The Pilgrims of the Damned: A Vampire Thriller

The Assembly, Book 3

De: Steve McHugh

Narrado por: Derek Perkins

A vampire and a journalist team up to stop a witch on a rampage in the third book of this urban fantasy from the bestselling author of the Hellequin Chronicles.

Undead investigator Miles Watson has seen his share of violence, but after his last case left a trail of dead bodies in its wake—some of which had belonged to people he actually liked—he's decided to take a break from policing the tenuous peace between vampires and humankind. Unfortunately, the powers that be aren't keen on him going off the grid, and the new mission they bring to his door isn't the kind that's easily ignored.

It seems a rogue human has his hands on some powerful chaos magic, and he's strayed right into the midst of one of the most dangerous lands in the world: Maine. It's filled with deranged, hungry desolates and has become a hotbed for political squabbles between various powerful factions. The former US state is exactly where you don't want a newly minted—and very homicidal—witch running amok.

Now Miles will have to venture into seriously dangerous territory to play babysitter to the one witch who can bring monsters to justice. Because if the menace isn't stopped soon, the consequences for humans and vampires alike could be apocalyptic.

Pairing quick-witted dialogue and unparalleled world-building with classic noir and horror elements, The Pilgrims of the Damned is the edge-of-your-seat continuation of a series that will grab you by the throat and refuse to let go until the very last moment.

©2025 Steve McHugh (P)2025 Podium Audio

5 stars

The Pilgrims of the Damned is a fast paced and entertaining paranormal mystery. I look forward to the next book.

💞💞fanTastic!!!💞💞

this was incredible!! superb!! i loved the storyline and the characters, new and old, and of course, with Miles and Church, you really can’t go wrong! so much was revealed, i can only hope there’s a lot more to come!!
Mr Perkins’ voice acting was perfection, as always!
thanx Mr McHugh!! i’ll be looking forward to whatever comes next!!
💞💞💞

Excellent story and narrator

This is an excellent, exciting third book in this very different vampire themed series. The narration brought the characters to life and made the story telling as good as watching an action movie.

4.75 Stars 🌟

This was the third book in this series and one that I very much enjoyed.

We are back with Arbiter Miles Watson, a powerful Vampire who is taking some time off after his last crazy case when the story begins. He is asked to accompany our new FMC Ameia Roberts as she embarks on a quest/investigation/story. She is a journalist and will be writing a story, basically using her "investigation" as a cover.

One of her best friends, a Chaos Witch, was murdered for her grimoire and Amelia has decided that she is going to find the witch responsible and bring him to justice. It just so happens that the journey is taking them into the former state of Maine which has been overrun with deranged, hungry desolates and not a safe place.

And so begins the adventure.

Miles and Amelia (and Church - his vampire dog) finds themselves in the middle of events that neither of them were expecting. There are crazy cult like vampires, werewolves, giant desolates and a sleeping vampire (almost) god that is close to waking. Yep, crazy times.

There is non stop action and drama from the very beginning and things do not let up until the very last page. As usual, it is so wonderful to see the relationship between Miles and Church and we even get a brief POV from Church.

This series is only getting better with each book and while this may be the last book in the series - I hope that it is not.

Engaging story, some plot repeats

Like the previous books, the characters, supernatural aspects and world building are really good. I enjoyed it as a whole. one issue that really bugged me though were the few times where Miles or another character get exposition earlier in the book, and then that same explanation comes up later on as if they didn't already talk about it. An example would be how House Idolitor (spelling? I'm doing this from Audible) revere the Dusk as gods. This is covered when Miles Amelia and Sam are all together, and then later on it's explained again in Maine as if she's heating it for the first time. This kind of thing happens a few times and it just really bugged me. All in all it's still a fun listen and the narrator is great.