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Vampire Huntress Legend #9
The Cursed
The Chairman has been killed and now Lilith, Satan’s Consort, sits on the vampire throne as the Vampire Council’s new Chairwoman. She raises all the dark covens, calling every major dark witch and warlock to do her bidding. Her goal is to distract the team members while the unborn heir to the Dark Realms awaits his own birth. All Lilith needs now is Damali’s newly discovered angelic powers. That will allow her evil progeny to walk through the veil between worlds and take his throne as the true Antichrist.
Damali and her crew race to stop Lilith. However, raising not only the dark covens but all vampires that had not been slain by Damali, puts the world out of balance and kicks off the Armageddon.
Damali and her crew race to stop Lilith. However, raising not only the dark covens but all vampires that had not been slain by Damali, puts the world out of balance and kicks off the Armageddon.
493 pages, Paperback
First published July 10, 2007
34 people are currently reading
2064 people want to read
About the author
L.A. Banks
59 books1,263 followersA pseudonym used by Leslie Esdaile Banks, she also wrote under the names:
Leslie E. Banks
Leslie Esdaile
Leslie Esdaile Banks
Leslie Banks
Alexis Grant
L.A. Banks, a native Philadelphian, was a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Wharton undergraduate program. With many awards to her credit, Banks also held a masters of fine arts degree in film and media arts from Temple University. She lived in Philadelphia with her family until she passed away on the morning of August 2, 2011.
Visit L.A. Banks' page on the Macmillan website: http://us.macmillan.com/author/labanks
Leslie E. Banks
Leslie Esdaile
Leslie Esdaile Banks
Leslie Banks
Alexis Grant
L.A. Banks, a native Philadelphian, was a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Wharton undergraduate program. With many awards to her credit, Banks also held a masters of fine arts degree in film and media arts from Temple University. She lived in Philadelphia with her family until she passed away on the morning of August 2, 2011.
Visit L.A. Banks' page on the Macmillan website: http://us.macmillan.com/author/labanks
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
October 12, 2009
The Cursed, ninth in the Vampire Huntress Legend series by L.A. Banks, finds Carlos, Damali, and the Guardian team returning to the battlefield waging war against The Darkness. In this episode, Lillith is elevated to Councilman replacing Cain and enlists the aid of Sebastian, Machiavelli, Medusa, Genghis Khan, Siren, and Jezebel, using their evil prowess to create a spell designed to weaken the Neturu and Guardian's confidence, trust, and libidos to the point of team implosion. She also plots to ensure Lucifer's heir, the Anti-Christ will mature to fruition. One refreshing angle in this release is that Damali and Carlos proactively (for a change) plan an attack against Lillith with the assistance of the King and Queen councils. What ensues appears to be the catalyst to Armageddon which leaves Damali and Carlos more determined that ever to rid the world of the Unnamed One and Lillith.
Old and new friends and foes also make an appearance -- we see the return of Fallon Nuit, Yonnie, a Valkryie, and a sexually transmitted demon. The team continues to roam globally with this jaunt culminating in the Middle East in the holy city of Jerusalem. Not only is it a battle site, but it serves as a much needed source for spiritual replenishment, emotional grounding, and renewed hope evidenced in the team's return to music.
Fans of the series who prefer the more action-based novels will be pleased with this offering because it seems like the team (including Damali and Carlos) have finally found a rhythm and the inner-relationship drama (and what at times seemed like endless bickering) is kept at a minimal. Everyone seems comfortable in their roles, are in tune with their "gifts," and are more focused on the tasks at hand. As one can surmise, there is a lot of action, backstabbing, and plotting to keep the pages turning. Banks does a great job staging the series for the final three installments; in fact it seems like there is no end to her creativity when blending cultures, myths, religions, and beliefs. No doubt, fans will yearn for the next release.
Old and new friends and foes also make an appearance -- we see the return of Fallon Nuit, Yonnie, a Valkryie, and a sexually transmitted demon. The team continues to roam globally with this jaunt culminating in the Middle East in the holy city of Jerusalem. Not only is it a battle site, but it serves as a much needed source for spiritual replenishment, emotional grounding, and renewed hope evidenced in the team's return to music.
Fans of the series who prefer the more action-based novels will be pleased with this offering because it seems like the team (including Damali and Carlos) have finally found a rhythm and the inner-relationship drama (and what at times seemed like endless bickering) is kept at a minimal. Everyone seems comfortable in their roles, are in tune with their "gifts," and are more focused on the tasks at hand. As one can surmise, there is a lot of action, backstabbing, and plotting to keep the pages turning. Banks does a great job staging the series for the final three installments; in fact it seems like there is no end to her creativity when blending cultures, myths, religions, and beliefs. No doubt, fans will yearn for the next release.
July 17, 2014
I must say I really enjoyed this book, it was packed with action. I also loved that we finally got to see Yonnie again as well as the introduction of Valkyrie and of course Fallon. This is the book where we really see the team come together and work as a team to fight evil. I love these books, the Good vs Evil, God vs Satan and Love over Hate, it’s a great spin on a classic plight. This Author did a remarkable job at putting a great story together taking that classic formula and made it a hit most would love.
***Summary***
This the 9th episode of the VHS, we begin with the 1st biblical seal being accidently broken & Armageddon is upon us, when the newly married Guardian team members, fresh off their Honeymoons march into Lilith’s Lair and wreak havoc, while Lilith is trying to explain to her husband why she has now allowed his Grandson to be killed. In order to save herself, she gives up her secret, that she has the Unnamed Ones heir in an angel-hybrid waiting to be born. Pleased by her cunning, he makes her the Chairwoman on the vampire council and she raise the Coven (Machiavelli, Medusa, Genghis Khan, Sebastian, Siren, and Jezebel) to cast a spell on the guardian Team to cause distrust & separation of the team, while in Nod without Cain’s rule the hybrids run amuck, the Dark hybrids go to war with the Light hybrids lead by Valkyrie. The team must travel to Masada to try and keep the Dark Hybrids from escaping Nod, Stop the Cursed ones, and Keep the team from being infected from within.
***Summary***
This the 9th episode of the VHS, we begin with the 1st biblical seal being accidently broken & Armageddon is upon us, when the newly married Guardian team members, fresh off their Honeymoons march into Lilith’s Lair and wreak havoc, while Lilith is trying to explain to her husband why she has now allowed his Grandson to be killed. In order to save herself, she gives up her secret, that she has the Unnamed Ones heir in an angel-hybrid waiting to be born. Pleased by her cunning, he makes her the Chairwoman on the vampire council and she raise the Coven (Machiavelli, Medusa, Genghis Khan, Sebastian, Siren, and Jezebel) to cast a spell on the guardian Team to cause distrust & separation of the team, while in Nod without Cain’s rule the hybrids run amuck, the Dark hybrids go to war with the Light hybrids lead by Valkyrie. The team must travel to Masada to try and keep the Dark Hybrids from escaping Nod, Stop the Cursed ones, and Keep the team from being infected from within.
Read
August 16, 2007This is the eight or ninth book in the series starting with "Minion". To appreciate this book you must read them in sequence. I like this series because the characters are all different races, cultures and religions and the author has really done her research and gives an interesting perspective on Heaven and Hell and everything in between. There are a lot of historical references as well which is intriguing. With each book the characters grow and evolve and the plot takes twista and turns that are unexpected. All in all an awesome series.
January 25, 2008
This series started off as a fun vampire romp. Now we've got Armageddon and the end of the world to deal with. It's kind of like Anita Blake meets Tim LaHaye. I'm not far enough in yet to see if it's going to be good or just heavy. It might be too much for me...
Ok, so I finished reading it and it didn't go where I was afraid it might. It's not overly heavy. It was nice that Carlos and Demali did not fight as much in this volume. I got kind of tired of their bickering in the past couple of volumes. I can't wait to see how this series is going to end.
Ok, so I finished reading it and it didn't go where I was afraid it might. It's not overly heavy. It was nice that Carlos and Demali did not fight as much in this volume. I got kind of tired of their bickering in the past couple of volumes. I can't wait to see how this series is going to end.
May 31, 2011
You have to give this series a chance..yes there is some hip hop language but this saga of books takes you on a journey. It brings in elements of good and evil, heaven and hell, God and the devil.. There are characters such as cain & abel, adam & eve and so on... Give this series a chance before you just say forget it...in the end it will be worth it..check out all 12 or 13 novels!!!!
August 8, 2012
The story, her level of detail, the depth of her world and mythology - just amazing. I hope I still have this series somewhere because I am in the mood to reread it! It was that good.
January 11, 2018
This is when I greatly enjoyed the series. In this one, I mainly feel connected to Yonnie losing the women he loved. He is next in line for the council seat, after chairman Carlos Rivera has seen the light, and getting back into Tara who now is married to Jack Rider.
I personally get lost in translation with the relationships between a number of the characters. I enjoy reading Damali and Carlos, but in this book, I enjoy seeing Yonnie's passion for his friend Carlos and Tara.
My only or main complaint with this read in the series is that there were too many religions combined as one unit, which was an overload for me. She mixed Muslim, Jewish, Christian faith to name only a few in one sector/section of the novel (1-2 pages straight) that made me believe they were united as one faith or one religion to defeat the demonic forces while under attack. Yet this part of the novel did not make me dislike the read, or fully disagree with the literature, but I felt it was forced or thrown in to cater to all religions or faiths of potential readers.
3.5 stars
I personally get lost in translation with the relationships between a number of the characters. I enjoy reading Damali and Carlos, but in this book, I enjoy seeing Yonnie's passion for his friend Carlos and Tara.
My only or main complaint with this read in the series is that there were too many religions combined as one unit, which was an overload for me. She mixed Muslim, Jewish, Christian faith to name only a few in one sector/section of the novel (1-2 pages straight) that made me believe they were united as one faith or one religion to defeat the demonic forces while under attack. Yet this part of the novel did not make me dislike the read, or fully disagree with the literature, but I felt it was forced or thrown in to cater to all religions or faiths of potential readers.
3.5 stars
September 21, 2017
Another great book from L.A. Banks. This time around the apocalypse has started and Damali and Carlos are fighting against the odds to keep the world from going up in flames. So many things happened in this book, it's all kind of blurring together with the rest of the story, but wow! As far as long series go, I'm really enjoying this one. Usually I just wish that they would end already. Five out of five stars to The Cursed!
January 14, 2018
3.5 stars
January 27, 2018
New players join the mix in attempt to take out the Neteru's and breed the Anti-Christ, relationship dynamics continue to show deep insight
March 13, 2018
This series always keeps you coming back for more.
November 20, 2020
She did again!!!
No matter how many times I read this series its like reading it for the first time!!! A MUST READ
No matter how many times I read this series its like reading it for the first time!!! A MUST READ
January 31, 2021
I am still reading this series out of order.
December 20, 2016
This book, although not the first in the series, was the first book I ever read by L.A. Banks, and it hasn't been the last. The series is catchy, fast-paced, and well-formed, but it does certainly have its pitfalls. If you've read any other reviews of the series, you know that one of these pitfalls is the dialogue, which is highly stereo-typed African American slang, though not all the characters are necessarily African-American. I would have liked to have seen the characters display a bit more class and dignity, but none of them (especially not the men) display any remorse for the murders they commit, and though this might be typical of someone who hunts evil creatures from hell, it doesn't set a good prerogative for the rest of the scenes, which are also tainted with slang, stereo-typed behavior, and crass comparisons. In addition, the writing isn't particularly astounding, and the themes are adult. I would recommend this if you are someone who is more interested in the plot than the way the book is written; but if you're someone like me, to whom the writing matters a great deal, I wouldn't suggest sinking your teeth into this series.
January 24, 2016
The first seal has been broken and Armageddon has begun. Lilith and her husband,the Unnamed One,are caught unawares while awaiting the birth of their angel-hybrid heir. Installed as Vampire Council chairwoman,Lilith calls on vampires, witches and warlocks (including Machiavelli,Jezebel, Genghis Khan and Medusa) to combat the forces of the Covenant, the Guardians,the Neterus and both Neteru Councils. She attacks her enemies Damali and Carlos Rivera where it hurts the most: their libidos. Soon the battle involves a Valkyrie,the Ark of the Covenant and bootleg music downloads. This end of days scenario is a wild amalgam of Christianity, vampire lore, world myth, functional morality,street philosophy and hot sex.[br/][br/] This is her 9th book in her Vampire Huntress Novels.. And they just keep getting better..
August 5, 2010
Remember when you were little and couldn't understand why the cowboys spent all their time kissing & going behind the barns with the women when the rustlers were just over the ridge & they needed to be ready for the gun fight? Parts of this book had the same feel to me. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a well written sex scene as much as the next person but too much of a good thing is like peeking in on your big brother and his wife.
That being said, the battles were epic and would look great on the big screen. I loved seeing Duke again as much as I hated that Yonnie once again seemed to be forgotten. Aside from his 'goodbye' to Tara he really could have been left out of this book & no one would have missed him.
That being said, the battles were epic and would look great on the big screen. I loved seeing Duke again as much as I hated that Yonnie once again seemed to be forgotten. Aside from his 'goodbye' to Tara he really could have been left out of this book & no one would have missed him.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 23, 2021
i'm a trooper, so i read this one, even though it's getting too biblical for my usual taste in books. solid points for lore, though.
June 11, 2011
I could not get into this book. I did not understand what was going on. This was my first book from L.A. Banks but I did not think I had to read them in order to understand the plot. Apparently you do have to read them in order. She does not give any leads as to why these people came to be. Most books that have a series at least explain the premise and most do not have to be read in order. I'm dissapointed in this author and don't think I will be reading any of her books anytime soon unless I find the first one to this series.
July 18, 2012
This book is book 8 of a series that I've only read book 2 of, so it's possible I would have liked it better with all the context provided by the other books.
That said, it was too biblical, with too many scenes describing fighting, and the sex was all weird white light and chakras, rather than anything very hot.
Vamp porn fail.
However, the plot drew me in enough that I was curious as to how it ended and I enjoyed that the characters weren't just middle class white people, which seems the norm with vamp porn books.
That said, it was too biblical, with too many scenes describing fighting, and the sex was all weird white light and chakras, rather than anything very hot.
Vamp porn fail.
However, the plot drew me in enough that I was curious as to how it ended and I enjoyed that the characters weren't just middle class white people, which seems the norm with vamp porn books.
June 28, 2023
Commentary
The new character developments are well done although I feel like the time line was a little rushed. This book was one of my least favorites but I am not sure why I feel that way. The battle has escalated into something that has you re-reading the first book for allusions. I would not have thought Minion would get into all of the lore of multiple religions.
Tarot Card -Strength
The underlying issue is always being played out what kind of strong do I need to fight this battle.
The new character developments are well done although I feel like the time line was a little rushed. This book was one of my least favorites but I am not sure why I feel that way. The battle has escalated into something that has you re-reading the first book for allusions. I would not have thought Minion would get into all of the lore of multiple religions.
Tarot Card -Strength
The underlying issue is always being played out what kind of strong do I need to fight this battle.
Want to read
September 25, 2009I'm having a hard time getting through these books. It started out great but this back and forth between the 2 characters is really annoying. They're supposed to be soul mates for cripes sake, every other scene has one or the other going off with someone else and the scenes between those are all fight scenes.
Yeah, that's what the Apocalypse is about but theres too much action and not enough story. I'd like to get through them eventually.
Yeah, that's what the Apocalypse is about but theres too much action and not enough story. I'd like to get through them eventually.
December 30, 2012
Another book I couldn't get into tho I usually go for the whole vampire deal. In this book Lilith is a demon who reports to her husband with his awful moods and how can she get what she wants without him killing her etc which is way off from the books I normally read. Maybe this book is a slow starter but I quit reading it and I am not sure I will finish it.
April 1, 2016
Lilith is sitting on the vampire throne & all she needs to do is distract Damali from her new angelic powers. That will allow Lilith's evil seed to walk through the veil between worlds & take his throne as the true Anti-Christ. Damali & her squad race to stop Lilith before she can install her offspring in his throne as the true Anti-Christ. An unbalanced world kicks off the Armageddon. Don't ya just hate that??!
September 9, 2007
There are 8 books in the series now and more in the works. The Cursed is the latest in that series, and continues Damali and Carlos' fight to save the human world from vampires, demons, and even Satan himself during what looks to be the beginning of the apocolypse. If you like vampire stories, the Vampire Huntress Legends series is a great one to start.
January 25, 2008
L.A. Banks is a Masterful storyteller. I loved this book. This was the 9th in the series. There was alot of humor in this book. The Queen's kick some Lilith booty. Its a shame they don't lay her a** down. The team have a united front in this book. It kicks off the Armageddeon for the next 3 books.
Looking forward to the next book.
Looking forward to the next book.
May 21, 2025
The series is really growing on me. Not much into religion but I like how she blends them all into her world. I also just love Lillth..one of the best villianess to come down the pike in a while! Looking forward to the next one to see what Carlos, Damali and the team will tackle next!
January 5, 2016
The Warriors of Light are back and badder than ever. The biggest issue they are dealing with now, is the break of the second seal and the birth of the anti-Christ through the deception of a vile angel hybrid from Nod, and Lilith.
August 24, 2008
Was an ok read, took some time to get into the book. Have not read any others in the series.
Read
January 8, 2009The entire series ROCKS!!! The last book of the series called THIRTEENTH will be available Feb 2009.
December 31, 2009
Pretty crazy. Little too much 'romance' and not enough 'action' in this book, but I still enjoyed it. Very pleased I finished it in 2009!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews