THE IDEA The idea for Blood Lust came about from my desire to write a Dracula saga with a twist, and so the novel is set during a time of world conflict, which adds emphasis to the already horrific sequence of events that unfold. War, despite its dangers, excitement and heart-rending sights, is a lonely place for most. As an ex-soldier, I have seen many things, some good, some horrific, and I felt that there was a story in me about the fear of death. I can honestly say that I am not afraid of death, although I am afraid of dying and the process leading up to it. In 2005 I saw a picture of a German soldier on the Eastern front, crouching in the snow during a blizzard. His face, although youthful, bore all the signs of impending death, and to this day I see his face and wonder if he ever got home. Therefore, I created the character of Joseph Beck, a German infantryman, and have tried to portray the horrors that he inflicts upon himself. Blood Lust is written through Joseph's eyes, and therefore there is limited dialogue since I wanted the story to be focused more on the thought processes and emotional reactions of this main character. In the book, Joseph encounters vampires who enter the bodies of the dead and feed off them like parasites. However, some vampires mistakenly enter bodies that are not quite dead, and in order for them to survive they must regenerate their host. ABOUT THE BOOK This book is based around two main characters, General Alucard and Joseph Beck. Obsessed with power, Alucard Khan first crossed the Russian border into Europe under the leadership of Genghis Khan in the eleventh century. Today, he is known as General Wolfgang Alucard. He is a vampire and day walker, and has brought with him thousands of vampire parasites to be absorbed into ruthless people, people who will one day form his army in his quest for world domination. Joseph Beck, a German infantryman, and his men are instructed to escort a number of wagons across Russia by the orders of their army commander, General Wolfgang Alucard, to a secret location deep within the interior. Unbeknown to these soldiers, the wagons hide a group of bloodthirsty vampires, and they soon learn that General Alucard has betrayed them. Joseph witnesses the slaughter of his comrades by these vampires, and becomes obsessed with preventing Alucards mad plan for vampires to populate the world and have complete control. Having been taken over by a mysterious vampire parasite that has transformed him into a human vampire, and driven by anger and remorse over the death of his comrades, Joseph swears he will have his revenge and sets out to find and destroy Alucard. During his long and arduous search, in which he faces great danger, he finds others like him, unaware that Alucard has developed a machine that can incubate the parasites and bring them to maturity much quicker. Joseph realises that there is immediate danger of Alucard fulfilling his mentor's, Adolf Hitler, dreams of world domination, and if he fails to destroy the General and his vampires and loses the battle, humanity will once again tremble under the sound of the Jackboot.