History isn’t always what it seems…
Twelve months after his change, Alec MacAidan is still getting used to his many vampire talents. While most vampires would give anything to have more than one supernatural power, Alec craves nothing more than peace and time alone with Cronin. But when Alec meets entities from outside this realm, he’s left powerless in their presence.
Zoan are half-lycan, half-dragon creatures that have slipped through time and reality, seemingly undetected by man and vampire. Or have they? They bear an uncanny resemblance to gargoyles, leaving Alec’s view on all things weird to get a whole lot weirder.
This new quest leads Alec, Cronin, and their band of friends to Paris, Rome, and Moscow, where they learn that gargoyles aren’t simply statues on walls. In the underground pits beneath churches all over the world, Alec discovers the Key’s true destiny. Facing the Zoan might take every talent he has. And he may need help from the dead to get them all out alive.
As soon as Alec’s feet hit the soft earth, he took a deep breath of fresh air and reveled in the silence.
His life hadn’t exactly been quiet in the last twelve months.
He felt the warmth of Cronin’s hand in his, smelled the sweet aromas of heath and moss from both the vampire beside him and the cool air of the long-abandoned battlefield, and Alec exhaled loudly.
Cronin had somehow learned to quiet his mind a little and it gave Alec the silence he so desperately needed. In the last twelve months, Cronin had taken Alec on more time-outs than he could count. Knowing when he’d had enough and was reaching breaking point, Cronin would simply remove Alec from the situation, leaping him somewhere quiet where his mind could have some much needed solitude. But with a gentle squeeze of his hand, Cronin reassured him he was there.
“I’m sorry,” Alec said.
“Don’t apologize,” Cronin said adamantly. “I can’t begin to imagine your frustrations.”
“Jodis is only trying to help. I behaved badly.” He could very well speak words directly into Jodis’ mind and tell her privately that he was sorry. But he’d prefer not invade the thoughts of others, preferring to apologize in person.
“She understands,” Cronin said, trying to pacify him.
Alec sighed loudly and allowed the quiet to envelope him. “I love it here,” he said eventually.
The field at Dunadd, Scotland, had become a sanctuary for Alec. No voices in his head, no city of millions with flurrying thoughts unbidden through his mind, no politics of vampire councils, no meetings, no one hovering.
Just Cronin.
“It affords you a great privacy,” Cronin said. His Scottish accent and formal tone still made Alec smile. “Your talents as a vampire are a burdensome gift.”
Alec had learned very early on to block out the voices and thoughts of those around him, but living in a city of millions made it a constant effort, and his display of anger at Jodis just minutes ago bothered him. “These talents are a pain in my ass.”
Cronin laughed quietly. “Your control over them still astounds us all.”
“The control you keep talking about is a talent in itself. It’s like casting a net over a thousand different fish.” Alec sighed loudly. “I’ve told you that before.”
“I know. Though it amazes me still.” Cronin squeezed Alec’s hand again and looked out across the field of long grass to the line of trees that fronted the river. “Lie down with me.”
Cronin simply lay flat on his back in the middle of the field and when Alec lay down next to him, Cronin snatched up Alec’s hand again. And together in the mind-clearing silence, they watched the blanket of stars glide across the sky.
It was a clear autumn night in Scotland, cold and dark. Neither of those things impeded a vampire of course, and Alec would never tire of the simple changes he’d gone through when he became a vampire. It was the complex changes he was beginning to struggle with. The talents he’d been given made him unique: the only vampire ever to have all vampire talents, some he was still discovering a year after his change. It was these talents that made his life hectic, his obligations as the key to the vampire world that gave him a great responsibility, and as Cronin had said, it was becoming a great burden.
Alec loved that Cronin would leap them to the very field where his human life had ended. The old battlefield in Scotland was also where they’d first made love, where they came to talk, to be by themselves. Like now.
“Thank you for bringing me here,” Alec whispered, his anger and frustration from before almost gone. “I feel like I can breathe here.”
“Is that not what husbands do?” Cronin asked with a smile. “Save the other from the myriad of madness?”
“Husbands,” Alec said, bringing Cronin’s knuckles up to his lips and kissing them softly. “Now that is something I’ll never tire of.”
The amount of research this Lady does for her books is incredible. There’s no mystery that I’m a big N.R. Walker fan and she’s still able to surprise me.
I fell in love with Alec and Cronin from day one and I’m a little bit sad to bid them Adieu.
And, what better way for them to go than with another epic adventure?
In book one, Cronin and Alec took us on a trip to Egypt, then, China followed in book two. We’ve met ancient pharaohs and the legendary clay soldiers.
Now, they embark on a journey to Europe. London, Rome and, finally, Paris.
And what mythical creatures can be found all over Paris? If you don’t know you’re in for one big surprise.
I’ll tell you one thing, my life in Paris has become a lot more interesting all of a sudden. I’ll never look at Musée D’Orsay or Notre Dame the same way again.
I’ll be too busy looking for hidden clues of ancient stories at every corner.
Thank you for that, Mrs. Walker.
But, let’s get back to the story.
Alec might be a vampire now but he’s still the Key and he has one last mission to accomplish before he can settle down and enjoy eternity with his beloved husband.
His struggle to understand and control the huge amount of power he’s been given it’s taking its toll.
The fact that an ancient enemy has risen again doesn’t help make things easier and, this enemy, seems to have no kind of vulnerabilities.
As the story unfolds, more and more secrets are revealed, new alliances are forged, lives are lost and destinies entwine.
You’ll laugh, and cry, and love every minute of this wild ride.
As usual, this novel, too was exceptionally well written, fast paced, intense and very emotional.
When I say emotional I’m not talking about only Alec and Cronin. There’s so much going on in Cronin’s Key III. Everyone gets a moment in the spotlight for one reason or another and not all those moments are happy ones. And that’s all I’m going to say.
Thank you, N.R. Walker for another wonderful series. I’m sure I’ll go back and re-read it many, many times just like all the other ones you’ve written so far.
Looking forward to read you next novel.
Our guest today is N.R. Walker, author of Cronin’s Key trilogy. Welcome on Mikky’s World Of Books and thank you for agreeing to this interview.
Thanks for having me!!
Tell us a little bit about yourself. Something that is not in the official biography.
I have red hair and am ambidextrous. J
This was your first fantasy series. How did you come up with the idea for CK? And, is their journey over or we can expect a volume 4 sometime in the future?
Well, I didn’t actually set out to do the history aspect interweaved throughout the plot, that took me by surprise too. The characters that started talking to me were vampires, and I thought “oh boy, here we go”. LOL
I don’t envisage a fourth book. There might be some outtakes—I’m sure Alec still needs to teach Eiji to drive JBut I’ll just post them as freebies on my blog when I get them written.
I’ve had quite a few people ask for Kennard and Stas’ story, but I’m not the kind of author who can write-to-order. The characters need to talk to me. I can’t force stories unfortunately. If there’s a small outtake for those two will solely depend on Kennard and Stas. But I believe they’re pretty busy right now in some Lithuanian forest… lol
Looking back at all your novels, which was the hardest & easiest to write and which character gave you most trouble?
The easiest was Red Dirt Heart Series. Hands down. I think its ease was because I grew up in the countryside of regional Australia. Those characters are all snippets of people I know and have known—down to nicknames, descriptions and the way they talked.
The hardest would probably have been Starting Point, the third book in The Turning Point series. I almost didn’t finish it. I don’t know why. Self-doubt, probably. Most writers suffer terrible and crippling insecurities in their writing and I am no different. Maybe I put too much pressure on myself to do those boys justice. But I pushed through it and in the end they got the story they deserved J
Could you tell us a little bit about your current project?
I have put my current series WIP (titled the Spencer Cohen Series) on hold to finish a novella called Exchange of Hearts. I actually found 20,000 words of a story I wrote years ago. It was pretty bad LOL. I had entered it into a contest and didn’t get anywhere (for obv reasons lol) but it’s at 35,000 words now and has been tidied up. I have two more scenes to write, some more fixing, and I’ll be sending it off to my pre-readers. I’m hoping for a release date in early November.
It’s the story of an Australian guy who is eighteen and completing his HSC in a prestigious school in Sydney. Along comes an English exchange student, and Voila! Love and music ensues.
What advice would you give to all the aspiring authors? Especially those who want to write M/M fiction?
I get asked this quite often and my answer is always the same. Just keep writing. Don’t let anyone tell you you can’t do it. If one publisher says no, find another one, but remember contracts should be mutually agreed to—which means it needs to suit the author as well, not just the publisher. Yes, it’s exciting to get a contract, but don’t sign it without seeking legal advice first. Seriously.
And just keep writing. Write the story that speaks to you, not what you think people want to read.
Great advice! Thank you so much for taking the time to answer our questions.
Thanks for having me!!
N.R. Walker is an Australian author, who loves her genre of gay romance.
She loves writing and spends far too much time doing it, but wouldn't have it any other way.
She is many things; a mother, a wife, a sister, a writer. She has pretty, pretty boys who live in her head, who don't let her sleep at night unless she gives them life with words.
She likes it when they do dirty, dirty things...but likes it even more when they fall in love.
She used to think having people in her head talking to her was weird, until one day she happened across other writers who told her it was normal.
She's been writing ever since...
