Blood Infernal: The Order of the Sanguines Series

James Rollins and Rebecca Cantrell have teamed up again to co-author the third book in their paranormal thriller series: Blood Infernal: The Order of the Sanguines Series (#479).  It concludes the story begun in City of Screams and Blood Gospel (See my post of 1/28/13.) which follow the adventures of an unlikely trio as they strive to save the world from the dark forces of Lucifer.  Where else would you find a female archaeologist (the Woman of Learning), a buff military man (the Warrior of Man)  and a vampire priest who has vowed to serve the Church and subsist only on the consecrated wine of the blood of Christ (the Knight of Christ), and want to believe in their world?

Erin Granger, Jordan Stone and Father Rhun Korza are in a race against time as the story opens.  They must follow a trail of clues which lead them from Prague to Venice to Rome and beyond with the infamous Countess Elizabeta Bathory in their custody to prevent the Gates of Hell from opening at the prophesied moment.  The action is non-stop and the odds against the trio and their allies almost insurmountable as they battle against forces multiplying and growing in strength minute-by-minute.  Can they possible survive and accomplish their mission?  It's in doubt right up to the final pages...

And once again, my EfM class provided synchronous background information on the ancient Jewish text, The Book of Enoch.  Who knew this four year theological program would provide so much useful information for the enjoyment of my recreational reading?!

You do have to totally suspend belief to enjoy this series, unlike most of Rollins' books which are often too real for comfort, but if you like paranormal series minus the sparkly vampires, this might just be the series for you, with the added benefit of providing some pretty interesting historical tidbits and intriguing places to visit along the way.  Don't think I'll be including the Faust House on my trip to Prague, though!  One caveat: this is definitely a series to be read in order from the beginning.