Black Ambrosia

Paperbacks from Hell

By: Elizabeth Engstrom

Narrated by: Karly Hutchins

Angelina is a killer. You'd never know it to look at her — until you look into her eyes.

Angelina doesn't kill out of hatred or fear — she kills out of love, bringing solace to her victims, guided by the seductive Voice that speaks only to her.

Angelina offers you eternal peace — at the cost of your soul!

©1988, 2020 Elizabeth Engstrom (P)2020 Valancourt Books LLC

Outstanding author

I’m so glad I’ve found EE. I’m going to be reading a lot more of her work, and looking into her lectures on creative writing. I’ve been a lifelong vampire fan and this is easily one of the best novels I’ve ever encountered. It reads a bit like A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night watches. I love the traditional vampire elements being reimagined in a way that is classic without being cheesy. (The cane really works beautifully, for example.) And you can’t get much more compelling than this awesome vampire character.

If you love Vampires...

I really enjoyed this dark story about Angelina’s “thirsty” journey. Elizabeth Engstrom is a great story teller with her fantastic writing skills describing all the characters, their actions, and their thoughts, with Karly Hutchins so eloquently taking it to the next level and bringing them to life with her amazing voice. All around a great listen, story, narration and sound quality, and I highly recommend it to all the “night people” out there that love their vampires.

An unnerving tale of vampirism

Elizabeth Engstrom's BLACK AMBROSIA follows Angelina's descent into darkness as she decides that she's had enough of the world around her and feeling weak so decides to become a vampire. Engstrom's prose is almost romantic as she describes Angelina's journey, and what ends she'll go to to achieve her goals. At turns both perverse, depraved, and beautiful, Engstrom does not shy from the darkness found in humanity.

Karly Hutchins narration is clear and understandable and perfectly captures Angelina's detached emotions. My only drawback for the audiobook are the chapter ending interviews. As Angelina makes her way across the country, characters give interviews of their impression of the young girl at the end of each chapter, and sometimes there is no break between the chapter and the interview, making it sound like it's part of the continuing story. I found this confusing at times. Had there been a slight pause before these interviews, or if they had even been narrated by someone different, I think these breaks would have been much more clear. Overall, however, it doesn't detract from the story's telling.

I would like to thank Valancourt Books for providing a free audio download of BLACK AMBROSIA in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Nice creepy vampire read

I really enjoyed this book- it had the spare, low key feel of a Romero movie and reminded me a lot of Martin meets Saloms Lot toward the end. The audiobook is bare bones but well narrated.

Children of the night. What music they make.

I loved Engstrom's When Darkness Loves Us so very much that I found this book a little disappointing since I'd set my expectations so high. It was still a very book and maybe one of the more compelling additions to the vampire canon. There's a lot to say about this book and understanding the complexities narrator but since I can't hide spoilers here, I don't want to say a lot except wait for the ending. Just... wait for it.

Karly Hutchins is an incredible narrator and kept me invested and engaged throughout.

Thank you to Valancourt Books for the free audiobook code; I promise this is an honest unvarnished review.

80s Vampires in Smalltown USA

“If it doesn’t matter what you do, then how do you choose what to do?”
Black Ambrosia
Elizabeth Engstrom
⭐⭐⭐
3.5 stars rounded down

First, thank you Valencourt for saving these stories from the abyss. Younger generations need access to these to fully appreciate the horror genre.

Like too many, I had never heard about Elizabeth Engstrom until Grady Hendrix's review of When Darkness Loves Us. I have yet to read it, but will be bumping it up my TBR after reading Black Ambrosia.

Full confession, I wanted to read this book based on its title. Ambrosia is the name of my best friend of nearly two decades and her name isn't that popular, so I was intrigued. Plus look at the bitchin cover!

In Black Ambrosia, Engstrom takes us back to the classic vampire tropes. We are given the story through the point of view of Angelina Watson, a vampire that roams around searching for a place to fit in with the humans. She doesn't have much of a back story, but seems to want to tame her bloodthirstiness. Along the ride she takes several lovers, using them for their blood and taken off when she is finished with them. Following close behind is an ex-lover that wants to destroy her.

Throughout the journey we pass through small-town America in the height of the 80s blue collar, Bruce Springsteen/John Mellencamp era. More than once did I feel like I was in an R rated version of their music videos. That isn't an insult at all, I love that simpler time!

Ultimately, ratings are subjective. Some will love Engstrom's romantic prose, while others will be board to tears. I rated Black Ambrosia 3.5 stars (rounded down) because I enjoyed the plot but found myself annoyed with Angelina detached emotions.
*Thank you Valencourt for a gifted audiobook of Black Ambrosia in exchange for an honest review.*