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thehappybooker's review
4.0
Brent Monahan writes a story about a vampire who was only a half-step from human, augmented by an elixir that also required human blood to activate its chemistry. This made the story much more interesting than emo/tortured/sexy/moping teenage vampires or stories that don't stray from the settled "rules" about vampires. My review misses a 5-star rating only because of some typos which took me right out of the story, and the ending paragraphs that annoyed me intensely when they failed to give proper warning to an innocent person to stay out of the way of dangerous people following them.
Spoiler comments follow.
LOVED: Vincent The Vampire scoffing at common myths: not being affected by crucifixes, churches, bibles, holy water, garlic, silver bullets; sunlight causing accelerated aging but not bursting into flames; sleeping in ordinary beds, not coffins; the elixir not restoring to a set point of perfect age; although they have increased physical powers, their minds are the same as when they were human. Victor must attend to all his bodily needs. The elixir is just a super-fast healing compound, nothing more.
I think Monahan missed an opportunity - if the elixir is activated by an infusion of human blood, have the option of vampires being sustained by transfusions. That could have shown other vampires as truly evil and "good" vampires who didn't enjoy murdering victims opting for transfusions.
Spoiler comments follow.
Spoiler
LOVED: Vincent The Vampire scoffing at common myths: not being affected by crucifixes, churches, bibles, holy water, garlic, silver bullets; sunlight causing accelerated aging but not bursting into flames; sleeping in ordinary beds, not coffins; the elixir not restoring to a set point of perfect age; although they have increased physical powers, their minds are the same as when they were human. Victor must attend to all his bodily needs. The elixir is just a super-fast healing compound, nothing more.
I think Monahan missed an opportunity - if the elixir is activated by an infusion of human blood, have the option of vampires being sustained by transfusions. That could have shown other vampires as truly evil and "good" vampires who didn't enjoy murdering victims opting for transfusions.
verkisto's review
2.0
My favorite quote from this book (which I still remember, 15 years later), is:
"Don't call someone an asshole; call them an earlobe. At least an asshole serves a purpose."
"Don't call someone an asshole; call them an earlobe. At least an asshole serves a purpose."
ladybedivere's review
3.0
I enjoyed Monahan's unique interpretation of classic vampire lore, their strengths and weaknesses, and what gives them their superhuman abilities. I can sense a well-crafted mythology behind the glimpses given the reader in this particular tale. A nice change from Rice and Meyer. On the other hand, while I like a seductive vampire as much as the next girl, after a while all the sex got a bit unnecessary.
swflsweetie's review
2.0
Its OK. I'm only going to finish reading it out of curiosity about how it may end and not an overwhelming need to read it.
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