Archive for best vampire books
Dracula, My Love: The Secret Journals of Mina Harker
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Title: Dracula, My Love: The Secret Journals of Mina Harker
Author: Syrie James
Release Date: July 20, 2010
Pages: 480 pages
Genre: Vampire Romance
Best Book Quote: “I will never forget the magic of being held in his embrace, the compelling magnetism of his eyes as he gazed at me, or how it felt to whirl about the dance floor in his arms. I still shiver with delight when I recall the dizzying sensation of traveling with him at the speed of light, and the way his slightest touch could make me gasp with unimaginable pleasure and desire.”
What is it about vampires that women love so much? If you had asked me what I thought about vampires when I was a teenager, I wouldn’t have had much to say. By then I’d read the original Dracula and I certainly didn’t end the book wishing a vampire would rescue me from my boring life.
I recently read “Dracula, My Love: The Secret Journals of Mina Harker” by Syrie James. When I decided to read it, I half-heartedly thought back to my boring experience reading the original Dracula novel.
My experience with this book was COMPLETELY different.
As with the original Bram Stoker novel, this story introduces us to Jonathan Harker, a solicitor that’s been sent to Transylvania to finish a real estate transaction with the wealthy and mysterious Count Dracula. The horrors that befall Jonathan during his stay at Dracula’s castle drive him temporarily insane and leave his fiancée Mina back home fretting about what may have happened to him. Meanwhile, Dracula learns of beautiful Mina through Jonathan and decides to travel to England to court her. He successfully uses his charm and his special powers of persuasion on her and she does indeed fall for him.
If you’ll remember, in the original novel Dracula was evil and not the kind of character you would want to spend the rest of your days with. In Syrie James’ version, the story is written from the point of view of Mina. The author skillfully constructs a story that lets us understand why Mina fell so hard for Dracula. We enter Mina’s psyche and fully understand her wants, her fears and her desires. We likewise develop an understanding of Dracula’s motivations. This insight explains why a human woman and a “monster” would literally ache to be with one another.
Dracula, My Love made me feel the way I did when I first watched the Frank Langella Dracula movie from 1979 and the Gary Oldman Dracula film from 1992: exhilarated, enthralled and completely mesmerized. Reading the classic story from a woman’s perspective adds an element of sensitivity to the tale that greatly enriched my reading experience.
Vampire book lovers will absolutely love this book. If you read it I think you’ll agree that Syrie James’ retelling of the story is brilliantly executed and deserves to be added to your “to be read again” shelf of books.
Teen Fantasy Book – Night Runner by Max Turner
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Night Runner is a vampire novel that I am very happy to have found. The author, Max Turner, has written a story for teens that works for readers of any age. The story centers around a fifteen year old boy named Zack Thomson who was orphaned when he was seven. His mother died when he was two and his anthropologist father was killed in a tomb cave-in five years later – while Zack watched. Even worse, as his father lay dying, Zack was attacked by some kind of wild dog and he ended up with a strange disease.
Some people have called his illness “allergies” but whatever his condition, it causes him to sleep all day and eat a very restricted diet. His unique medical problems also cause irritability, so much so that a mental institution has become his home. At the institution, Zack is given the attention and the exclusive strawberry smoothie diet that he needs to thrive – all under the special care of Nurse Ophelia – a woman who has become like a mother to him.
After spending eight quiet years in the mental institution with Nurse Ophelia, Zack’s life is about to change. In a big way.
To start, Zack meets a man claiming to be his long lost uncle. Through this man he’s told about his parents and their demise; stories Zack has a hard time believing.
After his uncle leaves a crazed man crashes through the window to his ward, yells at Zack to run for his life and then proceeds to help him escape from the institution. Once outside the institution, the man takes him to a safe house. Through him Zack finds out more about his odd disease and about the secrets kept from him by his family.
But Zack isn’t sure who to trust.
However, his best friend Charlie has always been faithful and trustworthy so Zack contacts him and they go on the run together, trying to figure out what the heck is going on in Zack’s life. Through their adventures Zack meets a girl (the first girl his age he’s ever met) and begins to learn about the world outside his old institution.
This particular fantasy novel really caught my attention because it’s unique and has such an original storyline. I casually picked it up, looking for something to help me go back to sleep one night and ended up staying up half the night reading it until I was finished. Max Turner took the story of a fifteen year old boy finding out he was a vampire and made it realistic. As such, regardless of your age, you’ll have an easy time identifying with Zack, his feelings and his actions. The pacing was good, the characterizations were realistic and the suspense and intrigue kept the story moving forward quite well. Max Turner has written a thoroughly entertaining and believable fantasy story and I hope he’s busily working on a sequel!
Get Night Runner while it’s on sale!
Vampire Book Adventure – Midnight Reign
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Midnight Reign, the second installment in Chris Marie Green’s Vampire Babylon series, is a non-stop thrill from beginning to end. I loved the first book and could not wait for this one. The latest adventure with Dawn, Breisi, Kiko and “The Voice” as they work to find Dawn’s father (as well as destroy the Vampire Underground), was an exciting, enthralling read. The wait was not in vain . . .
Let me begin by introducing you to the vampire slayer team:
Breisi: a kick butt fighter and Dawn’s father’s girlfriend
Kiko: a little person with pretty powerful psychic abilities
Dawn: a former Hollywood stuntwoman and the newest member of the team
The Voice: a disembodied “voice” that calls the shots and directs the team
The story begins with Dawn being a bit upset with the man referred to as The Voice, also known as Jonah. She feels that he betrayed her with the deception he used to get her to Los Angeles (in the first book) in search of her father. As such, she no longer trusts him and believes Jonah is only interested in finding the Underground so he can destroy it. She’s sick of his secrecy and she’s sick of his ability to manipulate her through sex. Instead, Dawn begins focusing her attention on Matt, an investigator who intrigues her with his straightforward and seemingly honest manner. Although Matt may have some secrets of his own, Dawn is determined to be done with Jonah – or so she thinks.
In the meantime, the team is busy working to solve a series of murders. These murders mimic the previous slayings of a serial killer, Lee Tomlinson. Problem is, Lee is already in prison. However, Lee is still a person of significant interest to the team because of his link to the Underground. And it’s pretty obvious that the Underground is involved because the throats of the victims are torn out and the victim’s bodies are drained of blood. Could Lee know the identity of the copycat killer?
To complicate matters, as they continue their investigation it becomes clear that the vampire leader of the Underground is intensely interested in Dawn. What methods will he use to lure her to him?
This fantasy story keeps you guessing about the characters, how they are related, and how Dawn will deal with all the men who not only want her, but who also want to control her. But let’s be clear: Dawn is not a girl who is easily controlled. Chris Marie Green has written an excellent sequel to her first fantasy novel and if you like a strong female lead who holds her own, this is a book for you. If you read the first one, you’ll be thrilled that there are additional books in the series. If you haven’t read any of Ms. Green’s work before, I envy you for the great read you have ahead of you.
Check out Midnight Reign – you’ll thank me for it later . . .
Vampire Book Review: Jane Bites Back
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The story begins with a modern day Jane Austen – now known as Jane Fairfax – running a bookstore in a small university town in New York State. She’s a vampire, having been turned by a handsome stranger back in the 1800’s and she’s spent the last 150 years keeping her identity a secret, while trying to get a new book published. Needless to say she’s not been successful with that endeavor. However to add insult to injury, since she now owns a bookstore, she sees firsthand how other writers are profiting by using her characters in unauthorized sequels and spin-offs of her work. As you can imagine, she’s not too happy about this.
However she does have a few admirers of the male persuasion. The scandalous Lord Byron, the person responsible for turning her into a vampire, wants to court her. And a local friend and widower Walter Fletcher, makes it clear he’d like to spend more time with her.
And then finally, after hundreds of rejection letters (remember, she’s been submitting this manuscript for decades) she finally connects with a publisher who’s interested. And that’s when the excitement begins. Jane is suddenly thrust into the whirlwind world of celebrity authors where book signings, interviews and talk show appearances prevail. But that’s not the only attention her sudden fame brings her; an old rival begins stalking her and a dead body turns up in her hotel room during her book tour.
With a crazy poet declaring his love for her and her need to “come clean” and tell Walter about her vampire lifestyle, not to mention the stalker problem which threatens the safety of those around her, it’s no wonder that Jane feels overwhelmed and a bit desperate to live a normal and peaceful life.
What will Jane choose – the secretive vampire lifestyle or risk exposing herself to the humans closest to her in an attempt to save their lives? You’ll have to read it to find out . . .
Jane Bites Back just went on sale this week at Amazon. Check it out to find out how Jane deals with her problems – and learn the secret identity of the stalker!
Vampire Book Review – Bad to the Bone by Jeri Smith-Ready
Posted by: | CommentsBad To The Bone
You see, WVMP’s radio broadcasts are being overridden by a religious radio station whenever music by female artists is played. When Ciara takes it upon herself to find the infiltrators she soon realizes that solving this mystery is more difficult than she’d originally thought. To discover the source of the treachery she ends up going undercover by joining a weird vampire victims support group.
On top of that, Ciara has to juggle finding extra time to complete her college work, deal with her own personal problems and take care of a stray vampire dog named Dexter. And although fitting together the pieces of the puzzle proves to be a pain-staking (sorry) process Ciara is up to the challenge. Ciara’s adventures provide a perfect combination of mystery, suspense and humor to make the plot fun and interesting to follow.
With elements like shady government agencies thrown into the mix this book is full of wonderful twists and turns. All in all, Bad To The Bone is thoroughly engaging and a refreshingly cliche-free addition to the vampire book genre.
Let me put it this way: I just purchased a Kindle as a holiday gift to myself. I’ve been trying to decide on the one book that will be My First Ever Kindle Book Purchase. Bad To The Bone just won that distinction.
This is a solid read for fantasy book lovers, vampire enthusiasts (we know who you are) and mystery fans alike.
Check it out guys.
