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Kidnapped, turned, and locked away in a concrete basement, high school student Sey-Mi is taught the ways of the damned. Her captors, beautiful and malignant, cruel and insane, torture her until she pledges allegiance to the Gwanlyo, a secret organization of vampires now obsessed with bringing her into their ranks. Enter Cheol Yu and Hyeri, rogue members who want to liberate vampires and set them upon humankind like a plague. Their first act of rebellion is to persuade Sey-Mi to join them in their twisted objective of unraveling this draconian society of the dead. Before they can do that, they will have to dodge the Natural Police, an order within the Gwanlyo whose objective is to hunt down and butcher any vampires that break the organization’s strict rules, and who are currently tracking Cheol Yu for murdering one of their own. Hyeri, who is no stranger to the organization’s wicked methods of agonizing punishment, is hell-bent on bringing them down, and is prepared to lead Cheol Yu through the dark, abandoned streets of the Gwanlyo’s compound where Sey-Mi is being held captive. She doesn’t intend to go in unarmed, however. Hyeri has a plan – one that might just burn the Gwanlyo to the ground. Will Sey-Mi place her loyalties in the Gwanlyo that rules through terror? Will she side with rebellious conspirators who strive to bring hell to the world? Or will she carve out her own path through the flesh and bone of anyone who stands in her way? Find out in Butchers, a novella of extreme horror.

What Do Readers Say?

a dark and brutal, unfamiliar and highly interesting world

Butchers drops you into a fully developed vampiric society in South Korea. For me, it felt like there is a grander world here, but I was only getting the opportunity to experience a very small part of it. This novella represents a single story from this vast world. This was my first experience with Todd, I enjoyed his style and flare for story-telling.

Yes, I am on record stating that I am not a big fan of vampire fiction. That being said, the novella format, the quick chapters, Todd’s talent, and the freshness of a story in South Korea kept me enthralled.

This is a tale that blurs the lines between villain and hero. You have two sides to this story. One, the natural police is a force within the Gwanlyo ( vampire society ) that wants to enforce the laws that keep vampires quiet and hidden. The other side wants to free the vampire from these constraints which produces a real feeling of chain-breaking emancipation but of course would be ultimately bad for the human race. Yeah so you get that line crossing, back and forth feeling «Voldemort was right» type stuff going on.

Ultimately this book is about Sey-Mi. Kidnapped, turned into a vampire and submitted to some vicious acts of cruelty, she is left in between. In between these two warring factions, these two ideologies of the future of the vampire species. The pieces about her torture are absolutely insanely graphic and I assume that is where the «extreme horror» categorizing of this book comes from. The bits about her trying to learn how to behave and move like a human were seriously cool. A newly turned vampire does not ease into their powers. They are flat out smacked in the face, overwhelmed with them and are left to try to tone that back down. Slow down. Appear more human.

The fight scenes in this book are extremely well done. There is definitely an aerialization ( I know that’s not a word ) to all of it. It read like film, there was a gorgeous filmography? aspect to the way these scenes were written. Darkness, neon lit ( like the cover ) highly technical fight scenes. I don’t know. Does that make sense?

The theme of butchers is a reference to these «Natural Police», the tools they carry, and what they set out to do to those that do not live within the Gwanylo’s guidelines. I wanted MORE of that aspect, more about the Butchers. They are ultimately unsuccessful in the opening scene in butchering their target which sets up our big conflict. I just wanted more.

The novella is a snapshot of a dark and brutal, unfamiliar and highly interesting world. I want more. I need more.

– WellReadBeard

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The Suspense lies in the details…

What a fantastic read! Todd Sullivan takes you on a mystical journey into a familiar concept, with a realistic twist. The action jumps off the page from the very beginning, and holds you in suspense till the very end. By the time you get settled into the plot, the author leaves you begging for more. I was at the edge of my seat every page turn. It doesn’t matter if you read it all in one sitting, or read a chapter per day, you will enjoy the mental roller coaster that Mr. Sullivan has provided. Thank you for the fantastic adventure! Looking forward to the sequel!

– Saxophone Delmone

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