Review "The Journal of Vincent du Maurier" by K. P. Ambroziak (The Fifth Empire Trilogy #1)

Synopsis (Goodreads)
In 1216 BCE, Vincent du Maurier was promised an eternal life. Today, in 2052 AD, he faces extinction as the outbreak of the living dead threatens his sustenance. When he finds one of the last human survivors, a pregnant girl, he decides to save her. For both the human and vampiric races, he must keep zombies from eating her flesh and vampires from draining her blood. Hoping to outlive the pandemic, he chronicles his attempt to salvage humanity … and himself.

The Journal of Vincent du Maurier is the first book in The Fifth Empire trilogy.

My Review: 
Here I come with another vampire story, but a very different one from what we got used to. As you can deduce from the title, Vincent du Maurier is our main character, a very old vampire who plans to save the world supported by his friends: Byron, Maxine, Veronica, Elizabeth and Stephen, realizing they are also affected by their disease, after they saw how animated corpses turned all humans into zombies. 

By chance, our group of vampires find a few people and between them is a pregnant girl, Evelyn, who becomes the key of their mission. Nothing will stop them, not even sacrificing each other, to see her give birth. That baby is their hope of a different future, a new start. After his soul mate's death Byron, Vincent is struggling to respect his last wish to save the girl and, in the process, the human kind and all the vampires out there who managed to survive. But will he succeed? Is he strong enough to resist his urge to drain her blood?

The story is written as a diary, so Vincent is our eyes, ears and brain in the experience, we follow him step by step in this war of survival and we share his pain and doubts. The loss of Byron is a difficult test and in order to keep his sanity he needs to control his emotions, to change his character and to learn to forgive, things he has never done before in his long existence. He is about to turn into a true hero.

The relationship between Vincent and Evelyn was very interesting to watch. Despite her harsh past, the girl is strong and determined not to disappoint them, therefore she would do anything to keep her friends safe. Her courage combined with her innocence will take Vincent by surprise and will make him endear and see her more than a blood vessel. Evelyn soon became my favorite character, being impossible not to like her. 

More and more lives are lost and danger is lurking around every corner, making them an easier target. Along with the solution to destroy the walking dead appears Helgado, the man who will steal Evie's heart and will bring more problems to Vincent. Will she have to choose between them?   

The author has done a great job writing this novel. The descriptions made it very easy for me to visualize the universe and the apocalyptic war. There were parts when I was a bit scared, but it wasn't taken to extreme and I was able to like it. Another thing that I enjoyed were the characters who throughout the book have developed and matured into great role models and from each one of them we can learn something valuable.     

I'm very interested in reading the entire series and to find out more about the journey of Vincent du Maurier. If you have a weakness for vampires and even if you don't, this is the book for you. You'll be surprised by the intricacy of this story and the story itself. 
  

Note: I received an e-book from the author for an honest review.

5 out of 5 butterflies

About the author:

I am a reader and a writer. I have spent the last decade studying literature and the art of prose. I am a scholar of the English language, am fluent in French, and have a reading knowledge of Latin. I hold a M.A. and M.Phil. in Comparative Literature from the Graduate Center at the City University of New York.

I am currently writing a doctoral dissertation on repentance and redemption in early modern secular works, specifically Christopher Marlowe’s "Doctor Faustus," Shakespeare’s "Hamlet," and John Milton’s "Samson Agonistes."

I enjoy reading current releases, especially ebooks by lesser-known authors, and write reviews for the ones I love on my blog, Fields of Twisting Phlox. I also write fiction and have recently published my second novel in "The Fifth Empire" trilogy.

Some of my artistic inspirations include John Milton, Edgar Allan Poe, Ernest Hemingway, Antonio Canova, Vincent van Gogh, F. W. Murnau's "Faust" and Fritz Lang's "Metropolis.