Is it terribly wrong that I like stories where a villain is also the hero? I mean, this one is really bad, and yet…

The story is Vlad by Stacey Rourke (Veiled, #2), out a couple of days back in the Adult, Urban Fantasy genre.

Synopsis:

History believes me to be a merciless savage. A terror upon the Earth known as The Impaler. Archaic lore whispers I am the first of the vampire lineage.

These claims … are all painted in bloody truth.

Now, while the world watches in fear, a war is brewing. Humans are targeting vampires in merciless attacks to force us back into the shadows.

They woke me to be their weapon.

They know not my loathing for my own kind.

Even I cannot say for certain whose side I’m on.

I have bowed before the alter of darkness rooted in the Nosferatu bloodline. Been forced to drink of its bitter sacrament. They refer to me as The Son of The Dragon, and I laugh. For I, alone, know that malevolent essence is one no man could ever tame.

Chatting with the AUTHOR:

RONE Award Winner for Best YA Paranormal Work of 2012 for Embrace, a Gryphon Series Novel Young Adult and Teen Reader voted Author of the Year 2012, Turning Pages Magazine Winner for Best YA book of 2013 & Best Teen Book of 2013 Readers’ Favorite Silver Medal Winner for Crane 2015, Stacey Rourke is the author of the award-winning YA Gryphon Series, the chillingly suspenseful Legends Saga, and the romantic comedy Reel Romance Series. She lives in Michigan with her husband, two beautiful daughters, and two giant dogs. She loves to travel, has an unhealthy shoe addiction, and considers herself blessed to make a career out of talking to the imaginary people that live in her head.

I asked Stacey if there is another main character in Vlad, and if she can tell us more about her. Here’s what she told me. 

Vincenza, Vinx, Larow was a normal college student when her family was slaughtered by a hive of vampires, while she was left for dead. She wakes up in a secret lab on the Yale campus with her blood burning in her veins, and her life destroyed. It turns out her parents were working on a serum that could replicate vampirism in those injected with it. It grants all the strengths possessed by the Nosferatu, without their weaknesses. Vinx then delves into the vampire community in hopes of exposing them as the monsters they truly are. To her surprise, Vinx learns that the vampires aren’t the monsters she thought them to be. Hatred for that which they consider different and wrong has spawned an underground society of humans, made up of some of the world’s elite, that are planning and plotting against the Nosferatu. They want not only to chase them back into the shadows, but to eradicate their kind altogether. Driven by hatred, they are willing to kill for their jaded mission. Finding herself softening to the vampire people, Vinx’s mission changes. Where she once thought she would be the executioner of the vampire movement, she hopes instead to become its salvation.  I truly love writing Vinx. She’s a strong character with a kickass attitude and snarky sense of humor. I have so much more in store for her, and I honestly can’t wait to share her with my readers! In Vlad, she goes toe to toe with the mythical Impaler. I won’t lie, there is a healthy dose of chemistry between the two of them. From the beginning, they almost seem drawn to each other. Is it because of how their lives seem to be mirroring each other’s, or much more? Readers will have to wait and see!