BOOK REVIEWS
SLAYER
The Slayer is the first in a series of books about Alek Knight who served the Coven as a Slayer, one of the best Slayers, heir to the Covenmaster Amadeus. The Coven is not a group of witches, but rather a centuries old group established by the Catholic Church, made up of vampires and dhampirs, who police the vampire population, protecting the humans from the vampires, and in doing so stave off a Catholic Inquisition-purge of all vampires and hopefully earn their own salvation. The relationship with the Catholic Church, i.e. Rome, is one of the interesting aspects of this story.
When the Covenmaster Amadeus has a vision that he will be betrayed and killed, little does he realize that the betrayer will be his own beloved Alek, but when Alek meets Teresa, a centuries old vampire whore who uses her glamour to make him believe that she is his dead twin sister, that is what he does, killing another Slayer to protect her. Teresa is looking for the Ninth Chronicle, a book that was stolen from the Catholic Church, a book that supposedly reveals the origins of vampires as well as the details of the Church's plan for the destruction of all vampires. The book is considered a myth, but a myth that Debra, Alek's twin sister, believed in and died for. With the Coven's Slayers tracking them through the dark and dirty streets and subways of New York, Alek and Teresa search for the Chronicle, using a painting as a treasure map. They are trapped and almost killed several times, before finally Amadeus' vision comes true and he confronts Alek, battling him for the hidden Chronicle.
