Blood Vice by Keith Melton

Publisher: Samhain
Publish Date:
How I got this book: Purchased

Karl Vance... mafia hit man, vampire. The criminal underworld just got a whole lot darker.

Business has never been better for mafia hit man Karl Vance. After the Ricardi crime family declares war on the rival Lucattis, Boston is awash in blood. And Vance has a certain fondness for blood. He's a master vampire, one of the most powerful of his kind. Having sworn to never again feed on the blood of innocents, Karl preys instead on Boston's criminal underworld, which makes him a valuable asset to those who deal in death.

But things change when he's hired to assist Maria Ricardi, the headstrong princess of the Ricardi family. Her relentless drive to control Boston draws the attention of the Lucatti's newest and most dangerous asset — Alejandro Delgado, Vance's centuries-old nemesis. Delgado finds the perfect kink in his enemy's armor — Vance's fondness for Maria Ricardi — and sets out to enslave her with his unnatural kiss. Can Vance save Maria from Delgado's control, and from the growing hunger within herself? Or will Delgado use her as a weapon against her own family and finally settle the score against Karl Vance?

One thing is certain. The Boston night will never be the same.

*Blurb taken from authors website*


Karl Vance is a mafia hit man, recruited by the Ricardi family to assist with taking over Boston by whacking off the Lucatti family one by one. He is ordered to work under Maria, the Ricardi family princess and money launderer. Little do Maria and her father know, but Karl is also a vampire, in Boston with the hopes of finding his nemesis, Alejandro Delgado.

As Karl and Maria work together to start taking out the Lucatti family one by one, clues begin to unravel to Maria about Karl’s life, and she soon finds herself immersed in a world that thrives in the night. With Karl and Alejandro fighting on two different sides of the mafia world, Maria finds herself stuck in the middle.

Once Alejandro makes Maria his vampire slave, he forces her to do things she never thought or imagined possible. Karl will do everything in his power to help her, and together they just might prevail.

Keith Melton goes all out in this thrilling urban fantasy mafia crime drama featuring a sexy vampire, a mafia princess, a mysterious and powerful daytime guardian, and a crazy holy army.

Usually I am all for authors who take the stereotypical vampire myths and put all sorts of spins on them, making it new and fresh. But Melton really came through for me with his old school vamp ways. I love that Karl is such a badass, even while under so many constraints. Sure he only goes out after sundown, kills in order to live, and has to rely on a woman to watch over his coffin during the day, but he totally rocks it!

I had a little bit of a hard time relating to and liking Maria. Sure I can totally understand her desires to climb the family ladder, and her frustration with the gender stereotypes in the mafia way of life. However, the first part of the book she was so concerned with proving herself as being able to live in that world, that she seemed almost too hard to me. She was so wrapped up in wanting to kill someone to prove to her father she would make a good Mafioso, and that really turned me off to her. But, Melton was able to redeem her a little by having her struggle with the brutality of becoming a vampire and having to kill, even when she needed it to survive.

The conflict between Karl and Alejandro was great, and their few encounters totally rocked. I loved that the two of them represented good and evil, battling it out for supremacy. The fight scenes were hard hitting throughout, and although I’m not a huge fan of the mobster way of life, the mafia undertones totally rocked. For all those mob lifestyle fans out there, this book is a Don’t Miss!


All in all, I give Blood Vice 3.5 out of 5 broken kneecaps!

ZOMG There's More!!

In addition to his awesome author powers, Keith Melton is also an acclaimed (by myself and the fellow Scribbling Ninja followers) artist! For those that follow Samhain authors Keith Melton, Alisha Rai, and the awesome duo of Bree and Donna AKA Moira Rogers; you are well acquainted with Keith's awesome art skills. While he has yet to master watercolors and oils, he totally rocks my world in Paint. Below you can find a Keith Melton original, which I commissioned (for free, because he refused to charge me for something in Paint) last week on Twitter. Without further ado, a never before seen Keith Melton Original!