Two sisters, Sarah and Christine, are on their way to a girl-only weekend at a luxurious spa.  Sarah walked in on her husband and her neighbor/friend having an affair and needed a weekend to get away and attempt to heal her severely battered self-esteem. So, they decided to make a short trek across the Canadian border into the United States. 

Their road trip started off without a hitch.  But shortly into the trip, a thick fog begins to roll in.

What normally was a vista of rolling hills, majestic forests, and lush farmland, was now obscured by a thick mantle of mist.  The vapours were sliding over the hood and widnshield of the car like blankets of silk and the combined effect was eerie.

As they drove through the thick fog they noticed the road had become rougher. They spot a light in the fog and decide to pull over.  The light was coming from a small, rustic-looking house.  The sisters head up to the house and are greeted by a couple, Gerwin and Elke.  As soon as Sarah and Christine stepped into the house, it was as though they were taking a step back in time. The house was lit by an old oil lantern and the furniture was hand-crafted.  The modern convenience of indoor plumbing was also lacking, the girls soon discovered after deciding to stay overnight at the couple’s home.  The girls asked questions about the couple’s background and the responses were always quite vague.

The next morning, the girls pack up again and prepare to head out.  They ask for directions back to the main road and again, the responses they receive are very vague.  Gerwin simply suggests that they head back the way they came. Sarah and Christine follow his advice and are once again on their way.  The decided there was no sense in attempting to go to the spa, so they attempt to head back home.

Their plans are thwarted when the car begins to shutter and rolls to a stop.  Christine soon discovers that Sarah has come down with a fever and offers to go and look for help. Before doing so, Sarah attempts to use her cell phone to call for help but she is unable to get a signal.  So Christine heads out to look for help.  Sarah, lethargic due to her fever, curls up and quickly falls asleep.

Sarah awakens to find that Christine has not returned. She starts blaring the horn in the hopes that someone hears her. She turns on the radio and gets nothing but static.  She is startled when someone knocks on the car window. She rolls down the window and is greeted by man with a relaxed tone of voice.  His name is Hillard and claims he was camping in the woods. When he heard the sound of the car horn, he walked over to see what the commotion was all about.

Hillard convinces Sarah to get out of the car and agrees to help her look for her sister. As they begin to walk down the road, Sarah notices a piece of broken plastic on the ground: the cell phone she’d given to Christine before she headed out on her trek.

Meanwhile, Christine has awoken in a cell with a dull, aching head. She learns from her cell-mate that she is in the dungeon of a man known as Lord Radek.  Before she can learn more, she is pulled from her cell and taken to Lord Radek.

Radek informs Christine that she was found wandering the road by a few of his men.  Radek further confuses Christine by referring to her as a “new visitor from the fog” and a gift to him. Christine is rewarded with nicer accomodations: a sleeping room full of large ornate furnishings.

Separated, Sarah and Christine soon learn that they are no longer in the world in which they were familiar. The fog was a gate to another world, one led by vampire lords.  The currency is blood; visitors that pass through the fog are offered up as gifts to Lord Radek. They soon learn they are trapped in this world forever, and must fight to protect their lives…and their souls!

Thunder and Blood is a chilling and addictive read. The detailed characterization instantly draws you in and makes you feel a part of the story.  Lord Radek, while he is considered the villian in this tale, is intoxicating. Voss’s writing is intoxicating as well. It is easy to become absorbed in this book.  I certainly did! I read it in one sitting!   What I loved most was the vampire aspect of the story.  They aren’t the sparkly vampires of the Twilight books, but true vampires!  Therefore, I highly recommend this for fans of “real” vampires!

Stacey will be stopping by Jenn’s Bookshelves periodically throughout the day, so please feel free to ask her any questions!

Now on to the giveaway!  I have a signed copy of Thunder and Blood available for one lucky reader!  For five-runners up, I have an autographed bookmark!

To enter the contest, ask Stacey a question or answer the following question: Who is your favorite literarly vampire?  I promise not to delete your comment if you respond with “Edward!”   Tweet and/or blog about it for extra entries.  Leave a comment with each of your extra entries with a direct link to your blog post/tweet.   Contest ends at midnight Eastern Time on Saturday, October 31st. 

This contest is now over!