K. P. Ambroziak

It was after reading Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot that my love for vampire fiction started. That was in 1984. I was in eighth grade, almost fourteen years old. There was a time when all I read where books about vampires. T. Lucien Wright became one of my favorite vampire authors. Anyway, the point is, I have read a ton of vampire books, and yet I always find something fresh to take away from them.

K.P. Ambroziak's taut tale, The Journal of Vincent Du Maurier, was a fresh take on a timeless story. While the chapters are signaled by journal entries, the narrative is based on more than what one might find in a diary. Thankfully.

A terrible plague hit the world. Humans are an endangered species. Those infected by the disease, or bitten by one infected, become part of a swarm. Think zombies. Also, think locusts. These swarms move across the lands devouring any people left alive. Food sources have dwindled.

Unfortunately, zombies aren't the only creatures who feed on humans. The vampires need blood to sustain life. Blood from the infected is not an option. With so few humans left, the vampires are starving. Byron leads a pack of vampires. Since the start of the plague he's dedicated his life to finding if not a cure, than an alternative blood source. Vincent Du Maurier is tasked with finishing Byron's work.

When a pregnant woman is captured, Byron insists that the survival of the vampire race is directly linked to the survival of humans. If humans do not reproduce, there will be no hope left. Keeping the pregnant woman alive against all odds becomes Vincent's only obsession. This is all easier said than done. Keeping a human with special, sweet blood alive among other vampires, safe from the swarms, and out of the hands of rival vampire clans is near impossible.

Ambroziak begins the story in thick of it all. The journal entries are short, compelling. I started reading and chunked away page after page. The characters are well-drawn. There is just enough description to paint an image, but not so much it slows the pace. Flashback entries give more detail into who-is-who, and it is pulled off nicely. The tension continues to build, and the overall book is satisfying on so many levels. The Journal of Vincent Du Maurier is more than a horror novel, it is not just about zombies, and vampires. I enjoyed the journey Ambroziak took me on, and look forward to reading the second book in this intriguing series!

Phillip Tomasso
Author of WIZARD'S RISE and VACCINATION… (más)

In The Fifth Empire: The Harvest of Vincent du Maurier, K. P. Ambroziak takes us on the continuing journey of the ageless vampire, Vincent du Maurier, and his attempts to survive in a world that is consumed with the ongoing war between vampires and zombies, the undead corpses who have a taste, not only for human flesh, but of vampires as well.
In Vincent’s world, what is left of humanity, in its seemingly vain efforts to survive, has descended into something approaching barbarity. Vincent, though, tries to preserve his ‘harvest’ of humans, including the pregnant Evelyn, for whom he has developed a kind of affection, that might be called love, but is love perverted.
Once again, Ambroziak has succeeded in taking the reader into a mind that is as alien as if it had come from another universe. While the reader can never be completely sympathetic to the blood-lusting Vincent, we are made to see a fully-fleshed character with complex motivations and desires not dissimilar to our own should we be faced with such a situation.
This is not a book for squeamish readers – the level of violence and sense of impending doom is intense. But, if you want a fresh new take on the vampire novel, it is highly recommended.
I give The Harvest an easy, and well-deserved, four stars.… (más)

Given the current obsession with vampire/zombie movies and books, you might think that the last thing you need to read is another vampire novel. K. P. Ambroziak’s The Fifth Empire: The Journal of Vincent du Maurier, though is a vampire novel that takes a completely new direction.
It’s 2052, and Vincent du Maurier is leader of a clan of vampires that, due to the lack of human blood upon which to feed, and a virus that is now fatal to vampires, is on the verge of extinction. To make matters worse, the land is overrun by zombies who feed on vampire flesh – turning the vampire into a zombie in the process.
When Vincent and his group find three healthy humans, one of whom is a pregnant woman, it sets the clan on a course that none could have predicted. Could the fate of vampires and humans be intertwined? K. P. Ambroziak, with a combination of narrative that swings from gritty to delicate, and dialogue that gives you the feeling that you’re snooping on private conversations, managed to convince this reviewer that this is within the realm of possibility.
Ambroziak tells her story from the point of view of the vampire Vincent, a daring thing to do, given that any author desires that readers sympathize with your main character. Vincent is hard to sympathize with – he comes through, though, as a complex character – bad to the bone, but with a tiny streak of compassion beneath his pale, undead exterior, and even though his heart doesn’t beat, he is capable on occasion of almost human feeling.
I’m giving The Fifth Empire four stars for its excellent writing, tightly woven plot, and sheer entertainment value.… (más)