Archive for Vampire Books for Teens
Rachel Caine, the New York Times bestselling author of the young adult Morganville Vampires series, has a new book out called KISS OF DEATH. This is the 9th book in the series and if it’s like the others, it will be a great read for vampire fans.
I first began reading Rachel’s books when she started her Weather Warden series. From there I started reading her Outcast series and then “discovered” her Morganville Vampires books. I like everything I’ve read by her thus far. Rachel writes books that have plenty of action, which I love, but even better her characters are always really interesting. You grow to care about their fate. This is probably because she wisely develops main characters that have flaws, I mean, no one’s perfect right? That’s what I like about her books.
Here’s a snippet about Kiss of Death, the latest Morganville Vampires book:
“Vampire musician Michael Glass has attracted the attention of a big time producer who wants him to cut a demo and play some gigs – which means Michael will have to enter the human world. For this, he’s been assigned escorts that include both a dangerous immortal as well as Michael’s all-too-human friends. With that mix of personalities, this is going to be one road trip from hell . . .”
Rachel will be promoting Kiss of Death by visiting bookstores in the US signing copies of her books and answering questions from fans!
Here’s where she’ll be next:
Friday, May 7th
6:30 PM
Murder by the Book
2342 Bissonnet St
Houston, TX 77005
Saturday, May 8th
2:00 PM
Barnes & Noble
1430 Plaza Place
Southlake, TX 76092
For updated information on her schedule and other fun events (like free book giveaways), check out Rachel Caine’s website.
And check out these reviews of Kiss of Death
There’s nothing hotter than urban fantasy right now. There are books, movies, games, and clothes that all depict something supernatural; people can’t seem to get enough of it. So, when it’s time to buy your vampire or werewolf lovin’ friend or family member a gift and you can’t think of what to get them, Peter Pauper Press has come up with something perfect for people who are fascinated with monsters.
The Compendium Monstrum is a guide to vampires, werewolves, and zombies. It’s small enough to carry around when you need a quick refresher on vampire indicators, read about the history of werewolves or brush up on zombie folklore. The guide has maps indicating areas of interest for vampire aficionados, maps showing werewolf information, and maps for possible zombie locations. These maps are not just fiction but are in actuality based on historical folklore. I totally pictured myself taking this authentic looking guide out while I’m standing in line at the bank, thumbing through it in a focused and studious manner. Wouldn’t that freak people out? Wouldn’t that be cool?
There are pages in the Compendium Monstrum for recording possible supernatural sightings during the owner’s journeys. There is also a wonderful list of further research information available for the true supernatural lover. And the handy index makes the compendium easy to use when looking for specific information.
The information in the book is taken from the historical notes of Herr Doktor Max Strum and Baron Ludwig Von Drang. I’m not sure who they are but they used to have Twitter accounts. I assume they removed the pages because Twitter is so popular with vampires and werewolves; after all, we don’t want the monsters to know that we’re on to them, right?
To accompany the Compendium Monstrum is a wonderfully illustrated journal and bookmark that vampire lovers will really enjoy. The journal and bookmark are illustrated by Victoria Frances, the Spanish illustrator whose Goth-inspired work has become famous around the world. As you can see from the photo they’re a matching set depicting a young girl (who might be a vampire) dressed in a long white gown, staring seductively at the reader. Holding a rose, she seems to be mysteriously saying to the viewer that she’s got something interesting in store for you. The pages inside the journal are made of acid free paper and there’s an inside front pocket to hold any special notes.
Giving the journal, Compendium, and bookmark together makes a great gift for the supernatural lover on your gift list, but individually, each stands on its own as a wonderfully clever gift.
The final book in the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer, called Breaking Dawn, is different in the fact that it’s divided into three parts. The first part of the vampire book begins with the long anticipated and awaited marriage of Edward and Bella. The happy couple go off on a romantic honeymoon to a very private and secluded island on the Brazilian coast. Of course, nothing ever happens like Bella and Edward expect. Two weeks after their nuptials, Bella figures out that she’s pregnant. Not only that, but the baby is developing faster than any normal baby would. Carlisle is contacted, confirms the pregnancy, and the couple head back to Forks, where Edward wants Bella to abort the child because he’s afraid she’s in danger. Bella, feeling a strong connection with the baby, refuses to do it and goes ahead with the pregnancy.
Part Two of Breaking Dawn is written from the point of view of Jacob Black. The news has gotten around that Bella is pregnant and that the baby is not exactly normal, since the pregnancy is progressing rapidly. His wolf pack decides that they need to kill both the child and Bella and get rid of any risk that it may pose. Jacob, despite the fact that he hates that she married Edward, decides he doesn’t like this idea and forms his own pack with Seth and Leah Clearwater. When Bella gives birth, the baby injures her badly, breaking bones and causing her to lose a lot of blood, since she is still human. Edward knows that the only thing he can do is to change her, so he injects the venom right into her heart and makes her a vampire. Complicating things further, Jacob is there when the baby is born and imprints on her immediately, meaning that Renesmee is his soul mate.
Part Three of Breaking Dawn goes back to Bella’s point of view. She’s very busy now, considering she’s a new mom with a super baby and a vampire to boot. Things get worse when Renesmee is thought to be a child who was turned into a vampire, which is something that is frowned upon by the Volturi. After a meddling vampire named Irina tells the Volturi this, they decide that both Renesmee and the whole Cullen clan need to be destroyed. Facing certain doom unless they do something, the Cullens rally other vampire clans from around the globe and ask them to witness for Renesmee. After confronted with evidence that Renesmee isn’t a human child that was turned into a vampire, the Volturi carry out the immediate execution of Irina. They would have killed Renesmee as well if it hadn’t been for Jasper and Alice, who had located another vampire just like her. The Volturi back off and the happy little family is able to live happily ever after, a great ending to an enthralling series.
I predict that the Twilight Saga will become a classic vampire book, especially among the young adult crowd. Get Breaking Dawn, the last book in the vampire series.
The third of the Twilight books in the series, Eclipse is a book that pretty much picks up where New Moon ended. Bella is facing the end of her high school years and graduation, and the fact that she is going to be leaving the town of Forks for good. The story that everyone is hearing is that she’s going to college, when the truth is that she plans to become immortal like Edward.
If you are someone who loves the drama and angst of love triangles, you are going to absolutely love Eclipse, because Bella is town between two men that would do just about anything for her.
First, there’s Jacob – her friend, her confidant, and a guy who she only thought of as the cute little boy next door until he turned into a big fluffy fur ball who sprouted mega muscles along with fur and fangs. Jacob worships her and would do just about anything for her, and in a perfect world they probably would have been together.
Then there’s Edward, the man of her dreams. He’s gorgeous, he’s hot, and he’s never going to grow old. How perfect is that? As soon as he gives her the ultimate love bite they can stay teenagers and live happily ever after.
Making this love triangle more complicated than it already is is the fact that Edward and Jacob hate one another. And we’re not just talking about the fact that they are both hot for her bod. We’re talking about an ancient war that has been going on for centuries. You see, werewolves and vampires are mortal enemies, and usually they try and kill one another.
So what is it that makes these mortal enemies not exactly kiss and make up but simply put aside their differences? Nothing more than the fact that there’s another big bad bloodsucker on the horizon that made a bunch of new vampires to terrorize Forks. You guessed it. Victoria’s back with a vengeance and she is not happy. So these two creatures that everyone thought didn’t exist decide to join forces to rid Forks of these unspeakable horrors. Unfortunately, while the battle ensues and Bella, Edward, and Jacob hide out, Jacob accidentally overhears that Bella and Edward are engaged and that she’s going to become a vampire. He throws a fit, threatens to join the fight and get himself killed(hmm, kind of sounds like Edward going to the Volturi, doesn’t it?), and to appease him, Bella kisses him. She then realizes that she loves him as well. After a few more complications, the battle ends and the result is that poor Jacob goes running off with his tail between his legs.
Despite all the teenage angst and the love triangle, this was really a good book with a good plot. It moved along well and it holds the reader’s attention like the other two Twilight books. It’s definitely one of the Twilight books that is worth reading and one that keeps you guessing til the end. It’s one of the Twilight books that a lot of teenagers can identify with.
Eclipse is now ON SALE at Amazon for less than 6 dollars!
Here are the new vampire books that have a March publication date. I’m really excited about these books because they include some great entries from some of my favorite authors like Chris Marie Green, Mario Acevedo and L.A. Banks.
Here we go!
Deep In The Woods by Chris Marie Green
With the female master of the London Underground in her hands, stuntwoman-turnedvampire hunter Dawn Madison must fight off her followers, a vicious pack of undead teenage girls who put the vamps Dawn had to deal with in Los Angeles to shame . . .
Werewolf Smackdown by Mario Acevedo
A sure-to-be-bloody civil war is brewing between rival werewolf factions, and private investigator Felix Gomez will do anything he can to make sure it doesn’t explode into a vicious battle that engulfs all creatures, living and dead. Between that, the sudden reappearance of an ex-girlfriend, and a gang of other vampires trying to take off his head, this is one rumble that Gomez, a fanged detective extraordinaire, may find hard to handle.
and Falling, Fly by Skyler White
In a dark and seedy underground of burned-out rock stars and angels-turned- vampires, a revolutionary neuroscientist and a fallen angel must put medicine against mythology in an attempt to erase their tortured pasts…but at what price?
Olivia, vampire and fallen angel of desire, is hopeless…and damned. Since the fall from Eden, she has hungered for love, but fed only on desire. Dominic O’Shaughnessy is a neuroscientist plagued by impossible visions. When his research and her despair collide at L’Otel Mathillide-a subterranean hell of beauty, demons, and dreams-rationalist and angel unite in a clash of desire and damnation that threatens to destroy them both.
Key To Justice by Talia Gryphon
Psychologist to the paranormal Gillian Key has a new patient. He is a vampire who calls himself Csangal, but he is also a creature hiding his true motives-and his true identity: Dracula.
Death Blows by D.D. Barant
FBI profiler Jace Valchek was pulled into this parallel realm to hunt for Aristotle Stoker, a human serial killer who preys on vampires and werewolves. Now she works for the National Security Agency of the Unnatural States of America – and her boss is a vampire.
At a bizarre crime scene, Jace finds a bloodsucker murdered by magic, fried to the bone and dressed in the costume of the comic book hero the Flash – a character who isn’t supposed to exist here. Comic books have been outlawed for their powers, including crossover spells like the one that transported Jace to this world. Soon, she’s following a trail of dead bodies into the sinister underworld of black-market comics – where a deranged madman gives new meaning to the term “super-villain” . . .
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith
When Abraham Lincoln was nine years old, his mother died from an ailment called the “milk sickness.” Only later did he learn that his mother’s deadly affliction was actually the work of a local vampire, seeking to collect on Abe’s father’s unfortunate debts.
Using The Journal of Abraham Lincoln as a guide, the true life story of our great president is reconstructed for the first time—all while revealing the hidden history behind the Civil War, and uncovering the massive role vampires played in the birth, growth, and near-death of our nation.
Never Cry Werewolf by L.A. Banks
The last fight between the werewolf clans spilled onto the streets of New Orleans—and now the whole city’s on red alert. Martial law has gone into effect. Mediums, ghost hunters, and other supernatural pundits have taken over the media, swarming the Big Easy to expose the hard truth about lycanthropes. And to make matters worse, a beastly killer is clawing up humans…
Secret government operative Sasha Trudeau doesn’t like what she’s seeing—a series of brutal and bloody slayings that appear to be wolf-like attacks. It might be the work of a copy cat killer – a vampire or fae. But while Sasha races to find suspects and motives, the panic level is rising—and the city’s human population is clamoring for an all-out wolf hunt . . .
Don’t you love the holiday season?
This year, because vampires are so darn popular, I’m getting my friends gifts that are vampire-themed. If you have friends that love the undead, check out these cool stocking stuffers:
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Amazon Kindle. Read your vampire books on the Kindle. Now ON SALE! |
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True Blood DVD: The Complete First Season (HBO Series). Give the True Blood DVD to friends who don’t have HBO! They’ll definitely get hooked! |
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Twilight (Twilight Saga Book #1). This is the first Twilight book that started it all. |
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Sookie Stackhouse Box Set (Books 1-8). Get your True Blood fix – the books and the TV show are VERY different! |
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Twilight The Movie DVD, 2-Disc Special. The Bella and Edward craze started with this movie. |
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J.R. Ward Box Set (Black Dagger Brotherhood Series) (Books 1-6). These books have smokin’ hot vampires and a great fantasy storyline! |
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New Moon (Twilight Saga Book #2). This is the book that the current movie is based on. Hot werewolves! |
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True Blood 2010 Wall Calendar . Each month showcases a scene from the show! |
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A Touch Of Dead by Charlaine Harris. This book is a compilation of Sookie Stackhouse short stories. |
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Vampire Diaries: The Awakening & The Struggle (Books 1-2 ). This is a great young adult vampire series. |
NOTE: most items on this list qualifies for free shipping. That means no tax, no shipping costs and it gets delivered right to your doorstep!
Author Julie Kenner has written the perfect teen novel or, I guess I should say, the sequel to it, since it is the second book in her “Ghouls” series. Good Ghouls Do has a main character, Beth Frasier, who is a cheerleader, valedictorian, popularity queen (although she keeps saying she is not), and a vampire. She has the cutest boyfriend in the high school and a hot college guy trying hard to win her love. But, you know what they say, if something is too good to be true . . .
Beth has some problems. She thinks her gorgeous boyfriend is trying to kill her, and suspects that the hot college guy is a vampire hunter. She has to try and solve the secret to the formula that will allow a vampire to become a daywalker. And, on top of everything else, she has to kill her maker so she can return to her human form. You see she really wants her humanity back; who can live without hamburgers and fries?
You’d think this list of problems would be overwhelming for your average teenager – even a teen vampire – but Beth is smart and she has her best friend Jenny to help her. Oh, and did I mention that Beth had to turn Clayton, her high school boyfriend, into a vampire to save his life?
This means that if Clayton wants to be human again he has to kill his maker, Beth; not a good scenario when arrows and stakes keep appearing to be aimed at Beth. Very troublesome. Problems keep piling on for Beth but the biggest one is perhaps the most challenging: she has two dates to the Winter Dance and no dress to wear to the special event!
Despite the many issues Beth is working through, she’s funny and sarcastic through it all. It’s clear from reading the book that there’s a whole lot more in store for her in upcoming books. Having not read The Good Ghouls’ Guide to Getting Even, the first book in Julie Kenner’s series, I was concerned that there would be a learning curve to understanding the characters. But this was absolutely not the case. You don’t need to read the first book to understand Good Ghouls Do because it gives plenty of information to help the reader understand what has happened before. Although, since I enjoyed this one so much, my plan now is to go back and get the first one in the series, while waiting for the 3rd one to show up in the book store!
Good Ghouls Do is completely appropriate for both teen and adult readers. It’s one of those great crossover fantasy books that’s funny, suspenseful, full of mystery, and thoroughly entertaining. As such it gets my full recommendation.
Thanks to everyone who entered the Night Runner book giveaway contest. Night Runner by Max Turner is a great book and I wish I had enough copies for everyone!
Here are the lucky winners of this contest:
-Dawn M.
-Bailey
-Ashley
-Jessica S.
-Shannah
Please check your inboxes for an email from me. You have until midnight (EST) Wednesday, September 2nd to respond!
And thanks to the great folks at St. Martin’s Press for providing the books for this contest!
The Vampire Librarian
