Muse by J.A Slade

Maeve McKenna is a vampire with an eye for talent.

In life, Maeve was a renowned baroque art model, a muse for some of the greatest artistic minds of her era, from Rubens, to Monteverdi, to Caravaggio. In un-death, she quickly realized that there was a reason she wasn't running into very many thousand-year-old vampires: when you lack a sense of purpose, living forever isn’t nearly the deal that it first seems.

Maeve has dedicated her immortal life to finding and developing a series of protégés—names such as Mozart, Beethoven, and Jimmy Hendrix are all among her more impressive projects. When she meets Scott, a supremely gifted frontman for a struggling bar band, she thinks she may have found the next great rock maestro. There's only one problem: someone from her past is stalking her every move, and the dismembered, artistically arranged bodies of her former lovers are starting to pile up.

As if she didn't have enough on her plate already, an annoyingly persistent detective is on the verge of busting her for the (justifiably) brutal murder of Pornstache and Mullet, two slimy perverts who got all handsy with her in an alleyway at the worst possible moment. If Maeve can’t find a way to give the detective the slip and scare up some serious clues about her own mystery, then it’s only a matter of time before she and poor Scott end up as gruesome masterpieces on the wrong end of her stalker’s razor sharp tools of choice! Book description. 

This is a fantasy book containing vampires and in a predicted series – it has all the hallmarks of one I'd love. Sadly I just couldn't get along with it :( The main character is Maeve,an art-loving, 400-year-old vampire model and she teams up with an innocent human, Scott – who's a real talent in a local band. Maeve has helped bring artistic talent to the front in previous generations and she steps in to help Scott. And make him her latest protégée. Of course the story is never that simple and along the way they contend with Scotts' bitchy ex girlfriend, and characters from Maeves' past and present. Maeve manages to kill two thugs at the beginning incurring the notice of the local police and as she's also being stalked by an ex lover from the past who is dismembering bodies of her former lovers and arranging them around her the local police certainly need keeping away from that story!

The book takes the vehicle of a self penned novel by Maeve and she tries to tell her readers she's not a vindictive, selfish monster, but a compassionate, humanitarian, cultured person. There are infrequent memos to and from her publisher. I'm not entirely certain what was the intention in writing the book this way as I don't feel it adds anything to the story and seems superfluous. The main problem I have is Maeve – despite trying her best to convince readers otherwise – is simply dislikeable. I find her shallow and selfish. There are also a number of incidences where I feel even though a fantasy novel requires the reader to suspend belief these parts go too far. Can we really believe a detective will miss the noise of someone in the basement trying to escape – who at one point even makes it up to the basement steps, especially as said detective already believes there is something amiss with Maeve and her story? And maybe its just my quirky mind but... the ex girlfriend ends up in the basement for several days – Maeve feeds her but she never seems to allow – or girl ask for – toilet breaks. I know vamps don't need them but we humans do...

Overall the story romps on but I gave up half way through, feeling Scott was just too too naïve and lacking in backbone to be believable and Maeve just too cold for me to like. It's a shame because there's lots of promise in the summary of the book and I feel with some alterations such as making Maeve a bit more sympathetic and likeable and reworking the scenes where I felt even the best innocent would have trouble being fooled the general premise of the book has promise. I'd also give up the “its Maeve writing a story” part too – just seems somehow like the author is trying to fit a bit of everything in and is trying too hard. The main theme and the interactions are enough – take out the extraneous parts and I feel it would be far more enjoyable and a better book. Its planned as a series and if the next is adapted along these lines I’d be interested to read it – I do feel the author has got a vivid imagination and is capable or writing an excellent book – just that this one isn't it. Still, as reading is so subjective maybe I’m in a minority and others will love this book as it stands – I don't criticise to be negative but just to try to be helpful in saying what some readers will feel. I note there's one excellent review on Amazon so clearly some people like this book as it is. Maybe if you read other of my reviews and agree with them you'll be able to judge from that whether you will or won't like this book.

Well I’ve written what I didn't like - now for the positives...it's a good length – I hate books that style themselves novels when they are really just an extended short stories; it contains very few grammar or spelling mistakes, sadly many kindle novels are full of these and too many can quickly put a reader off so well done to the author for proofreading and ensuring this book has minimal errors; I feel the general premise for this book is excellent but the way its worked is just too overdone and the author has tried to fit too much in, less is more is always a good adage. I hope the next book takes note of this and the author feels my criticism is justified, as I feel there's real potential in the writing.

Stars; well sadly its only three – well done on the technical side but if I can't finish the book because I feel its just too beyond belief and confusing I can't rate it higher. I was interested enough to skip to the end and read it and I did like the “musical play off” between the two musicians close to the end. Scenes like that add to a book and make the characters so much more real.

Note; I received this copy free as part of the www.darkissreads.com reviewer programme and as always integrity to myself is the most important factor – I'm not paid for reviews and what I write is what I genuinely believe.

                                           3 Stars! 

Reviewed by Midnight Ruby.