Shackles of Sunlight

by J. Daniel Layfield

Braughton is the only known vampire hybrid. Elizabeth is the latest in a long line of human servants he must bond with to keep his vampiric nature suppressed. She just needs to be trained. Unfortunately, the Vampire Council has picked now as the time to deal with Braughton, the long time thorn in their side, and Elizabeth is not behaving much like a servant at all.

341 pages, ebook

Published June 28, 2016

About the author

Daniel was born and raised in Alabama, and, due to his inability to tolerate cold weather, refuses to live any further north than Birmingham. The earliest memory he has of wanting to be a writer is when he wrote a one page story for an English assignment in third grade. The teacher wrote some encouraging remark on the page, and the idea he could someday be a writer was born. Sorry, he doesn't remember her name, so there's no chance any of you can go back in time and stop her.

Reviews

[G.G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Braughton is a hybrid, half-human, half-vampire, who possesses the vampires' perks without the hindering side effects such as sunlight vulnerability. With this subtle difference Author Layfield brings us a mix of vicious vampires of old style along with a more humanized one. This interesting new take on vampires also involves a bit of sorcery.

I love vampire stories although I realized it's not something I read too often. Maybe it's because most of them are in the paranormal romance genre and while they are fun to read once in a while, it's not a genre I'll readily choose. Shackles of light is different. It's not a romance. It's pure action filled with sword fights, gun shots, and hand-to-hand combats. The descriptions are clear and well written, making it easy to imagine the play by play as we read and the story unfolds.

The characters are well developed. While I thought the story would center on Braughton, I believe we follow Elizabeth more, which is fine, but since I am a fan of male protagonists, I would have loved to hear more about him. His childhood story was interesting though and helped set the mood. I'd just wished there had been more.

I'd recommend this standalone to any fans of vampires who would be looking for action rather than romance.

[S.K. Wee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Braughton is some sort of hybrid, one of a kind mystery. He requires a bonded servant to keep his vampire beast hidden away. When his servant is killed in an ambush, Braughton’s hunger erupts as he enters a diner in the midst of an armed robbery. In record time, Braughton slays all three thugs but he still needs a bonded servant. While on patrol, police officer Elizabeth hears the call about the diner killings and is sure the perpetrator would have to cross her path. When she realizes he must have turned off the road she tries to locate him even though she is told to wait for back-up. She is just what Braughton needs, a new bonded servant, but she is unlike any of her predecessors. Time is running out if they want to stop the Vampire Council from whatever plans they have concocted. Great pacing and wonderful characters throughout. Highly Recommended!

[Ben Mariner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am of the opinion that any writer can take on more than one genre, but it takes true skill to do so well. I don't come across an author very often that can jump from genre to genre and keep their skill at its peak. Dan Layfeild is definitely one of those authors.

Shackles of Sunlight is vey different from Layfield's other book, Spell Fade, both in terms of tone and content, but it is easily just as great. You can feel the shift right off the bat with a pretty intense first chapter, and it doesn't really let up. Sure, the story revolves around vampires and the tropes don't stray too far away from the norm, but it doesn't matter. This a fast paced, bad ass story that's a blast to read from start to finish.