[Blog Tour & Giveaway] Tragic Silence By E.C. Hibbs & Birch Coffee Birch Blend

Title: Tragic Silence
Series: Standalone
Author: E.C. Hibbs
Publisher: Staccato Publishing
Publication date: November 19th 2013
Page Count: 259 pages
Age Rating: New Adult (violence, blood, and death)
How I got my hot little hands on it: Received a copy to review
Purchase: Amazon

When tragedy strikes Bianka Farkas one night in her native Hungary, she loses more than a friend and her mobility. Some things are harder to understand. Waking up in a hospital, Bee struggles to remember exactly what happened the night she was attacked and witnessed a brutal murder. Memories of a mysterious figure plague her as well as bizarre and terrifying changes in her over the next few years. Facing this new horrifying reality with a surprising ally, Bee finally has the chance to take her revenge but at what cost?

My Review

Surprise, it’s a book about vampires! It may be just me, but from the description, I had no idea it was a vampire book, so I was absolutely surprised. BUT, it turned out to be a pleasant surprise, because not only is Tragic Silence a vampire book, it’s a good vampire book.

Told through Bianka’s first person perspective, Tragic Silence starts with a teenage Bianka who’s injured, traumatized, and hospitalized. The early chapters jump around a bit as Bianka struggles mentally to accept what has happened, interspersing her memories of events leading up to the horrific night her friend was murdered and her current reality under supervised medical care. We follow Bianka’s story over the next four years as she comes to terms with what happened that night and just what kind of monster it was that killed her friend and left her with long lasting damage – damage that goes even deeper than she realizes as she sees and feels the alarming and unnatural changes that occur to her own body.

This book is really fantastic. I was impressed that it managed to be a gripping paranormal suspense that keeps the reader hooked, while at the same time providing a slow burn when it came to the confrontation with the monster at the heart of events. The romance between Bianka and Frank is the same way as well – both intensely romantic and with an immediate feel once they get together, and yet they take things glacially slow (seriously, they take foreeeever to kiss).

Bianka as a main character was frustrating at times. She liked to keep things close to the vest and I wanted to yell at her just tell him already when it came to clueing Frank in on what had happened in her past. I feel like a lot of the book was just her tiptoeing around telling him the whole truth, but I know people like that, who getting information from is like pulling teeth, so I could totally relate that that’s just how some people are. She was still really strong and really brave and fatally loyal, so I loved her anyway.

Speaking of characters I loved, and don’t throw rotten fruit at me or anything, but I really liked the bad guy. Not like for killing young girls or anything (bad vampire, shame on you), but I liked that he had a motivation. That somehow, despite his extreme evilness, he was a victim somewhere along the line too. He has layers, you know? He loved. He lost. He got cosmically screwed over by fate. As much as Bianka is his victim, he was once someone’s victim once upon a time as well, except he had no one to save him from turning into a monster.

With its compelling characters and a deeply engrossing story, I recommend Tragic Silence to lovers of paranormal books in general and vampire books in particular. It’s a surprisingly good read 😉

Birch Coffee Birch Blend – a medium roast, dependable coffee with a bit of a (very subtle) chocolaty taste. Birch wood plays a large part of saving the day in this book; from protective circles the Liderc (that’s the bad vampire) can’t cross, to being used as weapons and defensive amulets, Birch comes through. There’s a quote towards the end that also states Birch is a symbol for new beginnings and this clean, simple, reliable blend is a great way to kick off a new beginning with no fuss.