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  • Mulholland Books

A Love Like Blood

Marcus Sedgwick

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If life has taught me one thing, it is this: that the worst monsters are entirely human.

It began in a hole in the ground, in Paris, in the days after the liberation. What I saw there I saw only for the time it takes a match to burn down, and yet it decided the rest of my life.

I tried to forget it at first, to ignore it, but I could not. It came back to me; he came back to me. He hurt people I loved... And so I took the first step on a journey from which there would be no return; a path that led me to fear, to hatred and to revenge - but, above all else, to blood.

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Praise for A Love Like Blood

  • Stands head and shoulders above most of the competition on a number of counts: the period detail is convincing, the character of the obsessive hero, Charles Jackson, is finely drawn and the chase across Europe as Jackson tracks the blood-drinking villain is terrifying, thrilling and relentless. - GuardianThis macabre fantasy follows a trail of blood across Europe over 50 years... Stylish, thrilling and fast, you needn't be a horror fan to enjoy this. - Sunday MirrorUtterly engaging and intelligently written... It has quite a cinematic feel to it with its dramatic settings and fast-paced mystery. A must for fans of sharp, fast-paced thrillers to intrigue and disturb (in the best possible way). - A Case for BooksClassy, elegant and gripping... A novel for a chilly night with a cup of tea and a warm blanket where you start reading and then go on and on, unable to stop.A Love Like Blood features some unforgettable settings-suffice it to say that Charles' travels take him far beyond the squalor of Avignon-as well as pitch perfect pacing, a canny combination of genres, and smoothly flowing, sophisticated prose. Expect suggestive, sensory storytelling on the sentence level, then... and as I said at the outset, little things like this can pack a proper punch. As does A Love Like Blood. - Tor.comThis is a genre book (of whichever genre you choose, although I know which side of the fence I'm on) of great distinction and quality. Marcus Sedgwick has produced a galling amount of high quality children's and teen reads in a short career that shows no sign of relenting, nor of losing his way as he steps into the adult market. In my first mental draught of this review, before I'd read it, I was imagining myself saying 'there must have been something in the water in the Sedgwick household' to make him such a confident, firm and competent writer. But no, it has nothing to do with water - it must be in his blood... - The BookBagThe style is much like a Victorian ghost story with the expectation of horror building with every page, drawing the reader in... I was enthralled. - Our Book ReviewsA LOVE LIKE BLOOD manages to play with vampire tropes while lifting the novel to stranger, more compelling heights. A great read.

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Marcus Sedgwick

Marcus Sedgwick

Marcus Sedgwick (8 Apr 1968 - 15 Nov 2022) was the winner of many prizes, most notably the 2014 Michael L. Printz Award for his novel Midwinterblood. Marcus also received two Printz Honors, for Revolver in 2011 and The Ghosts of Heaven in 2016, giving him the most citations to date for America's most prestigious book prize for writing for young adults. Other notable award-winning books include Floodland, Marcus' first novel, which won the Branford-Boase Award in 2001; My Swordhand is Singing, which won the Booktrust Teenage Prize for 2007, and Lunatics and Luck, part of The Raven Mysteries series, which won a Blue Peter Book Award in 2011.

Marcus' books have been shortlisted for over forty other awards, including the Carnegie Medal (seven times), the Edgar Allan Poe Award (twice) and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize (four times). He has been nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award three times, in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Marcus was Writer in Residence at Bath Spa University for three years, reviewed for The Guardian newspaper and taught creative writing at Arvon and Ty Newydd. He judged numerous books awards, including the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize and the Costa Book Awards.

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