Blog Tour and Horror Review "Blood Street" by Carl Alves

Title:  Blood Street
Author: Carl Alves
Publisher:  True Grit Publishing
Publication Date:  November 24, 2012
Genre:  Thriller / Horror (Vampire)
Format:  Kindle 430 KB  |  Paperback 312 pages

Buy this book on Amazon:  Kindle Edition  |  Paperback
Author's Website:  http://www.carlalves.com/ 
Author's Goodreads Profile:  Carl Alves 

Synopsis from Goodreads: 

Alexei chose the wrong neighborhood to claim his latest victim. Now Philadelphia mob boss Enzo Salerno is determined to hunt down the man who killed his associate in such gruesome fashion in his South Philly row home.

Perplexed by this unnatural murder, Salerno uncovers clues that lead him to believe that this was not a mob hit, and that a vampire was responsible for this death. Magnus, the leader of Alexei’s brood, must now use all of his resources to save them from both the mafia and the FBI.

Author Bio

Carl went to Boston University majoring in Biomedical Engineering.  He graduated with a BS degree, and has since worked in the pharmaceutical and medical devices industries.  He later graduated from Lehigh University with an MBA degree.

He is a writer of fantasy and horror fiction.  His debut novel “Two For Eternity” is scheduled to be released for publication in November, 2011 by Weaving Dreams Publishing.  His novel “Blood Street’ will be published by True Grit Publishing in 2013.

His short fiction has appeared in various publications such as Sinister City, Alien Skin and Glassfire Anthology.  He is a member of the Horror Writers Association and has attended the Penn Writers Conference.  He lives with his loving wife, Michelle, and his two super cool little dudes, Max and Alex.

My Review

While I am not particularly a fan of the cover art, I really did enjoy this book.   I am a big fan of this genre and I think that this book was a nice addition to my collection.  It's not one that I would have picked up on my own because of the cover though, but I am finding more and more not to judge a book by it's cover!  

This story starts out with a gruesome murder of a mob man and his girlfriend.  The scene is discovered while the killer is still there, but when the witness, another mob man nicknamed The Goat, relays what he saw everyone just thinks he is crazy.  Now the mob want revenge.  I was a little confused by all the names at the beginning, but for the most part you remember the ones you need to and the rest are just there!  

The Goat is a great character, but I was more intrigued by Enzo Salerno, the boss.  He was not what I imagine your typical mob boss would be or maybe how they are generally portrayed.  He was a genuinely likable character, a loving husband and father, someone you can definitely relate to so it's hard to see him as the "bad guy".  But that's exactly how FBI Agent Mark Andrews sees him.  As the murders increase, albeit not as gruesome, they get a break in the case and an unlikely alliance is formed between Mark and Enzo.  As they work together to stop the killer they seem to form a bond that I think will help Enzo in the future if this book does turn into a series.

The vampire origins story isn't particularly original, but this book doesn't really need it to be because it's not all about them.  They do have some things that are original to them, but for the most part they are your typical vampire.  I know that makes me sound a little crazy, but hey I like my vampires!  They live in hordes which is different, but they still can't handle sunlight, you can kill them with a wooden stake or behead them, etc...  I can't even tell you how much I loved that Alexei was reading Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series!

So this was kind of a Soprano's meets True Blood story and I loved it from the very beginning.  There were a couple of typos, but nothing that took away from the story.  I enjoyed the writing very much and I felt like the story flowed very well.  I think that Mr. Alves did and excellent job with his characters and if he decides to turn this into a series I will definitely read the subsequent books.

I would recommend this to any horror / vampire fan.  It's truly an original with the mix of vampires and mafia.

*Disclaimer: I was provided with a copy of this book courtesy of the author in exchange for my honest review.*