Vicarious

by Jon F. Merz

When disgraced ex-FBI agent-turned-Boston-cop Steve Curran finds a corpse with no practical explanation for its death, the nightmares start again. Convinced the serial killer that caused his expulsion from the Bureau is once again haunting him, Curran soon learns his theories are all wrong. When the sister of the latest victim, Lauren Fields, uncovers an old journal detailing the hunt for a creature known only as the Soul Eater, she and Curran must confront the very real prospect that the killer is not of this world at all – and that his motives have little to do with killing, but all to do with something far, far worse.

Praise for Jon F.

"Lawson is more like Jason Bourne than Dracula, making this a vampire mystery with broad appeal." --Booklist

"A powerful novel by a man who knows the turf already." -NYT Bestselling author Robert. B. Parker

"Jon F. Merz's novels move at a break-neck pace, twisting through a landscape of thrills and terror." -- Douglas Clegg, author of The Infinite and The Priest of Blood

"...a fine stalking session in vampire-noir land...a series and talented writer I'll be sticking with all the way." -- Mort Castle, author of The Strangers and On Writing Horror

Praise for Jon F. Merz's THE KENSEI (A Lawson vampire Novel #5):

"If James Bond, True Blood and Kill Bill created a mutant hybrid of a book, it would be The Kensei. A bullet train slice 'em, dice 'em mixture of action, suspense, and vampire ninjas. Did I mention vampire ninjas?"--Jason Pinter, bestselling author of The Fury and The Darkness

"The Kensei is an action novel with real bite. Vampires, Yakuza killers, crooks and animal-monster hyrbids. Jon F. Merz brings his A-game and then ratchets it up to a whole new level of supernatural action. Highly recommended!" --Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author of The Dragon Factory and Patient Zero

"In The Kensei, Jon F. Merz seamlessly welds gritty detail with myth and legend to create a thrill ride into the shadow-world lurking beneath modern Japan. Lawson's fight against evil has bone-crunching authenticity. Plus, it has vampires, ninjas, and vampire ninjas. What more could anyone ask?"--Christopher Farnsworth, author or Blood Oath

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Thriller

Nook

First published June 10, 2009

About the author

As a writer, Jon has published over 40 novels with major publishers like Kensington's Pinnacle Books, St. Martin's Press, and many more. He is also the author of eleven installments in the internationally bestselling adventure series Rogue Angel (2006-present) with Harlequin's Gold Eagle line. His short fiction story "Prisoner 392" (appeared alongside Stephen King in FROM THE BORDERLANDS, 2004, Warner Books) earned him an Honorable Mention in 2004's Year's Best Fantasy & Horror edited by Ellen Datlow. Jon has also co-authored two non-fiction books: LEARNING LATER, LIVING GREATER with Nancy Merz Nordstrom (2006, Sentient Publications) and THE COMPLETE IDIOT'S GUIDE TO ULTIMATE FIGHTING with Rich "Ace" Franklin (2007, Alpha Books/Penguin/Putnam).

Jon is perhaps most famous for his Lawson Vampire series of supernatural action novels starring the Fixer Lawson, a jaded anti-hero charged with protecting a race of living vampires from exposure. There are currently six novels (The Fixer, The Invoker, The Destructor, The Syndicate, The Kensei, The Enchanter) two novellas (Slave to Love, The Courier) and five short stories (The Price of a Good Drink, Interlude, Red Tide, Rudolf the Red Nosed Rogue, Enemy Mine) in the series with many more adventures yet to come.

Jon's latest novel is the new Shadow Warrior series debuting in September from Baen Books. Book 1, UNDEAD HORDES OF KAN-GUL is due out September 3rd in stores everywhere.

Jon also publishes his backlist independently. You can find his ebooks on Amazon: http://bit.ly/jonfmerz Barnes & Noble's Nook store: http://bit.ly/bnjonfmerz and on Kobo: http://bit.ly/kjonfmerz

As a producer, Jon has formed New Ronin Entertainment with longtime friend Jaime Hassett to create television and feature film projects in the New England area. Their first project is THE FIXER, a new supernatural action series based on Jon's Lawson Vampire novels. Filming of the pilot begins in 2013.

Jon has studied authentic Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu/Ninjutsu for over twenty years under Mark Davis of the Boston Martial Arts Center. He has also trained with senior Bujinkan instructors both in the United States and Japan. During a trip to Japan in February 2003, Jon earned his 5th degree black belt directly from the 34th Grandmaster of Togakure-ryu Ninjutsu, Masaaki Hatsumi. In addition to traditional training, Jon has also taught defensive tactics to a wide range of clients, including civilian crime watch groups, police and EMS first responders, military units, and federal organizations including the US Department of State, the Department of Justice, and the Bureau of Prisons.

In his past, Jon served with the United States Air Force, worked for the US government, and handled executive protection for a variety of Fortune 500 clients.

Reviews

[Jorgen Schäfer · Rating 2 out of 5]

In Jon F. Merz’ Vicarious, the former FBI agent Steve Curran finds himself with a strange series of deaths. No cause of death can be found for any of the victims, but they all have a strange commonality: The brain is green. When the soon-to-be nun Lauren Fields discovers similar deaths in ancient church texts, it dawns onto them that the cause of death might not be natural at all.

A strange book. It’s not really badly written. The plot is not really unbelievable. The characters are not really shallow. It’s all just a bit off. The story convinces the reader early on that this must be supernatural, and the book does nothing to refute that impression. Except for the protagonist stubbornly not believing it, even against all better signs. If the author wants to focus on the fight against believing the supernatural, then he needs to take the reader into this fight, to make it obvious why the protagonist is struggling. The way this book is written, I just kept rolling my eyes at the protagonist. And this happens repeatedly. There are good plot and character development ideas in there, but they are clumsily described and none of them are developed well at all.

I usually like ghost detective stories, but this one was a bore and I had to force myself to continue reading it. Not recommended.

[Barry Simiana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a fan of Jon Merz's writing, especially his Lawson series. This particular book slipped down one of the cracks in my Kindle program but I found it again while looking for something else. Jon writes exceptionally well, his stories make sense, even when they take an off-ramp into the unbelievable. He attains that suspension of belief for most of this book.

Rather than his vampire, this book is more police drama with a supernatural bent. And while I did like the book, it lost me with the demon a little. It was a little "Needful Things" but the demon, who should have been a real rip snorter, ended up going to cheaply. There are tugs to the heartstrings throughout that are a mite tedious, but taking the book as a whole rather than picking it to pieces, it's a GoodRead.

The epilogue, was excellent. Damn good way to end the story.

[Russ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent blend of horror and crime solving that gets you hooked from the very first page.

The main characters are believable, although perhaps defined too much through their relationship to each other, and the supporting characters are colorful. The story itself is truly terrifying, and you feel the weight of the struggle to come for our protagonists. The writing is suspenseful and keeps you reading even though you don't want to know what awaits.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone wanting a good horror story.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I always give Jon Merz three stars. I usually like his macho delivery; it's endearing. This book, though, suffers from a bad case of excess verbiage. It could use some editing. Otherwise, it's a good story.

[Albert Yates · Rating 5 out of 5]

fantastic little boom that really kept me interested from the moment that I opened it. another gem that was part of the Halloween storybundle, I think I'm going to be collecting these from now on.

[Chip Underwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun read that takes place in my neighborhood.