Nov 12, 2011: Leisa is an 800 year old vampire, and David the young human vampire determined to kill her. He has more guts than skill at it, and, in their first encounter, she easily defeats his rather clumsy attack. She seems to find him almost amusing, and, in some ways, seems to want to take him under her wing. The narration from her POV has an undercurrent of eroticism that leads me to believe she plans to seduce him, slowly and subtly.

The world is fairly typical vampire fare, with stakes and garlic and blood magic and mind control. David belongs to an Order of vampire and werewolf hunters who seem at once sinistre and innocuous—sinistre in how they casually talk about getting rid of members who don’t measure up, and innocuous in the high-school way they go about it. There’s also the beginnings of a larger plot in the most recent chapters—another vampire with his own ways and agenda.

Overall, the writing is a bit flat—both in narration and dialogue. The opening scene has our young vampire hunter sneaking into the vampire’s house to kill her before she awakes. He’s aware he’s not up to facing her directly. It should be heart-pounding fun. Unfortunately, the scene entirely lacks tension. Later, when he finds out his father has died, we are told he is grief-stricken, but neither his words nor thoughts about it seem to ring true. The dialogue amongst the lesser characters is flatter still—they say exactly what the plot needs them to, and they otherwise all sound the same. As a result, the scenes in Leisa’s POV stand out as the best of the bunch. She’s definitely the best-drawn character, and seems to have the best understanding of herself. As I mentioned earlier, the scenes in her POV even manage a subtle eroticism and desire—emotional content that is missing from the rest of the story.

All in, it’s a mixed bag. Worth a look for fans of the vampire genre.

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Feb 6, 2012: The work is a vampire novel with all the usual trappings of vampire legend, as Chris Poirier mentioned. It seems distinctly inspired by the Underworld movies. That is to say, it’s not hugely original, but the author, Becka Sutton, is a good writer, which makes it worth a look.

I think there are some shortcomings in terms of a lack of tension. We don’t get the strong impression, for example, that David is in real danger. Perhaps introducing the vampire, Leisa, in a scene in which she does stalk and kill a victim would create more palpable danger, and perhaps make for a more complex character. The story also has a distinct lack of description. I don’t feel the reader gets much sense of what locations and persons look like. Adding a lot of description to tense scenes can also help to slow down the pace and add to the tension, perhaps. Describing the characters, especially by drawing them as attractive and physically desirable, could also help explain the element of attraction between he two main characters.

On the other hand, the characters seem well drawn. They feel distinct and believable. The story does start strong and keeps one interested.

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