The beginning of this book seemed timely as we are, as a world, dealing with a pandemic. There is an outbreak in Rise’s world that quiets the human race. No broadcasts on radio, TV or the internet. Rise doesn’t know if there are survivors beyond his home at Owl Court, but he believes he must search for them to help the survival of his coven. Owl Court is home to three vampires and a human. They’ve been a coven for centuries and have been happy at this home for over one hundred years.

The coven isn’t sure Rise should look for uninfected people. They saw on television how some humans had turned to brute zombies before the fall of technology. The eldest believes the coven will survive just fine the way they are. Rise doesn’t want all the humans to die before adding to the coven, just in case their beloved human dies, and with it their food.

Rise and the coven face many obstacles, most of which are brought upon them by Rise going out to the world looking for more humans. The beginning of the story is a little slow, but the pace does pick up occasionally. The vampires don’t know much of their origins, but they do know they have an enemy called the Warwolves, who they hear hunt and kill vampires.

Rise is stubborn and believes he’s doing the right thing. He tries multiple times to bring new humans into the coven, but unfortunately, they don’t always mix well. The story is from his point of view, and I would like to have learned more about the vampires’ origins. The characters have different personalities, and it does add to the drama at times. The world is described well, and it could be any countryside in our world.

The ending isn’t quite surprising and does lead us to a second book in the series. After looking up the author, it seems she has five books slated for the series, plus two prequels. I am curious how Rise will enter the second book and if the coven will stay intact or if Rise’s actions will split them forever.

I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley and am leaving my honest review voluntarily.

I will be adding this review to my website, EveHallows.com.

#RiseofOne #NetGalley

The Rise of One is an interesting read and was not quite sure what to make of it in the opening chapter but was highly intrigued. By the fourth chapter I was totally in captured by this story and could not put it down.

We are lead through the story by Rise, a member of a coven of vampires who are hidden behind a closed in, lockaway farmstead as the world’s apocalypse has taken over making humans a minority, zombies a majority and a vicious gang of Warwolves who want every vampire dead. This is the basic premise of the story and Rise and his coven are not really involved in the world outside of their four walls but mere observers to the chaos.

Rise’s ideologies are interesting and it is his trying to see good in a bad situation driving the story forward whilst the other members of the coven have their own different view but are quite happy to keep in their bubble. When Rise ventures out to try to maybe help humanity whilst providing a fundamental food source at the same time, we find Rise fundamentalism being challenged which is the meat to the story.

This lends itself to become an interesting read and pretty much sets this above and beyond anything of this ilk that is out there. Beautifully written with every character good or bad fully realised and three dimensional giving the reader agreeing with the many difference opinions and not quite sure whose ideologies are correct. This is a wonderment to the author to be able to turn the heads of his readers through the reasoning of each characters. There is one character I strongly dislike because of her actions which once you read, horrible character but I loved to hate her.

Each of the characters are so well rounded and fully realised that you can’t help them and you have an understanding on how they feel and their belief system. When the tide turns against them due to poor decisions, you are on the front line for them and can’t wait to see how they are going to survive and make it. You are fully on aboard with them and yet you feel oddly exhilarated to be on their side considering on what they are.

The only draw back is the ending as this is obviously the first part but there were not enough loose ends tied up to make this a fully realised part one. A great part one is having lose ends tied up but have a couple untied to hunger you for more. In this book, nothing is tied up so we are left hanging until 2021 which is a great marketing ploy but as a standalone book, lets it slightly down.

Overall, I really liked this book and thoroughly enjoyed. I think this is going to be a discovered and trade book based on word of mouth because there is so much depth, beauty and horror that it is going to be a hard to describe to your friends but once read, it will hardly be forgotten anytime soon. Loved it but wish that the ending was not so open ended as I feel I am being forced to buy part 2 which I am more than happy to do.

Rise of One
By Dixon Requel
Pub 15 December 2020

I really enjoy books on vampires and zombies. So when I discovered that this book had both, I became very excited. I was pleased to see that this is about a group of vampires that must survive a zombie outbreak and a group of zombie hunters as well.

This makes the vampires more like normal people in having to find a way to gather food and deal with zombies and a group attacking them. It was well written and very enjoyable and I look forward to reading more of the series.

#RiseofOne

I was given a copy of this book for review.

I found the premise of this book really interesting. It's about a coven of vampires trying to figure out how to maintain a food source after a zombie apocalypse has depleted the human population. That sounded like such an interesting and unique storyline. I enjoyed the plot of the book a lot.

However, I wanted more from the characters. I felt like this book only showed them at a surface level and that made it hard for me to connect with them. I would have liked to learn more about the vampires before the zombie apocalypse. I feel like I barely to know them. I'd also have liked to have learned more about the experiences of the various humans they took in during the zombie apocalypse. There were only surface level explanations about the events that lead to them meeting the vampires. I would have liked if the book explored their emotions and trauma and trauma responses more. I just wish there had been more depth to the characters.

Overall, I liked the plot and the general premise, but I wanted more character development.

I was provided with an eARC of the book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for providing this opportunity.

#NetGalley #RiseOfOne

Excerpt:

'The outbreak began in springtime rumours. Then, the airways and cables of the world charted the outbreak and panic, as the disease overwhelmed every population. Bombs and walls of fire tried to contain it. Chemical purges charred cities indiscriminately. In all, Rise counted barely five months from the beginning of the outbreak until everything was stilled, from late spring to mid-autumn. A lone SOS in Morse code was the last they heard from the human race, before Rise and his coven packed away their broadcast equipment, their radio, computers, and TV, putting it all into the depths of the root cellar.'

What can I say? Vampires and Zombies?... Oh my! How can this be? Two of my favorite book character types in one book? How can this be? I asked myself, how will the vampires change when bitten? Will they become some kind of super fast, better dressed, blood sucking, over flesh eating, zombie vampires? Will they drink from zombie blood? Can they turn a zombie into a vampire? And if so, will the result be zombies who can magically heal after a shot to the head? The possibilities are endless!

After reading the two Blood Brutes series prequels I was more than pumped to get my hands on debut author Dixon Reuel's first full length novel in the new Blood Brute series! What a marvelous genre bending premise! I went into the book truly wondering how these two worlds could complement each other.

Rise, a vampire, and his small coven have been together over a century without ever having encountered another one of their kind. They have so many questions unanswered. How did they come to be? Are you born vampire or made? If so, how do you make one? They know they have special powers but how are they harnessed? What of incantations? The oldest member of the coven, Ogrim, has taught them the spell of homestead protection, but are there other incantations? After having pretty much circled the globe in their quest to find others, they have to consider the possibility that they may be the only remaining vampires and their questions may never be answered. This reality can only be compounded by the emergence of the blood brutes (zombies), and facing the likelihood that humans, the vampire's life source, and sustenance, may be rendered extinct. The coven already has only one human to feed from. (Cypriot, Rise's longtime love) How will the vampires combat this dilemma? Will the chronicles (tome of vampire history, so to speak), the vampire Salter writes so meticulously and steadfastly be left the only evidence that they ever existed? Will the WarRiders, (vampire hunters, and the coven's sworn enemies) contribute to the vampire's demise? Who will emerge victorious???

This book answers some of these questions while giving the reader thoughtful, colorful, engaging characters you will find yourself invested in. I loved every minute of this story, set in the beautiful backdrop of the English countryside! I highly recommend this book to those who enjoy sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and all things dystopian/apocalyptic! Even if you are not a zombie fan, I think you just may find yourself pleasantly surprised by this refreshingly different take on the genre!

I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE SECOND INSTALLMENT COMING IN 2021 AND FULLY INTEND ON PREORDERING IT ASAP!

Thanks so much to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance review copy of this book, publishing today, 12/15/2020!!!!! The pleasure has truly been all mine!

❤❤❤❤❤

What happens when the world ends

While there is a fair amount of action, the writing in this book has a
deceptively languid quality to it. Three vampires and their human food
source, safely ensconced in their practically invisible smallholding
are fairly well insulated from the world burning around them until
Rise, their leader decides to venture out for some fresh blood, so to
speak. Thus begins the slow-motion unraveling of the coven at Owl Court.

The subject matter may be a bit squicky (Vampires and zombies, how
could it not be?) but it is beautifully-written. As I said above, the
pacing is languid but there is plenty of tension. I found myself torn
between not wanting to put it down and not wanting to know what was
going to happen next. Which I think is one of the best things you can
say about a book. This is the first book in a series with a couple of
prequels (So maybe the third?) so don't expect a neatly bow-tied ending.

I received a free copy from the author in return for an honest
review.

In Rise of One by Dixon Reuel, when a zombie virus ravages the world, a vampire named Rise seeks to rescue human survivors. He brings them back to live as companions … or food for his coven. However, these survivors have faced untold horrors from the outside world and have difficulty assimilating to their newfound peaceful life at the coven, threatening to bring about inner discord and unwanted attention from vampire hunters from the outside.

Vampires? A zombie apocalypse?

Yes, please.

This story provides a compelling and sympathetic lens on a vampire coven trying to survive in the midst of a changing word while their own potential food supply dwindles. I got sucked into their relationships and all the juicy family melodrama.

However, while the vampires themselves are interesting characters, some of the humans seem more like plot devices instead of fully-fleshed out characters. Some of their choices are baffling as well. The first book also leaves many questions about the world-building unanswered, so only time can tell if they’ll be addressed later on in the series.

Overall though, if you want an unfamiliar yet familiar spin on old-school vampires, I recommend picking this book up.