Review of Unholy Embrace Five Neil Benson _ BK Walker books

Review of Unholy Embrace Five Neil Benson _ BK Walker books by Paula Phillips

An excellent story that shows readers in a paranormal and supernatural way that no matter what happens, and how terrifying obstacles can be, love between mortals and immortals can overcome anything.

The story starts when Frank and Nessa are on a date and werewolves attack them. The attack causes Nessa to extract her fangs and go 'all -vampirey', something Frank had not experienced before.

From then on, we are transported back to the beginning - where they met and how their relationship started, and how they reached this point in the story. What follows is Nessa explaining her 400-year-old history to Frank and how she became a vampire in Hungary. It follows her travels to Vienna, Paris, and eventually to New York.

When Frank realizes the consequences and dangers of being with Nessa, can he stand strong and embrace the unholiness of being with a vampire - or will he take the white feather option out and leave to follow a path of normal life.

Buy the book and find out.

Unholy Embrace - Vampire Novel. An immortal vampire makes a mortal man an offer he can refuse.

An immortal vampire makes a mortal man an offer he can refuse.

“If you love me, I can offer you a way to spend eternity with me. You would be a formidable foe for anyone.”

I blinked, digesting the offer Nessa had just made. She was playing to my fascination with eternal life. I turned and walked to the living room window, watching the city below, thinking about living through the centuries and experiencing future times I wouldn’t naturally know. Closing my eyes, I imagined a world in which we would always be together. But a dark vision crossed my mind, knowing I would never see the light of day again. I couldn’t give up my humanity to become a vampire. I walked back to Nessa and took her hands in mine.

“I need to think about what you offered.” I had to consider what it meant to commit myself to a vampire. I couldn’t base my decision solely on my passion for her.

Nessa watched me, looking for clues to the emotions I hadn’t expressed. “Our feelings for each other are real, but I understand what you are telling me. Do what you must.” Her mouth closed, and her eyes turned downward.

             I left her apartment and was walking beside Central Park within ten minutes. If I took too long to decide, our relationship would end.   Nessa’s loneliness had spanned more time than I could comprehend. She’d chosen me, perhaps impulsively, but now I knew how much I meant to her.

            When I looked at my watch, I saw that five hours remained until dawn. For once in my life, I decided to go where my heart led. I walked south until I hailed a cab, and in a few minutes I was back at her apartment. Time is not measured in minutes or hours but by the way in which we experience our lives. As I stood in front of her door, I knew my decision.

Unholy Embrace Available on Amazon

Unholy Embrace- a fight to the death with a pack of werewolves

 Frank describes an encounter with werewolves of the worst kind.

When Nessa ran at the werewolf charging her, they collided and fell to the ground.

The creature staggered from the impact, and she grabbed it by the throat with both hands. It thrust its jaw out, trying to bite her face with its large canines.

She pushed its head back until the creature couldn't reach her with its mouth.

The werewolf grabbed at her arms to no avail as she tightened her grip until she broke its neck. Nessa pushed the werewolf to the ground, stood over it, and snarled. The moonlight revealed blood dripping from her fangs.

I scanned the area to check for more werewolves. Seeing none, I took a deep breath and realized my shirt was wet. When I put my hand to my chest, I felt the warm, clotting fluid mingled with tufts of hair. I was glad my stomach was empty when I gagged. I started to speak to Nessa when I saw her turn and walk toward the other side of the building. I went around the car, following a step behind but parallel to her.

A cloud covering the moon prevented me from seeing what caught her attention. When the cloud passed, the moonlight revealed a huge, heavily muscled werewolf, seven feet tall. The creature growled, revealing three-inch-long, curved canines that came to sharp points. The enraged werewolf was the alpha male......

Unholy Embrace is a swift-paced, action-packed novel about the relationship between a mortal man and his immortal female vampire lover as they fight werewolves, vampires, and other creatures in their effort to kill a soul-eating demon.

If this sounds interesting, and I hope it does, please follow the link and read the reviews on Amazon.

Unholy Embrace Available on Amazon

Unholy Embrace - Nessa the vampire battles and immortal demon

Frank, deceived by the demon, opens the door and all hell breaks loose.

“Frank, I told you not to unlock the door,” Nessa said.

When the demon turned to face her, she reached inside her pocket and withdrew gold powder she threw at it. The demon put its hands in front of its face and shook its head. Nessa threw more powder on the creature and chanted in Latin. The Huli Jing was unable to move, and smoke came off its body and arms. She threw more powder on the demon while she continued chanting. The demon, covered in the fine gold powder, hunched its shoulders while contracting into a tighter mass. As it did so, the smoke continued to increase.

Nessa pulled a silver dagger out of her coat and stabbed the demon in the chest. It emitted a loud, “Hhhhcccchhh,” sound. Greenish fluid flowed down its chest, but the hole made by the knife closed up.

She stabbed at it again. This time the demon grabbed the end of the dagger, broke it off, and tossed it away. Nessa clenched her fist.

The Huli Jing shook its body. Some fine gold powder flew into the air, and smoke coming off it decreased. The demon became brighter and brighter until it was almost impossible to look at. The creature hissed at Nessa, and she bared her fangs and snarled.

Her knees buckled, and she pulled her cape over her head. The light created by the demon intensified, and Nessa fell backward into what remained of the doorway. The demon struggled to move towards her, hindered by the remaining golden dust on it.

Unholy Embrace Review by Harriet Klausner

Review of Unholy Embrace by Harriet Klausner

Unholy Embrace-Neil Benson

Human Frank Thornton and vampire Nessa Harcanu hold hands as they walk together at night in Manhattan. He knows his beloved is a centuries old vampire, but has not witnessed at all what that means until this evening. Werewolves attack them, but Nessa overpowers them; shaking Frank with her abilities.

They met three weeks earlier with both attracted at first sight. Now he needs to know why the assault. Nessa honestly thinks a serial killing demon she hunts sent the horde. He thinks about leaving her, but cannot as he loves her though he wonders if she is using her vampiric enchantress skills to manipulate his desires. Still Frank tells her he cannot convert, but wants to be with her. She explains the demon is not her worst nightmare. Her sire, who she killed back in 1627 after he converted her and sucked dry her husband, left behind a raging predator the “widow” Narice who wants to destroy her for killing the Master; Frank is her Achilles Heel.

This is an exhilarating urban fantasy filled with demons, werewolves and vampires; oh, my! Frank is a terrific human who feels as if he fell through the rabbit hole when he fell in love while Nessa is an honest vampiress who tells him the truth. Although there is too much going on with the lead couple as the demon hunters and as the Narice hunted, sub-genre fans will enjoy this tale of blood and romance flowing on the streets of Manhattan.

Harriet Klausner (Major reviewer on Amazon)
Unholy Embrace Available on Amazon

Excerpt from Unholy Embrace - - A Meeting with the Vampire in Central Park

Frank finds out that walking in Central Park at night can be dangerous.

In the hours after midnight during the week, there were few people on the street. My main concern was the police stopping me for an extended interrogation while I tried to convince them that I was a harmless but eccentric person who walked late at night in a dangerous area. The three-quarter moon on a cloudless night made it difficult for anyone to sneak up on me. I walked into the park at Eighty-Second Street but decided this was a foolish risk. I turned around and found Viscount D’Alessio standing ten feet in front of me. The hairs on the back of my neck rose. My body froze, and my heart beat against my chest.

“Fancy meeting you here.” His malicious smile made me shiver.

“What do you want?” My voice cracked. I felt perspiration forming on my forehead.

“An opportunity to chat with you, become better acquainted.” His smile widened, making his teeth more obvious, as he stepped toward me. I looked around and saw no one. I turned and ran, but I hadn’t gone ten strides when I found him in front of me.

“Running won’t do any good, and your precious little tart isn’t here to rescue you.” Before I could take a step, he grabbed my throat and lifted me off the ground. “It’s time to have the dinner I promised myself the last time we met.”

As the viscount started to pull me into the bushes, a voice shouted, “Stop! Police!  Remain where you are.”

A large man walked toward us. He held a police shield in his left hand. With his right, he pointed a pistol at us.

“What a bother.” The viscount tossed me into the bushes. “I’ll take care of you next. Make a move and your death will be slow and excruciating.” He raised his hands as he walked toward the officer.

“I told you to stop. If you take another step, I’ll fire.”

Stunned and scratched but not hurt, I pulled myself out of the bush and stayed out of the line of fire.

“Dinner for two will just be fine,” the viscount muttered. He moved forward, ignoring the pistol pointed at him.

The officer fired a shot at the vampire, but it had no effect.

“Fool,” the viscount said. 

Unholy Embrace Available on Amazon

Review of "An Unholy Embrace" by Paula Phillips

The Phantom Paragrapher

Review of "An Unholy Embrace" by Paula Phillips

Are you loving the whole mortal/vampire love storyline ? Edward and Bella in Twilight , Elena and Stefan / Damon in Vampire Diaries , Dylan and Claire in The Gates (though Claire is now turned) , Alexander/ Jagger and Raven in Vampire Kisses and Dimitri and Rose in Vampire Academy or Hugo and Elizabeth in The Point and who can forget our Sookie Stackhouse and Eric/Bill.


A popular storyline lately has been the tale of the mortal/vampire love story and the majority of them have the male as a Vampire and the female as the love struck mortal. One thing that I really liked in Neil Benson's book is that he decided to use gender reverse roles and make the male the love struck mortal and the female the Vampire. Having it this way, was a nice change for once.

The story starts when Frank and Nessa are out on a date and are attacked by Werewolves, the attack causes Nessa to extract her fangs and go all-  vampirey, something that Frank hasn't really experienced before. We are transported back to the beginning -where they first met and how their relationship started, and of course, how they reached the point in the story.

What follows is Nessa explaining and opening her 400yr old heart to Frank and telling her story on how she became a Vampire starting in Hungary all the way to her travels via Vienna and Paris to the Present time in New York.

We read as the Werewolves attacks are just the beginning as Nessa has been on the run nearly 400 years and has been tracked by Narice - the vampire lover of the Vampire who turned Nessa and in return, Nessa killed out of vengeance.

When Frank realizes the consequences and danger of being with Nessa, can he stand strong and embrace the unholiness of being with a Vampire or will he take the white feather coward option out and leave Nessa to follow a path of a normal life?

An excellent story that shows readers in a paranormal and supernatural way that no matter what happens and how terrifying obstacles can be - love between not only mortals but mortals and supernaturals can stick together.

“I was born over four hundred years ago on a farm in a small town south of Budapest. Only when aroused or threatened do I take on the characteristics you have witnessed.”

   “What do you mean by ‘aroused’?”

   “Don’t pretend to be naive.”

   “So you do take human blood.”

   “I live on whole blood, which is readily available. Occasionally I take a small amount from willing donors at vampire clubs.”

“Before that, how many lives did you take to survive hundreds of years?”

“Three.” Her eyes narrowed, and her face became intense. “I took the blood of animals as often as possible. When the need for human blood overwhelmed me, I drank carefully so as not to take anyone’s life. Since 1861, almost all the blood I have consumed has come from well-paid donors with whom I had no contact. I did not choose to become a vampire. A hideous creature who stalked Hungary, killing many people, made me into one.”

“Why didn’t he kill you?”

“He told me he couldn’t kill a woman so lovely. He made me into one of his servile brides. The creature bragged about how he had given me the gift of eternal life, but he’d neglected to mention I was his slave. Not all vampires have the strength to do what you witnessed earlier this evening.”

“How did you gain such strength?”

“By killing him and taking his blood.” She looked off to the side for a moment, and I wondered what she was thinking.  

First Vampires Lamatsu and Lilith

Nobody knows when people came up with the first vampiric figures, but the legends date back at least 4,000 years, to the ancient Assyrians and Babylonians of Mesopotamia. Mesopotamians feared Lamastu (also spelled Lamashtu), a vicious demon goddess who preyed on humans. In Assyrian legend, Lamastu, the daughter of sky god Anu, would creep into a house at night and steal or kill babies, either in their cribs or in the womb. Believers attributed sudden infant death syndrome and miscarriage to this figure.

Lamastu, which translates to "she who erases," would also prey on adults, sucking blood from young men and bringing disease, sterility and nightmares. She is often depicted with wings and birdlike talons, and sometimes with the head of a lion. To protect themselves from Lamastu, pregnant women would wear amulets depicting Pazuzu, another evil god who once defeated the demoness.

Lamastu is closely associated with Lilith, a prominent figure in some Jewish texts. Accounts of Lilith vary considerably, but in the most notable versions of the story, she was the original woman. God created both Adam and Lilith from the Earth, but there was soon trouble between them. Lilith refused to take a subservient position to Adam, since she came from the same place he did.

In one ancient version of the legend, Lilith left Eden and began birthing her own children. God sent three angels to bring her back, and when she refused, they promised they would kill 100 of her children every day until she returned. Lilith in turn vowed to destroy human children.

Accounts of Lilith as a child-killer seem to be taken directly from the Lamastu legend. She is often described as a winged demoness with sharp talons, who came in the night, primarily to steal away infants and fetuses. Most likely, the Jews assimilated the figure of Lamastu into their tradition, but it's also possible that both myths were inspired by a third figure.

While she is often depicted as a terrifying creature, Lilith also had seductive qualities. The ancient Jews believed she would come to men at night as a succubus.

https://amzn.to/2HkkAKg

An Excerpt from Unholy Embrace -- Romanced by a Vampire

I used a fifty-dollar bill to signal the waiter. “What are you drinking?” I asked her. 

“A dry martini,” she said to the waiter.

“I’ll have another Heineken.” The waiter pocketed my bill and went to get our drinks.

“A vampire wouldn’t drink a martini.”

“I love a clever man.”

I decided to change the topic of conversation. Her slight accent intrigued me. “Where were you born?”

“Hungary. I’ll save you the next question by telling you I came here sixty years ago.” She leaned closer to me. Her musky fragrance inflamed me, and I had to restrain myself from kissing her. Suddenly warm, I wiped perspiration from my forehead. “Would you be interested in going someplace quieter?” she asked.

“What did you have in mind?” I was with a beautiful, amorously inclined woman who had provided me with enough evidence to believe she was a real vampire. Despite that knowledge, I could feel the rising desire in my groin pressing against my common sense.

“Let’s go to your place. I would like to see the home of an artist and architect.”

“Th-that would be fine,” I stuttered. The game was cat and mouse, and I was the catnip. When our drinks arrived, they no longer mattered.

AT FRANK'S APARTMENT

She looked at the titles for several minutes before she pulled out Dr. Bova’s book on immortality and extending life. “Immortal life holds a fascination for you. You’ll find living a long time doesn’t bring the answers to the questions you seek.”

“Am I to assume you know that from personal experience?”

She put her finger under my chin and kissed me on the lips. “I have seen the passing of more seasons than you could ever imagine. Perhaps, if I like you, I’ll tell you about them.”

“That would be interesting.” A vampire is seducing me. Am I out of my freaking mind?

“Hush,” Nessa whispered. She brushed my cheek with her fingertips, pressed her lips to mine, and parted them with her tongue. “Come.” She led me to my bedroom.  

As Nessa moved me to the foot of the bed, I reached for her. She was quicker, putting her arms around my neck and pulling my head toward hers. Her mouth sought mine, and we kissed passionately for several minutes. She broke off the kiss, stepped back, reached for the bottom of my dark blue merino sweater, and pulled it over my head. Nessa kissed my chest and flicked her tongue over my left nipple, causing me to tremble with pleasure. She unbuckled my pants, dropped them to the floor, and pulled down my briefs. She lowered me to the bed, handling me like a small child despite my outweighing her by more than seventy pounds. 

Link to Amazon

Unholy Embrace 

Unholy Embrace Reviewed by Trish Martin

REVIEWED BY "TRISH MARTIN" http://www.horrornews.net/

Unholy Embrace by Neil Benson is the story of a romantic and dangerous love affair between a beautiful, ages-old vampire and a mortal man. This story is enchanting and sexy with an edge of excitement. Not only do we read about vampires but of werewolves and demons. The New York nightlife and seedy underbelly do well to create a dangerous atmosphere. I enjoyed reading about the main character’s blossoming relationship but also the horrific demons and monsters that lurk about in the night. Nessa Harcanu is the sexy vampire born in 1597 in a small town near Budapest.

Though Nessa is voluptuous and sultry, she posses a power beyond mortal imagination. She becomes involved with a mortal man named Frank Thornton who is an attractive architect that is skeptical about the existence of vampires and demons. Also joining the story are members of the Meyer family of which Nessa becomes close with early on in her life as a vampire; they come to serve her and assist her with her needs throughout the ages. We also come across a weaker vampire named Narice whom, after her master is killed by Nessa, begins following Nessa waiting to exact her revenge. There are a few other characters we run across in the story who serve as a backdrop in the evolvement of the two main characters. The interaction with these other characters gives us insight to the character’s lives and personalities.

Nessa’s tale of how she became a vampire and her life up until present day is one of intrigue and even sadness. Frank listens to Nessa’s story and becomes even more enchanted with her and begins to understand her a little better. Their relationship is really one of master and subservient, Nessa the master and Frank the subservient. Even with the uneven balance of power the relationship between the two becomes stronger and the need to protect one another grows. The appearance of a demon creates more drama and trouble for the two and they realize in order to save humanity they must defeat this demon in any way possible.

I would classify this story as less horror and more romantic suspense but it is still a wonderful and exciting tale. As I delved deeper into the book I found it hard to put down. It is definitely an easy read and isn’t cluttered with unnecessary plot and lag time. There were times of some light eroticism mixed in with story to give it an edge above the teeny-bopper vampire love stories. Also we examine great power within Nessa making her almost super-heroine like in her conquests. Frank’s mind is torn between his deep love of Nessa and his wish for normalcy in his life. My only complaint as far as this novel was concerned was that I felt that the ending was a tad rushed; I felt that maybe the writer was a little unsure of how to resolve the conflict without creating more trouble for the characters.

Neil Benson has a rare talent for creating a story where you can identify and truly care about what happens to the characters. Giving life to character’s like Nessa and Frank enables the reader to walk in the footsteps of the characters, getting more in-depth in the story and almost being able to see the world through their eyes. I would also have to give Neil Benson props on creating a dueling perspective between the characters; by doing this we can see the story from the perspective of both Nessa and Frank. I would highly recommend this book to all vampire lovers out there and especially those who enjoy romantic flights of fancy.

If this sounds interesting, and I hope it does, please follow the link and read the reviews on Amazon.

Link to Amazon

Unholy Embrace 

Unholy Embrace Excerpt from Chapter 1. "An unwanted surprise."

Chapter One

An Unwanted Surprise

“Literature and most movies have accurately described the speed and strength of the vampire. Few mortals have witnessed a vampire in the fighting mode and lived to tell about it.”

             Thaddeus Romans, The Vampires among Us

On a crisp April night, Nessa and I held hands as we walked to Broadway on a narrow side street from a theater on the Upper West Side. Without warning, she pushed me aside and turned toward the alleyway on our left. A dark, hairy form raced at her, emitting a growl that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

Nessa ducked, put her hands under its body, and flipped her attacker through the air into a light blue delivery truck. A second dark-haired creature emerged from the same alley, snarling and displaying three-inch-long incisors glistening with saliva. When the second beast tried to bite Nessa, she grabbed the creature’s throat and snapped its head backward. She sank her fangs into its neck and ripped the carotid artery. I gagged at the sight of the blood spurting from the gaping wound.

The first beast rose and was about to charge Nessa when I raced forward to tackle it.

“No!” Nessa yelled, and she put herself between the beast and me. The creature swiped a hairy paw at her head, but she ducked and stepped behind her lethal adversary. The creature tried to turn, but she grabbed its throat and raised the beast two feet into the air. She squeezed its neck until the sounds of bones cracking made me cringe. She let go, and the creature fell to the ground. Nessa closed her eyes and sniffed the air.

“Any more of them?” My thumping heart banged against my ribcage, and perspiration ran down my forehead.

“I don’t smell or hear anything for a quarter of a mile,” she replied. “How do you feel after surviving your first attack by werewolves?”

Nessa inspected the creatures she had killed with such little effort.

“Terrified but happy to be alive.” I stood by her side at the nearest werewolf and examined its paws. Three-inch claws tapering from one inch around at the base to razor-sharp tips made lethal weapons.

“That’s why I screamed at you. I admire your courage, but the creature would have eviscerated you in one swift stroke.”

“I know you’ve told me about the damage werewolves can inflict, but hearing about them isn’t the same as watching them in action.” I shivered at the thought of how easily either of them could have killed me.

She stared at me. “Frank, are you OK?”

“I think so.” My pulse had slowed down, and my lungs no longer screamed for air. I glanced upward at the night sky. “No full moon?”

“They can inject themselves with a serum that enables them to become a werewolf whenever they choose.”

The werewolves terrified me, but the creature Nessa became frightened me almost as much. I stepped back and watched her fangs disappear, and her eyes return to normal.

She stared at me for a moment and then reached out to touch me.

I moved away from her.

“What’s the matter?”

“Seeing you like that and what you did unnerved me.”

“I never wanted you to see me as a vampire. I am sorry the attack by the werewolves put you in danger. Please come to my apartment so we can talk about what happened.”

I took another step backward, not sure if I was safe with her.

Link to Amazon

Unholy Embrace 

Attacked by a psychic vampire. . A mostly fictional story by Neil Benson .

Attacked by a psychic vampire. . A mostly fictional story.

I sat on my favorite stool in my neighborhood pub drinking a pint of my favorite brew when a black-haired, swarthy man of middle height approached me. I looked at him while he stared at me. I turned away, hoping he would disappear into the men's room. Unfortunately, I could feel his eyes boring into my back, and knew he wouldn't go away.

I shrugged my shoulders and looked him in the face. "Is there something you want?"

He continued staring at me without showing any indication he had heard what I had said.

"Okay, stare away," I said, and glared at him. After a while, the intensity of his gaze became disconcerting.

"You are the person that wrote the article stating that psychic vampirism is nonsense?" he asked in a strange foreign accent.

"I wrote a post on my blog to that effect," I replied.

"Same thing," he said. "You think psychic vampirism is a joke?"

" I don't know if it's a joke, but it's certainly not real." His intense gaze continued to bother me.  more.........

The rest of the story is contained in my anthology, Dark Journeys available on Amazon Kindle.