Title: Blood Red Roulette
Author: Jana Denardo
Publisher: DSP Publications
Length: 350 Pages
Category: Paranormal
At a Glance: Even though I got lost a few times in some places, this was still a fun and gory read. There’s so much going on and it kept me entertained.
Reviewed By: Maryann
Blurb: Arrigo Giancarlo’s friends think he’s a rich young man with the unusual job of paranormal investigator, working with his psychic assistant in Las Vegas. In truth he’s a two-thousand-year-old vampire and member of the Chiaroscuro, a group of Supernaturals dedicated to keeping humanity safe from the more dangerous of their kind. He’s also openly bisexual… but alone.
When he spots Luc St. John in a bar, Arrigo is intrigued. What begins as an effort to repay the kindness shown to him in the past quickly turns into much deeper feelings for the suffering and displaced Cajun. For Luc’s part, he feels too poor, too uneducated, and too bound to his hateful family to ever be worthy of elegant and cultured Arrigo.
An old enemy, Eleni, blames Arrigo for murdering her true love. On the anniversary of that death, she’s back to take revenge. As Arrigo’s closest friends fall victim to savage attacks, he fears nothing will keep Luc safe. Should he break both their hearts and let Luc go, or is it too late? If Luc’s already in Eleni’s sights, Arrigo knows that like most things in Vegas, the odds are against him.
Review: Arrigo Giancarlo is a many-centuries-old vampire now living in the Las Vegas. Needless to say, he has it all—except he hasn’t found that someone special yet. He has friends, both human and supernatural, and even owns a business with a human, but there’s still something missing in his life. Being a vampire, he’s earned his way into a job as an enforcer for the Chiaroscuros, a council that controls rogue supernaturals. They keep the peace and step in before things get out of hand so they can live among humans. Arrigo is also investigating ghosts for a book he’s writing, and “ghost walks” for his day job at Tabuu and Giancarlo’s Physic Advertisement and Paranormal Investigations.
While tracking a rogue fledgling, Arrigo finds himself at the Alibi, a seedy biker bar. Luc St. John works in the bar with his father and his brother Henri. Besides bartending, Luc has to clean up the crap and is often the butt of disgusting jokes, and is a human punching bag for his father and brother. Luc takes what they dish out, because he has nowhere else to go, but he’s working on a plan that could help him escape this environment. He also has an odd connection which his faith.
Something about Luc attracts Arrigo to him, and they struggle to become friends. When slaughtered bodies start showing up, it would appear they somehow have a connection to Arrigo. It seems someone, or something, is not only out to destroy Arrigo but his friends too, especially Luc.
I have to admit, I let a vampire frustrate me! Arrigo, even being centuries old, procrastinated a little too much for my taste when it came to Luc’s safety. And I really felt for Luc; he was like a lost soul but had dreams to make his life better. Arrigo also has some interesting friends that keep this story intriguing—Taabu, the psychic; Shani, who’s a detective and Tabuu’s sister; Soibhan, once a fledgling and lover to Arrigo; Michael the lusty werewolf; and Hanaoka, the witch, along with many more. The Author’s Note is an amazing story in itself, and I have to give a lot of credit to Jana Denardo for holding on to this creative story for twenty years.
If you like vampires, werewolves, shifters, witches, and psychics, there’s some crazy-crazy weirdness going on in this story. There’s also a couple of mysteries happening at once, besides who’s doing the killings. And why isn’t the Chiaroscuros sending more help to Arrigo? Even though I got lost a few times in some places, this was still a fun and gory read. There’s so much going on and it kept me entertained.
You can buy Blood Red Roulette here:
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