Kelley Grealis was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. She has a B.A. in Accounting from Baldwin-Wallace College and a Masters of Businss Administration from Cleveland State University.
She has loved all things vampire since she was a little girl, and it was that passion combined with thirteen years of Catholic schooling, that inspired her to write THE DESCENDANT.
Kelley lives in a Cleveland suburb with her husband.
The Descendant
by Kelley Grealis
Synopsis:
Allison Carmichael wakes from a car wreck with no memory of the past three years. She doesn’t recall her husband’s death or how she alienated her friends, and she definitely doesn’t remember anything about her new boyfriend Vincent Drake – a charismatic man with a penchant for rare and unique possessions. In fact, the only things familiar to Allison are her seemingly common ailments – insomnia, lack of appetite, erratic body temperature – which have gone undiagnosed and are worsening. But Vincent knows exactly who, and what, Allison is – a mortal descendant of the first vampire. He is a vampire who has watched over Allison and her ancestors since the biblical times of Cain and Abel ensuring their secret is kept. Once he realizes Allison’s symptoms are accelerating and transforming her, he’ll stop at nothing to have her.
Allison discovers that she is a descendant and the first of her kind to exhibit signs of vampirism. She must decide between risking her mortal death if she cannot control her symptoms or fully transforming into a vampire and damning her soul for eternity. A decision made even more difficult when Allison discovers that Vincent has manipulated her life, and everyone in it, so that he can have the one thing no one else in the world has – the first descendant-turned-vampire.
THE DESCENDANT – A Vampire Tale of Biblical Proportions
I keep saying that I hate doing this - making comparisons to other series and shows - but I seem to be doing it more and more often in my reviews lately if the thought strikes me upon finishing a book, only because it just seems like it would be helpful for readers, and references to well known others is a decent way to do it. Obviously this is all just my opinion... With that said, this story had a very Vampire Diaries (the show), meets Twilight (for grown-ups), meets the Marked series 'feel' for me. HOWEVER, it was incredibly unique in its history and set up; I'm only referring to the 'feel' of the read.
Kelley introduces the vampires in this story as having ties to Biblical figures, and I found that fascinating. In addition, the plot was interesting, and the mystery, suspense and intrigue were well written.
Our heroine begins the book thinking she's going through a massive mid-life crisis and nothing seems to be filling the hole she feels in her soul. While dealing with that and some major health issues that the doctors just can't figure out, her life starts to turn upside down and her mercurial moods are affecting things at work and at home. And then things get really good...
She wakes up in the hospital having fragmented memories of both her past and what happened to get her there, but with the help of her best friend and our hero, Vincent, she starts to regain the life she's lost. Only things aren't quite adding up the way she thinks they should in her head, and the weirdness just keeps multiplying.
I would love to tell you more but I just can't without spoilers, so I can only tell you to take the plunge and read The Descendant. A side note: this book is not a fluffy vampire tale. I found myself angry for most of the story, and would say that Kelley can make a reader tap into a character's feelings betrayal like no other. ;)
LITERAL ADDICTION gives The Descendant 4 Skulls and would recommend it if you're a vampire lover looking for a refreshing spin on the norm.
The Descendant
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