J.F. Lewis – Revamped

The second book in the Void City series, published February 20, 2009.
Genre: urban fantasy
Cover: typical, but I like it.



REVIVED. REFRESHED. AND READY FOR REVENGE.
Eric has lost his strip club, his Mustang, and even Marilyn, the elderly love of his (mortal) life. Even his body was obliterated. In short, they almost got him. But when you're a vampire, "almost" is a very important word. With a little magical help from his friends, Eric is restored to corporeal form, but his treasured Mustang gets caught up in the sorcery and winds up with an unlife of its own. Now, along with "Fang the 'Stang," he's out to save Marilyn from one of Void City's most powerful soul-stealing demons. But salvation comes at a high price, forcing Eric to venture into his own worst nightmare, Vampire High Society, to uncover the truth about the origin of his powers.
At the same time, Eric's ex-girlfriend, Tabitha, has begun to wonder exactly what it was that she admired about those High Society Vampires in the first place. Her quest to find her own place in this deceptively vicious circle may lead her right back to Eric's side -- if her little sister, Rachel, doesn't kill her first. And Eric will need all the help he can get, because it looks like someone is after his soul, too. Blood will flow, fangs will be bared, and the claws will come out, because revenge is never pretty...and Eric has plenty to pass around.


After being blown apart by blessed explosives, it takes a while for Eric to come back to unlife. He has lost his one love, Marilyn, and he wants revenge. Revenge on Roger, who was supposed to be his best friend but who betrayed him. But Roger has been eaten by a wolf pack, so that should have finished him off for good. He was just a Master vampire, not a Vlad, and certainly not an Emperor like Erik.
Eric’s latest girlfriend, Tabitha, has left him for the high life now that she is a vampire herself, and Eric does not appreciate her. Lord Philip, the vampire who rules Void City, does, and so does the mouser, Talbot. Until Eric finally comes back with the help of his daughter Greta and some powerful magic and, most importantly, his beloved old Mustang. A demon told his ghostly Revenant form that he had possession of Marilyn’s soul, and Eric could get it back, for a price. But Eric has had memory problems ever since he has been embalmed upon being murdered by Roger, and it takes a few months for him to remember. But the moment he does, he has only one goal, get his Marilyn back.

Unfortunately, Rachel, Tabitha’s sexy little sister, a tantric witch, still has her claws firmly into Eric, manipulating him with sex and magic. While she can make him feel alive, she is also sipping his power from him to use for herself. And as “people” can barter with demons, it is easy to come back from the death. Eric also finally learns to make thralls when he saves some women from a vampire children prostitution ring. They don’t have to be slaves, he can treat them as he treated the strippers who used to work for him in the Demon’s Heart. Roger blew it up, but Eric still has the Pollux, the ancient theatre next door.

Tabitha has had enough of the High Society vampires, and their strange customs and how they play games all the time. She still loves Eric, and she will have him back.


I have fallen in love with this series. Eric is rude, he kills people casually, doesn’t care about it at all. He feeds a lot, and has sex a lot and only loves his daughter Greta and his fiancée when still alive Marilyn. He loves to ignore the things happening around him, if people want to play him, fine, but he prefers it if they don’t make him notice it. Cause once he cannot ignore it anymore, he will have to act, and that often means killing them.
He now has his ancestor’s soul killing gun, and his ancestor’s spirit to haunt him and give him unwanted advice. He is finally learning about his own unique vampiric powers, and what being a revenant and an Emperor means.

I really like Greta, his daughter. Eric saved her from an abusive foster parent when she was nine, and has taken care of her ever since. When she turned 21, he turner her into a vampire at her request. Greta is not a common vampire either, she is a real killer, but she dearly loves her Daddy. She is fun, and honest and crude. And I enjoyed reading about Fang, Eric’s vampiric car. It is really a secondary character as it is.

If you are looking for suave vampires, and romance, and sweet love scenes, don’t read those books. You won’t find it. This is a series written by a man, and you can clearly recognize it in the sex scenes. I do like how Tabitha forces Eric to acknowledge her as being important in his life though.

9 stars.

© 2013 Reviews by Aurian