Synopsis from Amazon:
Giacomo Bianco's hitmen burned his home to the ground with his family inside. Leo will pay any price for his revenge. He will need power. Oguina, the mythical woman turned monster, can give it to him. But at what cost?
Bianco gazes into an abyss that stares back. His fall to madness is a one-way trip Leo aims to stop at all costs before Bianco kills again. In his quest for vengeance, Leo teeters over that same cliff.
Monster and Mafioso fight for dominance over Fall River's streets. Bianco’s got more up his sleeve than anyone suspects, including the means to make his power absolute. Even new powers and strange allies might not be enough to ensure Leo’s victory.
Who is the real monster? Bianco, Oguina, or Leo himself?
>>>>>>>>>
My Review:
This is my first D. R. Perry book, although not my first vampire novel!
That being said, the vibes in this book were absolutely on point! From the unscrupulous Mafioso and his shady dealings with a rogue “Changed” (the in-universe term for fanged, predatory immortals), to a young man’s quest for revenge against said Mafioso, to the Changed crew making the discovery that there exists a weapon that can defeat them…
On the surface it reads like your typical Prohibition-era crime noir novel, but with the vampire elements stretching back the Crusades and earlier, their inclusion adds a deft sprinkle of fantasy that infuses every scene with the notion that absolutely anything can happen.
Perry’s characters are varied in their personalities and moral codes. Not everyone beholden to the Mafioso agrees with his methods, and not all the Changed view the mortal humans in the same way.
There’s plenty of brutal fights, death, rebirth, shape shifting, speakeasies, and a labyrinthine hedge maze—but there is also character development, thought-provoking discussions on guilt, morality, redemption, and revenge, and on the whole a fantastic vampire tale for those who love a good monster novel without the angsty, brooding romance angle.
I rate A Change In Crime a solid *****4.5 STARS*****, and I definitely recommend this book for anyone who likes crime noir and vampires, but prefers a story without a steamy romance as the main motivation. This one wins!
Further Reading: (Vampire Novels/Crime Noir/Other Immortal Cryptids/Shapeshifters)
Alexi Sokolsky: Hound of Eden--James Osiris Baldwin
-Burn Artist
-Blood Hound
-Burn Artist
-Blood Hound
Judah Black Series--E. A. Copen
-Fortunate Son (prequel novella)
-Guilty By Association
-Blood Debt
-Fortunate Son (prequel novella)
-Guilty By Association
-Blood Debt
The Bhinian Empire--Miriam Forster
-City of A Thousand Dolls
-Empire of Shadows
-City of A Thousand Dolls
-Empire of Shadows
The Therian Way--Kimberly Rogers
-Leopard's Heart
-Wolf's Path
-Tiger's Shadow
-Leopard's Heart
-Wolf's Path
-Tiger's Shadow
The Firebird Fairy Tales--Amy Kuivalainen
-The Cry of the Firebird
-Ashes of the Firebird
-Rise of the Firebird
-The Cry of the Firebird
-Ashes of the Firebird
-Rise of the Firebird
