Thanks for visiting my stop on the blog tour for The Making of Michael Bishop.
First thing, the cover.
I love it. It compliments the story perfectly. The only thing that would be scarier is seeing beneath that hood.
Take a close look, and enjoy my review!
The Making of Michael Bishop
A Realm Walker Short Story
Kathleen Collins
Genre: urban fantasy, dark fantasy
Date of Publication: August 30, 2014
ASIN: B00N5YWPCE
Number of pages: 20
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My Review
Coming in at around 20 pages on my eReader, I thought there wouldn’t be much to this story. But that’s where I was wrong.
Michael D’Augustino was born a bastard child. The product of an indiscretion between his mother, a chambermaid, and his father, a now high raking priest.
There’s no love between father and son. The Bishop keeps Michael on a leash, threatening to stop providing for his mother if Michael doesn’t do what he wants.
So, here he is, entering the dungeon. Struggling to carry the squirming bundle to a dank, cold cell.
The Bishop’s orders were clear. Feed the creature and don’t get to0 close.
Now, I knew that this was titled ‘The Making of’ so I had a good idea Michael would get too close to the vampyr. And he did.
What I didn’t expect, but very much enjoyed, was the great dialogue between the two.
As Michael entered the cell to ensure the vampyr would indeed feed, I could see it coming. The creature was subtle, almost timid. He’d been tortured so needed assistance to feed on the piglet. And Michael, not wanting to disobey his father, would make sure the thing fed.
He got too close, let his guard down, forgot the thing wasn’t human and had been feeding on humans for 200 years.
Thus The Making of Michael Bishop.
The author did a wonderful job of description. My sense of smell, touch, and sight came into play as I was put in that dungeon.
Then the apprehension came, the ‘I knew it’ moment. Did Michael’s becoming just put him on the end of another leash?
I’d highly recommend this short story. It’s a taste of what’s to come in the world of The Realm Walkers and I intend to read more of this series.
4 Stars
Book Description:
Keep your distance. Don’t look him in the eye. Feed him and leave.
Michael D’Augustino is a priest in the time of the Inquisition. Marked as weak for his refusal to torture those charged with sorcery, heresy, devil worship or worse, he’s given another task. Feed the prisoner in the cell in the darkest corner of the dungeon. With the edict comes a set of instructions.
Ever obedient, Michael does exactly as he is told. Until the night his charge doesn’t eat and Michael has to enter the cell to find out why. Instead of the beast he believes to be imprisoned there, he finds a man. A broken, tormented man who asks for help.
But all is not as it seems and, before the night is through, Michael will be changed forever.
About the Author:
Kathleen Collins has been writing since Kindergarten. And while her ability has drastically improved, her stories are still about monsters and the people who play with them.
The rare instances that she actually finds some spare time, she spends it playing with her two boys. Three if you count her husband.
She is currently hard at work on her next book.
Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Goodreads
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