| Mozart's Blood |  | Author: Louise Marley
Publisher: Kensington Books
Category: eBooks
This item is no longer available
Rating:  15 reviews
Sales Rank: 9,443
Format: Kindle Book
Media: Kindle Edition
Pages: 400
Number Of Items: 1
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
ASIN: B003IYI7RI
Publication Date: June 23, 2010
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Product Description
Award winning author Louise Marley's compelling, intricately layered story of a beautiful soprano who shares an everlasting bond with the world's most notorious musical genius. . . Mozart's BloodOctavia Voss is an ethereal singer whose poise and talent belie her young age. In truth, she is a centuries-old vampire who once "shared the tooth" with Mozart himself. To protect her secret, Octavia's even more ancient friend Ugo stalks the streets to find the elixir that feeds his muse's soul. With Mozart's musical prowess coursing through her veins, the ageless Octavia reinvents herself with each new generation. But just as she prepares to take the stage at La Scala, Ugo inexplicably disappears, leaving Octavia alone--and dangerously unprotected. . . Octavia vows to find Ugo, but his fate is in the hands of forces much darker than she could ever imagine. And when she learns the truth behind his disappearance, Octavia realizes too late that the life hanging most in the balance is her own. . . "Riveting, original. . .filled with the emotional power and intricate twists and turns of a Mozart opera."--Tracy Grant, author of Beneath a Silent Moon
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 15
a pleasant dose of history and vampires August 30, 2010
Su Co (Boston, MA USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Louise Marley makes history come alive while introducing interesting characters; even the vampire and werewolf were very human. It is always nice to read a book that isn't filled with graphic sex and violence. Not that there is no sex and violence but not the explicit page filling kind that does nothing to move the plot along and is really boringly dull. I am looking forward to read more of this author's work.
 Vorrei, e non vorrei. August 30, 2010
Tony Aguila (Mountain View, CA USA)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
Indeed, I wanted to like this book, but could not. First of all, my favorite composer is Mozart. Then, I also love vampire stories. Marley's vampires differ from the legendary vampires we have come to know and love, probably because they are Italian? (Just kidding! Amo l'Italia.) Anyway this line of vampires don't have the legendary strength we have grown to take for granted, and then there is the absence of photophobia. You don't need a wooden stake through the heart to kill them, and Marley's "lupo mannaro" does not seem to age either.
But all this is fine. Different authors introduce their own take on "supes" (as Charlaine Harris put it). From Kim Harrison's distinction between living and undead vampires, to Richelle Mead's Moroi and Strigoi vamps, it is not hard to accept these deviations within the context of the story. I had no problem with that whatsoever. What I had difficulty dealing with was the excessive amount of time and space devoted to details -- from the rudiments of opera to an almost Google Map-like detail of city streets. Trivial details can sometimes add a "familiar" touch to a story, but to go on and on like this throughout the book was way too much. Hello! If I wanted to learn about opera, I would have picked up a manual on the subject, not a vampire novel. And a few clicks on my computer will show me in detail the topography of any place on the planet. Furthermore, the frequent use of Italian had me turning to my dizionario again and again. Oftentimes, it was easy to garner the meaning from the context, but it still proved to be a distraction. Capite?
At times, I felt like the author was flaunting her knowledge of opera in my face. No wonder some readers found it boring. My taste in music should have intrigued me, but, in the end, it still proved to be too much. There were also several glaring flaws in the plot -- I don't wish to detail them here lest they serve as spoilers. Suffice it to say that the book fell short of my expectations. I appreciate how the author tried to weave fiction with history and geography, but enough is enough. Abbastanza! As was said in that famous movie, "Too many notes!"
Mozart's Blood August 27, 2010
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Great book! This story makes me want to go to the opera! It's not gory or vulgar...just an easy, fun read!
Beguiling and Captivating August 24, 2010
Crazy Cat Lady (NY, NY USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Imagine sharing the memories and emotions of the great Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart through a blood bond that spans centuries. That is the premise upon which this book gets its title, but the story line of this novel is much more complicated and intriguing than that.
Aspiring opera singer Teresa Saporiti leaves her family and her small hometown in 18th century Italy behind to pursue her dream. Landing a position at the opera house La Scala in Milan with the help of a gentle benefactor, Teresa's career quickly becomes more and more successful, and she eventually finds herself working with the great Mozart himself, becoming infatuated with him despite his married state. After one exceptionally successful performance in Prague, Teresa finds herself sharing a bed with Mozart and a wealthy and powerful Countess, Zdenka Milosch. By the end of the evening, she has shared much more, and having "shared the tooth" with the brilliant composer, her life becomes irrevocably changed.
Young Ughetto was the only son of a poor innkeeper, born after seven sisters. As he nears puberty, he realizes his mother and grandmother are becoming unusually wary around him. Then one day he is sent on a ficticious errand by his mother and grandmother and his life changes forever. Abducted and drugged, Ughetto finds himself in a terrifying situation which eventually lands him in a small school for a unique group of boys. His own association with the world of opera eventually leads him also into a relationship with the enigmatic Countess Milosch.
Ughetto and Teresa meet each other in San Francisco during the 1906 earthquake, and after learning more about each other's existences form a lasting bond. Although their relationship is a platonic one, they soon become inseparable, taking on various personas as the years pass to continue their existence without raising suspicions. Then one day, as Teresa (now called Octavia) prepares to take the stage once again at La Scala, Ughetto (now called Ugo) disappears. The unfolding events following Ugo's disappearance are intertwined expertly and lyrically with flashbacks of their pasts. As the present story unfolds, the past is filled in for the reader, detail by detail, weaving an impressive and captivating story.
I really enjoyed this novel, and although I previously had very little interest in opera, I still found the settings spellbinding and actually enjoyed learning about the milieu, both in the spotlight and backstage. The way author Louise Marley adroitly knits together the past and the present made transitioning back and forth easy for me to follow and kept the flow of the story smooth. All in all, this was an entertaining and enthralling tale. I give this book 4 stars.
Started slow, but this book exceeded my expectations. August 22, 2010
GIZMO MAVEN (wisconsin dells, wi usa)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I mistakenly purchased this book for an OUTRAGEOUS $9.99 (darn 1-click)
This book started off slow, but eventually I was drawn into the story.
I wasn't expecting much and I wasn't disappointed.
I'm not sure what I felt was lacking in the story but there was a flatness to the character and plot.
Overall this wasn't a bad book, but not a great book.
I gave 4 stars because it was better than I thought it would be.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 15
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