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The Templar #1
Dead Rising
Solaria Ainsworth was born a Templar, destined to take up the mantle of responsibility and duty as her family’s Order had done for hundreds of years.
Except she refuses to take her Oath of Knighthood.
Barely making ends meet in Baltimore, Aria finds it difficult to obtain gainful employment with no work experience and skills in jousting and swordsmanship. Just before she’s served an eviction notice, the Mistress of the local vampire family offers her a job – to research a magical symbol.
It’s an easy task for a woman who has spent every moment of her life either in armor or with her nose in ancient manuscripts. The money’s good, and the seven day deadline should be no problem.
But when her research reveals a sordid connection between the vampires and a mass murder, Aria needs to decide who is in the right and worthy of her protection. Modern Templars believe only God should judge, but Aria must do exactly that or watch the Baltimore streets run red with blood.
Except she refuses to take her Oath of Knighthood.
Barely making ends meet in Baltimore, Aria finds it difficult to obtain gainful employment with no work experience and skills in jousting and swordsmanship. Just before she’s served an eviction notice, the Mistress of the local vampire family offers her a job – to research a magical symbol.
It’s an easy task for a woman who has spent every moment of her life either in armor or with her nose in ancient manuscripts. The money’s good, and the seven day deadline should be no problem.
But when her research reveals a sordid connection between the vampires and a mass murder, Aria needs to decide who is in the right and worthy of her protection. Modern Templars believe only God should judge, but Aria must do exactly that or watch the Baltimore streets run red with blood.
345 pages
First published January 15, 2016
About the author
Debra Dunbar
85 books1,258 followersDebra lives in a little house in the woods in Maryland with three sons, and a Noah’s ark of four legged family members. She has a corporate job during the day, and writes novels at night, after the kids are tucked in bed.
She drives an Excursion affectionately called The Beast, couldn’t carry a tune if you duct taped it to her back, and enjoys an occasional cosmopolitan (heavy on the vodka). On a good day, she jogs and horseback rides, hopefully managing to keep the horse between herself and the ground.
Her only known super power is ‘Identify Roadkill’.
She drives an Excursion affectionately called The Beast, couldn’t carry a tune if you duct taped it to her back, and enjoys an occasional cosmopolitan (heavy on the vodka). On a good day, she jogs and horseback rides, hopefully managing to keep the horse between herself and the ground.
Her only known super power is ‘Identify Roadkill’.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 116 reviews
April 20, 2017
☠ DNF at 62%. Go me.
Introducing…The Express Crappy Multiple Choice
Oops, sorry, wrong multiple choice
1. This book features:
a. A slightly preposterous premise.
b. Sub-par
c. A supremely uninteresting plot.
d. Remarkably poor characterization.
e. Too many tampon boxes (don't ask).
f. All of the above.
2. The delightful female MC is:
a. Stupidly stupid.
b. Immaturely immature.
c. Hormonally hormonal.
d. A whiny 14-year-old wannabe.
e. Ever so slightly nitwitted.
f. All of the above.
3. The delicious male MC is:
a. Unhotly unhot.
b. Lacklusterly lackluster.
c. Assholishly assholish.
d. A pathetic I'm a Dark and Sexy and Mysterious Vampire wannabe.
e. The kind of assholish asshole who awakens the homicidal maniac in me.
f. All of the above.
4. This book makes you want to:
a. Not finish it.
b. Not read the next instalment in this series.
c. Not read a book about air-headed templar chicks who frolic with vamp douchebags ever again.
d. Not read Dunbar's supposedly awesome Imp series.
e. Not read any other Dunbar book. Ever. In the entirety of your entire life.
f. All of the above.
Please hand out your completed Express Crappy Multiple Choice
» And the moral of this Oh My this Book was Quite Deliciously Delicious Express Crappy Multiple Choice
Oh, and by the way:
July 28, 2018
Disclaimer: The eARC for Dead Rising (Templar #I) was kindly provided to me by the author for an honest review.
Quick reminder before we start.
The Knights Templar is a religious order that can trace their origins to the First Crusades. They are essentially an elite force with two centuries worth of bloody history. I only mention this because the heroine in this story & her family have been & continue to be Knights Templar. Therefore the history is touched on throughout the story.
Cover Art:
I like it, the model looks fierce. =)
Location:
Baltimore, Maryland USA
World:
Contemporary time frame
Paranormals & magic exist but it is not public knowledge. Think Dragons, Vampires, Witches , etc.
POV:
1st person (Solaria)
Characters:
Solaria "Aria" Ainsworth: Aria relocated to Baltimore after bucking a long standing family tradition. Aria comes from a long line of Templar knights (Knights Templar). She was born to be a knight, however Aria refuses to take the oath. As a result she's a highly trained solider with a history major (specialty middle ages/religious studies) with no job experience & limited social skills...working as a barista.
Dario: Dario is second in command (what amounts to lieutenant) in the Baltimore vampire clan.
Plot:
The Mistress of the local vampire balaj (clan) Leonora request the gift of knowledge (investigate) from Aria. Not everything goes as planned for any of the parties involved being Aria is not a sworn knight, as such her behavior is not limited by The knight's responsibilities or oaths.
Romance:
None.
Dario & Aria have an ongoing "flirtatious" acquaintance. Well, what one may see as provocative advances another may think of as harassment.
Overall Thoughts:
No editing issues. The writing felt more mature than her imp series. The pacing was quick & action filled. I immediately became immersed in the world, plot & characters. I devoured this book in one sitting. The story wrapped up nicely, no cliffhangers or loose threads.
Favorite part of this book:
Aria's character in particular had amazing depth. IMO the templar knight's history along with Aria's facetious humor helped make her multidimensional. Dario & Aria's dialogue was also really entertaining.
Rating: 5 stars
I'm intrigued & would definitely recommend this book to any UF readers.
=======================
This book counts towards my Cliterary Genius 2016 A to Z reading Challenge. Letter: D
Quick reminder before we start.
The Knights Templar is a religious order that can trace their origins to the First Crusades. They are essentially an elite force with two centuries worth of bloody history. I only mention this because the heroine in this story & her family have been & continue to be Knights Templar. Therefore the history is touched on throughout the story.
Cover Art:
I like it, the model looks fierce. =)
Location:
Baltimore, Maryland USA
World:
Contemporary time frame
Paranormals & magic exist but it is not public knowledge. Think Dragons, Vampires, Witches , etc.
POV:
1st person (Solaria)
Characters:
Solaria "Aria" Ainsworth: Aria relocated to Baltimore after bucking a long standing family tradition. Aria comes from a long line of Templar knights (Knights Templar). She was born to be a knight, however Aria refuses to take the oath. As a result she's a highly trained solider with a history major (specialty middle ages/religious studies) with no job experience & limited social skills...working as a barista.
Dario: Dario is second in command (what amounts to lieutenant) in the Baltimore vampire clan.
Plot:
The Mistress of the local vampire balaj (clan) Leonora request the gift of knowledge (investigate) from Aria. Not everything goes as planned for any of the parties involved being Aria is not a sworn knight, as such her behavior is not limited by The knight's responsibilities or oaths.
Romance:
None.
Dario & Aria have an ongoing "flirtatious" acquaintance. Well, what one may see as provocative advances another may think of as harassment.
Overall Thoughts:
No editing issues. The writing felt more mature than her imp series. The pacing was quick & action filled. I immediately became immersed in the world, plot & characters. I devoured this book in one sitting. The story wrapped up nicely, no cliffhangers or loose threads.
Favorite part of this book:
Aria's character in particular had amazing depth. IMO the templar knight's history along with Aria's facetious humor helped make her multidimensional. Dario & Aria's dialogue was also really entertaining.
Rating: 5 stars
I'm intrigued & would definitely recommend this book to any UF readers.
=======================
This book counts towards my Cliterary Genius 2016 A to Z reading Challenge. Letter: D
April 4, 2016
Entire series on Kindle Unlimited.
I'm a definite Debra Dunbar fan and this newish series hasn't let me down. No sex, but plenty of tension with the usual stuff. Sexy vamps, dangerous magic, demonsing demons and all that stuff.
I'm a definite Debra Dunbar fan and this newish series hasn't let me down. No sex, but plenty of tension with the usual stuff. Sexy vamps, dangerous magic, demonsing demons and all that stuff.
May 25, 2016
Good story - but emotionally stunted 'heroine' spoils it “The noir hero is a knight in blood caked armor. He's dirty and he does his best to deny the fact that he's a hero the whole time.” -- Frank Miller
“When in doubt, follow the truth. The path is often well-illuminated and it usually leads me in the right direction.” -- David S. Brody, Cabal of The Westford Knight: Templars at the Newport Tower
“Let evil swiftly befall those who have wrongly condemned us - God will avenge us.” - Jacque (Jack) De Molay, last Grandmaster of the Knights Templar, Friday 13th, 1307
They started as protectors of Pilgrims on the Path. About 1119, Hugues de Payens, a French nobleman, began The Knights Templar, a group of knights charged with protecting the weak and innocent on their journey to visit the Holy Places.
But that changed.
From religious vows of obedience, chastity, poverty and piety, and under the orders of the Church, they became slaughterers of anyone who didn’t believe in Christianity. Thousands perished under their swords, men women and children. They became bankers to the world, an order without “clear purpose or support,” but with enormous financial resources and power.
Well, the church couldn’t have that. So, at dawn on Friday, October 13, 1307 their members were arrested, charged with heresy, blasphemy and various other crimes, tortured, and then executed.
Now, in Debra Dunbar’s marvelous imagination, the Templars still exist – but nothing as they were before. Focused on protecting their Temple filled with magical treasures and conducting research, they no longer Protect Pilgrims on the Path. Oh, they still train. With swords. Yeah, try riding a horse around town with a hand and a half bastard sword strapped to your back and see how far that gets you in this day and age. But mostly? They sit around the pool at their mansions, sipping martinis and playing golf. Well, all that treasure, invested properly, means that everyone inducted into the order pretty much lives a life of fairly obscene luxury. Well, except for Solaria Angelique (Aria) Ainsworth. Nope. Aria works in a coffee shop for minimum wage, lives in a hovel of an apartment, and lives on Ramen. At 26, she is far past the age she should have taken her oath to the order (no matter that her mother nags her constantly!). She knows the Templars should be more. They should still be protecting the Pilgrims, not counting their gold. The modern Templar belief is “only God should judge.” Of course, after their brutal and bloody history, it is easy to understand the reasoning – but to Aria it is a cop-out. There are still Pilgrims trying to find their way along the path, and they need protection.
Even if they are vampires
.
When Leonora, the local vampire Mistress, asks for her help in identifying a mysterious sigil, she thinks it will be no problem. After all, she is a well-trained researcher with a massive collection of mystical texts. Oops. Finding the meaning is hard enough (after all, she only has seven days) but then? Things get sordid. Mass murders, the forty year old slaughter of a happy family, and secrets and lies force Aria to make a decision. Who is right, who is worthy of her protection – and who deserves to die.
I loved the idea behind the story. Aria? Nope – not so much. Almost not at all. The woman is 26, she has intense training, and not a lick of self-preservation or emotional common sense. Tell me this. If you know for an absolute fact that if you are to screw the vampire you will last maybe a few weeks, at most a couple of months, and then you will die . . . would you Really be considering actually doing it?!?! Yep. That pretty much ruined the book for me. Everyone who knows me know I love a strong female character. And in a lot of ways, she is strong. She is trying to do the right thing, for the right reasons, but her emotional “I am a pre-teen with a vampire crush” whining throughout the book really turned me off. I mean, seriously turned me off. I kept reading because the book overall was quite good, but I doubt I will read another.
“When in doubt, follow the truth. The path is often well-illuminated and it usually leads me in the right direction.” -- David S. Brody, Cabal of The Westford Knight: Templars at the Newport Tower
“Let evil swiftly befall those who have wrongly condemned us - God will avenge us.” - Jacque (Jack) De Molay, last Grandmaster of the Knights Templar, Friday 13th, 1307
They started as protectors of Pilgrims on the Path. About 1119, Hugues de Payens, a French nobleman, began The Knights Templar, a group of knights charged with protecting the weak and innocent on their journey to visit the Holy Places.
But that changed.
From religious vows of obedience, chastity, poverty and piety, and under the orders of the Church, they became slaughterers of anyone who didn’t believe in Christianity. Thousands perished under their swords, men women and children. They became bankers to the world, an order without “clear purpose or support,” but with enormous financial resources and power.
Well, the church couldn’t have that. So, at dawn on Friday, October 13, 1307 their members were arrested, charged with heresy, blasphemy and various other crimes, tortured, and then executed.
Now, in Debra Dunbar’s marvelous imagination, the Templars still exist – but nothing as they were before. Focused on protecting their Temple filled with magical treasures and conducting research, they no longer Protect Pilgrims on the Path. Oh, they still train. With swords. Yeah, try riding a horse around town with a hand and a half bastard sword strapped to your back and see how far that gets you in this day and age. But mostly? They sit around the pool at their mansions, sipping martinis and playing golf. Well, all that treasure, invested properly, means that everyone inducted into the order pretty much lives a life of fairly obscene luxury. Well, except for Solaria Angelique (Aria) Ainsworth. Nope. Aria works in a coffee shop for minimum wage, lives in a hovel of an apartment, and lives on Ramen. At 26, she is far past the age she should have taken her oath to the order (no matter that her mother nags her constantly!). She knows the Templars should be more. They should still be protecting the Pilgrims, not counting their gold. The modern Templar belief is “only God should judge.” Of course, after their brutal and bloody history, it is easy to understand the reasoning – but to Aria it is a cop-out. There are still Pilgrims trying to find their way along the path, and they need protection.
Even if they are vampires
.
When Leonora, the local vampire Mistress, asks for her help in identifying a mysterious sigil, she thinks it will be no problem. After all, she is a well-trained researcher with a massive collection of mystical texts. Oops. Finding the meaning is hard enough (after all, she only has seven days) but then? Things get sordid. Mass murders, the forty year old slaughter of a happy family, and secrets and lies force Aria to make a decision. Who is right, who is worthy of her protection – and who deserves to die.
I loved the idea behind the story. Aria? Nope – not so much. Almost not at all. The woman is 26, she has intense training, and not a lick of self-preservation or emotional common sense. Tell me this. If you know for an absolute fact that if you are to screw the vampire you will last maybe a few weeks, at most a couple of months, and then you will die . . . would you Really be considering actually doing it?!?! Yep. That pretty much ruined the book for me. Everyone who knows me know I love a strong female character. And in a lot of ways, she is strong. She is trying to do the right thing, for the right reasons, but her emotional “I am a pre-teen with a vampire crush” whining throughout the book really turned me off. I mean, seriously turned me off. I kept reading because the book overall was quite good, but I doubt I will read another.
Shelved as 'did-not-finish'
September 12, 2017Well, one benefit from finding myself in this position is the part where I can explain a new-ish shelf. 'Creepy is okay because hot'. It may or may not correspond to what you, the reader of this review, think it might mean. Let's modify your expectations by noting that it is a shelf I, up to this moment, used on books I didn't want to read, and now use on this book that I do not want to continue.
The shelf is intended to be genderless, in that the creep could be any gender, and the 'other party' could be any gender. I've, as of yet, never used the shelf for anything other than creepy men, though.
The shelf is for something I've found pop up in romance books. Mostly heterosexual, and a lot of them seem to be new adult romance novels. And that's where the female lead character gets abused, beaten, shouted at, fucked up by, a man. And she takes it. And takes it. And . . . because she finds the guy to be hot. So . . . creepy is okay because hot. It's kind of the James Deen vs Ron Jeremy issue.
vs. 
Deen made a fortune and a career in porn. Many of his roles involved him savagely beating woman. Women still seemed to drool over him, though, at least that was the impression given on the internet. Because . . . I'd no idea really until I started seeing this 'creepy but hot' thing going on in romance books. Ron Jeremy also made a fortune in porn. I have two understandings on the issue: 1) he, apparently, had an enormous penis; 2) women made ew gross sounds when they saw him.
So, imagine, if you will, James Deen in the role of Dario (the creepy hot guy in this book), and then picture Ron Jeremy in the role. I was going to cut and paste a scene from the book, but I'll just state it - in the book Deen/Jeremy is driving the lead female character, Aria, home (or back to her car, not sure which), when he gets a call. He stops in a very bad part of town, turns to her and tells her that he needs to take care of something and for her to get out. They fight, I mean physically, he removes the seatbelt from her body, opens the door, and thrusts her out of the SUV. She falls a long way down to the ground and lands on her butt. She's now injured. In a very bad neighborhood. He slams the door closed and roars off. People on the corner stare at her. And, before she is able to get back to her place, she ends up having to fight a very smelly guy who chases her and stuff.
That's not where I stopped reading. There are assholes in many books. Not a reason to stop reading. No. It's later. Before these events had occurred, Aria and Dario had set up a date for the next night. That night Aria is doing research when Dario turned up.
The 'being a creep is okay, you can get away with it, if you look like James Deen, not like Ron Jeremy' phenomenon.
And so I'm done. I just can't handle this situation. I'm pausing instead of DNF'ing, but I might never come back. Or I will. Not sure yet. I have, mostly, liked everything else by this author.
Rating: --
August 12 2017
The shelf is intended to be genderless, in that the creep could be any gender, and the 'other party' could be any gender. I've, as of yet, never used the shelf for anything other than creepy men, though.
The shelf is for something I've found pop up in romance books. Mostly heterosexual, and a lot of them seem to be new adult romance novels. And that's where the female lead character gets abused, beaten, shouted at, fucked up by, a man. And she takes it. And takes it. And . . . because she finds the guy to be hot. So . . . creepy is okay because hot. It's kind of the James Deen vs Ron Jeremy issue.
vs. Deen made a fortune and a career in porn. Many of his roles involved him savagely beating woman. Women still seemed to drool over him, though, at least that was the impression given on the internet. Because . . . I'd no idea really until I started seeing this 'creepy but hot' thing going on in romance books. Ron Jeremy also made a fortune in porn. I have two understandings on the issue: 1) he, apparently, had an enormous penis; 2) women made ew gross sounds when they saw him.
So, imagine, if you will, James Deen in the role of Dario (the creepy hot guy in this book), and then picture Ron Jeremy in the role. I was going to cut and paste a scene from the book, but I'll just state it - in the book Deen/Jeremy is driving the lead female character, Aria, home (or back to her car, not sure which), when he gets a call. He stops in a very bad part of town, turns to her and tells her that he needs to take care of something and for her to get out. They fight, I mean physically, he removes the seatbelt from her body, opens the door, and thrusts her out of the SUV. She falls a long way down to the ground and lands on her butt. She's now injured. In a very bad neighborhood. He slams the door closed and roars off. People on the corner stare at her. And, before she is able to get back to her place, she ends up having to fight a very smelly guy who chases her and stuff.
That's not where I stopped reading. There are assholes in many books. Not a reason to stop reading. No. It's later. Before these events had occurred, Aria and Dario had set up a date for the next night. That night Aria is doing research when Dario turned up.
he looked like a sexy prime-time lawyer in a charcoal-gray suit with the jacket tossed over his shoulder. I stared at him over the back of my couch, stunned into silence both by his incredibly hot appearance and his nifty door opening trick. Was that a vampire thing?
...
I opened my mouth to invite him in, then snapped it shut once I remembered him ditching me in a bad section of Baltimore to walk home.
[she uses magic to slam the door closed in Dario's face. Dario uses his own type of Vampire magic to fling the door open, repeat many times until she finally invites him in when Dario just won't take no]
...
He smiled. It was one of those slow, panty-melting smiles, like the ones I’d seen him give his victims in pubs and clubs. I’m ashamed to admit it kinda worked on me, too. Everything south of my waistband tingled and my brain stuttered.
[she's now drooling and 'melting' for the hot creep but still tries to restrain herself]
“You dumped me miles from both my apartment and my car with drug deals going on less than twenty feet away, and a hooker getting beaten up in an alley a few blocks down. You’ve got some nerve showing up here tonight and thinking I’m going to go anywhere with you, let alone dinner.”
[whereupon Dario says something like 'you look hungry', her stomach growled, and . . . she . . . agrees to go with him on a date.
The 'being a creep is okay, you can get away with it, if you look like James Deen, not like Ron Jeremy' phenomenon.
And so I'm done. I just can't handle this situation. I'm pausing instead of DNF'ing, but I might never come back. Or I will. Not sure yet. I have, mostly, liked everything else by this author.
Rating: --
August 12 2017
January 15, 2016
Whenever I got word that Debra Dunbar was writing an entirely new series outside of the Imp world, I knew that whatever it was, it would knock my socks off. Dunbar has a way with words, pardon the pun, and the characters she creates are always multi-dimensional, tough but not infallibly so, and the worlds she creates for these characters to inhabit are subtle, yet just as rich as the characters. Aside from all of the above, the biggest draw for me was the fact that this new series would have a Templar as the main character. Yes, you heard right: a mere human. Albeit a human with some magic, but human nonetheless.
In Dead Rising, readers are introduced to Solaria Angelique Ainsworth, a woman descended from centuries of Templar Knights. Up until this point, all of her family members, past and present, have accepted their fate and taken the Oath and its responsibilities without question. The sole exception being Aria herself. Unable to dedicate herself to knighthood for fear of losing who she is, she relocates to Baltimore in hopes of separating herself from her mother's constant Oath nagging and making a life that's purely her own. Her need to have her own identity is strong, and as such, she's the black sheep of the Ainsworth clan.
Even without taking the Oath, Aria's need to protect and her need to guide the "Pilgrims on the Path" is just as strong as her need to be recognized as a person and not just a Knight. There's quite a lot of internal struggling within Aria, and it will be interesting to see if she ever succumbs to both her family and the small part inside of her that sees the benefits of becoming a true Templar Knight.
Aside from Templars, Dead Rising also centers around vampires. The Knights and the vampires have a very uneasy truce that dates back centuries; a truce that must be navigated with trepidation. Dunbar's vampires, at their cores, are the monsters we expect when we hear "vampire". Although there are a few sexy ones thrown in for good measure (Hello, Dario :) ). Aria finds herself embroiled in vampire politics, much to her dismay, after being approached by said sexy vampire to decode a strange symbol that's been popping up in various places. With a whole lot of reluctance, Aria works side by side with the unpredictable clan in hopes of preventing death and destruction that ties back to a murder dating 40 years ago.
Dead Rising, in my estimation, is Dunbar's most ambitious urban fantasy to date. There aren't many mainstream UF series that center around Templars, and that element is really what made this story stand out for me. It also has the trademark humor and wit that I expect whenever I read anything by Debra, yet the feel and the tone is definitely more mature than her other series. Not that I'm comparing the two, mind you. Apples and oranges. There's a hint of romance, one that's fraught with danger, and I'm really looking forward to seeing how that's going to play out in the future.
Bottom line -- fantastic, fast-paced series starter with murder, magic, vampires, and a whole lot of action. I absolutely recommend Dead Rising and can only hope it's going to be another long-running series. Fingers crossed that it is :)
**Many thanks to the author for providing a copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
In Dead Rising, readers are introduced to Solaria Angelique Ainsworth, a woman descended from centuries of Templar Knights. Up until this point, all of her family members, past and present, have accepted their fate and taken the Oath and its responsibilities without question. The sole exception being Aria herself. Unable to dedicate herself to knighthood for fear of losing who she is, she relocates to Baltimore in hopes of separating herself from her mother's constant Oath nagging and making a life that's purely her own. Her need to have her own identity is strong, and as such, she's the black sheep of the Ainsworth clan.
Even without taking the Oath, Aria's need to protect and her need to guide the "Pilgrims on the Path" is just as strong as her need to be recognized as a person and not just a Knight. There's quite a lot of internal struggling within Aria, and it will be interesting to see if she ever succumbs to both her family and the small part inside of her that sees the benefits of becoming a true Templar Knight.
Aside from Templars, Dead Rising also centers around vampires. The Knights and the vampires have a very uneasy truce that dates back centuries; a truce that must be navigated with trepidation. Dunbar's vampires, at their cores, are the monsters we expect when we hear "vampire". Although there are a few sexy ones thrown in for good measure (Hello, Dario :) ). Aria finds herself embroiled in vampire politics, much to her dismay, after being approached by said sexy vampire to decode a strange symbol that's been popping up in various places. With a whole lot of reluctance, Aria works side by side with the unpredictable clan in hopes of preventing death and destruction that ties back to a murder dating 40 years ago.
Dead Rising, in my estimation, is Dunbar's most ambitious urban fantasy to date. There aren't many mainstream UF series that center around Templars, and that element is really what made this story stand out for me. It also has the trademark humor and wit that I expect whenever I read anything by Debra, yet the feel and the tone is definitely more mature than her other series. Not that I'm comparing the two, mind you. Apples and oranges. There's a hint of romance, one that's fraught with danger, and I'm really looking forward to seeing how that's going to play out in the future.
Bottom line -- fantastic, fast-paced series starter with murder, magic, vampires, and a whole lot of action. I absolutely recommend Dead Rising and can only hope it's going to be another long-running series. Fingers crossed that it is :)
**Many thanks to the author for providing a copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
June 11, 2017
I really enjoy the author’s ‘Imp’ books but this not very good. The ‘blurb’ sounded quite interesting. The story is about Aria, a young woman brought up to be a Templar Knight who refuses to take the oath and leaves her family to live by herself. The problem is I just didn’t like her. I thought that she may have refused the oath as a matter of principle, but she is just pathetic and governed by lust.
As for the vampire Dario, I disliked his arrogance right from the start and found Aria’s fawning and lusting after him inexplicable. Is she a mindless teenage? Also why do authors keep including abusive vampires as the irresistible love interest, I’m obviously not the target audience, but what is attractive about arrogant aggression.
As for the vampire Dario, I disliked his arrogance right from the start and found Aria’s fawning and lusting after him inexplicable. Is she a mindless teenage? Also why do authors keep including abusive vampires as the irresistible love interest, I’m obviously not the target audience, but what is attractive about arrogant aggression.
May 25, 2016
Dead Rising (The Templar, #1)“The noir hero is a knight in blood caked armor. He's dirty and he does his best to deny the fact that he's a hero the whole time.” -- Frank Miller
“When in doubt, follow the truth. The path is often well-illuminated and it usually leads me in the right direction.” -- David S. Brody, Cabal of The Westford Knight: Templars at the Newport Tower
“Let evil swiftly befall those who have wrongly condemned us - God will avenge us.” - Jacque (Jack) De Molay, last Grandmaster of the Knights Templar, Friday 13th, 1307
They started as protectors of Pilgrims on the Path. About 1119, Hugues de Payens, a French nobleman, began The Knights Templar, a group of knights charged with protecting the weak and innocent on their journey to visit the Holy Places.
But that changed.
From religious vows of obedience, chastity, poverty and piety, and under the orders of the Church, they became slaughterers of anyone who didn’t believe in Christianity. Thousands perished under their swords, men women and children. They became bankers to the world, an order without “clear purpose or support,” but with enormous financial resources and power.
Well, the church couldn’t have that. So, at dawn on Friday, October 13, 1307 their members were arrested, charged with heresy, blasphemy and various other crimes, tortured, and then executed.
Now, in Debra Dunbar’s marvelous imagination, the Templars still exist – but nothing as they were before. Focused on protecting their Temple filled with magical treasures and conducting research, they no longer Protect Pilgrims on the Path. Oh, they still train. With swords. Yeah, try riding a horse around town with a hand and a half bastard sword strapped to your back and see how far that gets you in this day and age. But mostly? They sit around the pool at their mansions, sipping martinis and playing golf. Well, all that treasure, invested properly, means that everyone inducted into the order pretty much lives a life of fairly obscene luxury. Well, except for Solaria Angelique (Aria) Ainsworth. Nope. Aria works in a coffee shop for minimum wage, lives in a hovel of an apartment, and lives on Ramen. At 26, she is far past the age she should have taken her oath to the order (no matter that her mother nags her constantly!). She knows the Templars should be more. They should still be protecting the Pilgrims, not counting their gold. The modern Templar belief is “only God should judge.” Of course, after their brutal and bloody history, it is easy to understand the reasoning – but to Aria it is a cop-out. There are still Pilgrims trying to find their way along the path, and they need protection.
Even if they are vampires.
When Leonora, the local vampire Mistress, asks for her help in identifying a mysterious sigil, she thinks it will be no problem. After all, she is a well-trained researcher with a massive collection of mystical texts. Oops. Finding the meaning is hard enough (after all, she only has seven days) but then? Things get sordid. Mass murders, the forty year old slaughter of a happy family, and secrets and lies force Aria to make a decision. Who is right, who is worthy of her protection – and who deserves to die.
I loved the idea behind the story. Aria? Nope – not so much. Almost not at all. The woman is 26, she has intense training, and not a lick of self-preservation or emotional common sense. Tell me this. If you know for an absolute fact that if you are to screw the vampire you will last maybe a few weeks, at most a couple of months, and then you will die . . . would you Really be considering actually doing it?!?! Yep. That pretty much ruined the book for me. Everyone who knows me know I love a strong female character. And in a lot of ways, she is strong. She is trying to do the right thing, for the right reasons, but her emotional “I am a pre-teen with a vampire crush” whining throughout the book really turned me off. I mean, seriously turned me off. I kept reading because the book overall was quite good, but I doubt I will read another.
“When in doubt, follow the truth. The path is often well-illuminated and it usually leads me in the right direction.” -- David S. Brody, Cabal of The Westford Knight: Templars at the Newport Tower
“Let evil swiftly befall those who have wrongly condemned us - God will avenge us.” - Jacque (Jack) De Molay, last Grandmaster of the Knights Templar, Friday 13th, 1307
They started as protectors of Pilgrims on the Path. About 1119, Hugues de Payens, a French nobleman, began The Knights Templar, a group of knights charged with protecting the weak and innocent on their journey to visit the Holy Places.
But that changed.
From religious vows of obedience, chastity, poverty and piety, and under the orders of the Church, they became slaughterers of anyone who didn’t believe in Christianity. Thousands perished under their swords, men women and children. They became bankers to the world, an order without “clear purpose or support,” but with enormous financial resources and power.
Well, the church couldn’t have that. So, at dawn on Friday, October 13, 1307 their members were arrested, charged with heresy, blasphemy and various other crimes, tortured, and then executed.
Now, in Debra Dunbar’s marvelous imagination, the Templars still exist – but nothing as they were before. Focused on protecting their Temple filled with magical treasures and conducting research, they no longer Protect Pilgrims on the Path. Oh, they still train. With swords. Yeah, try riding a horse around town with a hand and a half bastard sword strapped to your back and see how far that gets you in this day and age. But mostly? They sit around the pool at their mansions, sipping martinis and playing golf. Well, all that treasure, invested properly, means that everyone inducted into the order pretty much lives a life of fairly obscene luxury. Well, except for Solaria Angelique (Aria) Ainsworth. Nope. Aria works in a coffee shop for minimum wage, lives in a hovel of an apartment, and lives on Ramen. At 26, she is far past the age she should have taken her oath to the order (no matter that her mother nags her constantly!). She knows the Templars should be more. They should still be protecting the Pilgrims, not counting their gold. The modern Templar belief is “only God should judge.” Of course, after their brutal and bloody history, it is easy to understand the reasoning – but to Aria it is a cop-out. There are still Pilgrims trying to find their way along the path, and they need protection.
Even if they are vampires.
When Leonora, the local vampire Mistress, asks for her help in identifying a mysterious sigil, she thinks it will be no problem. After all, she is a well-trained researcher with a massive collection of mystical texts. Oops. Finding the meaning is hard enough (after all, she only has seven days) but then? Things get sordid. Mass murders, the forty year old slaughter of a happy family, and secrets and lies force Aria to make a decision. Who is right, who is worthy of her protection – and who deserves to die.
I loved the idea behind the story. Aria? Nope – not so much. Almost not at all. The woman is 26, she has intense training, and not a lick of self-preservation or emotional common sense. Tell me this. If you know for an absolute fact that if you are to screw the vampire you will last maybe a few weeks, at most a couple of months, and then you will die . . . would you Really be considering actually doing it?!?! Yep. That pretty much ruined the book for me. Everyone who knows me know I love a strong female character. And in a lot of ways, she is strong. She is trying to do the right thing, for the right reasons, but her emotional “I am a pre-teen with a vampire crush” whining throughout the book really turned me off. I mean, seriously turned me off. I kept reading because the book overall was quite good, but I doubt I will read another.
March 4, 2019
Couldnt finish
I'm sorry to say I couldnt bring myself to finish this. I had high Hope's for this series because I love the Imp series. Can't stand either of the main characters. Really liked the storyline of an oathless Templar female but this girl behaved like a middle school tween with no street smarts or maturity. 20 years of physical training (supposedly) failed her time & again so it seemed an unfounded brag. I would assume Templar training would evolve along modern combat techniques not stagnant sword & horseback. Her use of magic was disappointing & unimpressive. A glorified Librarian pretending to have skills with a horny teenage psych. The Male vampire was neither convincingly interesting or sexy.
If only this lived up to the blurb. Maybe if she need only to command her armor & sword/knife/cross/bow to appear with Latin & magic, not dragging them around for just D&D/WWC nerds to admire. Not an admirable heroine.
I'm sorry to say I couldnt bring myself to finish this. I had high Hope's for this series because I love the Imp series. Can't stand either of the main characters. Really liked the storyline of an oathless Templar female but this girl behaved like a middle school tween with no street smarts or maturity. 20 years of physical training (supposedly) failed her time & again so it seemed an unfounded brag. I would assume Templar training would evolve along modern combat techniques not stagnant sword & horseback. Her use of magic was disappointing & unimpressive. A glorified Librarian pretending to have skills with a horny teenage psych. The Male vampire was neither convincingly interesting or sexy.
If only this lived up to the blurb. Maybe if she need only to command her armor & sword/knife/cross/bow to appear with Latin & magic, not dragging them around for just D&D/WWC nerds to admire. Not an admirable heroine.
January 16, 2016
Awesome start to a new series. Review to come.
July 26, 2019
I liked the structure and the concept but I'm on the fence.
I did like how she tied it up at the end.
I did like how she tied it up at the end.
December 17, 2016
Aria has spent her life training to be a Knight as part of a family order, the Templars. Back in the day, this order would battle vampires and other magical beings. Even though she has been trained to be a Knight, (sword fighting and jousting included) the oath taken to become a Knight, is really just a formality. This is due to a truce that was created between the vampires and the Templar order hundreds of years ago.
Either way, Aria doesn't want to be a knight, and refuses to take her oath. Instead she leaves her family home to make a living on her own working in a small coffee shop to make ends meet......until she is summoned by the Master Vampire of the city to do a job.
I enjoy Dunbar's, Samantha Martin Imp series, so I was anxious to read this one. The story is a good one, but the dialog wasn't as cleverly written as it is in the Imp series. It also made me a bit uncomfortable. At one point the vampire she is working with loses some control of his blood lust, and despite not wanting to be bitten by one, and fearing she might actually be raped as well, - she then says how she's "turned on" by his uncontrolled behavior. It was almost like she wanted to be raped but only because the vampire was hot...she back tracks and decides no, she doesn't want that, even if he is hot. But the idea that letting him take her against her will is sexy, shouldn't have been in her mind at all. There is nothing remotely sexy about rape.
Also, a man slaughters innocent humans and vampires multiple times, because his family was killed by a vampire 40 years ago, and he wants revenge. Yet Aria doesn't want him punished because she feels bad for him, that he lost his family....She still feels that way, even after she finds out that the vampires who killed his family aren't even alive anymore. He was killing people who had nothing to do with the long ago murders of his family. It was like killing in revenge, even though it was innocents, was justifiable in Aria's mind and should go unpunished if you have had your family killed by the ancestors of your race.
I really enjoy Dunbar's writing, but this one missed the mark for me. The story is easy to read and I got through it very quickly, but it didn't feel as well put together as the Imp series in my mind.
I do plan to read the next one in the series when it comes out, but I hope it has a bit more of the clever wit and dialog that the Samantha Martin series has.
Either way, Aria doesn't want to be a knight, and refuses to take her oath. Instead she leaves her family home to make a living on her own working in a small coffee shop to make ends meet......until she is summoned by the Master Vampire of the city to do a job.
I enjoy Dunbar's, Samantha Martin Imp series, so I was anxious to read this one. The story is a good one, but the dialog wasn't as cleverly written as it is in the Imp series. It also made me a bit uncomfortable. At one point the vampire she is working with loses some control of his blood lust, and despite not wanting to be bitten by one, and fearing she might actually be raped as well, - she then says how she's "turned on" by his uncontrolled behavior. It was almost like she wanted to be raped but only because the vampire was hot...she back tracks and decides no, she doesn't want that, even if he is hot. But the idea that letting him take her against her will is sexy, shouldn't have been in her mind at all. There is nothing remotely sexy about rape.
Also, a man slaughters innocent humans and vampires multiple times, because his family was killed by a vampire 40 years ago, and he wants revenge. Yet Aria doesn't want him punished because she feels bad for him, that he lost his family....She still feels that way, even after she finds out that the vampires who killed his family aren't even alive anymore. He was killing people who had nothing to do with the long ago murders of his family. It was like killing in revenge, even though it was innocents, was justifiable in Aria's mind and should go unpunished if you have had your family killed by the ancestors of your race.
I really enjoy Dunbar's writing, but this one missed the mark for me. The story is easy to read and I got through it very quickly, but it didn't feel as well put together as the Imp series in my mind.
I do plan to read the next one in the series when it comes out, but I hope it has a bit more of the clever wit and dialog that the Samantha Martin series has.
January 14, 2023
Dead Rising is book one of an urban fantasy series set in Baltimore.
Aria is a Templar Knight but is determined to make a life for herself away from the pressures of her upbringing. She has refused to take the final oath which would make her a full time Knight.
She’s approached by the local vampire group who need her help to decipher a dark symbol. They will pay her some much needed money if she can solve the mystery behind the mark. Her research leads her to possible necromancy work and soon Aria is involved with deathly spectres and a revengeful mage.
I liked this story, it was fun and the Templar Knight angle worked well. Aria was a great character and I enjoyed the parts of the Templar Laws that she upheld even if she hadn’t taken the final vows. I also liked Dario who was the vampire that she worked with, while her Great Grandmother Essie was hilarious. My only slight disappointment was that I thought the ending was a little rushed.
Aria is a Templar Knight but is determined to make a life for herself away from the pressures of her upbringing. She has refused to take the final oath which would make her a full time Knight.
She’s approached by the local vampire group who need her help to decipher a dark symbol. They will pay her some much needed money if she can solve the mystery behind the mark. Her research leads her to possible necromancy work and soon Aria is involved with deathly spectres and a revengeful mage.
I liked this story, it was fun and the Templar Knight angle worked well. Aria was a great character and I enjoyed the parts of the Templar Laws that she upheld even if she hadn’t taken the final vows. I also liked Dario who was the vampire that she worked with, while her Great Grandmother Essie was hilarious. My only slight disappointment was that I thought the ending was a little rushed.
June 22, 2017
Lot of fun. This book is a quick read with a lovely protag and lot of action.
September 6, 2022
This story was a freebie but I DNF'd it because I found Aria so annoying! I enjoyed the author's Imp series and had high hopes for this!
June 28, 2017
3.5 Stars
This was the first book I read by this Author and I was presently surprised. The other books in this series sadly only get a 3 stars rating but they are worth reading and enjoyable. The good new is that the author (Debra Dunbar) also has a series called IMP, That series is great if not excellent, easily a 4 star to 4.5 star book series. If you like this book/series at all I suggest you check out the IMP series.
This was the first book I read by this Author and I was presently surprised. The other books in this series sadly only get a 3 stars rating but they are worth reading and enjoyable. The good new is that the author (Debra Dunbar) also has a series called IMP, That series is great if not excellent, easily a 4 star to 4.5 star book series. If you like this book/series at all I suggest you check out the IMP series.
July 21, 2016
Aria is a Templar, she was born a Templar to a Templar family. She was trained to be a Templar – but when the time came, she didn’t not take the Oath. Despite her mother’s nagging. Despite living in poverty and no work skills, she refuses to take that Oath and accept the comfortable life that comes with it
But as a Templar she is still consulted by the local vampires who want expertise in deciphering a magical symbol – an exposing a deadly and complicated feud in the process.
One of the storyline elements I most loved was the central question “what have the Templars become?”
The concept has a lot of really nice nuance on it – and a really interesting moral quandary and debate with no simple answers and lots of different facets.
On the one hand, we have the utter passivity of the Templars, their lack of interference, how they’ve become rather irrelevant in the modern world (even if they are still a deeply feared power) and how they general live lives of extreme wealth and comfort while giving nothing back. This is wonderfully part of Aria‘s own refusal to take the Oath, while still claiming identity with the Templars themselves. She believes in them, but isn’t comfortable with what they’ve become.
The flip side is, we have the Templar’s own genocidal history. We have a history that shows the Templars judging, picking sides, declaring various beings evil and generally not being proud of that. The debate is whether they don’t act because few things are that simplistic (especially in a multi-faith world, exactly who are the “pilgrims” on WHAT “path” that need protecting) or whether that’s an excuse for the passivity?
This all feeds into the main plot line of the vampires and their attacker… and how it’s so very very difficult to say which side is right. Or, rather, they’re both right. And wrong. It’s complicated and neither side especially has the moral high ground.
It’s also pretty nice to have a protagonist with a big shiny sword and shiny powers who, in turn, cannot just nuke the enemy until victory is achieved.
All this level of nuance also comes to Aria and her family. Obviously there’s a rift with her turning her back (kind of) on the family business – but equally there’s an immense amount of love there. It’s layers and it’s wonderful.
There are other strong women in the story but not necessarily in huge roles (her mother is an especially complex and strong relationship). There’s also some interesting comments from her regarding Leonora, the female leader of the vampires and how she’d love to back and celebrate a powerful female leader- but isn’t going to excuse Leonora because of that or overlook her huge flaws.
I also really like the depiction of Aria’s poverty. A lot of characters in this genre claim poverty – but it’s just that, a claim. They tell us they’re poor, it may even be a useful character tool to make them take a mission they otherwise wouldn’t. But they don’t live as if they’re poor. We see little budgeting, we see little struggle or worry. While Aria worries about her back rent, worries about meeting in a café because she can’t afford anything in it, she worries about transport, she worries about getting a decent meal. She worries about missing work and frequently goes without sleep to work and complete the mission. It feels real, it is not just a powerful motivator but also informs her character a great deal.
Read More
But as a Templar she is still consulted by the local vampires who want expertise in deciphering a magical symbol – an exposing a deadly and complicated feud in the process.
One of the storyline elements I most loved was the central question “what have the Templars become?”
The concept has a lot of really nice nuance on it – and a really interesting moral quandary and debate with no simple answers and lots of different facets.
On the one hand, we have the utter passivity of the Templars, their lack of interference, how they’ve become rather irrelevant in the modern world (even if they are still a deeply feared power) and how they general live lives of extreme wealth and comfort while giving nothing back. This is wonderfully part of Aria‘s own refusal to take the Oath, while still claiming identity with the Templars themselves. She believes in them, but isn’t comfortable with what they’ve become.
The flip side is, we have the Templar’s own genocidal history. We have a history that shows the Templars judging, picking sides, declaring various beings evil and generally not being proud of that. The debate is whether they don’t act because few things are that simplistic (especially in a multi-faith world, exactly who are the “pilgrims” on WHAT “path” that need protecting) or whether that’s an excuse for the passivity?
This all feeds into the main plot line of the vampires and their attacker… and how it’s so very very difficult to say which side is right. Or, rather, they’re both right. And wrong. It’s complicated and neither side especially has the moral high ground.
It’s also pretty nice to have a protagonist with a big shiny sword and shiny powers who, in turn, cannot just nuke the enemy until victory is achieved.
All this level of nuance also comes to Aria and her family. Obviously there’s a rift with her turning her back (kind of) on the family business – but equally there’s an immense amount of love there. It’s layers and it’s wonderful.
There are other strong women in the story but not necessarily in huge roles (her mother is an especially complex and strong relationship). There’s also some interesting comments from her regarding Leonora, the female leader of the vampires and how she’d love to back and celebrate a powerful female leader- but isn’t going to excuse Leonora because of that or overlook her huge flaws.
I also really like the depiction of Aria’s poverty. A lot of characters in this genre claim poverty – but it’s just that, a claim. They tell us they’re poor, it may even be a useful character tool to make them take a mission they otherwise wouldn’t. But they don’t live as if they’re poor. We see little budgeting, we see little struggle or worry. While Aria worries about her back rent, worries about meeting in a café because she can’t afford anything in it, she worries about transport, she worries about getting a decent meal. She worries about missing work and frequently goes without sleep to work and complete the mission. It feels real, it is not just a powerful motivator but also informs her character a great deal.
Read More
February 15, 2016
Disappointed
Like many, I had high hopes for this book. I have read the Imp Series and ultimately enjoyed it. This series has a similar premise of a female with poor morality being our lead character and struggling to find her path independent of what she is told she should be. With the Imp Series, I was often disturbed and horrified--as an animal lover the casual treatment of puppy and kitten killing discussions was not to my taste-- but the series eventually stepped out of some of that trying to shock you factor.
Unfortunately this series is much less humorous and doesn't pull you in, though it has same let me try and shock you stuff. Frankly, I can't stand this idiot of a main character or her love interest. The vampire love interest is apparently supposed to be showing he has regrets and humanity still, but ultimately he just reads as a villain who would be perfectly willing to rape her. I don't see any reason for her to be drawn to him. Like others, I feel like most of this book was Ari moaning about how hot he is. Hello tween romance. Except this guy will kill you because he doesn't care. Am I supposed to find that intriguing?
The bulk of the story is spent on Ari's sexual desire and frustration, followed by bad decisions and whining about her life. She's very much a victim personality. I wanted to hit the mute button on her within a few chapters. She also initially comes across as a badass but then, despite all her training, proves useless in a fight. The girl has trained with a sword, as a Templar--they used to kill vamps-- and you are trying to sell me on the fact she doesn't know how to fight vampires? Because of a treaty? Call me a cynic, but I don't think I would stop training my Templars in vamp killing just because a piece of paper promises peace. These kind of common sense gaps make no sense.
Ultimately, I found the book's world interesting but the story and characters weak. The plot wasn't much of a plot and the characters are pretty flat. These can be forgiven though in book 1 in a series, but this book certainly didn't come out swinging. I will probably pick up book 2 as I am a fan of this author and she's good at surprising me. I want to see if the story can move beyond this tween romance fluff into actual adult plotlines with fewer dumb decisions made by the heroine. Oh, yeah, and I would like Dario in a very minor role. New love interest please. One I don't dislike on principle as an abusive as whole.
Like many, I had high hopes for this book. I have read the Imp Series and ultimately enjoyed it. This series has a similar premise of a female with poor morality being our lead character and struggling to find her path independent of what she is told she should be. With the Imp Series, I was often disturbed and horrified--as an animal lover the casual treatment of puppy and kitten killing discussions was not to my taste-- but the series eventually stepped out of some of that trying to shock you factor.
Unfortunately this series is much less humorous and doesn't pull you in, though it has same let me try and shock you stuff. Frankly, I can't stand this idiot of a main character or her love interest. The vampire love interest is apparently supposed to be showing he has regrets and humanity still, but ultimately he just reads as a villain who would be perfectly willing to rape her. I don't see any reason for her to be drawn to him. Like others, I feel like most of this book was Ari moaning about how hot he is. Hello tween romance. Except this guy will kill you because he doesn't care. Am I supposed to find that intriguing?
The bulk of the story is spent on Ari's sexual desire and frustration, followed by bad decisions and whining about her life. She's very much a victim personality. I wanted to hit the mute button on her within a few chapters. She also initially comes across as a badass but then, despite all her training, proves useless in a fight. The girl has trained with a sword, as a Templar--they used to kill vamps-- and you are trying to sell me on the fact she doesn't know how to fight vampires? Because of a treaty? Call me a cynic, but I don't think I would stop training my Templars in vamp killing just because a piece of paper promises peace. These kind of common sense gaps make no sense.
Ultimately, I found the book's world interesting but the story and characters weak. The plot wasn't much of a plot and the characters are pretty flat. These can be forgiven though in book 1 in a series, but this book certainly didn't come out swinging. I will probably pick up book 2 as I am a fan of this author and she's good at surprising me. I want to see if the story can move beyond this tween romance fluff into actual adult plotlines with fewer dumb decisions made by the heroine. Oh, yeah, and I would like Dario in a very minor role. New love interest please. One I don't dislike on principle as an abusive as whole.
November 29, 2018
Dead Rising begins when Aria finds herself confronted with Vampires. She is "hired" by the local Vamps to figure out what a symbol they found means, and who is using it. However, this leads her on a twisted discovering that has her questioning what exactly is right and wrong in the name of justice.
This book starts out really interesting. It slowly pulls you into this strange new world, with a very witty heroine. However, it seems to drag on, and a lot of the problems that Aria deals with don't really seem to be that big of an issue. And it felt like it kept repeating itself over and over.
I was not really a fan of the way that Aria resolved the issue with the Vampires. I was a little frustrated to see how the Vampires would really let that stand. Then the fact that she may have a friend/love interest as well.
This bothered me about the book, so it made it not as enjoyable.
Other than that I really liked the book, mainly because the heroine was very funny and someone who tried to do the right thing even if she was unsure what that really was.
This book starts out really interesting. It slowly pulls you into this strange new world, with a very witty heroine. However, it seems to drag on, and a lot of the problems that Aria deals with don't really seem to be that big of an issue. And it felt like it kept repeating itself over and over.
I was not really a fan of the way that Aria resolved the issue with the Vampires. I was a little frustrated to see how the Vampires would really let that stand. Then the fact that she may have a friend/love interest as well.
This bothered me about the book, so it made it not as enjoyable.
Other than that I really liked the book, mainly because the heroine was very funny and someone who tried to do the right thing even if she was unsure what that really was.
January 5, 2019
Got this as part of the Bad Magic anthology. I only made it through chapter 6. I should have skipped it altogether because of my current intense dislike of all things vampire, but decided to give it a shot because it involved a templar.
It wasn't heavy on the vampire stuff (keep in mind, I only read the first 6 chapters), but there wasn't that much more on the templars either. It was mainly background on the two main characters and the family drama surrounding the female lead, Aria.
The tension between Aria and Dario seems, not exactly forced, but unconvincing at best. The way Dario is written, I have no interest in getting to know him, why should Aria? And Aria... she doesn't come across as the sharpest tool in the shed. I can see why she doesn't have many friends.
Nothing about this made me want to keep reading.
It wasn't heavy on the vampire stuff (keep in mind, I only read the first 6 chapters), but there wasn't that much more on the templars either. It was mainly background on the two main characters and the family drama surrounding the female lead, Aria.
The tension between Aria and Dario seems, not exactly forced, but unconvincing at best. The way Dario is written, I have no interest in getting to know him, why should Aria? And Aria... she doesn't come across as the sharpest tool in the shed. I can see why she doesn't have many friends.
Nothing about this made me want to keep reading.
January 31, 2017
Solaria is 26.
She talks and acts as if she is 16.
Much of the story seems like Ms Dunbar has gone back and re-written parts, so it does not flow smoothly and some of it makes no sense. For instance, that 'Aria would be so ignorant of some of the Vampires habits, when her kind (Templars) have fought and studied them for centuries.
And she is friendless. But she is not. And everyone is so hot.
Sorely disappointed when the Imp series by the same author is one of my all time favourites.
She talks and acts as if she is 16.
Much of the story seems like Ms Dunbar has gone back and re-written parts, so it does not flow smoothly and some of it makes no sense. For instance, that 'Aria would be so ignorant of some of the Vampires habits, when her kind (Templars) have fought and studied them for centuries.
And she is friendless. But she is not. And everyone is so hot.
Sorely disappointed when the Imp series by the same author is one of my all time favourites.
May 23, 2016
I downloaded Dead Rising as part of a free Anthology- Wicked Magic- from Amazon. This story was a pleasant surprise- the writer's humorous, quirky dialog had me laughing and stopping to share quotes with my sister. A unique spin on Templars and I enjoyed the way the vampire group was structured. A funny book with engaging characters.
February 24, 2017
Debra Dunbar always deliver.
September 14, 2018
I found Aria annoying and frustrating.
January 19, 2018
Solaria? Like the sun… dawww. She’s trained as a knight templar but refused to take her oath, so she works at a coffee shop called Holy Grounds. *blinks* okay. But she can’t Google LARP? She said she worked at a renaissance fair, she ought to know what it is.
She does a whole night of research to find it’s a sigil to raise the dead - which she already knew. *frowns*
Dario the vampire deputy has asked her to help - yay for a dark skinned vampire btw - but they both get very distracted thinking about doing the deed.
But it may be old deeds that are causing the problems for the Balaj (a kind of coven) now.
***
Man, idk, this is a good idea; how does a Templar or a paladin or something from a long line of religious tradition fit in the modern world? But… it goes off the rails somewhere. [when I start clicking the contents to see how many chapters are left, you’ve lost me] IF you can get past the idea that Templars even had children and families. At times in history priests were allowed to marry and breed; celibacy and chastity are newer things.
But still…
She seems a very young twenty six. She’s lived a privileged life - mansion, servants, horse stable, croquet - but seems remarkably vague about life. Very light on religion, given that’s her raison d'etre.
The hero is kind of creepy, as is the guy she works with who gets her to fetch boxes from upper shelves so he can look up her shirt - hyuck hyuck…
She says she has no friends, but she does. The workers at the cafe cover for her, she gives warnings to her old magic group, she arranged to go larping with some other people.
There’s a few things that just seemed to conflict. She’s trained, right? So she should know that she can make a rough crucifix out of two bits of wood, and that her super blessed sword will hurt vampires.
She should know this.
More than a few logic jumps (why would the guy stop his rampage when he discovers what really happened to his sister?) and some loose ends (the demon? Anybody?)
3 stars
She does a whole night of research to find it’s a sigil to raise the dead - which she already knew. *frowns*
The whole idea of Templars was that you should be able to find one when you needed one. Of course few, including us, knew what our purpose was in this modern day beyond safeguarding the contents of the Temple and acting as an archaic Wikipedia of the supernatural.
Dario the vampire deputy has asked her to help - yay for a dark skinned vampire btw - but they both get very distracted thinking about doing the deed.
But it may be old deeds that are causing the problems for the Balaj (a kind of coven) now.
***
Man, idk, this is a good idea; how does a Templar or a paladin or something from a long line of religious tradition fit in the modern world? But… it goes off the rails somewhere. [when I start clicking the contents to see how many chapters are left, you’ve lost me] IF you can get past the idea that Templars even had children and families. At times in history priests were allowed to marry and breed; celibacy and chastity are newer things.
But still…
She seems a very young twenty six. She’s lived a privileged life - mansion, servants, horse stable, croquet - but seems remarkably vague about life. Very light on religion, given that’s her raison d'etre.
The hero is kind of creepy, as is the guy she works with who gets her to fetch boxes from upper shelves so he can look up her shirt - hyuck hyuck…
She says she has no friends, but she does. The workers at the cafe cover for her, she gives warnings to her old magic group, she arranged to go larping with some other people.
There’s a few things that just seemed to conflict. She’s trained, right? So she should know that she can make a rough crucifix out of two bits of wood, and that her super blessed sword will hurt vampires.
I’m sure that was less about the weapon and more about the considerable amount of spells and runes it held. And there was that whole holy weapon thing. If I could give him third degree burns with a chair-leg crucifix, I’m sure I could slice him like luncheon meat with my sword. No wonder none of them had wanted it in the house.
She should know this.
More than a few logic jumps (why would the guy stop his rampage when he discovers what really happened to his sister?) and some loose ends (the demon? Anybody?)
3 stars
June 11, 2022
This one starts out great but doesn't live up to its promise.
My biggest gripe is how this book very deliberately implies that it is about a morally gray world without any subtlety.
And the problems the MC is faced with really are. I got a bit excited by this because this is very rare probably because it is so hard to pull off.
The only problem is that the book never actually deals with these problems.
It keeps pointing out the problem but it never finds any somewhat acceptable solution to it. Furthermore, the actual solution that gets ultimately presented is just a huge contradiction in itself that makes no sense from my viewpoint but more importantly it doesn't fit the MCs personality and what I would expect of her in the slightest either.
The book never actually attempts to deal with the root of the moral dilemma of the whole conflict.
Instead, the MC just decides that you just have to believe in the good you can see in people and that if someone just changes their ways anything, including mass murder, can be forgiven which is just ludicrous.
I understand that discussing such a political problem can have spicy implications some readers might strongly disagree with but if you don't intend to deal with the problem then don't constantly dance around it for 90% of the book.
Beyond that, the MC is just annoyingly good in general in this typical righteous YA MC fashion even though this isn't actually YA.
Another annoyance is how the book kind of just ends. The ending feels rushed and all the minor plot threads including the romance are kept dangling without a resolution and the wrap-up of the main plot feels half-assed as well.
I expect that a lot of the minor stuff is supposed to be bait for the next book but it is actually not obvious if the author just forgot about that stuff or intentionally left it open.
I for one don't intend to continue with this series after such a cop-out resolution to the one interesting major plot point that also got reiterated to death throughout the book.
My biggest gripe is how this book very deliberately implies that it is about a morally gray world without any subtlety.
And the problems the MC is faced with really are. I got a bit excited by this because this is very rare probably because it is so hard to pull off.
The only problem is that the book never actually deals with these problems.
It keeps pointing out the problem but it never finds any somewhat acceptable solution to it. Furthermore, the actual solution that gets ultimately presented is just a huge contradiction in itself that makes no sense from my viewpoint but more importantly it doesn't fit the MCs personality and what I would expect of her in the slightest either.
The book never actually attempts to deal with the root of the moral dilemma of the whole conflict.
Instead, the MC just decides that you just have to believe in the good you can see in people and that if someone just changes their ways anything, including mass murder, can be forgiven which is just ludicrous.
I understand that discussing such a political problem can have spicy implications some readers might strongly disagree with but if you don't intend to deal with the problem then don't constantly dance around it for 90% of the book.
Beyond that, the MC is just annoyingly good in general in this typical righteous YA MC fashion even though this isn't actually YA.
Another annoyance is how the book kind of just ends. The ending feels rushed and all the minor plot threads including the romance are kept dangling without a resolution and the wrap-up of the main plot feels half-assed as well.
I expect that a lot of the minor stuff is supposed to be bait for the next book but it is actually not obvious if the author just forgot about that stuff or intentionally left it open.
I for one don't intend to continue with this series after such a cop-out resolution to the one interesting major plot point that also got reiterated to death throughout the book.
July 21, 2024
From the First Bite Anthology:
Solaria Angelique Ainsworth, AKA Aria Ainsworth, is the daughter and granddaughter of some of the most famous Knights Templar, at least to the remaining vampires who survived. She, however, has not taken her vow to become an official knight but has been trained and schooled as one. But she had decided not to go the family path and moved away from them only to become a part-time barista who could not make ends meet. She met Dario at a bar and knew right away he was a vampire, but she did nothing to impede his activities since there was a truce between vampires and the Knights. She started to flirt, tease, or harass him by sending over Bloody Marys and notes of blood types or the number to the local blood bank, but they had never spoken. She stayed on her side of the bar, trying to survive on cheap beer and happy-hour food while he picked up lonely women to feed upon. Then, one night, he was there, waiting by her car. He wanted to take her to see his master, a woman who wanted to talk to her. Little did she know the adventure she would be on when she acquiesced to his request.
Hmm... The Knights Templar. Vampires. Truce!? Interesting! A hereditary position within the order refused? Okay, I can see the not wanting to follow and striking out on your own. The attraction to the ultimate bad boy, yep! However, the physical world-building leaves a lot to be desired. The ethereal world-building is mostly personalized. The character’s interactions seem real enough. The character’s history is a part of the story.
This tale definitely has a blooming romance of enemies to maybe lovers, or friends, being as this is the first book of a series. I give this tale four stars out of five stars.
Solaria Angelique Ainsworth, AKA Aria Ainsworth, is the daughter and granddaughter of some of the most famous Knights Templar, at least to the remaining vampires who survived. She, however, has not taken her vow to become an official knight but has been trained and schooled as one. But she had decided not to go the family path and moved away from them only to become a part-time barista who could not make ends meet. She met Dario at a bar and knew right away he was a vampire, but she did nothing to impede his activities since there was a truce between vampires and the Knights. She started to flirt, tease, or harass him by sending over Bloody Marys and notes of blood types or the number to the local blood bank, but they had never spoken. She stayed on her side of the bar, trying to survive on cheap beer and happy-hour food while he picked up lonely women to feed upon. Then, one night, he was there, waiting by her car. He wanted to take her to see his master, a woman who wanted to talk to her. Little did she know the adventure she would be on when she acquiesced to his request.
Hmm... The Knights Templar. Vampires. Truce!? Interesting! A hereditary position within the order refused? Okay, I can see the not wanting to follow and striking out on your own. The attraction to the ultimate bad boy, yep! However, the physical world-building leaves a lot to be desired. The ethereal world-building is mostly personalized. The character’s interactions seem real enough. The character’s history is a part of the story.
This tale definitely has a blooming romance of enemies to maybe lovers, or friends, being as this is the first book of a series. I give this tale four stars out of five stars.
June 25, 2017
A modern day Templar in search of a quest
Who knew that members of an ancient order of knights lived peacefully on the east coast? The knights live lives of genteel privilege, their wealth passed down from generation to generation, their duties limited to hoarding and guarding magical artifacts in their temple. Aria Ainsworth loves her family but chafes under the expectation that her future has been set in stone from the moment of her birth. In what looks for all the world like a fit of immature pique, Aria refuses to take her oath of knighthood, leaves the family compound, and moves to Baltimore, where her antiquated education qualifies her to get a part time job as a barista at a coffee shop. She comes to the attention of the local balaj of vampires, who hire her to investigate an arcane symbol. She isn't actually a knight and she shouldn't accept money for the task but at least it's a job that she's trained to accomplish. It doesn't take long for things to get much more complicated than Aria expected, especially with the hunky vampire Dario assigned as her minder. Aria finds herself investigating not only the symbol but a group of forty year old murders that might be tied to recent necromantic events in Baltimore. As the story progresses it becomes clear that Aria is far more mature and self aware than she first appears. The original assignment Aria accepts from the vampires becomes merely the first step in her quest to breathe new meaning and purpose into her family's ancient duties.
Who knew that members of an ancient order of knights lived peacefully on the east coast? The knights live lives of genteel privilege, their wealth passed down from generation to generation, their duties limited to hoarding and guarding magical artifacts in their temple. Aria Ainsworth loves her family but chafes under the expectation that her future has been set in stone from the moment of her birth. In what looks for all the world like a fit of immature pique, Aria refuses to take her oath of knighthood, leaves the family compound, and moves to Baltimore, where her antiquated education qualifies her to get a part time job as a barista at a coffee shop. She comes to the attention of the local balaj of vampires, who hire her to investigate an arcane symbol. She isn't actually a knight and she shouldn't accept money for the task but at least it's a job that she's trained to accomplish. It doesn't take long for things to get much more complicated than Aria expected, especially with the hunky vampire Dario assigned as her minder. Aria finds herself investigating not only the symbol but a group of forty year old murders that might be tied to recent necromantic events in Baltimore. As the story progresses it becomes clear that Aria is far more mature and self aware than she first appears. The original assignment Aria accepts from the vampires becomes merely the first step in her quest to breathe new meaning and purpose into her family's ancient duties.
March 1, 2017
Wicked Magic Anthology
Aria is a Templar, but when she came of age she decided to not take the Oath to become a Knight and instead moved to a crappy apartment in Baltimore. She is slightly disillusioned by the Templar's hands off stance on things and wants to make more of a difference in the world. She is asked by the local vampires to research a symbol for them.. Before she knows it she is stuck between the vampires and a necromancer and doesn't feel that either side is totally right or wrong. She has to use all of her minimal connections to stop more bloodshed and manage to not get fired from her job at the coffee house. Oh and don't forget about the super hot vampire Dario that makes her wonder how bad being a blood slave could really be.
I was really enjoying this. I though Aria was an interesting character and I liked the whole modern day Templar thing. I checked out slightly when after a battle, Aria decided it was a good idea to let an injured blood crazed vampire feed from her, because they probably wouldn't kill her... that scene stuck with me for the rest of the book and dropped my rating. I also didn't love how it just kinda stopped, I could have used a few more paragraphs of some closure. But, I did enjoy it and will probably continue reading.
Aria is a Templar, but when she came of age she decided to not take the Oath to become a Knight and instead moved to a crappy apartment in Baltimore. She is slightly disillusioned by the Templar's hands off stance on things and wants to make more of a difference in the world. She is asked by the local vampires to research a symbol for them.. Before she knows it she is stuck between the vampires and a necromancer and doesn't feel that either side is totally right or wrong. She has to use all of her minimal connections to stop more bloodshed and manage to not get fired from her job at the coffee house. Oh and don't forget about the super hot vampire Dario that makes her wonder how bad being a blood slave could really be.
I was really enjoying this. I though Aria was an interesting character and I liked the whole modern day Templar thing. I checked out slightly when after a battle, Aria decided it was a good idea to let an injured blood crazed vampire feed from her, because they probably wouldn't kill her... that scene stuck with me for the rest of the book and dropped my rating. I also didn't love how it just kinda stopped, I could have used a few more paragraphs of some closure. But, I did enjoy it and will probably continue reading.
June 4, 2017
I took this book on as it was recommended for a fan of the Dresden Files like me. In plot and character it is very similar to the Dresden Files genre and many other urban fantasy books that I have read. It wasn't a snoozer, nor was it poorly written, poorly plotted or contain poorly developed characters. It simply did not stand out in any special way or form. The initial summary: Aria the Templar Knight (who's not REALLY a Templar knight) sounded very original and made me think the book must have real potential. I still think that, I simply don't think it did much to move toward that potential in this book. Like other urban fantasy heros Aria, the heroine, is poor, half-starved, conflicted about the modern definitions of right and wrong and falling in love with a supernatural being who, by all rights, should be her enemy. In my experience, all of this has been done before and in some much more entertaining ways by other authors. I'm glad I read the book and wouldn't stop others from reading it, but I don't have any interest in reading the sequels unless someone tells me they do significantly more to differentiate Aria and her struggles from those of other urban fantasy protagonists.
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