Dust to Blood (Red Slaves, #1)

Red Slaves book one: Dust to Blood written by Tonya Cannariato. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this story. The characters were interesting and with so many that you never had a full moment it was also a small enough group that you didn’t get confused by who and what happened. Dust to Blood was a nice change in pace for me while I like fantasy and mythical stories this one was the perfect mixture of present day mixed with some magic. The main character Anne is on a mission for her boss to uncover facts, as someone who loves reading and research she decides even if she doesn’t believe in the story itself it’s a free trip to Russia and she can’t pass it up.
Once she gets there though and starts to uncover secrets she realizes things are always so black and white and right now her life is in the grey area. With a new life ahead of her can she figure out what she needs to before it’s too late? Book two in the series is Red Slaves.

Dust to Blood by Tonya Cannariato is the first book in her new series Red Slaves, and what a fantastic hit out of the park in the fantasy/paranormal realm. Following the story of Anne Crosby on her investigation of the nine amnesiacs and how their torture is connected to their dust blood. With this dust blood they have more strength, intelligence and electricity than anyone could have believed. The torture of these men put Anne and her investigation into dangers path more than once, making her look over shoulder at every turn. The more danger that comes Anne’s way, she finds herself turning toward Ivan, one of the nine amnesiacs, and things start to get complicated. Can Anne find out who is out to get these young men without getting herself or Ivan killed? Is Ivan being truthful about everything that happened to him and the eight others? As things start to get hot and heavy between Ivan and Anne they will have to work together to get out of Russia in one piece and keep their relationship alive. There is allot going on in this book, and while it pulls you in, there are several twists and turns that will have you flipping pages back and forth trying to keep up to pace with this one! Cannariato is a new to me author, but I have fallen hard for her writing style. Her story telling is full bodied and gives a plethora of detail about her terrain as well as the people and mysteries of her storyline. Having this story set in Russia was interesting because you could tell that she really did her research and gave the reader an in-depth understand of everything from the politics to the backdrop around them. I would have liked to have some more dialogue between the characters to give a little better insight into their thought processes and their interactions. If you are looking for an in-depth look into Russia with a great supernatural story attached to it, this is one to add to your cart today. I can’t wait to see where this series goes from here because it is only looking up from here.

Dust to Blood is the first book in the Red Slaves series by Tonya Cannariato. This is my first novel by this author.

Researcher Anne Crosby travels to Russia to find out why nine men have dust instead of blood in running in their veins.

Anne discovers that Russia has some buried secrets which puts her and her partner Igor at risk. With people wanting their secrets to stay buried, she isn’t sure who to trust, or if the research she is there for, is more than it seems.

I really enjoyed this novel. I thought the blood was original and nothing I’ve seen before. The characters were easily relateable and I did enjoy the lighthearted moments sprinkled in.

There an a lot of suspenseful moments with action and plot development that left me on the edge of my seat. The narrative drew me in and had a flow to it, that felt magical in the way it was written and the world building.

While Russia isn’t a country I’m familiar with, it took me some time to get use to the description that was given. Sometimes, I’d even look it up online to get a clearer picture, which is also different and added to the experience of reading.

I look forward to continuing this series. I recommend to someone looking for a different paranormal series.

Dust to Blood by Tonya Cannariato is the first book in the Red Slaves series. Ms. Cannariato has created characters and scenery that you will fall in love with. You can see the world through the descriptive verbiage that Ms. Cannaritao creates for you. This story has all the good ingredients for a good supernatural story; action, mystery, drama, dragons, witches, and maybe some romance if you are pay attention. This story is about Anne who is in a bit of situation. Around her there is nine amnesiacs who all are in the situation Anne finds herself in. Anne’s is to lurk around and see what she can figure out the mystery. What information will Anne come up with?

Dust to Blood is the first book in The Red Slaves series by Tonya Cannariato and it is a paranormal fantasy suspense novel. The story starts in September of 1992, and it is about a 35 year old woman named Anne Crosby, who is a researcher for a man named Sam Stone, who owns a premier private research company called the Stone Think Tank, out of their Chicago office. Sam sends Anne all over the world to do research for him since she is his best researcher. Anne was brought up by her mom, has one sister who has two daughters, and they have never known their father. Her sister is also a single parent. Anne is very happy being a career woman and has never expected that she would ever have a long-term romantic relationship, especially with her family’s bad history of relationships with men. Anne is sent by Sam to Moscow to meet up with his long-time friend, Igor Straslavski, to do research on dragons as a favor to Igor, even though Anne doesn’t believe in dragons. Sam gives Anne an open-ended airplane ticket because he thinks that she could be in Moscow for up to 6 months, which has Anne concerned since spending Thanksgiving with her family has always been important to her. Anne will be meeting “some real men who have real amnesia and other verified symptoms that point to the paranormal.”

After Anne arrives in Moscow she meets up with Igor shortly thereafter, and she ends up staying in his Dacha. Anne does some research in a library in Moscow, and meets a woman named Olga, who is a former KBG agent and they become friends. Igor soon takes her to meet with the one of the men, who are orphans, who have real amnesia. His name is Ivan Krempenski, and when Anne shakes hands with him she gets an electrical shock strong enough to get tingles down her arm. Ivan is the oldest of the nine men, or “lost boys”. Igor translates between the two of them, since Anne only knows a bit of Russian that she learned when she was in college. Ivan takes out a knife and stabs his finger, causing a fine reddish dust to filter from his finger. Anne stares at Ivan’s finger and is fascinated by the sight of the reddish dust leaving Ivan’s finger. Igor states that Ivan has bled many times but without blood. Ivan also has very strong teeth which doesn’t make any sense since he is an orphan who has lived forty years in Russia, and he even shows them to Anne. Ivan tells Anne that he doesn’t know who or what he is, and he and his brothers want to get some answers. What other mysteries will Anne discover during her research?

I really enjoyed this book by Tonya Cannariato. It has a lot of really interesting characters with interesting background stories and I never knew what would happen next. The novel is a cliffhanger and I’m really excited to read what else Anne discovers. I definitely recommend this book!

Dust to Blood (Red Slaves) by Tonya Cannariato was a interesting read, with an engaging plot with a original concept, and tons of potential.

Lets get down to it. As far as the overall story, it was good, wasn’t epic like I was expecting but it was good. It made for a light read that was easy to follow and a good book to ease me out of the crazy crime novel I had finished before hand. There are some things that I wasn’t too keen on. There was at times a lack of proper dialogue. Lulls you could say, and it gave me that awkward feeling. It broke the flow, and made the story fell, for me, choppy. Outside of that, the plot and the characters were quite put together.

I will highlight that I loved the detail that went into the world building. Rich and engaging, it made me feel like I was right there with them. I also like the mystery surrounding the 9, though I did at times had a time following their names. But that’s a me thing, not a book thing. I found their creation, and purpose to the story unique and intriguing. Now, I think this is a RH, it sort of reads like one, but I’m still on the fence about that. I’ll just have to keep reading to get my answers.

With that said, I will leave you with my recommendation that you will get lost in this otherworldly tale of finding the supernatural, and learning that anything is possible, and anything could be real.

Happy Reading.

-E.A. Walsh

Dust To Blood by Tonya Cannariato is book one in the Red Slaves series. This is a paranormal fantasy. Although I ended up enjoying the book I found the beginning to be a bit slow
At the beginning. Once I hit about 50% in though it was good and I flew through it. I liked the characters and writing. The author did a great job. And I would definitely read others in the series. Overall I enjoyed it and would rate it 4
Stars.

a great read about there being more to the world. when mysterious magical things occur between Anne Crosby and nine men, Anne sets out to find an explanation. researching it leads her on a journey of adventure across the world. in Russia she discovers there is more to the world than she thought. but when events escalate and dangerous creatures follow her, will she be able to stay alive in this new side to life she has discovered?
a great read. well developed plot with twists and turns. well developed characters like Anne standing up for herself while struggling with everything new. I loved her sense of curiosity alongside the sense of adventure made it a great read. the sense of mystery added to the magical sense of the novel and captivated the reader to carry on to find out the answers with Anne. I loved the new additions to the fantasy genre with the dust in the blood or the sorceries or the dragons and twists on history in Russia which were excellently written. this mixed with the realism of Russia and research of science combined well to make a great story. I also adored the visual detail throughout especially in Russia which felt as if you were really there. overall, a brillaint read and I would give it five stars

Dust To Blood by Tonya Cannariato is the first book in her Red Slaves series. An intricate story of supernatural power and mystery.
Imagine feeling a spark between you and someone. Now imagine feeling that spark for nine different men. That is exactly the situation Anne finds herself. However there is more than play than chemistry. Mystical amnesiacs with dust running through their veins it is Anne’s job to find out what they are – and where they are.
Her journey takes her far and wide. And when she runs in to forces with a mystical connection Anne will have to fight even harder.

This wasn’t an author or a series I knew anything about until I started reading this book but I am glad I found it. The book has an intriguing story that was well written. I liked Anne’s character and the journey she takes throughout the story. I found this story to be unique and not like anything I had read before. I am looking forward to seeing what else this series has to offer.

I really found this to be quite good. I really liked Anna who went to Russia to discover the reason of nine amnesiacs who had been imprisoned. I found the plot to be fast paced and interesting as well as keeping me guessing. I will definitely be reading more books in this series.