McNamara takes the timeless ‘Boy next door’ love story to a whole new level. Not only do you get an emotionally captivating tale of how true love can stand the tests of fate, but a lesson in history as the characters navigate the difficult times of the Dust Bowl, Great Depression, and subsequent war that followed.
The story begins as we meet two close-knit, farm-owning families who live next door to each other in small-town Goodwell, Oklahoma. Readers get a look into all that goes into farm-life, and the dreams of a different future for some of the characters. We watch as our two main characters, Michael and Cindy, develop from children into teenagers and their neighbor-friendship turns into young love. A devastating event results in their physical separation, but they keep their love alive through love letters filled with hopes and dreams of their future. When a disapproving family member begins to secretly intercept the letters before the other receives them, they are both left heartbroken, believing the other has moved on with their life. Fate takes both characters on separate, interesting journeys- their paths almost leading back to each on several occasions, but the timing never seems to be right. The wonder of whether fate will ever work in their favor leaves the reader entranced in the story, rooting for their happily ever after.
Readers will enjoy this fascinating literary hybrid of part love story, part historical fiction. Readers with military ties will find solidarity reading through these turbulent stories. Getting a look into the emotions of soldiers making life and death decisions as they lived through war, and the subsequent mental and physical effects that stay with them, was educational, eye-opening, and will no doubt increase the understanding and empathy for all that serve.
Fates Final Destiny is an inspiring tale of love lost and the journey to find footing in an ever-changing world. This memorable book will appeal to those who enjoy historical fiction, romance, and war drama.
Pages: 371 | ASIN : B098VZC135
