Vampire's like you've never seen before. Mark Graves expertly combines multiple literary genres and ancient legends with his brilliant new spin to create a completely engrossing and thrilling story. This book manages to weave together both large and small scale plot points, from world building, history, and science, to intimate character development and personal intrigue. This book really does have something for everyone.
Graves has aimed high and followed through.
And in case that wasn't enough, this book arrived in pristine condition and in record time. I couldn't have asked for a better holiday read
It was 1849 when life changed forever for 21-year-old Alexander McGill, the son of the fourth daughter of a viscount. He was home from college before going to a training program to become a licensed physician. One day, he went to see his fiancé, Lady Felicity. On the way back home, in the dark, he was attacked by an unknown assailant who bit him on the neck. He was saved from further injury by a cousin who happened to be passing by. He was taken home, where he was sick for weeks, and not expected to live by the doctors. Eventually, he recovered and felt well enough to visit Lady Felicity, who became sick after hearing of his illness. While visiting Lady Felicity, he had an overwhelming lust for her blood, and he began biting her neck and drank her blood until he drained the last drop. After drinking her blood, he felt more vital than he had ever felt. Although he was horrified and disgusted by what he had done, he took her body to the place where he had been attacked and returned home, expecting to be discovered. Upon the discovery of her body, it was believed that the same person who had attacked him had attacked Lady Felicity. He did not understand what had happened to him and why he had a lust for blood. He left home and went to Paris. After a few weeks, he could no longer resist the lust for blood and went out to find a victim. While he was out, he ran into a man who would change his life. This man was able to tell Alexander that he was a vampire and all that it meant. The man offered to help Alexander deal with his affliction.
In 1980, John Jones, a 16-year-old teenager lived across the street from a house that had been vacant for many years, but the maintenance had been kept up. The house belonged to Scott Beyers, Alexander’s latest persona. John decided to investigate the vacant house one night after seeing lights in the house late at night for a couple of days. He wanted to see if the house had anything valuable which he could pawn. While in the house, he discovered a box which contained a journal and some loose pages. He took the box home and read the journal. The journal belonged to Alexander McGill and told his story of becoming a vampire and how he had been tracking down murderous groups of evil vampires throughout Europe, England, and the United States for decades. One of the leaders of the evil vampires was known as the Graf. The Graf was planning on building an army of vampires to take over the world as he believed vampires were superior to humans. Alexander had killed many members of the Graf’s group; as a result, the Graf was looking for Alexander to kill him. John did not take the journal seriously until he was kidnapped by one of the Graf’s men, who was sent to find the box because the Graf thought it had information that would lead him to Alexander.
I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars. I gave this a four because of the violence depicted in the story. I think some of the violence could have been less gory than depicted. I liked the story better than I thought and it kept me engaged to find out what was going to happen next.
Judging a book by its cover, and it’s title, I assumed this book was going to be similar to that of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, a coming of age story set in world war era. But oh no, this is a story about vampires, and not your Twilight vampires. In reading the first chapter, I was definitely wrong to judge this book by its cover. This book tells the story of vampire society including different families throughout the world, with some families looking for world domination over mortals. There is also different social classes within the vampire family, including cleaners, hunters, and council.
A teenage boy gets caught up in a cat and mouse game between the Enemy and the Boss when he discovers journals in an abandoned house. The story jumps between the present and the past with the reading of the journals. The journals depict the life story of the Enemy, how he came to be a vampire and endured it. We also learn how the Enemy and the Boss first met and began their 100 year battle. The Boss has lost all humanity and wants vampires to take their rightful place in ruling the world, while the Enemy is determined to destroy him. In the past, the story takes us to England, Germany, and Russia. In the present, the story takes us from Georgia, to North Carolina, and finally to New York for the final showdown between the Enemy and the Boss.
I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars. I really enjoyed reading this book. The book is well written, fasted paced and has an interesting story in a crowded vampire genre.
Reviewed by Alma Boucher for Readers’ Favorite
Children of the Eighth Day: An Alexander McGill Adventure by Mark Graves is a supernatural thriller. John Fitzgerald Jones lives with his mom in Savannah, Georgia. John had heard that junkies break into empty houses, stealing valuables to sell. After he broke into an unoccupied house, John was introduced to a grim universe where vampires are real and kill mercilessly to satisfy their blood lust. John found the personal journals of Alexander McGill, a vampire who resisted his blood lust impulses. Alexander fought against the vampires' dominance over mankind and protected humans from the rule of vampires. John refused to believe Alexander’s tales until he was kidnapped off the street and saved from a brutal death by Alexander. Following his harrowing experience, John and his mother were drawn into the conflict to eliminate a ruthless vampire gang before they could complete their scheme to dominate all mortals.
Mark Graves creates a compelling vampire world in Children of the Eighth Day. These vampires use their centuries of wisdom and power to evade the reach of the law. The plot is masterfully twisted as Graves discusses the origins and history of vampires. The events were vivid, detailed, and at times engrossing. Some of the events date back to the 1800s, and the past and present events blended perfectly so I was never lost in time. It was a page-turner and full of action. The suspense kept me on the edge of my seat. The characters were brilliantly developed and robust. My favorite was Alexander. After everything he went through during his transformation into a vampire, I had sympathy for his cause. It was exciting reading this story, and it was far beyond my expectations.
