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Mathias Drvar #1

Tail of the Devil

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Like many homeless kids, fifteen-year-old Mathias Drvar died on the streets. Unlike the rest, he came back– as a vampire.

If Mathias thought being homeless sucked, being a vampire is worse. The vampires who transformed him believe he is the reincarnation of an ancient king. They expect him to quit swearing, use a napkin, and play by their weird, ancient rules. F— that.

But after the reigning queen assaults Mathias, he has visions of a past life in which he was that king. Turns out the current queen killed him then, and wants to kill him again. He’d better grow up fast, because if he doesn’t his second life may be shorter than his first.

230 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 26, 2013

4 people are currently reading
1687 people want to read

About the author

Danielle DeVor

25 books173 followers
Danielle DeVor spent her early years fantasizing about vampires and watching “Salem’s Lot” way too many times. After living briefly in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, she moved back to her hometown to write. When not writing and reading about weird things, you will find her hanging out at the nearest coffee shop, enjoying a mocha frappuccino.

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5 stars
123 (55%)
4 stars
41 (18%)
3 stars
27 (12%)
2 stars
13 (5%)
1 star
18 (8%)
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
Profile Image for Shawna Romkey.
Author 11 books382 followers
April 18, 2013
Wow. I read this book in 4 days which is about ten times faster than I normally read. It flowed really well and the obstacles and pace of the book kept things moving along nicely.

This is a dark story of a street kid who has suffered more than anyone ever should. We see the tragedies he suffered that made him homeless and feel for his linger hunger he feels trying to get work and survive in the city. Through flashbacks we learn about his past family life as well as his early street life. But they don’t call them mean streets for nothing. His time there is cut short.

He’s gunned down in an alley and saved by a vampire who turns him, but there’s more to this vampire and the school he takes Mathias, to. They believe him to be their reincarnated king. What’s a poor street kid turned vampire with no memories of such past life to do?

There are great characters with some of the elders who work with him in the vampire world and a rich background of the king’s past life. How Mathias changes and adapts makes for intriguing reading.

Make no mistake, this is a dark, gritty story and not for the faint of heart. If you like original vampire stories with a rich, ancient back story, this book is for you!
Profile Image for Jackie.
Author 21 books473 followers
October 27, 2013
Mathias is just a street kid trying to survive. He does what he must to get money for food. When one of these errands for a really suspicious character goes horribly wrong he wakes to find himself in a whole new world. He is now in a world of vampires. Things he only read about are now his reality. While adjusting to his new world and those around him is a challenge even without the Queen who holds a grudge. Mathias soon finds that while he is now a vampire he is the reincarnated vampire king. His memories from his previous lives start flooding back and he realizes that the Queen is a much bigger threat to him than initially thought. The dangers of his new world abound and everything is compounded with the myth of his previous selves that all expect him to live up to. Mathias, the street kid, must learn quickly or his new vampiric life will be wiped out similarly to that of his last one.

Danielle DeVor does a great job with this story. I loved Mathias. His character is very well-rounded for a teenage kid. I also enjoyed the additions of Nosferatu and Vlad Tepes. They are great for Mathias’ character and actually put a new spin on the legendary characters themselves. The use of flashbacks to Mathias’ previous life was very well done. It can be quite a challenge for some authors to navigate this Danielle does this so adeptly that it helps to move the story forward without it hindering it. Her storytelling is great and I guarantee I will be reading more of her works. If you are paranormal fan, you will love this vampire world and the characters in it.
Profile Image for Simon Okill.
Author 12 books296 followers
July 4, 2013
Tail of the Devil is the story of 15 year old Mathias Drvar as he reaches manhood in the most unexpected way. After the death of his parents, Mathias is sent to live with his monstrous aunt and her evil offspring. Mathias has no choice but to run away from that tortuous environment. He travels to New York and lives by his wits on the harsh streets.
After a gang related drive-by shooting, Mathias wakes up in a strange hospital ward, only it isn't a hospital, but a school for vampires. Here, he learns of his royal ancestry dating back hundreds of years and how to behave as a vampire.
Mathias is taught by Vlad Dracula and Nossy Nosferatu. They show him the way of the vampire and all its intricacies. Mathias is at first reluctant as street life is in hs veins, but that too is erased as he comes to terms with his cruel past. It is in the incredible flashbacks the reader learns of poor Mathias' hard upbringing at the hands of his mother - Lilith the Queen. Her evil knows no bounds.
As Mathias matures so he must face his greatest challenge - he must learn to fight as a vampire and do battle with the most powerful vampire of all.
This is an unexpected joy, a FIVE STAR YA tale of gore for all age groups. A must read for all vampire lovers everywhere.
Profile Image for Mary.
117 reviews7 followers
May 23, 2013
I started out not quite sure about the story but as it progressed I enjoyed it more. This was a different take on the whole vampire story so that was nice. I did feel like there were unanswered questions but that could just be how I interpreted the book. I'm wondering if there will be more books to make this a series.. It seemed like there definitely could be and if there are I will for sure want to read them. Overall a good read.

If Mathias thought being homeless sucked, being a vampire is worse. The vampires who transformed him believe he is the reincarnation of an ancient king. They expect him to quit swearing, use a napkin, and play by their weird,
ancient rules. Screw that.

But after the reigning queen assaults Mathias, he has visions of a past life in which he was that king. Turns out the current queen killed him then, and wants to kill him again. He’d better grow up fast, because if he doesn’t his second life may be shorter than his first.
Profile Image for Maer.
Author 13 books292 followers
April 30, 2013
Tail of the Devil is a fast, edgy and gritty read. Anti-hero Mathias has had it rough in his few short years and it shows. He's an interesting character: distrustful, resentful and prickly. But DeVor keeps him sympathetic on his journey through life, death and undeath.

There's comic relief with the older vampires, who sometimes come across as overgrown kids, in spite of (or because of?) their advanced age. Their antics bring some lightness into Mathias's world. While this is YA, it is dark, has realistic language and violence.


Profile Image for J. Walker.
Author 13 books15 followers
April 29, 2014
This book has a lot of potential to be a series. It has a very Harry Potter-ish feel about at times. But don't think your getting the vampire version of Hogwarts. This fifteen year-old has a darker past and an even darker past life. Reincarnating as a human leaves Mathias in a dangerous lurch.

Mathias Drvar starts out as just a kid on the streets of NYC. His parents died in a car crash. His aunt wasn't just dismissive. She was cruel and allowed her children to behave worse. Mathias was left with the choice of risking his life and having a roof over his head or running away and taking his chances on the streets. He chose the mean streets. Until he meet a dark magician named Nic.

Nic uses Mathias as an errand boy, but the last errand seemed to go wrong. Mathias gets killed in a gang related shooting. Enter Vlad Tepes. He rescues Mathias and turns him into a vampire, taking him to a special vampire school in Siberia.

At school, Mathias learns more than vampire skills. He finds out he is the reincarnation of the ancient vampire king. This revelation certainly doesn't win him points with the reigning vampire queen. Poor Mathias has a lot to learn about being a vampire and even more about vampire politics.

I really liked the flow. There were times when the plot seemed a little predicable, but the events were enjoyable all the same. I particularly liked the snippets that had a parallel to the Potter series. Those bits took on a darker feel and more often than not had a different end result. The twists and turns kept the pace at an even clip. It wasn't a lot of action and then thirty pages of nothing much happening. I think a young adult reader would find this an interesting read. The language is a little rough, and I might think twice before giving it to a younger reader. As always, read it yourself before giving it to the kiddies. I give Tail of the Devil a full 4 stars.
Profile Image for Christoph Fischer.
Author 49 books468 followers
October 25, 2013
"Tail of the Devil" by Danielle DeVor is a well written Vampire Story about a 15 year old boy. Mathias Drvar has run away from his evil aunt who became his guardian after his parents dies in an accident.
Living on the streets of New York he occasionally earns money by doing odd job for a mysterious man named Nic. On one of those missions Mathias gets injured and awakes in the hands of Vlad Dracula.
This is where the fun begins, as Dracula hates being called by that name and the mighty Nosferatu prefers to be called Nossy. It turns out that Mathias is a distant relative and belongs to the Vampire lineage and will be taught how to be a Vampire and how to fight his enemies.
DeVor has created a very entertaining set of characters in this coming of age of a vampire tale. Mathias is a great if somewhat unlikely and often reluctant adolescent hero and his allies are equally colourful. With Mathias we learn more about the world of Vampires, Lilith the evil Queen and Mathias' s special role.
The use of language might keep it slightly out of bounds for the youngest of the younger audiences but although the tone is dark at times it always remains slightly light hearted.
Written with much love for the genre and attention to descriptive detail this is a wonderful Vampire story that has a great warm feel to it at times and then takes you into captivating scenes of action. For fans of the paranormal and supernatural this must be a feast with its own take on the Vampire myth.
Now that Mathias is established I hope this will become a series of books that will let us follow our young hero on further adventures.
Very well done.
Profile Image for Jessica.
2,194 reviews51 followers
May 31, 2013
After the death of his parents Mathias was left to live with his "evil" Aunt and her sadistic kids. When he found a chance he left and never looked back. He's been on the streets for a year and had to learn to be strong in order to survive. On the brink of starvation and on the way to get a job done he was ended up the victem of a hit and run. When he woke up he found himself in a hospital and was told that he could be a reincarnation of a very famous vampire warrior. A famous warrior who wasn't on good graces with the vampire queen. As you can guess she isnt happy that he's back around.

I really loved this book. At first it was pretty slow at first but then it speeds up. This book very easy and quick to read. I loved the different take of vampires in this book even if it took me sometime to warm up to. It's not the worst vampire I've ever heard of *Cough* Twilight glitter vamps *Cough*. The way things are for the vampires, him being in school and such reminded me of the Vampire Academy Series and the House of Night series both series that I love. If you love those series I'm pretty sure you're going to love this.

I loved that there was more then one point of view but I wished that they were more pronounced when switching because times I really get into the book or distracted and suddenly random character appears and I'm confused and backtrack. I loved that there was a bit of history/back story of past lives in there so I can understand, sympathize, and love the character even more, to root for him.

Such a fanstasic book! Highly recommend!
Profile Image for Jams Roses.
Author 11 books155 followers
January 25, 2014
This is decent vampire ebook that I enjoyed more and more as the story progressed. Mathias is a young lad who got dealt a rough hand and wound up in the care of his evil aunt, so had to make his own way in the fantasy world that was well-painted by the author.
The characters were interesting enough and the storyline came together nicely so it is well worth a read if you are into vampire or other fantasy style stories.
Profile Image for Doug Everly.
Author 4 books37 followers
May 19, 2013
I don't usually read vampire books, but Tail of the Devil sounded so different than the others I just had to try it - and I'm sure glad I did! The book kept me hooked all the way through, with its clever combination of wit, humor, action, mystery, and mythology. I cannot wait to read more by this exceptionally talented author.
Profile Image for Lillee.
45 reviews
January 3, 2015
The writing style was really basic, the plot was mainly made up of unoriginal concepts and characters and the dialogue was stiff and formal, even though one of the main characters is a homeless teen boy. You'd think he'd have picked up SOME slang! It was just a really dull, predictable read, or what I read was. Maybe the ending picks up?
Profile Image for Anna Othitis.
Author 10 books424 followers
August 23, 2014
This paranormal adventure of a 15-year-old homeless child was an enjoyable read of a vampire tale. Mathias travels to New York and lives by his wits end on the harsh streets. Exciting and a great mystery book read recommended.
Profile Image for Zachary.
54 reviews1 follower
February 23, 2018
A pretty good concept and story, the writing wasn't the greatest but, it wasn't bad either. The biggest problem for me was that the main character was just not likeable at all; he complained and whined constantly, and he was just an asshole to everyone for basically no reason. I understand he had a hard life and has trust issues or whatever, but man! At one point Vlad tells him he should try to not make such a mess well he's eating and Mathias just spits in his face, and then when Vlad understandably gets pissed off and scares the shit out of Mathias he goes and cries and whines in his room about how unfair everyone is to him. Like fuck off! you're an immortal vampire with superpowers, life could be worse.

I was also not a huge fan of all the religious God stuff that was going on, felt kinda weird, and it wasn't really explained very well. It almost seemed like it was a YA book that was trying to appeal to older audiences by trying to be dark and gritty, and having the character swear and stuff but if just felt so forced.

Another issue I had was that even though Mathias begins remembering his past life he retains no actual knowledge, which doesn't make sense, if he has all the memories from his old life he should know what his old self knew. I can understand him having to reteach his body how to fight and get back his muscle memory or whatever. However, his mind should have still remembered how to fight, and he should have remembered the languages and all the education he had, unfortunately he did not for whatever reason.
2 reviews
December 20, 2017
Very inexperienced writing style as well as several inconsistencies regarding character personalities, telling a very fanfiction-reminiscient story. Nevertheless I have made it to the end and started book 2. All in all a nice little read to pass the time and not think too much.
Profile Image for Terry Reid.
Author 4 books21 followers
February 4, 2014
This paranormal adventure about a 15-year-old homeless kid was an enjoyable read. Poor Mathias gets handed a shit lot in life after his parents die and he is adopted by his auntie - who unfortunately turns out to be crazy. After running away, the youngster ends up at death’s door before being saved by a vampire. The rest of the book focuses on Mathias coming to terms with what he now is, as well as his past.

I really enjoyed this story. Mathias, the main character, was not perfect and had a lot issues which made him interesting on a lot of levels. The story does well portraying his journey from changing from a suspicious, foul-mouthed, pained youth into a respectable, fully-functional member of the vampire fraternity.
Most of the story is set in a school for vampires, where they study and learn magic - a bit like Harry Potter, expect without all of the bullshit. That’s the only similarity between the two and then they part company - which I will give a thumbs up to (God, I hate Harry Potter).

Moving swiftly on, I think teenagers would really enjoy this book. The character is relatable (purely on a non-vampiric level) and the story flows well from one part to the next. I wish this book was out ten years ago when I was that age - instead of f*cking Harry Potter.

The book does get a little bogged down early on with its back story to Mathias’s previous life. For a while I got easily confused about what happened and what relevance it had to the characters in modern times. This could have been a bit tidier. I also felt the ending was little rushed but other than that, this was a very interesting story which kept my attention all the way though.
Profile Image for Ashley Martinez (ilovebooksandstuffblog).
3,039 reviews91 followers
September 19, 2014
Mathias Drvar not only lost his parents but his happy life as well. Forced to live with his cruel aunt he did the only thing he could thing of he ran. Living on the streets wasn't easy. It was a struggle to stay alive until the day he died. Mathias didn't just die though, he was transformed into a vampire.
Mathias is thought to be a reincarnation of a king. He is forced to decide who is friend and foe as he struggles to come to terms with who and what he is. His enemies seek to take advantage of him and if he doesn't grow up fast he may not live long enough to get a second chance at life.
A fantastic new start to what looks to be a fun and entertaining series. The author offered a unique vampire story that I was not expecting.
Mathias was a surprisingly refreshing character that was easy to root for.
Vlad and Nossy were fun and interesting characters. They were definitely not what I was expecting and brought humor into the story.
I loved how it wasn't your typical vampire story and had plenty of twists to keep you interested in reading to the end. I liked the darkness to the book and hope from more. I was a little disappointed that there wasn't more action. Hopefully the next book will deliver.
A must read for upper YA vampire fans. A word of warning there is a lot of swearing but it didn't take away from the story.
Profile Image for Maja.
7 reviews1 follower
August 30, 2015
The whole thing felt rushed. So many things happened, major things, one after the other . I thought about dropping it, but then I saw the ratings again and thought, huh…well, maybe it'll get better. I mean it's rated fairly well. I honestly don't know how that happened. I'm being generous with my stars here. Like a lot.

The dialogue was not really anything to write home about, neither was the world-building. It was non-existent! For some reason the flashbacks bothered me, they felt unnecessary. I mean, he could have just stated some of the things instead, but I guess the author wanted to describe emotions. They just sort of popped out of nowhere
Profile Image for Lilian Roberts.
Author 20 books182 followers
January 4, 2015
Great book!!! Here is where a wonderful story begins about Mathias Drvar who is an orphan and his life has been reduced to the gutters of this world where he has to fight his way out of every horrible situation that comes his way.The interesting part of this book is that Mathias becomes a vampire. He is thought to be reincarnation of a king and there are people out there trying to kill him.The story is very well weaved by Danielle DeVor who has done an amazing job with this book. It is not your typical vampire story and that is a good thing because it is quite intriguing.I enjoyed the read and would recommend it to anyone who would love to spend some great time with a great book. Well done Danielle DeVor.
Profile Image for Leanne Herrera.
Author 1 book9 followers
August 22, 2013
I enjoyed meeting Mathias and watching him grow. I loved the other characters and their huge differences. I even loved the villain in this book. Over all the characters were well rounded and the plot was pretty good too. I loved the lead up and found it hard to put down once I got started. (Which angered my family as I was not able to go to bed until I finished it at about 7 O'clock in the morning lol). I would recommend this book to those that like vampire novels. It met my expectation of a good read and exceeded it in a few instance but you have to buy the book to understand.
Profile Image for Starr.
47 reviews31 followers
July 10, 2015
Personally I rather enjoyed the book. I have to admit I was looking for a bit more action at the end and wasn't in the least bit satisfied with the fight, but the ending itself wasn't so bad. The book itself is a bit peculiar and and book contain likes and dislikes, but my dislikes are merely from the fact that it was different, not bad. In the end I kinda wanted a bit more and soon plan to read the next book.
Profile Image for Shady Lubbad.
237 reviews2 followers
December 8, 2015
I wish there was more action, and the fact that he just up and remembered how to use his powers and his past... i was like... REALLYYY... but thank god that it ended on a good note... soo i am going to read the second book and hope he goes and kills his aunt and the guy who killed that girl that took care of him... but if he turns around and starts with this let save the world and i am not going to kill any more.. i am soo asking for my money back...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for P.J. Fiala.
Author 75 books823 followers
December 14, 2014
I Love Vampires! Mathias has his work cut out for him. He must grow up fast, learn rules he finds ridiculous and protect himself from the evil Queen. Uh Oh.  I'm on team Mathias!
 
I found this book so interesting and I can't wait for more from Danielle. Oh, and I'm also on team Danielle!
 
Profile Image for Haniya.
190 reviews
November 16, 2014
Amazing author DeVor tells the story of full of debacles orphan teenage boy who has to overcome his fears to defeat his enemy for the land and for himself. An exciting, interesting journey to the lands of Lilitu which is just unforgettable.
Profile Image for Louisa.
8,680 reviews98 followers
October 8, 2014
Oh, such a great book, loved the world, and all the details we got, and Mathias' gang, and yeah, now to read The Devil's Liege!
Profile Image for Kim Morelli.
220 reviews2 followers
April 5, 2015
As I was reading, I could easily guess the age of the author... I don't often abandon books, but 30 pages in and I was done.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews

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