The Last Descendant

by Kristina Kairn, Lance Buckley (Illustrator), Stephen Parolini (Editor)

She’s immune to every disease. But her curiosity may get her killed…

Cambridge, England. American Pathologist Dr. Abby Whiting longs to know why she never gets sick. The sole survivor of a horrific outbreak two decades ago, she’s certain the answer must lie in her medical records held under lock and key at a mysterious clinic. But standing in the way of her access to classified files is a charismatic, centuries-old vampire.

Tasked with replicating the secrets of the dying predator’s blood, he proposes an uneasy alliance in exchange for her documents. But her research soon sends her down a path strewn with murdered clinicians, a vengeful detective, and an obsessed rival in search of fresh souls. And even worse, her shocking findings reveal a disturbingly outrageous truth.

Can Abby discover the secret to her own strange gift without losing her soul?

The Last Descendant is the page-turning first novel in The Bloodprint urban fantasy series. If you like complex characters, surprising twists and turns, and dark suspense, then you’ll love Kristina Kairn’s thrilling tale.

Buy The Last Descendant to put a stake in a long line of murders today!

Genres: Mystery, Fantasy

340 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 8, 2019

About the author

Kristina Kairn is an award-winning author who enjoys giving readers dark, suspenseful stories with sharp heroines and daunting villains. She writes from Silicon Valley, usually in coffee shops, sometimes in quiet public libraries, always on the look out for monsters, hauntings, and the tech police.

She has been married for 20 years to a witty graphic designer. They’ve combined DNA twice. She owns two mutant goldfish and one laundry-curious Holland Lop bunny.

Reviews

[Kat To · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall: 🩸🩸🩸½🩸
Genre: fantasy, paranormal fantasy
Plot: 🩸🩸🩸🩸
Writing: 🩸🩸🩸🩸
Characters: 🩸🩸🩸🩸
Spice: 🩸🩸½🩸
Does an animal die?: ×

TW: blood, murder, assault, passing of a loved one, abuse

Pathologist Dr. Abby Whiting is immune to every disease known to man and she's just trying to find out why, but the answer is tucked safely away by a centuries-old vampire, James,  who is willing to be as petty as possible to get himself what *he* wants: the secrets that lie within his own blood.

This book was well written, well researched and well received enough for me to buy the rest of the books within it's trilogy.

Don't pick up this book unless you're perfectly willing for there to be barely any questions answered, but be that as it may, I'm assuming things will come together more within jts sequel, & yes... yes, I am team George.

[Nalou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somewhere between 3 and 4 stars

I don't know where to begin. I'm not even sure of what I read. As a fan of urban fantasy, I thought I had an inkling about what I'd found in this book. Let me assure you right now that it was absolutely not the case.

I can't make my mind about whether I liked the book or not. I think the main thing that threw me off is the style (for lack of a better word at the moment). Let's try to think about this rationally.

1. There are multiple POV (which is something I absolutely love), and Abby's was first-person-style and occupied the majority of the book while George's and James' were third-person-style and would pop out of nowhere, many times when you were least expecting it. Probably part of my strange feeling about it.

2. Those characters: can't say too much about them without revealing anything. They were interesting, multi-dimensional (just how I like them), but at the same time I didn't really "click" with anyone. That also probably explains why I'm not really sure what to think about it.

3. Then there's the plot. I lost count of the times I felt lost and, being the fantasy fan than I am, it's not that unusual. What is, though, is that every time you feel like you got an answer, more questions appear and it doesn't make sense. Sometimes it felt natural, because you're in Abby's head and she doesn't follow either, but sometimes she does and I didn't and I hate that feeling. Like when, literally at the end, you finally have Abby's retelling of what happened when she was young, and most of it still didn't make any sense to me. Am I not smart enough to get it? Or is it voluntarily written that way to keep you reading? In any case, it both made me want to read more at times, and made me close my ebook app when that happened because to me it's still a shitty feeling to have. I don't quite know how to explain it, because I've thoroughly loved novels that left you with lots of questions, but here it almost was like the way it was written was for, I don't know, Abby's benefit and not the reader. Strange way of phrasing it, I know, but I have no idea how to put it differently.
It sometimes feels like it jumps all over the place, now that I think about it.

So, multiple reasons why I don't really know what to do with this book. To be honest, I'm not sure I'll read the next book. I'm super curious and I really want to understand what's happening, but at the same time I'm not sure this desire overcomes the "weirdness" I'm feeling towards this book and the author's style.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving a free copy from Hidden Gems.

[NoNo JoJo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Preface: I received a free copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
Actual rating: 3.25 stars
Explicit content: Some sexual content, violence, death

This is one of those novels that I really wish I could rate higher, but it doesn't quite deserve it. The novel sort of /felt/ like a 4-star experience when I was wrapped up in it, but I think that's only because it won me over in the first half, and I kept giving it leeway. Unfortunately, a lot of this book is meandering, vague, and confusing. I'm not usually a fan of characters stating exactly what's happening or what they're feeling at any given moment, but honestly, I wouldn't have minded it here. There's so much that is intended to be sort of subtle, but just comes off as confusing. By the end, I really didn't understand the sequence of events, or what certain characters' motivations/plans were. The pacing was also all over the place - sometimes slow, sometimes super fast, sometimes very choppy. There's a point around the 200pg mark that feels like it should be the climax of our story, but then we have another 100+ pages to go. There are also action-packed sections that suddenly resolve themselves off-screen or via time-jumps. Overall, it just feels very messy.

That being said, the characters are very strong and likable, despite me not quite understanding what all of them are going for. I really liked our protagonist - she's blunt, but very genuine, cares about people without knowing quite how to express it, dedicated to her job/science, etc. She's unusual for a female heroine, but I really liked her. Our male hero is fine too, though there's not as much to say about him. Even the minor characters have a lot of life to them.

The overall plot was interesting, when I could understand it. There are a lot of questions about which of our POV characters are the titular last descendant - or if either of them are - and what exactly is happening to George. I feel like this would have been really fun and satisfying to untangle, if only the overall plotline was clearer.

Overall, I enjoyed this novel probably more than it deserves. A lot of it is sloppy or choppy, and the overall conclusion isn't terribly satisfying. I'm not really sure if I can recommend it to anyone, especially when the ending leaves so much unsaid. This might be one of those books that really needs the sequel to shine, I'm not sure. I'll probably give it a read just to see, though. If it does really enhance this novel, I might edit this review to reflect that, we'll see. I'd recommend reading some other reviews on here and weighing whether their descriptions sound appealing to you, or if the flaws mentioned would outweigh your potential enjoyment of this novel before purchasing.

[Marissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Last Descendant is an urban fantasy novel in The Bloodprint Series. This book has elements of a vampire novel, mystery, and medical thriller as well. It centers around Abby Whiting, a young woman with a mysterious past who never gets sick and just started a job at a medical clinic in Cambridge. As she tries to unravel the mysteries of her past, she encounters the darker side of the world and those around her. While the book blurb may not allude to this clearly enough, I would categorize this as a modern day spin on a vampire novel. The story is told from multiple points of view and at different perspectives. It would switch from first person to third person which was an interesting way to tell the story. I did find that I got a bit lost trying to keep track of what was going on since the transitions seemed to be random at times. I actually had to go back a couple of times to make sure I wasn't missing any pages. I recommend it for someone trying to find something new in the vampire genre.

I voluntarily reviewed this book after receiving a copy through Hidden Gems Books.

[debb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Storyline

Possibly the most intru

One of the best vampire sagas in a very long time. Excellent storyline with outstanding characters and enough intrigue to keep you turning pages well past bedtime.

[Jeulia Hesse]

Liked it very much will get the next one!

[Nathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Last Descendant is an excellent read.

I absolutely love the book. It was well written and would recommend it to others. Looks forward to reading the next one.

[Charity · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I read it after receiving a free copy. Yes, it is a vampire story. but there is enough mystery and intrigue in it to make it much different from your standard vampire story. I will definitely be on the look out for the next in the series. It was a captivating story with well thought out and developed characters and I can't wait to read the next one!

[Ilona Nurmela · Rating 5 out of 5]

There’s no better place to be a vampire than in the historic fairytale Cambridge (in the UK)

Kairn’s The Last Descendant is set in Cambridge in the United Kingsom that I know and love and have lived in for five years, so I kept seeing the movie in my head of familiar places while reading this book. Of course, I had to look up what served as an inspiration for a medical facility next to the King’s College Chapel - and I did find the Medical Centre on Trumpington Street. :)
When Dr Abby Whiting is recruited by a Cambridge immunology professor and he and pretty much everyone ignores her for the first 17 days, something starts to smell fishy. She has just moved continents to her hands on the files from the viral outbreak that wiped out all the kids in a small US town twenty years ago. All but one. Her. Desperate to do the job she was hired to do, Abby seeks out the boss of her boss and that’s when things get spooky. She find herself in a race against time to find a way to kill her vampire boss - at his request - before a local Detective Inspector arrests said vamp for being suspiciously youthful looking for a 60yo. Vamps that can walk in daylight, borrowed bodies, emotional attachment of a donor as a way new vampires are made, olden reputable manor houses harbouring dark secrets, not to mention a new theory on revenants - my head was spinning from irregular vampire theories as the pace of the book never wavered. I liked the love/lust triangle and how the author dripped in clues from James’, DI Cooper’s and Abby’s pasts, bit by bit. I even liked the obsessed Charlotte and how she kept borrowing bodies with her tell-tale sway giving her away. I particularly liked one sentence, said almost in passing melancholy: All beautiful scary things are female. Judging from the hints and tips, I hope James the 200yo vampire will make a reappearance in the second book of the series, perhaps to protect his last descendant or...Abby. He was so delishiously controversial, taunting Abby, yet trying to save her that I keep wondering about those two - what if...? A recommended read, if you love off the beaten path theories about vampires and like piecing things together.

[Chrissy Paperback Treasures · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read for lovers of Deborah Harkness’ All Souls Trilogy. Full review available at www.mybookmarkismybff.com

[Peggy Tree · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is mesmerizing, fascinating and incredibly good. I think it would be a terrific movie, cas well. I was hooked from page one and didn't expect it to be a vampire story, but I loved it!! I loved the characters, and hated a few of them. There's action, danger, suspense, twists and turns, with surprises at the end. I was rivited to this booj all the way to the end. It's well written, very enjoyable and entertaining to read. By the end of the book, vampires and ghosts seemed as real as regular people are to me.

James Stuart is a compliex character who befriends American Dr. Abby Whiting. She's the only survivor of a childhood epidemic that caused the death of all of the children she was hospitalized with, except her. She wants answers and became a forensic pathologist. She gets hired to work at Cambridge, in their clinic,, by Dr. Tousain, who has promised her the files concerning the outbreak and death of all the children except her. She can't find him and no one else has seen him. She ends up with James as her only patient and is determined to find a cure for his condition, that requires blood transfusions several times a week. When she discovers that he is a vampire, she's fascinated and keeps trying to find something to help him not need transfusions or using "companions to obtain his blood from. George is a detective with the local police department, his supervisor, "Vic", their friend, Nate, who is a doctor at the same clinic as Abby, and a character, Padma, who has been taken over Pasma's body, a past lover of James' called Charlotte, is out to destroy anyone who James cares about are the main characters in the story. It's a complex story and I am not doing it justice. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes good mystery/thrillers.

[Kaysee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was given this book free in exchange for an honest review.

Sadly I cannot give it an honest rating as the copy does not wish to load on my tablet. I did get far enough where I became interested. I may purchase in the future.

[Jamie Bee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I chose this book at my favorite book review site because it appeared as though it was going to be a medical thriller, which I do enjoy on occasion. While it has both medical and thriller aspects, it is more of a vampire story, which is something I didn't quite glean from the book description. In general, I'm not really a fan of vampire stories. It is just not my jam. This book is more complex than many of the independently published books of this subgenre. I didn't like the profanity (a personal thing) or the way that vampirism was sexualized. The latter was a little creepy at times, even right at the beginning. It was interesting, though, to watch the heroine try to figure out not only her task before her in her new job but also what is truly going on at the clinic and with those whom James knows. Things and “people” are not always what they seem. There is a complex cast of characters with a deep history that is slowly revealed. If you enjoy the vampire subgenre, you will most likely find this thriller something you can sink your teeth into. Yup, I went there!

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book to be mesmerizing, once I started reading it, I couldn’t put it down till I had finished it. I’ve never read this author before, but I shall be looking out for her books in the future. She has done a great job world and character building.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Pat Eroh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating thriller that kept me engaged in the story from the first page. Fast-paced action and fabulous characters, this book is an awesome read.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.