The Bitten: A Vampire Huntress Legend (Vampire Huntress Legend...

The Bitten is the fourth daring and pulse-pounding book in L. A. Banks's Vampire Huntress Legend seriesThe vampire civil war has been averted, deadly were-demons have been beaten back, and now it Damali Richards and Carlos Rivera (now a Council level vampire) will finally have the chance to settle in and explore their deeper, sexier love. But Carlos and Damali should know by now that there is no rest for the saviors of the known world. One of the four topside Master vampires has stolen one of the Keys---the living blood of Christ---that opens the sixth seal as foretold in Revelations. He who possesses the Key and the Seal can decide to the outcome of the Final War, a.k.a. Armageddon. With a vampire in possession of the Key, the balance between the Light and the Dark have been thrown off and even Damali is deeply affected: she is now sporting a pair of fangs. In order to retrieve the Key, Carlos and Damali are quickly thrust into a web of vampire politics and intrigue. And when Carlos's secret drug, Oblivion, finds its way into the hands of the enemies, even the seventh level of Hell comes calling.

From Publishers Weekly

At the start of Banks's seductive fourth Vampire Huntress Legend fantasy (after 2004's The Awakening), former crime lord/master vampire Carlos Rivera bites his lover, hot hip-hop artist/gifted slayer Damali Richards, and she bites back. This passionate exchange puts Damali's humanity and the fate of the world at risk. As Damali and Carlos struggle with the implications of their bond, the pair work with Damali's Guardian team to recover a "key" containing the blood of Christ (extracted from the Shroud of Turin), which another master vampire has hijacked and injected into an unwilling human. The key's spilled blood could open the seal that unleashes Armageddon: "If he's able to open that seal, then everything you learned in Catholic school about the book of Revelations will go down. All Hell will literally break loose, hombre. You feel me?" To prevent this cataclysm and the sacrifice of an innocent victim, the couple travel to Australia, where they play a high-stakes game with four topside master vampires, with life-changing results. Mixing religion with erotic horror dosed with a funky African-American beat, Banks blithely piles on layer after layer of densely detailed plot, which might overwhelm new readers but will delight established fans. Banks creates smokin' sex scenes that easily out-vamp Laurell K. Hamilton's, though they sometimes scream for tighter editing. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

The fourth Vampire Huntress book opens with Damali Richards happy and in the arms of her lover, master vampire Carlos Rivera. Their romantic getaway ends with a shocking revelation: Damali is becoming a vampire. Distressed, Carlos takes Damali back to her friends, hoping that the seer Marlene can reverse the process. Carlos is forced to leave Damali to return to the Vampire Council, which greets him with distressing news: a master vampire has stolen a key to a powerful seal that could enable him to destroy the sun. The council wants the key in its keeping and threatens Damali's life to compel Carlos to get the key for it. Carlos turns to a human associate, detective Berkfield, for help in finding the key, while Damali's friends perform a ritual to keep her from becoming a full-fledged vampire. The stakes have never been higher, and the excitement and tension are palpable in this installment of Banks' complex, sexy series. Kristine HuntleyCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Publishers Weekly

“Seductive...mixing religion with erotic horror dosed with a funky African-American beat, Banks blithely piles on layer after layer of densely detailed plot...will delight established fans. Banks creates smokin' sex scenes that easily out-vamp Laurell K. Hamilton's.”

Booklist

“The stakes have never been higher, and the excitement and tension are palpable in this installment of Banks' complex, sexy series.”

From the Inside Flap

Praise for L.A. Banks and the Vampire Huntress Series: "Hip, fresh and fantastic."- Sherrilyn Kenyon on The Hunted"The well conceived and intricate rules of Bank's vampire-inhabited world provide endless opportunities for riffs on the meaning of power and sex that will please lovers of similar. . .philosophical musings found in the vampire tales of Anne Rice and Laurell K. Hamilton."- Publishers Weekly on The Hunted"A terrifying rollercoaster ride of a book."- Charlaine Harris on The Hunted"A spellbinding thrill ride."- Zane on The Hunted"Cutting edge wit and plenty of urban heat flies from the pages of this quick read."- Philadelphia Sun on Minion"Blade meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer. . .A pulsating blood-booster."- Kirkus on Minion

From the Back Cover

Praise for L.A. Banks and the Vampire Huntress Series:"Hip, fresh and fantastic."- Sherrilyn Kenyon on The Hunted"The well conceived and intricate rules of Bank's vampire-inhabited world provide endless opportunities for riffs on the meaning of power and sex that will please lovers of similar. . .philosophical musings found in the vampire tales of Anne Rice and Laurell K. Hamilton."- Publishers Weekly on The Hunted"A terrifying rollercoaster ride of a book."- Charlaine Harris on The Hunted"A spellbinding thrill ride."- Zane on The Hunted"Cutting edge wit and plenty of urban heat flies from the pages of this quick read."- Philadelphia Sun on Minion"Blade meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer. . .A pulsating blood-booster."- Kirkus on Minion

About the Author

L. A. BANKS was the author of the Vampire Huntress Legend series and the Crimson Moon Novels, including Left for Undead and Never Cry Werewolf. She had a bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business and a master's in fine arts from Temple University. Banks considered herself a shape-shifter, writing romance, women's fiction, crime and suspense, and of course, dark vampire huntress lore. She lived with her daughter in Philadelphia until her death in 2011.

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