Savagery of the Rebel King
Nancy Kilpatrick
Crossroad Press
February 2, 2019
Reviewed by Elaine Pascale
Nancy Kilpatrick has done it again! And by “it” I mean write a griping tale that combines tension with realistic human weaknesses and relatable emotions.
Savagery of the Rebel King is the fourth book in the Thrones of Blood series. Book four is even more of a page turner than its predecessor. When most writers are losing steam in a series, Kilpatrick is just hitting her stride. In book four, we are introduced to Guin, a stubborn yet sympathetic Sapiens, and Necros, a violent Vampir king. They play a very bloody game of cat and mouse while the reader tries to figure out why Guin keeps returning to Necros to have her blood drawn and her body bruised and battered. There is a legitimate reason, but I don’t want to give away any spoilers.
We are also introduced to the Vampir dwarf twins: Grymmer and Grymmelle. They provide a welcome comic relief as most Vampir are stoic and serious. Our familiar friends from books 1-3 reappear and we note a striking similarity between Kings Moarte, Thanatos, and Necros and their relationship stories. Belladonna, one of my favorite characters, plays a major part in the second half of the story. I appreciate that Kilpatrick gives such importance to an “older” (age is a bit debatable amongst the undead) female character. Belladonna is more than wise: she is always five steps ahead of the other characters.
One of the major points of conflict in book 4 is that Sapiens have been infected with a virus. While the Vampirii hate the Sapiens, they need them for food. Thus, they want to solve the mystery of the virus: what is it, is there a cure, and did someone create the virus on purpose?
On top of that, Queen Lamia continues to be a threat, and the Vampir Kings need to work on an alliance.
Kilpatrick continues to explore the vampire mythology for ways of making it her own. For example, vampires can cross running water, they just don’t want us to know that they can. She treats the myths with respect, adding on to them as opposed to tweaking them for plot purposes (unlike, for instance, Twilight).
I highly recommend Savagery of the Rebel King along with all the other books in the series. You can certainly read book 4 without having read the other three, but you wouldn’t want to. If you like your vampire stories sprinkled with espionage, royal intrigue, BDSM erotica, and complex relationships-you will really enjoy this series.
