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Echopresent: Til Blood Do Us Part (Book Review)

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Author(s) – Jessica Ingalls and Jesse Wilborne
Release Date – 2016
Rating – 3/5

I have been reading more this last year than I have my entire life combined.  I started work for a new company and instead of myself doing all the work while everyone else sits on their ass and gossips, I work with an actual team that takes turns doing their job.  This has granted me some free time at my place of employment.  Instead of killing time on social media like my co-workers, I have decided to pick up reading.  After working my way through the bibliography of my favorite author Terry M. West., I set my sights on the Vampire Hunter D series.

While I wait on the other volumes in the series to arrive I took the time to check out the short story Echopresent: Til Blood Do Us Part. This was one sent over to review from co-author Jessica Ingalls.  Ingalls befriended me on Facebook where she is very outspoken and stands her ground when it comes to her beliefs.  Gotta respect a strong woman like that.  Thanks Jessica for sending this one my way!

**Spoiler Alert** The story for this one follows the dead Tshilliah who reaps souls. While out looking for a man that drowned she finds a dog carrying the carcass of a baby.  Intrigued by the sight, she attacks the dogs and kills it before retrieving the baby so she can reap it as well because reaping two souls is better than one.  When she picks it up she realizes that this child is the reincarnation of someone she has been waiting for.  She decides to save the child and feeds it her demon milk before taking him to an orphanage to be raised where she continued to nurture the child creating something very different.**Spoiler Alert**

When Jessica first contacted me about reviewing Echopresent she warned me that it was graphic and disturbing. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that I read the works of Kevin Strange and she could not touch the depravity his sick mind comes up with.  It was still a solid read but not as vile and disgusting as I was hoping for.

The writing in this one was awkward to read.  I don’t know if this was just a draft I was sent to review or not but it was a little blocky and somewhat hard to follow.  The story is set up into sections that work like chapters but are not numbered and are rather confusing to be honest.  They almost feel out of order.  Also, there was several errors throughout the short story.  These are errors that we see everyday on social media and the like.  We see the wrong use of ‘to’ and ‘too’ along with no punctuation.  As I stated earlier, I don’t know if this is a rough draft or not but these are things that can be easily fixed to improve the quality.

The story for this one is great once you adjust to the way it was written.  The dead reaping souls, sexually aroused, nursing a human child that was once dead, all was fucking brilliant.  I can see so much potential with this story and it would be a damn shame if we don’t get more following it.  Hell, I would love to get my hands on a longer version of it.

Finally, this short story has several characters that are enjoyable and you really rally behind.  We have the human child living on the milk of the dead, the reaper who loves to masturbate on couches, and more.  Some really memorable characters are in this one.  Overall, Echopresent: Til Blood Do Us Part is a great effort from co-authors Jessica Ingalls and Jesse Wilborne.  The story is roughly written but has so much potential.  It may not be the most disgusting thing you will read but you won’t soon forget it.  Head over to echopresent.com and check it out.  It is well worth your time!

Blacktooth

(Staff Writer) Lover of all things horror and metal. Also likes boobs and booze.

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