Blog Tour: Review & Giveaway ~ The Vesik Series by Eric R. Asher

Hey guys! Welcome to my stop on the Vesik Series Blog Tour hosted by Girls Heart Books Tours. Click here to follow along with the full blog tour schedule! :D

Title: Days Gone Bad

Series: Vesik #1

Author: Eric R. Asher

Publication date: February 8th 2013 

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Source: Review copy

Blog Tour organized by: Girls Heart Books Tours 

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~ Synopsis ~

My name is Damian Valdis Vesik. I am a necromancer, an ability feared and hated as much as the powers my master and I set ourselves against. We've vanquished many evils, but now something is releasing an old darkness, forcing us to hunt an enemy beyond anything I've faced before. I was already busy enough with vampires, fairies, witches, Watchers, weddings, and ... damn, I need a vacation.

~ My Thoughts ~ 

My Rating: 5 / 5 

Days Gone Bad is infused with humor and stellar writing. The characters are amazingly well fleshed out - you feel like you really know them. My favorite character is Damian and not just because he's the main character. He talks to you like you're an old friend, he has a great sense of humor, and he's brave. Plus he's a necromancer - a necromancer who isn't evil. He's become one of my new book boyfriends! I also thought it was really interesting that Damian casts spells to fight against demons and rogue vampires.    

Damian's vampire sister, Sam, is a close second as one of my favorite characters. She's full of life (haha), spunky, and beautiful. I love that she has this gorgeous, straight black hair. Damian and Sam have a close relationship, and they get along well. Damian seemed to be protective of his sister, and that's one of the many things I appreciated about him.     

I really liked how the fairies are bad ass - there is nothing sparkly or dainty about them. Foster, his wife, and his mother Cara are tough cookies - you can tell by the way Cara reacts when she thinks the new employee Damian hired has insulted fairies. They will tear you limb from limb if you aren't careful around them! That's how they should be. ;)   

I liked the gore. That makes me sound demented I suppose, but as someone who's a huge horror fan of both gory horror as well as psychological horror, I like to see the "monsters" get splattered. With all of the supernatural creatures running around wreaking havoc, Days Gone Bad couldn't be told as well without some gore - Damian and his friends are battling for their very lives. There are going to be casualties. Gory scenes are just satisfying, especially when a puppet master rogue vampire is after my Damian! 

Days Gone Bad is packed with action, humor, and some bloody fun. I highly recommend this for readers who enjoyed the Sookie Stackhouse series, or even if you were disappointed by the series. Asher breathes new life into the urban fantasy genre, and I'm excited to see where the next installment takes us.  

~ Purchase Links ~ 

Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iBooks  

Title: Wolves and the River of Stone

Series: Vesik #2 

Author: Eric R. Asher

Publication date: October 22nd 2013 

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Source: Review copy 

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~ Synopsis ~ 

Philip, Zola's boyfriend from one hundred and fifty years ago, is not nearly as dead as we thought. I really wish he was. Not only has he kidnapped Zola, but he's raising an army to scour humanity from the earth. Hopefully the local werewolf pack will help. What could possibly go wrong?

~ My Thoughts ~

My Rating: 5 / 5

Wolves and the River of Stone starts off with action right away, and you're pulled into Damian's world as though you never left. As a matter of fact, this book starts off right where the first book ended. Asher's style of writing is stellar - I can't stress that enough. His writing skills make me jealous! ;)  

How shocked was I to find out Philip is not only very much alive but also raising an army? And had Zola, his ex-girlfriend, kidnapped? Very! What a shocking and awesome twist that turned out to be. The way Zola spoke of him in the first book, Days Gone Bad, you just wouldn't have thought of him as a bad guy, at least in the beginning. I did have a strange feeling when Zola told Damian in the first book that she found Philip's body two years before - that's the amount of time she disappeared, and Damian didn't know where she had gone. I thought that seemed awfully coincidental and had tucked that away in my memory bank for later. 

I love these characters! The dialogue is natural, and you can tell they care about each other, showing that in their own ways. If their world wasn't so dangerous, I'd want to hang out with them for sure. I loved meeting the new characters, too. They added even more to this story and are just as vivid as the other characters. 

The way Asher blends all of these different supernatural characters together is masterful, and I haven't read a lot of books with characters who are necromancers, which is one of the main aspects that drew me to this series. Everything about this series is amazing - the action, the romance, the characters, the plot...I'll be recommending this series to everyone I know. I'm the go-to girl of my family and friends for book recommendations. ;)

I feel lucky that I was able to read Wolves and the River of Stone right after Days Gone Bad. As much as I wish I had read Days Gone Bad when it was first published, I feel almost spoiled to be able to go right into the second novel. I don't know if I would've been able to stand the wait for this one! 

~ Purchase Links ~ 

Amazon | B&N | Kobo

~ About the Author: Eric R. Asher ~ 

Eric is a former bookseller, guitarist, and comic seller currently living in Saint Louis, Missouri. A lifelong enthusiast of books, music, toys, and games, he discovered a love for the written word after being dragged to the library by his parents at a young age. When he is not writing, you can usually find him reading, gaming, or buried beneath a small avalanche of Transformers.

~ Social Links ~ 

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

~ Giveaway ~  

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