Book Log #13: Staked, by J.F. Lewis
Feb. 21st, 2009 07:56 pmMake no bones about it: it's tough to do a vampire novel these days. The urban fantasy genre is overflowing with vampires with consciences, who get by on animal blood or visits to the butcher. Or who are old enough that they don't really need more than a few mouthfuls of blood to survive. Or who are taking from willing donors so they don't have to, y'know, kill anybody.
The protagonist of Staked still falls onto the "conscience" side of the vampire spectrum, but barely. Eric doesn't particularly like being a vampire, and he stays out of the way of most other vamps--in no small part because he has a very hard time remembering them. He doesn't remember who turned him, he barely remembers who he's killed or what he's done ten minute after the fact, and he pulls off maintaining wealth in no small part due to his best friend and his human retainers.
Problem is, somebody's trying to set him up for killing local werewolves, and the werewolf pack is out for his blood. And if that wasn't bad enough, his human girlfriend has just talked him into making her a vampire.
All in all it's an intriguingly complicated book, in no small part because the POV jumps back and forth between Eric and newly-turned vampire Tabitha, giving us a nice mix between a vampire grown weary of his existence (yet still young enough that he is not truly jaded), and one who's exultant in her new status and eager to discover what she can do. The side characters, too, are fun: the old woman who was Eric's first love, who has refused to let him turn her, and who yet stays with him out of loyalty. The all-werewolf hockey team, not to mention the Lycan Diocese. Eric's vampiric offspring Greta, who has delightful echos of Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Spike in her being a happy-go-lucky killing machine. And Philip, the local head vampire, who attained his status by non-traditional means--and whose presence has only begun to register as of this plot. I'm sure we'll see more of him in later books.
The ending is a bit of a downer, which is the main thing that kept this book from being truly amazing for me. But I did quite enjoy this read quite a bit and will be picking up the soon to be released Book 2. Four stars.
The protagonist of Staked still falls onto the "conscience" side of the vampire spectrum, but barely. Eric doesn't particularly like being a vampire, and he stays out of the way of most other vamps--in no small part because he has a very hard time remembering them. He doesn't remember who turned him, he barely remembers who he's killed or what he's done ten minute after the fact, and he pulls off maintaining wealth in no small part due to his best friend and his human retainers.
Problem is, somebody's trying to set him up for killing local werewolves, and the werewolf pack is out for his blood. And if that wasn't bad enough, his human girlfriend has just talked him into making her a vampire.
All in all it's an intriguingly complicated book, in no small part because the POV jumps back and forth between Eric and newly-turned vampire Tabitha, giving us a nice mix between a vampire grown weary of his existence (yet still young enough that he is not truly jaded), and one who's exultant in her new status and eager to discover what she can do. The side characters, too, are fun: the old woman who was Eric's first love, who has refused to let him turn her, and who yet stays with him out of loyalty. The all-werewolf hockey team, not to mention the Lycan Diocese. Eric's vampiric offspring Greta, who has delightful echos of Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Spike in her being a happy-go-lucky killing machine. And Philip, the local head vampire, who attained his status by non-traditional means--and whose presence has only begun to register as of this plot. I'm sure we'll see more of him in later books.
The ending is a bit of a downer, which is the main thing that kept this book from being truly amazing for me. But I did quite enjoy this read quite a bit and will be picking up the soon to be released Book 2. Four stars.
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