The Day of the Dead

Cassandra Palmer World #3.1

by Karen Chance

“The Day of the Dead” features Tomas, a character from the Cassandra Palmer novels, who was last seen cooling his heels in Faerie. He’ll show up again in the series, but what about in the meantime? What does a powerful, four-hundred-year-old vampire with a serious grudge against his old mass murdering master to do when he suddenly finds himself with too much time on his hands? Hang around Faerie, where there’s nothing to eat (Fey blood=nasty) just because our intrepid heroine parked him there?

Uh, no. Not so much.

Because Tomas is obsessed, and has been for pretty much his whole existence, with one thing: taking out Alejandro, the aforementioned murdering bastard. In “The Day of the Dead,” he slips back into our world to confront his nemesis, only to find unexpected help in the form of a band of magical mercenaries. Think the A-Team with spells and potions instead of (well, actually in addition to) guns and knives and things that go boom. It makes for a lot of mayhem down Mexico way.


Note: “The Day of the Dead” is a short story connected to the Cassandra Palmer series of urban fantasy novels. It was first published in The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance (2008) and is now being offered as a free ebook. It features Tomas, a character from Touch the Dark (2006), the first Cassandra Palmer novel.

Genres: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Vampires, Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Short Stories, Romance

52 pages, ebook

First published July 28, 2008

About the author

Karen Chance is the author of two New York Times bestselling series, plus a number of novellas and short stories, all set in the Cassandra Palmer universe. A full-time writer since 2008, she was previously a university history teacher, which comes in handy when writing the time-travel aspect of Cassie’s crazy adventures. She loves Las Vegas, the main setting for her novels, but currently lives in Florida near her family home. Visit her website or connect with her on Facebook here.

Reviews

[Exina · Rating 4 out of 5]

If the dead were ever to be avenged, it was up to him to do it. And after four hundred years, they’d waited long enough.

The story is set in Mexico, on El Día de la Muertos, or the Day of the Dead. Tomas returns to his hometown, to kill his former master, Alejandro, to avenge his villagers and his four-hundred-year slavery under Alejandro’s rule.

The Day of the Dead is meant literally here, as Alejandro sets up a bloody hunting ritual, massacring several hundreds of humans for fun every year.

Sarah, who is a jinx, is here to find her brother, who was kidnapped by the men of Alejandro.

Tomas and Sarah make an alliance, and descend into the underground caverns of Alejandro’s residence, where they find a truly unexpected help.

The story is fast-paced, spooky, with ancient Incan kings, some magic and erotica. I always liked Tomas, and here you get more likeable aspects about his character. I’m glad he has finally found peace and freedom.

Tomas looked up at her face, surrounded by stars, and for the first time in longer than he could remember, he saw a future.

My favorite quotes.

[Cass · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5/5

[Jen Davis · Rating 2 out of 5]

What. The. Hell.

The last time we saw Tomas, he was in Faerie and he allegedly had feelings for Cassie. And he was the one to finally take her virginity. Now, he is magically back on Earth, having sex with some random chick and joining her merry band of misfits?

Boo! If the author wanted to eliminate Tomas from the list of Cassie's suitors, I wish she would have done it in a way that actually had something to do with Cassie. Fail.

[Steph]

Tomas' Story - free shorts from Karen Chance
Can be downloaded for free @ http://www.karenchance.com/freebies_s...

[Debrac2014 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

2020 reread! When I recently read Queen's Gambit, I didn't remember these characters being in this story! Now I can connect the dots! Good story!

2021 reread! I couldn't pass this up!

[Karen ⚜Mess⚜ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Karen Chance is good, but I'm not "there" in my reading journey anymore.

A couple of incentives to reading this novella:

1st incentive: Goodreads reading challenge. It's November, getting close to the end of the year? Will I make it?

2nd incentive: I really need to clean out my Kindle more. I collect so many ebooks, especially freebies. By the time I get around to cleaning some books out, my reading tastes have changed.

[Jéssica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eu estava curiosa para saber o que aconteceu com Tomas após ele ter ficado na terra dos Faes e apesar de não ter sido muito explicado como ele saiu de lá, ao menos houve uma resolução interessante para cruzada de vingança de Tomas contra Alejandro. Gostei bastante da Sarah e espero vê-la nos outros livros de Cassie Palmer, assim como Tomas.

[Elena Rodríguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

No ha estado mal pero sobraba la escena de fan service.

[Just Josie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why on earth has it taken me so long to read these little novellas, when I ADORE the Cassandra Palmer series?

This makes no sense 😱

Anyhow, Tomas is a 1st Level Master vampire, who is on a revenge mission. Kill his old master, who finds pleasure in hunting people annually (#sick)
Tomas meets one hellava badass woman, who is looking for her missing brother. They team up, and “holy guacamole”- shit happens!

Read: 08/05/2018
Will I recommend: Yes, but read the Cassandra Palmer series first. At least the first book!

[Irene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cute short story about Tomas and his new friends.

[Regina · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 to 4 stars. Tomas is a favorite of mine, so I loved this story focusing on him. I had some issues with the mistakes regarding history and culture that are disucssed in this book, but despite that I was still able to enjoy it. This book is available for free on the author's website and it comes after #2 in the Cassie Palmer series. Tomas is going after his master's master so that he can be free, add into the mix the history of the two vampires. Tomas is Incan on his mother's said and spanish from his father who was a spanish conquistador, the vamp that Tomas seeks to topple is a spanish conquistador. The setting is supposed to be in Mexico in ancient mayan ruins on the Day of the Dead. The ending was great, I loved the personal justice and cultural justice that was served out -- it was enjoyable to read.

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another solid story. I think I was influenced to like this one because I'm a fan of the writer's Cassie Palmer series though. I already liked Tomas and hated Alejandro. I'm not as sure about how the story would stand up for readers who aren't familiar with the series, but I think that they'd like it. It isn't that it has a lot of obscure references, it was just a little bit more typical thank some of her other stories. But, like several others, it is available for free on her website and at smashwords.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This a free story from author. It's a fun short story with Tomas as the main character. The story is a fun action pack story. I like these short stories because you get a little more info about some of the side characters.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good short story. It's Tomas' side story between either books 1-2 or 2-3 (can't remember) of the Cassie Palmer series. Definitely worth the read if you like that series. It's also up on Karen Chance's website.

[Liv · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just finished reading The Gauntlet and The Queen's Witch before I started this shorty and immediately noticed the difference. While it was still as well written as Kit’s books, there was the typical detailing as in the Cassie novels. Sometimes, especially in short stories, I don’t think it’s beneficial because it slows the story down and when there isn’t much story to begin with because of the limited pages, it cuts into the quality of the whole book.

Tomas wanted to finally end his former master, a powerful vampire who enjoyed murdering people. On his way, he found help in form from Sarah, a stubborn girl who had a rare talent and a determination he never expected.

I loved Tomas from the Cassie books but found this short story a bit lacking character wise. It was still a great and enjoyable read but dunno, I expected a bit more.

Although there was some action, the main fight paled in comparison to the others I’ve read. It was a rather small part and over so soon.
The focus on the story was more Tomas journey to his old master than the fight itself which surprised me considering the author’s usual approach of chapter long fighting scenes. But okay. It was still a good and enjoyable short story.

[Blake · Rating 3 out of 5]

(FYI I tend to only review one book per series, unless I want to change my scoring by 0.50 or more of a star. -- I tend not to read reviews until after I read a book, so I go in with an open mind.)

2.75*





First time read the author's work?: No

Will you be reading more?: Yes

Would you recommend?: Yes


------------
How I rate Stars: 5* = I loved (must read all I can find by the author)
4* = I really enjoyed (got to read all the series and try other books by the author).
3* = I enjoyed (I will continue to read the series)
or
3* = Good book just not my thing (I realised I don't like the genre or picked up a kids book to review in error.)

All of the above scores means I would recommend them!
-
2* = it was okay (I might give the next book in the series a try, to see if that was better IMHO.)
1* = Disliked

Note: adding these basic 'reviews' after finding out that some people see the stars differently than I do - hoping this clarifies how I feel about the book. :-)

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tomas is out of Faerie and his thoughts still center on the same thing that sent him into hiding in the first place. Kill Alejandro.

While on his way to do so Tomas encounters a Jinx who is hunting for Alejandro as well, she is trying to save her brother from becoming just another hunted human in Alejandro's sick games. Unable to convince her that she is in over her head, Tomas finds himself storming the underground safeheaven of the leader of the Latin American Senate with a handful of humans as back-up.

[Jessica Patzer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty alright for a story with Tomas as the main character. I wasn’t ever a fan of his when he appeared in the Cassie Palmer novels, so I wasn’t really looking forward to reading this. Pleasantly surprised, but not blown out of the water at all.

I liked the change in setting from North America to South America. Nice to see Maya and Inca settings put to good use. Don’t see that a lot.

Was also nice to see a different form of magic user than the Mages.

Yeah, nice little story. Glad Tomas has gotten his shit together at least.

[Ashley (Red-Haired Ash Reads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thomas gets a second chance at revenge against this old master. Along the way he meets an interest group of mercenaries and finds a new purpose in life. This was a quick read. I really hope we see more of these mercenaries in the future. They have some fascinating powers.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a suitably dark short story that gives us more background on Tomas and introduces some new bad ass characters. We'll probably never see them again, but it was nice to meet them. The story has a good plot, an epic battle as per Chance's usual, and a creepy villian. The total package.

[Laurla2]

reread.
free on authors website. http://karenchance.com/free_stories.html

tomas helps mercenary sarah lee rescue her brother jacob from his old vampire master alejandro. underground, thru caves and tunnels filled with old incan kings and human prisoners.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining and atmospheric. I’ve never read the series and Tomas is a new to me character, but it sounds like readers of this series may be disappointed in the direction the author took Tomas’ character.

3.5⭐️’s

* Read in The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance.

[Nicole Mole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short but great!

[TinaMarie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A little like Indiana Jones, I liked it

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Adventurous romp. (39 pgs)

[Paschalis]

elibrary

[Thenia · Rating 3 out of 5]

RTC

[Chandni · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was glad to learn about Tomas and what he's been up to.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This is a nice little short story on Tomas. I enjoyed reading it.

[Dreamers Moon · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favourite author. Fantastic series and hasn't written a bad book yet! I love her world, her rich array of characters, kick ass heroines, and the delightful chaos that drives it all forward.