Order to Kill: A Vampire's Vengeance

by M.J. Doherty

The desiccated corpse of the Catholic Archbishop of New York City sparks an investigation that uncovers a trail of shame going back more than 50 years.

FBI Special Agent Claire Kelly is tasked with arresting the serial killer who is murdering child abusers within the Church. What she discovers challenges her Catholic faith and her fundamental beliefs about the world she lives in. Do vampires really walk the earth? Is the Church what it seems to be?

Eliza Delacour is a paradox. A beautiful and powerful vampire, Eliza is also the loyal and devoted servant of an ancient Order dedicated to the eradication of vampires across the globe. To save humanity and fulfill her murdered father’s mission, Eliza must track and annihilate the most evil of vampiric monsters ever created, the Changer.

Buried secrets rise to the surface as the mystery deepens in this face paced thriller. The darkest and most depraved of crimes come to light and the action heightens as the body count rises. A chase across continents and against time brings two women together in an explosive tale of family connection, crime, vengeance, and passionate love.

Genres: Fantasy, Supernatural, Lesbian, Paranormal

315 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 24, 2015

About the author

MJ Doherty is a lawyer living and working in gorgeous sunny Brisbane, Australia. She has worked for police, ambulance and the state prosecution service, among many other organizations.

Passionate about child and animal welfare and preserving the unique environment of Australia, she is a great fan of Sea Shepherd, The Irwin family, Bravehearts and the World Parrot Trust among other wonderful organizations trying to make a difference.

The Charlton Affair is her first effort at creating lesbian fiction. Her next work - Order to Kill: A Vampire's Vengeance is a paranormal lesbian mystery novel. The sequel to The Charlton Affair, Bed of Thorns, is out now.

Reviews

[Musa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vampire story that comes with a slightly different twist and lots of action. The story was set in the modern day world, where the last of the vampires are to be hunted and destroyed by a very old order from the church. Eliza - a vampire herself but also a descendant of those who is devoted to the cause, vowed to destroy the changer (the worst kind of vampire that kills children) and last of the vampire (herself). Enters Claire - the FBI agent in charge of recent murders, with corps being drained of blood. Quite a portion of the story, Eliza and Claire were running on parallel timeline, until their path crosses during the hunt of the changer/ murderer.

Most of the book is action packed with investigation, a hunt and the murderer being just one step ahead. I find Eliza a very intriguing character. She's old and worldly in a way, but yet innocent in many other ways, especially dealing with humanity, emotions and Claire. I'm not sure I like the ending, but the ending felt true to the Eliza's character - loyal, mission driven and devotion at all cost.

This book is very close to a 4 star for me, and if you enjoy vampire thrillers just with a lace of romance in it, this maybe your book.

[Book Worm · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book by the author. It is a mystery thriller with a very serious topic - paedophilia. In the face of such heinous crimes, which for several reasons often remain unsolved, unpersecuted or even disputed the novel grapples with the topics of vigilantism and the limitations of the law.
Although I usually do not like vampire stories, I must say that I enjoyed this particular character very much. She is a very complicated being: despising her own kind and actually helping to ensure their demise - she is at once very weak, but also magnificent. This is a great combination.
As in her first book, the author is able to create suspense. She moves us along and surprises us with the one or other interesting plot twist. However I would have liked a little more exploration into the motivations of each character. Especially Eliza and Claire could have done with a bit more emotional struggle.
All in all however this is an enjoyable read with a depth of topic. Especially the last words are very meaningful and poetic. I agree the seed of evil will always be - it is an eternal fight.

[Shayne Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really great read, full of action. I loved the locations and the way the characters grew and changed, the sex scenes were really well done, too. But don't read this book if you're squeamish or will be triggered by crimes against children. This is a book about revenge - killing child-murderers and about the sex abuse associated with the Catholic Church. That aspect is not overly graphic, but it is a main theme of the book, along with one of the protagonists who questions her faith as a result of what she learns. It's also got some history/genealogy and obviously, a para-normal theme. The best part for me was the pacing and the development of the relationship between Eliza and Claire. I didn't pick the ending either. Highly recommended!

[Pauline · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book. With vampirism and conspiracy within the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church, it's a bit like a cross between The X Files and The Da Vinci code. And there's a very moving lesbian love story woven in for good measure. I read this book after really enjoying Doherty's first novel 'The Charlton Affair' and I enjoyed this every bit as much. It's very fast paced. And definitely not for the squeamish. I loved it!

[Nolly Frances Sepulveda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read

I enjoyed this story, the originality of the weaknesses Eliza possessed as a Vampire made it that much more interesting. The content was deep concerning the church and the cover-ups, which is really sad. I liked Claire's character and her connection with Eliza. Very well told.

[H Catterall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting and consuming book

Every book has its own voice, the story being read to you by the author you either have to work to enjoy or it just flows naturally. I have read all 3 of M J Doherty’s books and enjoyed each one. I hope there will be more.

[Geo (rain) · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Are you going to protect me from him?” Bader begged her.
“It’s me you need protection from,” Eliza hissed, her teeth exposed.

3.5 stars, rounded up. Right. It's been more than a week since I read it, but I do remember some things and I usually take notes/highlight while I'm reading so that's going to be helpful now, haha.

Anyway, a 'vampire story' that's slightly different to what I'm used to, a bit/lot more dark and serious. The story is told from several characters' points of view, but we could say the 'protagonists' are FBI agent Claire Kelly, and vampire vigilante Eliza Delacour. Pedophiles are been brutally murdered, their corpses found inexplicably bloodless, and Claire and her team are working to uncover what or who's behind it. Eliza Delacour, one of only two vampires still 'alive', seeks revenge. A devoted servant of an ancient Order, while also tracking, killing and exposing child abusers with ties to the Church, her mission is to rid the world of vampires, the only one left being the most dangerous, perverse and difficult to find of all, the Changer.

I like that the author used different perspectives to tell the story and gave them an almost equal amount of relevance, but even if I did like most of them I feel they were underdeveloped. After finishing the story I just couldn't say who Claire really was, for instance. So that would be my biggest complaint.

Eliza, on the other hand, was the best written, in my opinion. A very complex and badass vampire who kills her own kind, and had me constantly wishing for the story to switch to her perspective. And although this can't be considered a romance, and you shouldn't expect otherwise, there is something between Claire and Eliza from the first moment they look at each other. As they get closer, their feelings for each other grow and it was nice to see, they have an interesting dynamic considering one of them is an FBI agent and the other a ruthless killer (and also a vampire). Not much focus was given to it (and their first real interaction happens at around the 60% mark!), but what they did have with each other was nice and well-done, it felt honest to me.

There's a lot of action and brutal murders that occur across different cities and countries, so we have the characters going from New York to Rome, to Frankfurt and Paris, and so on. I did wonder if every single character spoke English... There never seemed to be a language barrier no matter who they encountered, or where, but anyway, this might be just me, haha. The mystery surrounding the Changer was well-done, I think, although it did leave me with one big question (Why... Why didn't the Changer, or the other vampire, can't remember his name right now, convert others? Wouldn't they want to spread their kind? The Order was worried Eliza would do something like that, even by accident, but not the villains?). Since it's about child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church I imagine it can make some people feel uncomfortable, but it wasn't really graphic or offensive, and it was very suspenseful and engrossing.

So overall it was a good read, I only wish the characters would have been more fleshed out.

[Mish D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not your typical vamp story - more like a crime mystery sort of thing, with a large dollop of Dan Brown for flavouring. The author was well able to grab me and take me with her on the action-packed world journey, though. The vampire - Eliza (funny name I think, but oh well) has entrenched values that she struggles with as they're not compatible with vampirism (nothing new here although at least she doesn't eat animals) and the other protagonist is a New York FBI Agent who is struggling with her moral compass in the face of the rampant child abuse in the Catholic Church. Lots of complex themes and not for the faint-hearted. Not for those looking for a typical para-normal adventure either. The author hasn't positioned the novel to appeal strongly to either the paranormal fan or the mystery fan. Ultimately this is more of a mystery than anything else. I think it could benefit from better editing, also. Despite these flaws, it captured me and was a solid 4.75 on the immersion scale, and for character development and scene setting, too. It was clear that the author has done a significant amount of research, so I applaud the effort. Looking forward to the sequel.

[Vicky R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

I was extremely hesitant reading this book due to the content warning. Like for a year I'd download it, read the synopsis, then delete it over and over again. Finally gave it a shot and I'm super happy I did! Don't get me wrong, it's very intense and those warnings should be heeded... But if you can stick it through its a fantastic read, I loved the way it was written, story line kept me hooked! My first read by Doherty and most definitely will NOT be my last.

[Lynn Curtis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow

Incredibly intense Vampire story. Highly recommend to read if You enjoy supernatural stories. The author gives a quite compelling set of points of view from different characters along the way but it only makes the story stronger. Take your time read it, if you read too fast you might miss something!

[Steve Going · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hate sad endings!

I know there's more, but you won't manipulate me again, I hate authors who think they have to emotional manipulate you. It isn't necessary nor is it pleasing to the reader. I read for pleasure not sorrow. I get enough of that in real life. I will never read another book by this author. I'm done!!!!!!!!!!!