from: Two Backed Books
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Type of bind: Paperback
EAN num: 9781933293462
ISBN number: 1933293462
Label: Two Backed Books
Manufacturer: Two Backed Books
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 208
Printing Date: March 26, 2007
Publishing house: Two Backed Books
Sale Popularity Level: 2038507
Studio: Two Backed Books
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
Four stories where the tooth hits the bone. Hard boiled detectives square off against hard fanged blood suckers. When every breath could be their last, the only things that matter are the heat of their flesh and mettle of their iron.
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Rated by buyers 
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Vampires, I can take them or leave them. I've read Anne Rice's Lestat stuff, and the occasional vampire story here and there. Gotta say I haven't enjoyed reading vampire stories this much since the Lestat series. I don't mean to compare this book with Mrs. Rice's, I'm just saying that I haven't enjoyed a vampire story as much as hers until now.
The book consists of four short stories based on vampires and how detectives, FBI, and police deal with them. In a couple of stories the investigator is even specially adapted for just this sort of investigation, having hidden powers of their own. Though I enjoyed all the stories, and yes, a few did have some typos, my favorite was John Sunseri's Flesh and Iron. Both the hero of his story and the villain drew me in. His story drew me in and wouldn't let go.
Rated by buyers 
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I'll admit right off the bat that I'm not crazy about vampires, so a personal bias toward my least favorite monster is a factor here. But I still welcomed Flesh and Iron's promise to explore different angles of the concept. And while most of the stories grabbed my interest at the onset, it was only John Sunseri's "Death Rides an Iron Horse" that delivered the goods.
The other three stories just aren't that engaging. They seem less concerned with the plot than they are with establishing mythos and characters - like they're setting up a series.
The team-up of Diane Raetz and Patrick Thomas is unfortunately fraught with typos, more than any other story, and I found the difference in the two writers' voices distracting. I'd check out their individual work before passing judgment, though, as it seems their story suffered from an awful editor as much as anything else.
By contrast, Sunseri's dark and imaginative entry provides a very unique take on vampirism that draws you in, makes you care about the characters and leaves you hungering for the further adventures of his "Iron Man".
Is it worth buying the book just for Sunseri's story? Well, if you're a vampire fan then you might enjoy Flesh and Iron more than I did. Supporting the small press and a talent like John Sunseri is important as well, so give it a shot if you think this blend of sex and gore is up your alley...
Rated by buyers 
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I bought this book because of my interaction with one of the members of an Amazons Discusion Group. She never mentioned that she was a published author. This impressed me as a lot of other authors seem to use the discusion groups as a way to advertise their work. And this irritates me to no end. I just happened to stumble onto this book while looking for more novels to read. I am housebound right now and need something to keep my mind nimble.
Flesh and Iron is a group of 4 short stories with a "paranormal crime" slant. I have read the entire book and enjoyed it. I am only going to review the very first story, in the interest of brevity. The other stories were enjoyable to read and helped fill my day.
The title of this story is "Taste of Blood Immortal" by Diane Raetz and Patrick Thomas contained in the book Flesh and Iron.
The story starts out with an FBI agent that works in a little known nor appreciated section of the FBI. I envisioned the office much like Mulder's. Papers and books laying around in stacks and piles, and a desk buried in papers. The kind of office you don't really go into. You talk to the denizen from the doorway. He is tasked by his superior, and former partner to find a serial killer and stop him. In the course of this investigation he is introduced to another agent. She's a female knockout that happens to be some type of fairy princess. While she is tasked to support him on his mission, the mutual attraction is great and integral to the story. She is obviously interested in him as they almost end up at a motel along the highway. The story builds to a good crescendo and ends with a fairly surprising ending. Not an ending like a 4th of July fireworks display, but in a solid unexpectedly humorous conclusion.
There is some bondage and sexual content. This was marketed as an adult book.
There were several misspelling errors that showed some inattentive editing. That did not detract from the story. The errors just irritated me by being in a fairly polished work. I would have liked to see the relationship of the two FBI agents developed more. Then again, this is a short story and the length does not allow the character development that you see in a complete novel.
The story could lead to another paranormal series should the authors decided to take it in that direction. There is some solid potential. I know that I would buy it.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that there were many more twists,turns and surprise events than you would normally expect in a story of this length. I read it in one sitting and immediately wanted more.
This would appear to be the very first work from the Raetz/Thomas team. A search of the internet shows this to be the very first anthology offering from Ms Raetz. She appears to have had other short stories published in various magazines and some self published stories. Should some publisher wake up and give this team a chance, I think they could singly or together eventually produce some of the most interesting work in this genre.
Ms Raetz exhibited the writing ability that some fairly established authors have still failed to attain. It is obvious, from this small story, that she has a nimble mind and just a touch of deviousness. Couple that with a wry sense of humour and attention to detail that leads to some definitely interesting reading.
I am eagerly awaiting other books from these authors. Possibly in a format that would allow them to create a more complete world for their characters to have further adventures.
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