Blood and Lace Book One: Vampire Heart (as Joseph Locke)

Listen, you want a list of Ray Garton's best work, you gotta include *Blood and Lace Book One: Vampire Heart*. Some might call it pulpy, yeah, a bit over the top, maybe even... *shudders*... romantic. But that's Garton, isn't it? He takes the raw, primal horror and laces it with something else, something you can't quite put your finger on. In *Vampire Heart*, that "something" is a desperate longing, a connection that defies the monstrous. The blood, the fear, the grotesque – it's all there in spades, delivered with Garton's signature unflinching prose. But beneath the carnage, there's a pulse, a heart beating (albeit a cold, undead one) for something more than just survival. *Vampire Heart* isn't just another vampire yarn. It's Garton exploring the boundaries of obsession, the dark corners of the human heart – even (or especially) when that heart belongs to a creature of the night. It's a masterclass in crafting compelling characters, even the monstrous ones, and forcing you to confront the unsettling truth that even in the face of pure evil, there can be a twisted, compelling form of love. Don't let the series name fool you, this ain't some sparkly, angsty teenage vampire drivel. This is Garton at his most visceral, his most thought-provoking, and his most disturbingly alluring. It earns its place on any list of his best work, no question.