The Midnight Guardian by Sarah Jane Stratford

Sarah Jane Stratford has written an amazingly compelling vampire book. It’s an intelligent read that provides a refreshing look at the vampire fantasy genre. You’ll find no angst ridden vampires drinking synthetic or animal blood here.

No, The Midnight Guardian doesn’t glamorize the vampire life; it presents a raw and complex look at what it might have been like to live the undead life about 65 years ago.

The Story:

During World War I millions of humans were killed, severely limiting the vampire’s food supply.  Why?  Because the vampires in this world don’t sip their meals, they gulp down the blood and drain the human in the process.  So, each time they feed they end up killing someone.  Couple that with a devastating war responsible for killing millions of humans and you have the potential for drastically diminishing the food supply.

Additionally, WWI led to friction within the vampire community which in turn, led to an all out vampire war, in which many of their kind was killed.

On top of that, the Nazis have made it their mission to not only eradicate the world of Jews, but also those with alternative lifestyles, the mentally disabled, and those with physical handicaps.

Oh, and they’re also dedicated to ridding the world of vampires.  Yes, many of them know about vampires.  They’ve hired top-notch trained vampire hunters who will stop at nothing to pursue and kill the undead.

Because of this, some of the weaker vampires have fled their native lands seeking asylum elsewhere.  Some of them are so disoriented about the war and the hunters that they’ve ended up “facing the sun” in their confusion and despair.

So you see why it’s so important that the team succeed.  But nothing is ever easy, right?

The vampires soon discover that the Germans are incredibly organized, compulsively determined, and hell bent on ridding the world of “undesirables” in their quest to create an ideal master race. As such the vampires find it increasingly difficult to infiltrate their ranks. Sure, they’re able to obtain information about which countries are next on the domination list, but beyond that, they’re coming up dry. For some reason the Germans aren’t responding to the vampire’s mind control efforts. However this is probably due to the fact that the vampires are getting weak from not being able to feed as often as they’d like since they don’t want to draw attention to themselves. Nonetheless the end result is that the vampires aren’t as successful as they’d initially hoped to be.

On top of that, Brigit’s mission is waylaid early on when she’s forced to escort two small children on a train from Berlin to Ireland. Two Jewish children.

And if that wasn’t complicated enough, Brigit discovers that on the train are a very suspicious German doctor and two vampire hunters. With stakes.

This book is many things: an action-adventure story, a suspense drama, a touching tale of love that spans borders. But first and foremost, it’s a brilliantly written, well drawn vampire novel that pulls you in from the start. Believe me, I didn’t want to like any of the vampires in this book because of their custom of killing their victims. But as I continued reading the book I experienced a dilemna: who are the true monsters in this book? Sarah Jane Stratford smartly presents her tale in a balanced manner so neither side is demonized more than the other. Instead, she leaves the reader to decide which group has lost its humanity. I’ll let you read the book and draw your own conclusions.

I applaud Sarah Jane Stratford for writing a vampire tale that takes place during a time period not usually covered in contemporary fantasy books. Her writing style, pacing and characterizations kept my interest high from the very beginning. This is an intelligent book that serious vampire fiction fans (and perhaps a few history buffs) will appreciate.

Be sure to stop by later in the week when I announce a book contest in which I’ll be giving away copies of The Midnight Guardian to 5 LUCKY WINNERS!