How would you respond if you were time-traveled back to the 19th-century where savage natives were about to offer you up in a sacrifice to their god, and then you were suddenly rocketed forward to a time where mad scientists attempted to inject you with an experimental serum that would transform you into a transhuman slave ruled by artificial intelligence? I know, a lot to think about or even imagine. But thankfully, you won't have to because the Appleby family has already experienced all of these very things for you in this 327-page character-driven sequel to A Wife Worth Living, The Blood of Champions, enabling you to confront these challenges while perched comfortably in the safety of your over-stuffed recliner, sipping on a hot pumpkin-spiced latte.

What sinister plans do the global elites have for hydrogel biosensors, and are they just smoking their socks to believe they can turn humans into controllable microchips? Why were Nazi doctors not prosecuted and brought to America after the war to continue their human experiments? Why were government agitators posing as political demonstrators at a Capitol building rally, and why were hundreds of innocent patriots arrested as "domestic terrorists?" And how completely on the snout was it that hospitals became the most dangerous places to be during a pandemic? And why did so many people believe that wearing a paper mask would protect them from a mysterious killer virus?

And further, why did a man who looks like Danny DeVito believe he could rule the world, and how could the Applebys trust a preacher who looked like Richard Nixon? How did Roger learn that he was kidnapped as a baby and given a fake wife and a fake name, and how did Magnus McCabe, a nephew of the notorious bad guy Henrik, come to live with the Applebys and rival Oliver for Heidi's affections? And why did an Indian chief believe he descended from Mr. Bojangles?

And finally, how is it possible that a man who died over a century earlier still make random appearances and deliver messages from Above to the Applebys about the upcoming epic battle between Good and Evil? All these questions and many more will be answered in this knuckle-gripping, hair-on-fire, second installment of the Immortal Blood series.