From start to finish, Kevin A. Ranson’s The Matriarch, digs its claws into the reader’s imagination and takes flight. The present day story fuses together both the reality we as mortals know, with the unknown supernatural world of vampires and ghosts. The official summary is as follows:
Vampires don’t believe in ghosts.
“Every October, the freshmen at Glenville State College are told stories about Sis Linn, the local ghost who haunts Clark Hall and the graveyard where she’s buried. Murdered in 1919, she was beaten beyond recognition, the target of a brutal killer who was never caught.
Present-day student Janiss Connelly is about to find out that the stories are wrong – and that there are greater things to fear in life and in death than ghosts.”
Once the initial plotline was set up, it began to shift into high gear with the introduction of unforgettable characters. The protagonist of the story, Ian, is an arrogant vampire who charms you with his pompous wit and perfectly timed one-liners. It seems as though he not only feeds off of the blood of others, but also their humiliation. I gleefully scoffed out loud whenever this tantalizing villain delivered his impeccable insults to the receptive antagonist, Janiss. The escalating friction between the two had me bolted to my seat, and thoroughly enjoying the non-stop action sequences. Descriptive physical transformations were frightening, yet empowering. Ranson’s take on the life of a vampire was intriguing and believable. Other essential characters each had their own mysterious history. I tend to get confused with elaborate back stories, but Ranson eloquently guided the tale in such a fashion that it was easy to follow along. The intense pacing and anticipation pushed me forward, chapter by chapter. By the end of the book, I finally stood up, took a breath, and demanded more!
Ranson has effortlessly merged a mystery thriller with the allure of a vampire horror story. At every twist and turn, new revelations came to light and added even greater depth to the storyline. I highly recommend this book to anyone who fancies a cleverly written thriller/horror that banks on the idea that well-developed characters with a sense of humor are the key to a great piece of fiction.
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The Matriarch Links
[dcs_ul_clean]Publisher [WTF Books][/dcs_ul_clean]