Nocturne Infernum

By Elizabeth Donald

Nocturne Infernum includes the original three chapters in the Nocturnal Urges series, an alternate version of present-day Memphis in which vampires walk among us, but are not treated as our equals. They work the night shift, the jobs no one else wants, and they're not too happy about it. Meanwhile, humans take advantage of the pleasures vampires can provide, but call them friends? Lovers? The gap between human and vampire stretches wide as death rises in the streets of Memphis.

Nocturnal Urges. It's the most popular club in the Memphis nightlife. Part legal bordello, part feeding ground for the city's vampires, Nocturnal Urges offers pleasure and pain in one sweet kiss. It's the ultimate addiction: both drug and sex at once. For the vampires, it's the only way to survive in a world where the creatures of the night are a dark underclass, ignored until the humans need another fix.

Into this world comes Isabel Nelson, a young woman seeking only a night's pleasure. But after Isabel's lover takes her to try the bite, she cannot stop thinking about Ryan, the dark vampire with whom she shared her lifeblood - and who is now suspected of murder. Isabel falls into a world where passion and love are miles apart, where life and unlike have little meaning... and someone is hunting in the shadows.

A More Perfect Union. Samantha Crews has lived a long time in the shadows of Memphis, working at Nocturnal Urges and hiding from the vampires that darken her past.

Det. Anne Freitas is stuck with a new partner, a young woman with a chip on her shoulder. Now they're assigned to investigate a series of threats against congressional candidate Robert Carton, for whom Samantha volunteers.

But Samantha is falling for Danny Carton, the candidate's son - an idealist who wants to make life better for humans and vampires alike. But there's a lot Danny doesn't know about Samantha.

He doesn't know she's a vampire.

He doesn't know she works at Nocturnal Urges.

He doesn't know his own father is one of her clients.

And he doesn't know what's stalking her...

Abaddon. The Lady Zorathenne requests the honor of your presence at a celebration. A toast, if you will. Followed by a feast.

Beneath the dark Memphis streets, something is stirring. Filled with ancient fury. Seeking revenge on the ones who live above. A revenge born in fire.

The fires are ranging in Memphis and no one is safe. Ryan and Samantha must descend into darkness beyond their imagining to find answers to the mysteries of the past, as Detectives Freitas and Parker seek the truth about the present.

And the return of an old foe could make the future a dark place indeed... save for the flames of Abaddon

• Language: English
• Publisher: Seventh Star Press
• Release date: Dec 8, 2017
• ISBN: 9781948042208

Elizabeth Donald

Elizabeth Donald is a writer fond of things that go chomp in the night. A writer since her Mother’s Day essay won a newspaper contest in the 1980s, Elizabeth’s Nocturnal Urges vampire series first hit bookstores in 2004-7. It won the Darrell Award twice and was a finalist for the Prism Award and other honors. Next came the Blackfire zombie series, which began with The Cold Ones in 2008. It sold out its print run in 48 hours, and its sequel Blackfire soon followed from Sam’s Dot Publishing. Elizabeth’s work includes a number of novels, novellas, short stories and essays that have appeared in a variety of publications. One story, “Wonderland,” won the Darrell Award in 2006 and was included in her short-story collection, Setting Suns. In 2013, Elizabeth launched her photography site, selling nature and art photography online and featured in various art shows and events. Her 2013 Kickstarter project brought in nearly four times its goal, funding a national book tour and her newest novella, Gethsemane. Upcoming projects include the relaunch of the Nocturnal Urges series with Seventh Star Press, to be released in March 2015.  Other projects on their way include Banshee’s Run, a science fiction adventure novel. By day, Elizabeth is a newspaper reporter in the St. Louis region. She is the president of the St. Louis Society of Professional Journalists and a member of SPJ’s national ethics commission, part of the team that rewrote the ethics code adopted by hundreds of news organizations worldwide in 2014. She is also a freelance editor working with small presses and beginning writers, and writes CultureGeek, a pop-culture review column. She is the founder of the Literary Underworld, an author cooperative helping small-press writers and independent presses promote and sell their work throughout the country. Elizabeth is married to author Jim D. Gillentine, has a teenage son who is wholly unimpressed with her work, and they all live in Illinois in a haunted house. In her spare time, she… has no spare time. Find out more about Elizabeth and her work at elizabethdonald.com!