Jan 022012
Occupation
Are you ready for vampires to regain their standing in the genre? Are you ready for them to stop “sparkling” and take on a worthy opponent? Then wait no longer. This book will satisfy even the most “bloodythirsty” appetites with an added twist; one of the clans is able to release a very nasty bacteria into their respective hosts which after ninety days or so unleashes a very ghoulish end to the recipients.
The Third Reich has occupied Poland!
The plan of “relocating” the po
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Hitler’s forces couldn’t have picked a nicer plot…,
Jeff Dawson knew where he was going when he embarked upon the telling of this tale, and he strode into the past so successfully that I genuinely feel as though I spent time in that frightful place and time.
When the Germans invade Poland during WWII, they get a lot more than they bargained for because Nikoli Romanov and Kirilli Boirarsky lead two vampire clans who have grown used to a steady supply of blood. Their previous standing agreement with the locals was that they would kill only the weak and infirm while leaving the rest of the human population to live their lives in an uneasy peace. But as the Nazis begin stripping the local peasants away and sending them to death camps by rail, the vampires are forced to begin feeding the old fashioned way: by force. As the two clans forage further and further into the countryside for fresh kills, it soon becomes obvious that the Germans must go. The only question is, can the two clans refrain from killing each other long enough to drive Hitler’s troops from their hunting grounds. You’ll be surprised and thrilled as the action unfolds.
“Occupation” doesn’t try to smooth out or gloss over the reknown violence of vampires, it instead harkens back to the brutal and largely emotionless existence that those accursed creatures were always believed to live. In other words, this book is about Nazis versus Vampires, about evil versus evil, and the author doesn’t shuffle gently around the blood and gore their clash creates.
Don’t miss this visit to a dark time in history.
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Evil Against Evil…Who Will You Be Rooting For?,
Jeff Dawson has definitely un-romanticized vampires; brought them back to the level of the feared creatures they started as and pitted them against a nation of people who have come to be synonymous with hate, savagery; a despicable nation…the Nazi.
When Germany invades Poland during WWII, they get a lot more than they anticipated given that in this area lives two clans of vampires; the Boirarskys and the Romanovs. These two feuding clans years ago made a covenant with the residents; they would only feed on the old, infirm, and sick while leaving the young and healthy untouched. This pact has allowed both groups to live in relative peace with each other. Then the Nazis show up, invade their territory and start shipping out their food supply, eventually forcing both clans to return to the old ways and hunt previously untouchable people to survive.
The Boirarsky clan is headed by Kirilli. He has his people living on a well-maintained estate with all the comforts any wealthy family could expect while trying to lead with compassion. The Romanov clan is headed by Nikoli who is the exact opposite of Kirilli. He has his people living in squalor conditions and rules with cruelty. Neither clan can stand each other and have been feuding with each other forever but now that their survival is on the line they need to work together, somehow, if they are to continue to exist. But can they put their differences aside for the betterment of all involved?
They come up with a plan to rid the area of the Nazis and bring back their life-sustaining food source. Yet how can either clan trust the other will keep their end of the bargain? It’s been decided that to guarantee this deal stays intact they will marry their children, Kirilli’s son and Nikoli’s daughter, so that when a child is conceived and born, the child would be half blood to both clans, therefore neither would ever do anything to hurt it, thus cementing in blood a bond that will last a lifetime and ensure the survival of all concerned.
Does their plan work? Do they rid the area of the hated Nazis? Do they get the people returned? Does the merging of the clans work; can the two clans even work together for the betterment of all? To find out these answers and more you will need to pick up your own copy of “Occupation”.
If you like your vampires to be real vampires, if you like your history, if the combining of the two intrigues you then you will thoroughly enjoy “Occupation”. Mr. Dawson does a great job of pitting evil against evil in living color, no holds barred, fight to the death story that will keep you entertained long after the final page is turned.
Anita (The Kindle Book Review)
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Nazis vs. Vampires: round 1,
Whenever I hear that a new vampire novel/movie has been released, I generally cringe and roll my eyes. Most modern takes on the vampire mythos romanticize and pasteurize the concept to the point of absurdity, from the “Twilight” movies, going all the way back to the film version of “Bram Stoker’s Dracula”. Vampires aren’t evil anymore, just misunderstood, and they have tender feelings for introverted human females who ought to be horrified by their lifestyles (yet inexplicably aren’t). But in Stoker’s novel there were no sparkly eyes, no human/vampire/werewolf lust triangles. Vampires were murdering, blood-sucking demons regarded with pure terror. In “Occupation”, author Jeff Dawson takes vampires back to their roots. THESE vampires are to be feared, not hugged. Readers hoping for another “Twilight” will turn away in the first few pages as Dawson unleashes the goriness of vampirism with no regard for weak stomaches. If you find highly detailed accounts of men being dismembered and eaten alive distatseful, you might find yourself skipping a few pages here and there. But there’s much more to this story than celebrated gore. Dawson adds some new wrinkles to the myth, such as the anatomy of a fang, and the presence of an unknown bacterial agent in vampire saliva which can enduce a slow, agonizing death when injected into the host. And then the vampire mating scene… well, I won’t go into detail; just note that I don’t call it “love-making”. Dear Bella would not survive a carnal encounter with one of these creatures.
I was immediately intrigued by the concept. Nazis vs. Vampires? How come no one’s thought of this before? If vampires are your protagonist, then the villain has to be beyond deplorable by comparison. Dawson accomplishes this without watering down vampire lore: if you know your history, as Dawson clearly does, the Nazis were every bit as disgustingly hateful as those depicted in “Occupation”. Torturing, raping, mass murder — all without an ounce of compassion. They’re as easy to hate now as they were 70 years ago, and while I had no special love for either the Romoanov or Boirarsky clan (the two vampire factions competing for supremecy of Poland), I couldn’t help but cheer each time one of them bit into the flesh of an arrogant German officer. The Nazis were finally getting what they had coming to them.
The plot is pretty thoroughly summarized in other reviews: Germany’s invasion of Poland has disrupted the vampires’ food supply. In one of many intriguing plot points, the Romanovs and Boirarskys have agreed not to hunt Poland’s young, vital masses, but instead to satisfy themselves with the old, weak, and infirm. They’ll only feed on those who are certainly near death, and the book implies that the general population is both aware of and comfortable with this arrangement. (I guess it beats the alternative.) The vampire clans are essentially the Dr. Kevorkians of Poland. Trouble is, it’s the old, weak, and infirm — with their imperfect genetics — which the Nazis most despise. When they begin shipping them away, the Romanovs and Boirarskys are forced into a tense union, their goal to purge Poland of the Nazi menace.
Leading the Romanov clan is Nikoli, who to some degree is rather like his German offenders — cold, ruthless, unfeeling. His Boyarsky counterpart, Kirilli, is a little more sympathetic. No less brutal mind you (he’s still, after all, a vampire), but with a code of honor and respect for tradition which Nikoli does not possess. The clans despise one another. In a surprising twist, it is Nikoli who proposes an unthinkable solution for ending interclan hostilities: a marital union between Dimitri Boirarsky and Nicole Romanov. The proposal threatens to tear the fragile union apart before they’ve even begun to deal with the Germans, and to make matters worse, the Romanov clan is not even united within their own household. Nikoli’s wife Svetlana has endured centuries of Nikoli’s abuse and neglect. She’s covertly preparing to take the clan in a new direction, and she may be willing to use the Germans to do it.
The story moves forward at the pace of a summer action flick. That’s not a criticism; in fact I think it may be a sign of where this book is unltimately destined to end up. From start to finish, I couldn’t stop thinking about what a great film this could become in the right hands. It reads almost like a film script. That’s not to say it cuts corners. I don’t know what Mr. Dawson’s day job is, but I suspect he has at one time been an history professor. “Occupation” richly oozes with historical detail which brings the location and time period to vivid life. Others have criticized that it skimps on character development; I wholeheartedly disagree. The characters are thoroughly fascinating, and evolve in ways that are entirely unexpected (setting up a rather shocking confrontation near the end between two important characters, with a resolution you…
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