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Blurb
The Fallen: Genesis is a prequel novella in The Deadly Virtues Series and MUST be read before RAPHAEL (DV: book one)
THE FALLEN: GENESIS
(A Deadly Virtues Prequel)
IN THE BEGINNING…
They told them they were evil.
They told them they were possessed by demons.
They told them that darkness ran in their veins.
Holy Innocents Home for Children is a haven for orphaned boys who have nothing and no one. The priests watch over them, educate them, raise them in the family of the church.
Except for some.
Seven of the orphans are no ordinary boys. They attract the attention of the priests for their acts of violence, of bloodlust. The priests realize these boys are drawn to the darkness.
And the priests are no ordinary priests. They are the Brethren, a secret sect who believe themselves on a divine mission to seek out evil in the boys in their care. Seek it out, and then drive it out.
The seven have fallen from God’s grace. And the Brethren will cleanse their blackened souls…
Dark Contemporary Romance novella. Contains sexual situations, violence, sensitive and taboo subjects, offensive language and topics some may find triggering. Recommended for age 18 years and up.
Review
4.5 darkly disturbing and intriguing stars
Wow, Tillie Cole. Seriously. She warned this book was going to be dark, and she’s lived up to that promise, delivering a dark, gritty, graphic and shocking novella to start her new series, Deadly Virtues.
Be warned that this book won’t be for everybody. There are very dark themes, and graphic physical and sexual abuse that appears on the page. If you’ve read the Hell Night series by Alex Grayson (which I whole-heartedly recommend), then you’ll have an idea of what you’ll be getting with this series.
This book introduces us to seven boys brought together in a boy’s home and held by a radical group of priests who call themselves the Brethren. Each of the boys wrestle with an inner darkness and are subjected to unimaginable torment in the name of religion. But while they are living in hell, they are bonded together into an unbreakable family. Told entirely from the POV of the eldest of the group, I am already feeling so much for him and the boys and I love the way we have been introduced to this story.
Joseph didn’t know how, but he would find a way to protect them all … Boys with the names of angels but the thirst of demons in their blood.
He would protect them all.
Somehow. He at least had to try.
This is very much a set-up book, introducing us to the main characters, allowing us to see their lives and introducing us into their world. And by getting to see this amount of backstory, we come to understand them and their unconventional behaviours and their way of dealing with them, getting an idea of how the rest of the series will play out
It’s not all doom and gloom, with a strong sense of brotherhood, faith and hope throughout the story, and I’m sure we’re going to see happy times to come in future books.
Cole has provided a fantastic set up, and the stage is set for a gritty and gripping series to come, and I can’t wait for more!
4.5 stars!
An Advanced Reader Copy was generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
Deadly Virtues
Will eventually be a 7-book series (plus the prequel novella). Must be read in order.
The Fallen: Genesis (#0.5)
Review
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Raphael (#1)
Review
Buy: Amazon
Jegudiel (#2)
Buy: Amazon
Excerpt
Joseph watched helplessly as James moved from his place against the far wall toward a boy on a chair on the opposite side of the room. A boy who had slim knives embedded in his arms and legs—a human pin cushion.
Joseph shivered as he recalled his brother’s expression a moment ago as he’d sat and stared at the knives he had sliced into the boy’s flesh. James, the sadistic voyeur of his own work. Joseph’s nervous eyes landed on his brother’s target. The boy was bound with ropes, and a washcloth was stuffed into his mouth, silencing his cries.
Luke.
Fear flooded Joseph’s body. Luke, the boy who had been intent on bullying James since the age of eight. The boy who would spit at James’s feet when they walked by. The boy who call him weird, a goth, a psychopath who rarely spoke. His taunts were endless. Joseph didn’t think the verbal bullets had ever hit their target . . . until he’d found a pad of paper hidden underneath James’s bed. A pad of paper showing in graphic detail what James wanted to do to Luke.
Tie him up.
Cut his flesh.
Exsanguinate his body.
Then drink the blood down.
“They’re just fantasy, right?” Joseph asked James when he returned from detention. Joseph held up the drawings. Page after page of pain and despair and cruelty.
James walked slowly to Joseph and ran his hand down the open page of the pad, delicately running his fingertip over the pencil image of Luke’s slit throat. “It’s a promise,” James said, with no shame in his voice. “Each page is what will happen to Luke.” James finally met his older brother’s eyes. “I’m just waiting for the perfect time.”
From that day on Joseph made sure Luke never got too close to James, for fear of what his younger brother would do. Because Joseph believed every word his brother had said.
The truth was, Joseph knew that someday, if he wasn’t stopped, James would do something so terrible he wouldn’t be able to come back from it.
And Joseph had no idea how to cure James. He didn’t know how to heal his little brother of the wretchedness that had lodged itself into his soul. He prayed for a miracle he knew would never come.
Joseph’s heart pounded as James held up another knife. His brother’s torso was bare, the scars from his frequent self-mutilation clear to see, white roads of flesh mapping the veins that ran under his skin. Veins that carried the blood James so desperately craved; nightly, once safe in their room, he would slice them open and lick the falling drops as they ran in crimson rivulets down his arms.
Joseph thrashed on the bed, fighting the binds James must have placed him in while he slept. “James, listen to me,” Joseph said as he helplessly watched his brother slowly push his blade into Luke’s shoulder. Luke’s chair almost fell as he screamed into the washcloth, the fabric absorbing his cry. But James didn’t even flinch. Joseph’s stomach clenched when the blood started to pour from Luke’s shoulder as James carefully extracted the blade.
Eleven. That’s all James was. Eleven years old, yet thought only of blood . . . worse, even . . . thought only about the consumption of blood.
About the Author
Tillie Cole hails from a small town in the North-East of England. She grew up on a farm with her English mother, Scottish father and older sister and a multitude of rescue animals. As soon as she could, Tillie left her rural roots for the bright lights of the big city.
After graduating from Newcastle University with a BA Hons in Religious Studies, Tillie followed her Professional Rugby player husband around the world for a decade, becoming a teacher in between and thoroughly enjoyed teaching High School students Social Studies before putting pen to paper, and finishing her first novel.
Tillie has now settled in Austin, Texas, where she is finally able to sit down and write, throwing herself into fantasy worlds and the fabulous minds of her characters.
Tillie is both an independent and traditionally published author, and writes many genres including: Contemporary Romance, Dark Romance, Young Adult and New Adult novels.
When she is not writing, Tillie enjoys nothing more than curling up on her couch watching movies, drinking far too much coffee, while convincing herself that she really doesn’t need that extra square of chocolate.
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