Valentine's Exile

E. E. Knight

Book 5 of Vampire Earth

Language: English

Publisher: GraphicAudio

Published: May 2, 2011

ES Genre: Scifan

Description:

Possessed of an unnatural and legendary hunger, the Reapers came to Earth to establish a New Order built on the harvesting of enslaved human souls. They rule the planet. They thrive on the scent of fear. And if it's night, as sure as darkness, they will come. In a valiant rebellion against the half-century Kurian occupation, the newly formed Texas and Ozark Republics have dealt the vampiric aliens their first major defeat. Resistance member David Valentine is revered as a hero, but he has a dangerous enemy within his own ranks, who will have him facing charges for abusing the Quisling prisoners-the human pawns of the Kurians. When fellow freedom fighter William Post is badly wounded, he asks Valentine to find his wife, who has vanished into the darkness of the Kurian Order. But what Valentine finds there will shake his sanity to its very core.

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David Valentine is revered as a hero for his part in fighting to regain Earth's freedom. When a former Quisling traitor is badly wounded, he asks Valentine to find his wife, who has vanished into the darkness of the Kurian Order. With the help of old friends and new allies, Valentine traces her to a mysterious, heavily guarded compound in Ohio. And what Valentine finds within will shake his sanity to its very core.

From Publishers Weekly

Knight's fifth novel in his Vampire Earth series, the first in hardcover, has lost none of the compelling pulp-adventure flavor of its mass market predecessors (Valentine's Rising, etc.). Postapocalyptic Earth has been occupied for 50 years by alien Kurian invaders, who use their blood-drinking Reaper avatars to keep what's left of humanity in line. The Texas Republic and Ozark Free Territories have recently made some headway against the Kurians, and heroic resistance leader David Valentine continues his fight to save Earth by kicking Kurian tentacles whenever possible. Complications arise when Valentine tries to find out what happened to a wounded comrade's ex-wife, then is arrested on trumped up torture and murder charges connected with his handling of some prisoners. The sympathetic hero, fast-paced action and an intricately detailed milieu set in various well-imagined regions of 21st-century North America make for an entertaining read. (June)
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From Booklist

David Valentine, already a hero for his part in the uprising at Little Rock, plays the hero again in a major victory launched from the stronghold of Love Field in Fort Worth, Texas. Enlisted by an old friend and former Quisling to search for his wife, Valentine starts asking difficult questions. Before he can follow the tenuous leads on her fate, he is arrested for his treatment of the Quislings--Kurian collaborators--back in Little Rock. Finding himself a pawn in strategic negotiations between his commanders and the Quislings out west, he escapes, thanks to old friends, from the vagaries of politics and continues his quest north into the Kurian Order, that is, through Kentucky and into Ohio. He finally finds Gail Post in a mysterious, heavily guarded compound, in which he also discovers a secret that will shatter the foundations of his cause. Knight gives us a thrill ride through a world ruled by the vampiric Kurians and filled with engaging characters and grand schemes, and promises more to come. Regina Schroeder
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