I grabbed A.D. Stewart‘s Black Pyramid (Ancient Breeds, #1) off of the KDP free list. As I write this (Feb. 11), I notice that it is free again. Don’t know how long that will last, though.
Description from Amazon:
In a time, when SandWalkers fight BloodSeekers for supremacy, it’s kill or be killed!
Down through time, we thought the lost civilizations died out.
We were wrong…
Find out the truth…
The secrets of the pyramids are about to be revealed…
In the first story within the Ancient Breeds Series
Ancient Breeds Novel:
Melissa Ambers travels to Egypt with one question on her mind. Why me?
Entering the Black Pyramid with mixed feelings- unsure how or why the giant sandstone pyramid appeared out of thin air, she risks everything, her job, her reputation, and her life to unearth the mysteries within.
Entering the tomb, it becomes increasingly apparent that something or someone dwelling within the dark, confines of the Black Pyramid is trying to keep her from learning the secrets buried within.
Entrusted with the powers to protect the humans from total annihilation, Siaak, the keeper of the pyramid, must do everything within his powers to keep the evil vampire, Osiris, locked inside, and trespasser out!
When two humans force their way into his pyramid, he has no choice but to get rid of them! For if they unleash the leader of the BloodSeekers, there is nothing on this earth that can save them again!
Review:
I generally liked the book. Siaak’s genuine desire to do good in the face of evil was wonderful, while his willingness to also kill mercilessly when needed provided a well-rounded understanding of his motivations. Melissa was a little firecracker. She was smart, witty, and fearless. Much like Siaak, I found her endless chatter annoying at times, not always though. I often thought she had insightful questions and could relate to her constant desire for more information, but there were times when lives were on the line (often her own), and I thought, ‘Jesus woman, shut the hell up.’
I really wanted to see the two of them complete each other. There was very little sex in the book, which is fine. But it seemed like, though Siaak could talk a good game (some of the things he says/describes are toe-curling, in a good way), they never seemed to smolder. They didn’t seem particularly impassioned. While his whole fangy thing was smexy, there wasn’t a lot of information (beyond his adamant denials) about the difference between his Sandwalker breed and the vampiric Bloodseeker breed. I kind of got it, but you just have to pick tidbits up along the way, and I never understood where the second breed came from. Was it a mutation, a divine intervention, always been there?
The side characters were fun too. Siaak’s brothers were each good in their own way. They filled the obligatory laid-back jester with unexpected wisdom and brooding, emotionally damaged, hostile roles. I look forward to each of their books ’cause you know that there’ll eventually be one for each of them. Then there was Mark and Elizabeth and the baddies…all good.
I did have a little trouble anchoring myself in time. The book started in Ancient Egypt, but one of the characters can time-travel, so there were a number of modern references that threw me for a loop. Plus, when two of them reenter the storyline after what I think was thousands of years, they leaped right into life (they knew people, one had a job, they had homes, etc.) I couldn’t figure out how that worked, even if time travel was involved.
There were a lot of brand references (Kindle Fire HD, iPhone, iPod, Tic Tacs, Ray Bans, and that’s before even getting to the clothing & shoes) that felt really forced. Why not just an e-reader (or even just a Kindle) or sunglasses? I did appreciate all of the pop culture references, though. Some of them really made me laugh.
In the end, I’d be happy to read another one should it be published. And for the record, I’ve seen a number of covers for this book, and this one (the one with three stacked guys on the front) is by far my favorite. Honestly, it’s the reason I picked the book up in the first place. Yummy.