--Full, non-spoiler review courtesy at Book & Movie Dimension a Blog--

It was on a day a while aho when headed to the public library to venture to discover some good/amazing book finds that found Darkside by Tom Becker. The book cover was so exquisite and, oh, the premise just as mouth-watering. When headed home soon took of at at an earnest pace to make progress with it. The hours of entertainment that went by were many. It was at that moment that realized it was one of those novels , a reader, gets a hard time putting themselves away from further reading. The anticipation builds and builds or more-over excitement of having got yourself those truly genuinely entertainment-rich treasure. Darkside was just that! Once you headed down the road you are one entity with the book. The very reason for the creation of this blog and vision for it was to find novels that are amazing works of writing and Darkside is a prime example. With it can rejoice in presenting, everyone who hopefully happens to read this blog, with the news thst they should take a look at this book so as not to miss out!

On to Lifeblood, Book Two of Darkside, readers who read Darkside encountered a whole new horizon with a place in London with inhabitants of the most vile nature around. Jonathan a boy who is in actuality half-Lightsider (normal person from let's say London) and half-Darksider (tainted with bad seed of evil people from let's say London) meet some new friends in Rachella (a vampire's servant girl) and Carnegie (a Wolfman detective). While also making some new enemies mainly of which Vendetta (a vampire banker) who has a myterious agenda but as of now hates Jonathan's guts for weakening him when Vendetta tried to, oh yeah, drain and thereby kills Jonathan's father. who happened to be Jonathan's enemy at first besides Vendetta , Marianne, seems to not hold a grudge with Jonathan this time around in Lifeblood. Some of it could have to with Jonathan having another dangerous adventure on his plate after all, Darkside, being a place of people of ill-intention where it was originally reigned over by Jack The Ripper who-then passed on his rule to his descendants. But now his descendants are being threatened. Jonathan and Carnegie are soon caught in finding who is doing it. All of it being strange since The Rippers are not exactly people you would want to mess with.

Jonathan again is further taken into Darkside's depths. We get to see that with Jonathan's interference he gains another enemy. Jonathan though is determined to find who is murdering Jack The Ripper's blood considering it might lead to his mother's (Theresa) disappearance. Lifeblood shows a more emotional turn around here with Jonathan. He's growing more mature. Other characters grew also with Rachella and Vendetta being the main ones. Lifeblood has a more darker visual turn in its writing than Darkside where Darkside is further explored,

Another genius novel in the Darkside series! For followers of the series there is more new places to see and growth of characters new and old. Nighttrap is the third book which should be just as attractive. For anyone not familiar with this series please do get familiar. Great sweet entertainment with this series.
Overall: Amazing read!
Genre: Fantasy, Dark-Fantasy, Fiction, Vampires, Werewolves ( )

Reviewed by Jaglvr for TeensReadToo.com

LIFEBLOOD is the second book in the DARKSIDE series by Tom Becker. The story picks up a few months after everything that happened in DARKSIDE.

Jonathan Starling has remained in Darkside with Elias Carnegie. As with the first story in the series, the pair gets drawn into a mystery that soon turns to them trying to solve a murder. They are approached to discover who an unknown victim is. The problem is that the victim was murdered the same way as another infamous member of Darkside society twelve years ago. The first known murder victim had been an heir to the Ripper throne.

Jonathan has learned more history of Darkside in his days of living in the evil society. Darkside is ruled by the ancestors of Jack the Ripper. When the current ruler dies, the offspring of the ruler must fight the Blood Succession to the death to determine who will reign next. When the murder victim of twelve years ago was revealed to be a hidden Ripper heir, the city was put into a whirlwind. Can the new murder be connected to the old crime?

Jonathan and Carnegie are aided by members of the Darkside's newspaper. There, Jonathan learns that his missing mother was a reporter for them, and disappeared around the same time as the infamous murder occurred. Jonathan is certain that the two events must be connected. If they can solve the latest crime, maybe he can discover what has happened to his mother.

As with the first story in the series, Mr. Becker creates a dark, evil world that grips the reader. Even in the chilling setting, the story moves fast, keeping the reader glued to the pages. Like rubberneckers driving by a car accident, the reader is so enthralled with the story; they can't help but be drawn into the action. The pages seemed to turn on their own accord. I sat and read the story in one sitting, waiting to find out if Jonathan's quest would bring him the answers he searched for. Mr. Becker will leave you wanting more from Darkside, long after the final page has been read.

Note: The descriptions and settings are a bit bleak and dark. The story may scare some younger readers. ( )