Valentine's Exile (Vampire Earth Series #5) » (Unabridged, 1 MP3-CD, 11 hrs. 39 min.)

E. E. Knight was born in Wisconsin, grew up in Minnesota and now calls Chicago home, where he abides in domestic felicity with a spouse, a young son, and assorted pets. He invites readers to visit his Web site at vampjac.com or his blog, Bohemian Word Werks.

Possessed of an unnatural and legendary hunger, the Reapers have come to Earth to establish a New Order built on the harvesting of enslaved human souls. They rule the planet. They thrive on the scent of fear. And if it is night, as sure as darkness, they will come.

In a valiant rebellion against a half century of occupation by the Kurians, the newly formed Texas Republic and Ozark Free Territory have dealt the vampiric aliens their first major defeat. Resistance member David Valentine is revered as a hero for his part in fighting to regain Earth''s freedom. But a dangerous enemy within his own ranks soon has Valentine facing charges for his handling of the Quisling prisoners - humans who have become pawns of the Kurians in order to survive.

When former Quisling - and now loyal freedom fighter - William Post is badly wounded, he asks Valentine to find his wife, who has vanished into the darkness of the Kurian Order. With the help of old friends and new allies, Valentine traces her to a mysterious, heavily guarded compound in Ohio. And what Valentine finds within will shake his sanity to its very core...

Bonus Audio: Includes an exclusive introduction by author E.E. Knight.

Publishers Weekly

Knight's fifth novel in his Vampire Earth series, the first in hardcover, has lost none of the compelling pulp-adventure flavor of its mass market predecessors (Valentine's Rising, etc.). Postapocalyptic Earth has been occupied for 50 years by alien Kurian invaders, who use their blood-drinking Reaper avatars to keep what's left of humanity in line. The Texas Republic and Ozark Free Territories have recently made some headway against the Kurians, and heroic resistance leader David Valentine continues his fight to save Earth by kicking Kurian tentacles whenever possible. Complications arise when Valentine tries to find out what happened to a wounded comrade's ex-wife, then is arrested on trumped up torture and murder charges connected with his handling of some prisoners. The sympathetic hero, fast-paced action and an intricately detailed milieu set in various well-imagined regions of 21st-century North America make for an entertaining read. (June) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.