At Sword's Point

Knights of the Blood #2

by Katherine Kurtz, Scott MacMillan

When a series of gruesome murders baffles European police, LAPD detective John Drummond risks his own life to stop the killers, a generation of Nazi vampires with a thirst for world domination. Original.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Vampires, Urban Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy, Horror

352 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Katherine Kurtz is an American fantasy novel writer. She is best known for her Deryni series. She currently lives in Virginia.

Reviews

[Erica]

I'm wishing Kathrine Kurtz would write more in her Adept series, but I'll have to settle for these.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was disappointed in this one. I enjoyed the first one so much then to be let down with a cliffhanger that never ends.

I didn't like the affair with Maria. Why would she sleep with him? She gave no indication that she was particularly interested. Was this supposed to be explained in a later book?

There were too many villains. They were all spying on each other and the only one who was unaware was John Drummond. After a while, it felt more like a Pink Panther movie than a book about vampires and Nazis and knights.

It was nice that the author finally explained the source of all Drummond's wealth. I had begun to worry that he was on the take. I'm not fully satisfied that his wife is in a permanent coma with her bills conveniently taken care of but at least I learned where the money was coming from.

I didn't like the ending of the Knights of the Sword. They deserved better for their faithfulness, even if they were vampires.

Mostly, I'm disappointed that there is no book 3.

[Rick Dunleavy · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading the Adapt Series of Books by Katherine Kurtz, I had purchased the Knights of the Blood which is the first book in this serious and this book. I enjoyed both, even when sometime the story complicated by too many side characters who popped up for a reason you could quite fathom out until later in this book.. The book ends in a cliffhanger and I would like to read the 3rd book if it was ever written to hopefully finish of the story. It does give a plausible reason for vampires even if not totally thought out...

[Matt Kelland · Rating 2 out of 5]

Note to self: when reading a book that's part of a series, check Goodreads to see what I said about the previous one. In my review of Knights of the Blood I wrote: "Oh, my Lord, this is bad. I enjoyed Deryni, many years ago. This is just awful. Crusader vampires, Nazi vampires, and LAPD cops. And it sets up for a sequel which I absolutely will not read." I should have taken my own advice.

[Mark Muckerman · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought I was being kind when I gave Book 1 a two-star rating in spite of its many flaws and epic disappointment.

Any then I read this steaming turd…

Briefly: everything about this one fails - writing, plot pace and development, huge gaps and fractures int the storytelling flow that had me paging back to see if I missed a chapter…

But no. It’s just a colossal mess from page 1. Ironically, my copy started to physically fall apart (covers falling off, pages tearing and breaking free) as I read it. Almost as if the book itself knew it was an abomination and was slowly self destructing as a final kindness to humanity.

I can’t even foist this off on the used book store, now.

[Paca Sad · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story of vampires with a twist, knights, LA cops, German police, The catholic church, Jews, shame there wasnt a continuation? as it left off on an interesting note

[Nigel Williamson · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a very strange, disconnected, hilariously inapposite attempt to blend modern detective fiction with fantasy and magic - The Reeves-Stevens duo managed it well with the Galen Sword books, but frankly, KK is out of her depth and too far out of her comfort zone to save this twaddle from being anything except a curio and an object lesson in how not to write a genre crossover novel. The book's whole premise is uninvolving, too far-fetched to allow a willing suspension of belief, and shows that even a gem like Katherine Kurtz can occasionally write a complete turkey. Perhaps this is an ego sop, or a vanity project, but I'm choosing to believe that KK has written this under pressure from her publishers - she can't possibly have been so deluded as to believe this would actually work as anything other than a silly mess !

[Serena · Rating 5 out of 5]

I realize that it has been over 20 years since this book was published, but I hope that there is a third novel in this series even if there is no mention of one available through Amazon.com.
Action, adventure, intrigue, and vampires! There are lots of spies and counter spies, fast cars, gun battles, sword fights, and a beautiful, independent woman, too. This is definitely a series for those who have no taste for sparkly vampires attracted to teen-aged girls.
This book like the first one leaves the reader with a lot of questions as to what is going to happen next. I want to answers and I am sure other earlier readers want them too.
Seriously, I could not put this book down during the last 3 or 4 chapters because the action was so intense; my heart is still pounding from the adrenaline rush.

[Skwerlie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The hilarity of the premise is what made me buy this book- that and the $2 price tag at the local used book store (it was in the super bargain bin- in Australia a used book is usually more like $8-$12). In some ways it was not quite as hilariously bad as I'd expected but in others it lived up to all the cheese. In case this is all confusing you and you aren't sure what the book is about- Nazi vampires and a millionaire LAPD detective.

This is the second book in the series and I actually happened to stumble across the first in another shop (used of course, I don't even know how long this has been out of print) so I'm quite looking forward to the full experience.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

The storyline picked up right where the first one left off which made it all the more fun to read. Additional background provided on some of the characters was also helpful with giving you an idea where they're coming from. Now for the bad. This is it, apparently there weren't any further books published with these characters. Kind of disappointing since the overall story was continuing to build.

[Travis · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was disappointing. There were just too many disparate character and plot threads that just didn't tie together well. Too many characters were poorly drawn.

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

[Full Review to Follow]

Re-reading this book (and series) for review purposes.