When a new drug starts turning users into vampires, it's open season on the living in this action-packed thriller in the tradition of Jonathan Maberry and The Walking Dead
Fear grips London as dozens of people die after taking a sinister new drug called Skarlet. But that's only the beginning. Forty-eight hours later, the dead partiers wake up and begin butchering the living for their blood. Soon, London gives a name to its terror: Vampires.
Jake Lawton, bitter and betrayed after the Iraq War, finds himself fighting another battle - against the growing army of immortal hunters and their human cohorts. Lawton joins forces with the journalist who brought about his downfall and the dealer tricked into distributing the drug. Together they take on the spineless authorities, the ruthless cohorts, and the hungry dead. But the vampire plague unleashed in London is nothing to what lurks beneath the streets. Waiting to be fed ...Waiting to be resurrected ...Waiting to reign again over a city of human slaves.
Industry Reviews
"Emson feeds fresh blood to the vampire genre in this visceral hybrid of plague, panic, and the paranormal, which launches a series worth watching... Furious pacing doesn't preclude harsh poetic imagery as human greed blurs lines between friend and foe, victim and victimizer. Lawton's personal crises enrich the splattery carnage, and the plot is lent pathos by a misguided human population as dismal as the undead. The vampires of this energetic and philosophical fable are the rotting, deadly creatures of folklore, and a refrehsing change for readers who weary of the sexy undead." --Publishers Weekly
"Very exciting... Fast paced, with sharply defined characters and a very clever historical explanation for the modern-day vampires (it involves ancient Babylon and Alexander the Great), the book should find a large audience. It's worth pointing out that this is no "vampire romance"; it's an out-and-out horror story, dark and brutal and thrilling." --Booklist
"The premise behind the rise of the vampires is fresh and clever, and with this established and pieces of the backstory falling into place, the suspension of disbelief can be all but taken out of the equation, leaving you to enjoy the bloodthirsty rampage that Thomas has unleashed on a well researched London....A crimson delight. A gripping, action rich adventure thriller that breathes new life into the vampire mythos." --MyFavouriteBooks.blogspot.com
"Emson weaves a compelling story across multiple times and places, from Alexander the Great conquering Babylon to Iraq when the Ottomans ousted the British in 1920 to the most recent war in Iraq....And to somehow take these disparate locations and tie them together with modern London without skipping a beat...was quite entertaining." --BlogCritics.org
"London is gritty and grimy rather than glamorous, the vampires are mindless killing machines and the story's heroes are all realistically un-heroic. Fast pacing is maintained through out the book and the overall result is a most readable novel." --LoveVampires.com Emson feeds fresh blood to the vampire genre in this visceral hybrid of plague, panic, and the paranormal, which launches a series worth watching Furious pacing doesn't preclude harsh poetic imagery as human greed blurs lines between friend and foe, victim and victimizer. Lawton's personal crises enrich the splattery carnage, and the plot is lent pathos by a misguided human population as dismal as the undead. The vampires of this energetic and philosophical fable are the rotting, deadly creatures of folklore, and a refrehsing change for readers who weary of the sexy undead. "Publishers Weekly"
Very exciting Fast paced, with sharply defined characters and a very clever historical explanation for the modern-day vampires (it involves ancient Babylon and Alexander the Great), the book should find a large audience. It's worth pointing out that this is no "vampire romance"; it's an out-and-out horror story, dark and brutal and thrilling. "Booklist"
The premise behind the rise of the vampires is fresh and clever, and with this established and pieces of the backstory falling into place, the suspension of disbelief can be all but taken out of the equation, leaving you to enjoy the bloodthirsty rampage that Thomas has unleashed on a well researched London....A crimson delight. A gripping, action rich adventure thriller that breathes new life into the vampire mythos. "MyFavouriteBooks.blogspot.com"
Emson weaves a compelling story across multiple times and places, from Alexander the Great conquering Babylon to Iraq when the Ottomans ousted the British in 1920 to the most recent war in Iraq....And to somehow take these disparate locations and tie them together with modern London without skipping a beat...was quite entertaining. "BlogCritics.org"
London is gritty and grimy rather than glamorous, the vampires are mindless killing machines and the story's heroes are all realistically un-heroic. Fast pacing is maintained through out the book and the overall result is a most readable novel. "LoveVampires.com"" Praise for SKARLET and Thomas Emson: "Emson feeds fresh blood to the vampire genre in this visceral hybrid of plague, panic, and the paranormal, which launches a series worth watching... Furious pacing doesn't preclude harsh poetic imagery as human greed blurs lines between friend and foe, victim and victimizer. Lawton's personal crises enrich the splattery carnage, and the plot is lent pathos by a misguided human population as dismal as the undead. The vampires of this energetic and philosophical fable are the rotting, deadly creatures of folklore, and a refrehsing change for readers who weary of the sexy undead." -"Publishers Weekly
"
"Very exciting... Fast paced, with sharply defined characters and a very clever historical explanation for the modern-day vampires (it involves ancient Babylon and Alexander the Great), the book should find a large audience. It's worth pointing out that this is no "vampire romance"; it's an out-and-out horror story, dark and brutal and thrilling." --"Booklist"
"This is a writer to watch...and to fear." --Michael McBride, author of GOD'S END
"The premise behind the rise of the vampires is fresh and clever, and with this established and pieces of the backstory falling into place, the suspension of disbelief can be all but taken out of the equation, leaving you to enjoy the bloodthirsty rampage that Thomas has unleashed on a well researched London....A crimson delight. A gripping, action rich adventure thriller that breathes new life into the vampire mythos." --MyFavouriteBooks.blogspot.com
"Emson weaves a compelling story across multiple times and places, from Alexander the Great conquering Babylon to Iraq when the Ottomans ousted the British in 1920 to the most recent war in Iraq....And to somehow take these disparate locations and tie them together with modern London without skipping a beat...was quite entertaining." --BlogCritics.org
"London is gritty and grimy rather than glamorous, the vampires are mindless killing machines and the story's heroes are all realistically un-heroic. Fast pacing is maintained through out the book and the overall result is a most readable novel." --LoveVampires.com Praise for SKARLET and Thomas Emson:
"This is a writer to watch...and to fear." --Michael McBride, author of GOD'S END
"The premise behind the rise of the vampires is fresh and clever, and with this established and pieces of the backstory falling into place, the suspension of disbelief can be all but taken out of the equation, leaving you to enjoy the bloodthirsty rampage that Thomas has unleashed on a well researched London....A crimson delight. A gripping, action rich adventure thriller that breathes new life into the vampire mythos." --MyFavouriteBooks.blogspot.com
"Emson weaves a compelling story across multiple times and places, from Alexander the Great conquering Babylon to Iraq when the Ottomans ousted the British in 1920 to the most recent war in Iraq....And to somehow take these disparate locations and tie them together with modern London without skipping a beat...was quite entertaining." --BlogCritics.org
"London is gritty and grimy rather than glamorous, the vampires are mindless killing machines and the story's heroes are all realistically un-heroic. Fast pacing is maintained through out the book and the overall result is a most readable novel." --LoveVampires.com
