Archive for good vampire books
Title: Twilight: The Graphic Novel, Volume 1
Author: Stephenie Meyer with art by Young Kim
Release Date: March 16, 2010
Pages: 224
Genre: Young Adult Vampire
Best Book Quote: “I’d never given much thought to how I would die – though I’d had reason enough in the last few months.”
If you are one of those “Twilight” fans who can’t get enough of the Twilight book, the Twilight movie, the Twilight t-shirts or anything else related to this phenomenon, then boy, do I have a treat for you. It’s called Twilight: The Graphic Novel and it’s written by Stephanie Meyer and illustrated by Young Kim. I have totally enjoyed all of the Twilight series books and movies released to date, so to see the content presented in a new format was a real thrill.
If you don’t know the basic premise of the Twilight series (where have you been?), the story follows a young woman, Isabella Swan, who moves to the overcast and cloudy town of Forks, Washington, to live with her father. There she meets Edward Cullen, a mysterious student at her high school who fully captures her interest and imagination – she can’t seem to figure him out. The storyline follows the development of their relationship and the issues that occur with having a vampire as your high school boyfriend.
The graphic novel presents essentially the same storyline except that illustrations replace the descriptive paragraphs of the book. I’ve never read a graphic novel before and I found that I liked it. Being new to this style of presentation, there were a couple of techniques that took me a couple of pass-thrus to understand but that was fine. Young Kim’s artwork is very detailed and well done. The majority of it is in black and white but her use of color for selected scenes added significantly to the reader’s experience.
This is Volume One but it doesn’t end where the first book ends. That tells me there will be a Volume Two which I will certainly purchase. For any devoted Twilight fan (or graphic novel fan), Twilight: The Graphic Novel is a must have. It will look awesome on your bookshelf next to all the other books and DVD’s that you’ve already likely purchased as a Twilight aficionado.
Title: Kiss of Death
Author: Rachel Caine
Release Date: April 27, 2010
Pages: 256
Genre: Urban Vampire
When you live in a town that’s run by vampires, where it’s not safe to be on the streets after dark, you’re thrilled at the chance to leave town and see some new sights. That’s the case in Kiss of Death by Rachel Caine, the latest installment in The Morganville Vampire series. Claire and her friends are given the chance to go past the city limits in order to let Michael make a demo CD in Dallas. Freedom from Morganville, they are all just too excited! Although that excitement is tempered a bit when they get their transit papers and they find out that Oliver, an enforcer for Morganville’s head vamp, is going along as their escort. Wow, that will really liven up the trip – NOT!
So, the two couples set out – Shane and Claire, Michael and Eve – along with Oliver on their way to music fame and fortune. Everyone is so excited because passes out of town are few and far between – you don’t leave Morganville without the okay of the lead vampire, Amelie. It is all going great until they stop for food in a small town that has more than its share of rednecks. When Oliver disappears on some mysterious mission and tells them not to leave the little town, things go from bad to worse. When rogue vampires from Morganville track them down, intent on having Claire and Eve for lunch, rednecks are the least of their worries. As Shane tells the sheriff, “we’re not the bad guys here”.
The writing in Kiss of Death transports you to small town Texas, letting you connect with the unique personality of each character. The story of joy-riding teenagers, happy about their freedom, being sidetracked by hating humans and malevolent vampires delivers an exciting read that never lets up on the action. Rachel Caine delivers yet another great installment in her Morganville Vampire series. If you are looking for a fun, fast-paced, road trip adventure, you’ve got to read Kiss of Death.
Title: Dying Bites
Author: D.D. Barant
Release Date: June 30, 2009
Pages: 320
Genre: Urban Vampire
Best Book Quote: “Morning. I open my eyes and the last miniscule of hope that everything is just a dream evaporates with a tiny, melodramatic scream. Good Riddance, I think. I’d rather deal with reality – no matter how bleak – than have some ridiculous, forlorn hope distracting me. Yeah, and I hate kittens and puppies too.”
In the supernatural fantasy, Dying Bites the author D D Barat has taken the creative writing spirit to new heights. This is the first book in a new series entitled The Bloodhound Files. As I was reading it I found myself constantly thinking about what a wonderful imagination the author has – the alternative universe she creates opens up endless possibilities; you never know where this wonderful adventure might lead you.
The lead character in the story is Jace Valchek, a top notch successful FBI profiler. One day she’s living a normal life but then, mysteriously wakes up in an alternate universe where humans are an endangered species. But that’s not all; the person responsible for her journey is a vampire.
It seems that David Cassius, the vampire head of his universe’s National Security Agency, needs her expertise in dealing with a human serial killer that’s targeting vampires and werewolves, the creatures that make up most of the population. The supernatural beings in this new world, where magic is the norm and humans are nothing more than blood bags, have no experience dealing with insanity and they need Jace to find the killer. It’s because Jace is such a strong and skilled woman that she’s able to function in this new world and help David with his problem.
Now, the descriptions of the murder scenes are not for the weak of stomach. However, although they’re very graphic they’re not overdone. Since the murders are an integral part of the story the descriptions help the reader understand the compelling nature of the crimes. I would not really call this book a romance but there is enough hanky panky going on to keep paranormal romance fans interested. Dying Bites provides a unique spin on a not-so-common storyline that many fantasy readers will enjoy.
Title: Wicked Game
Author: Jeri Smith- Ready
Release Date: March 31, 2009
Pages: 432
Genre: Urban Fantasy
A young woman with a sketchy history tries to go straight. Looking for a respectable job, she interviews as an intern at a radio station. But the job has a lot of odd requirements, such as:
-the DJs don’t work during the day
-she can never enter the locked room in the basement, and
- each DJ is uncannily aware of his/her decade of musicThus begins a great novel titled Wicked Game by Jeri Smith-Ready. Meet Ciara Griffin, reformed grifter who needs a job badly and who’s willing to take on the strange crew at WWMP in order to make ends meet.
What she doesn’t know is that the reason these DJs know their music genre so well is that they are vampires that were turned in the decade of the songs they play – that’s why they’re such experts.
Just when Ciara gets into the groove of her new job a nationally syndicated radio giant decides to buy WWMP, ruining the life that these vampires have built for themselves. so Ciara comes up with a radical idea – tell the world that the DJs are vampires as a marketing gimmick and hope they can make enough money to hold off the wolves. Changing their name to WVMP, the vampire DJs pretend to be vampires for their human listeners and it’s a rousing success. Unfortunately, their ruse attracts the attention of an ancient vampire cult whose members are less than happy at the visibility WVMP is generating for their kind . . .
Wicked Game is a cleverly written book with lots of unique and interesting characters that keep you engrossed. From the very beginning, Ciara is attracted to Shane, the DJ for the grunge rock era, but she’s also quite wary of him – seriously, can a human truly have a relationship with a vampire? Adding the other fun characters in the story, from bizarre vampires who only live in their decade to the mystery buyer who wants their radio station, Jeri Smith-Ready brings us an excellent tale of friendship, mystery, and love. Pick this book up and be prepared to be reading for a while, it’s hard to put down.
Remember when we pulled all-nighters in school, studying like crazy, drinking cup after cup of coffee and just trying to make it through the night? Well, the heroine of Some Girls Bite does the same thing, only not as a student. And it’s not coffee she’s drinking to keep her awake.
Twenty-seven-year-old Merit is minding her own business, strolling on the University of Chicago campus one night, when she is attacked and nearly killed by a wayward vampire. In this novel by Chloe Neill, vampires have recently come out of the casket and are living side by side with humans rather peacefully. But that’s about to change.
In Merit’s world vamps are assigned to one of four Chicago houses, pretty much like a frat or sorority, and they answer to masters who run the houses. Fortunately for Merit, a strapping, hot-blooded, centuries-old master named Ethan sweeps in to save her after the attack- and in the process makes her one of his own.
But Ethan is one of those guys, you know, one of those “bad boys” that girls have a hard time staying away from. While Merit doesn’t want to give in to his controlling and at times, manipulative behavior, she’s strongly drawn to him.
Now an unwilling inhabitant of Cadogan House (run by Ethan), Merit has to deal with learning how to live the life of a vamp along with breaking the news about her new lifestyle to her high society family and friends. And we all know how some mothers can be.
A few twists add to the complexity of the story: another hot vamp is chasing after Merit, and pretty, young co-eds are dropping like flies. The question is, can Merit maneuver her way around the landmines of her new life, while juggling two new guys and fending off a killer?
If you’re looking for a fast-paced entertaining read with hot love scenes, suspense, an infusion of humor and a unique plot, you should pick up this book. Neill introduces us to an exciting new world with Some Girls Bite and the book is the perfect set-up for future installments. Friday Night Bites, Merit’s next adventure, is now available as well.
Both books are available from that store that starts with an “A” . . . you know the one.
Librarian Jane Jameson is having a lousy day. Her boss, in a fit of nepotism, just gave her job away to a family member. To add insult to injury, her severance pay is a gift certificate to the local bar. So Jane does what any self-respecting, recently fired, unlucky in love 30-something female would do: she bellies up to the local bar to drink away her sorrows.
A sexy and sympathetic vampire named Gabriel happens to be hanging out nearby and after listening to her story, gets her sober and helps her to her car. Unfortunately for Jane, her car quits halfway home; to top off a really crappy day, she gets accidentally shot by a drunk hunter who mistakes her for a potential wall trophy. Gabriel, following her to make sure she gets home safely, sees the accident and comes to her aid. Since Jane is near death he gives her a choice: she can either die now or be “turned” and come back as the undead. She chooses Door Number Two.
Suddenly, the loss of her job is the least of her problems. She now has to learn what it means to be a vampire. Fortunately, vampires are completely “out” and there’s a synthetic blood product available that doesn’t taste too bad. But while trying to deal with her new condition, her newly dead aunt appears as her roommate. She has to forget about her favorite Southern-fried cooking and settle for cold bags of blood. She has to struggle through the daylight hours and pretend to actually still be breathing. And her mother won’t stop asking annoyingly pointed questions.
Jane’s also being framed for a vamp murder, and she better locate the real killer quick before she’s targeted by the entire vampire community. Her on-again, off-again relationship with Gabriel is one most girls can relate to, and provides heat and chemistry that smolders throughout the book.
Jane, isn’t just another one-dimensional character, though. She’s portrayed as a normal, nice girl, not overly neurotic, who loves to read, is kind to babies and small animals, and puts up with her bad-mannered family with aplomb.
Harper fleshes out other likable characters with a tongue-in-cheek approach , including Jane’s best friend Zeb, who’s in love with a werewolf named Jolene, and Dick Cheney, a bad-boy vamp with a crush on Jane. The tale is told in Jane’s sarcastically witty voice.
If you have any sense of humor, you will enjoy this read, and will no doubt want to read Harper’s next installments, Nice Girls Don’t Date Dead Men and Nice Girls Don’t Live Forever. But first, start by getting Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs!
