Emerald Gemstones & Gourmet Chocolate Gift Set - Perfect for Birthdays, Anniversaries & Romantic Occasions

For readers such as myself, knowing the vampire Marquis and feeling his cold hand in mine would be ... Well, I guess it would just be the beginning of my desire in truth, but it would be a treasure much to be cherished all the same. All praise to K. Murry Johnson for bringing this unforgettable dream forth from the storehouse of his imagination. Marquis, in my view, can take his place among all the great literary vampire characters, even with the beloved Anne Rice's famed Louis and Lestat. There is a deftness and an eerie stealth in the way Johnson meters out his magic on the page; the reader is snared, his attention held hostage, before he can even realize it's happened. What one at first takes for light and perhaps frivolous reading is subtly transformed into a deeply memorable and compellingly vivid experience. Of course, it is to some extent, I suppose, a joint effort: the marveling reader finds himself readily suspending disbelief and surrendering to every sweet, fantastical plot twist because he earnestly wants the story to take flight. To be sure, there are a host of gobsmacking events that keep you off guard as you're taken into deeper water -- so there's really no going back. One smiles to think of fleeting similarities with other familiar cannon: the work of the inimitable Walter Mosley in _47_, the delicious cinematic spectacle that was _Django_, and Will Smith's great role in _Hancock_. Yet, as we're led through this fertile territory it becomes unmistakably clear that this author is plotting a course that is uniquely his own. His signature creativity underlies all of it, as he shows us things we have never seen before and will never see again (unless and until he comes with a sequel).Clearly the most moving moments in the book overtook me as I fell headlong into the backstory of Louisiana circa 1800. Here we lock on to the character of Jeremiah, generous and poetic and strong and loving. (I know I will be no more apt to forget him than will Marquis.) Here all bets are off and all fortunes are reversed. Behold: in a parched, dry land (figuratively) where time has seemed to come achingly to a stop, hope and change are made manifest through the 'legendary vampire.'We aren't allowed to lag or linger in this bittersweet 'tale' before a most ingenious plot device starts lifting and shifting us back and forth between time periods. Brilliantly conceived and executed, the device of Marquis's enthralling short story and Eric's revealing and foreshadowing poetry ostensibly written and passed between them as class assignments allows us to move with bated breath between Marquis's centuries-apart, developing relationships, the great romantic loves of his life.Seemingly the author did, like his true-to-life characters, study advanced creative writing at Loyola. The skills and craft that were nurtured and developed there have propelled Mr. Johnson in unexpected directions with the appearance of _Image of Emeralds and Chocolate_. For anyone who has ever known 'forbidden longings,' I think, there is a rich flavor about this work that is to be relished and savored, repeatedly. Once you've been bitten, the fever won't leave you. But who, I wonder, would not want to belong to a deeply caring and maximally sexy superhero whose every loving intention could be perfectly realized? Whether unremitting fantasy or unyielding hope, it is endlessly beguiling. This unique book offers an all too rare chance to explore it and to insufflate it with vibrant, beautiful life.I encourage overlooking the occasional injudicious word-break decision or errant comma in the Kindle edition that could create the impression this is not a polished or professional piece. Quite to the contrary, it truly is a landmark achievement in my view. K. Murry Johnson's solution to 'point-of-view' issues in telling a wide-ranging story like this one is nothing short of genius in my opinion. It is a study. He can turn the pleasant phrase, too, as when he describes trees "decorated with a choir of birds singing original overtures."Talent like Mr. Johnson's is rarely visited on this genre. Yet ultimately it is not the superb literary devices the author wields with such dexterity that make this the standout book that it is. Rather, it is the humanity -- yes, even that of a vampire -- that sets it above so many other reading options. It is the transcendent and enduring, almost haunting nature of the profound love the characters have for each other and the searing scenes that percolate out of that which are the real basis of this book's genuine appeal and the reason why the reader is left longing for more.Why would a lover, of books or of men, miss a reading experience like this?In closing let me say I have not had the pleasure of meeting the author and I have not received or been offered enticement or consideration in any form for writing this review. I am an English major who has studied creative writing at the college level and am an avid reader and an aspiring writer, and my fondness for Emeralds and Chocolate is quite genuine.Happy reading!