The Vampire’s Revenge
by Raven Hart
Published by Ballantine Books (January 27, 2009 release)
Click on book
cover to order
at Amazon.com
Reviewed by Maria Elmvang
Jack McShane does not have it easy. Not only is he a vampire, his “sire” (the man who turned him) has just been brutally murdered by Connie, the woman he loves, who, oops, bad luck–has just completed the ceremony to become the next Vampire Slayer and is lusting for his blood. And if that wasn’t enough, a gang of demons and other double deads have infiltrated Savannah, making the place unsafe for living and undead alike. Only by cooperating can Jack and Connie rid the city of the threat these twice-dead people pose, that is, if she doesn’t kill him first.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way, but somewhere along the way, something went horribly wrong, and now everybody involved have no choice but to hang on for the ride, and hope that the tragic end isn’t as set in stone as it currently looks.
The Vampire’s Revenge is the fifth in a series. with several more planned, and therefore a lot of plot references are left unexplained and a lot of threads left dangling to be picked up in later books. Not usually a fan of cliffhangers, I understand the necessity of starting off a plot line in one book to finish it in another, and Raven Hart managed to close off enough ends that I still felt like the book was properly concluded even with the obvious bridges into the next.
Like many other books in its genre, The Vampire’s Revenge is best described as “literary candy.” It’s good entertainment with lots of action, quirky characters, sizzling hot sex-scenes, and not much else. Perfect for a guilty pleasure read. But while I enjoyed the plot, I could have wished for the writing to be a bit tighter. Some scenes seemed very rushed, with the climax occurring practically before I’d realized the action had started. It didn’t affect my over-all enjoyment of the book, but does make it difficult for it to pass beyond the “guilty pleasure” labelling I originally gave it.
Armchair Interviews says: A good read for the fun of reading.