Review-Society of Sinners

This book is a paranormal romance and the second of the Read 2 Review that I'm participating on GoodReads. Unfortunately, this is the second writing of the editing. I was writing it in the review window last night and had finished it. I thought it was one of the best reviews I had written and I went to check a fact and instead of going to the open window I had with the information in it, I hit the Back button and "pthththth", the Interwebs ate my review (which is worse than the dog eating my homework!) I screamed and then I said "screw this, I'm going to bed" and tried to put it out of my mind until today. It worked, I guess because I can now present the review, as published up on the Goodreads site.


Society of Sinners by Charity Parkerson

With her book, Society of Sinners, Charity Parkerson has created a very interesting and refreshing twist on the vampire mythos. The book is the story of five men, members of the Society. Brandon, the vampire next door who ends up working with humans to help humans and vampires start a new life. Jazz, the vampire who is like a monk, serving God and the Society as a special elite warrior. Gabe, the werewolf, who walks away from the Society to try to live a normal life as a game warden for the mountain surrounding the little town of Jackson Station, Tennessee, where all the stories take place. Dominic, the vampire who tracks those who are sought by the Society, and Dimitri, a tainted vampire.

Vampires are not cursed by the devil or made by evil but by God as warriors for good, to battle evil and protect humans. They are much more than the familiar undead from so many of the books on the species. They are living beings who eat, sleep, and live like humans, however they have the usual strength, agility, and the eternal life to be able to perform the duties given to them.

The organization that kept the vampires and other supernatural entities from evil and who avenged those who were harmed by that evil is the Society of Sinners. And they take their mission very seriously in this first book. The evil comes from other vampires. Those who have the same powers as the warriors, who were once warriors in their own but who decide they want to rule, to have power over others. They use those powers for their own gain and to harm others. They create minions by harming and turning humans into vampiric slaves, they kill, and because of their actions they and their progeny are targeted by the Society.

The book reads like an anthologized novella, written in segments for each main character with a prologue for each that defines the background of the vampires and the Society. The stories have a main focus on the character but it has the other characters involved as well and it connects with a weaving that is complex yet very beautifully done. Each story gives the character his own voice and sets up the next and the situations with smooth grace.

I've not read a paranormal romance quite like this one and I'm looking forward to reading the next one in the series.