Blurb: Paris, 1914. American adventurer Sam Carter boards the Orient Express, departing France in style after an impulsive decision to desert the Foreign Legion. British diplomat Lucas Avery is already nursing a drink in the smoking car, resenting his assignment to the distant Ottoman Empire. Neither man expects anything more from the next three days and three thousand miles than rich food, expensive champagne and fine cigars.
But something dangerous is lurking aboard the train, hiding in plain sight among French aristocrats and German businessmen. Through fire and darkness, through blood and ice, the Orient Express is bearing an ancient evil across the continent - and not all its passengers will live to see Constantinople...
Review: Running off from the Foreign Legion in Paris, American Sam Carter flees on the most luxurious train in all of Europe, the Orient Express. He meets a British diplomat Lucas Avery and a few other interesting gentlemen in the smoking car. After an evening of drinks and cigars, they are awoken in the middle of the night when a young woman is attacked by something they cannot describe. They must discover what this horror is and how to stop it or else it's possible no one will make it to Constantinople alive.
This is the first book in the vampire horror series, Avery & Carter. It's well-written with wonderful details about life in 1914. The setting on the train is rich along with the characters aboard. Sam is the stereotypical young buff American looking for adventure, not being able to settle down, and looking out for himself. Lucas has a few years on him, and while he's still fairly new in his career, he realizes they must work together to find the vampire. It's not any mystery who the vampire is when mentioned, and the ways of defeating it are true to the lore. Yet it is more about the characters themselves than the monster hunting plot. Avery, especially, is a fascinating character. I'm not as fond of Sam, but I guess the team needs some impulsive muscle and a character with a lot to learn.