I requested this on audio from my local library because there was a flyer on the counter saying they were having a whole discussion on it. I thought it might be interesting. I did read the Evil Genius books and I liked what Jinks did with that story line. I'm not sure what I thought this book would be about, but it was surprising on many levels. I should warn you that this was an audio book and, it was the narrator was Australian. Not only do I not know the spellings of the names, some things may have sounded like something else entirely to me.
Our narrator/protagonist is Nina Harrison. She was bitten by a vampire in 1973 at the age of 15. She still lives at home with her elderly mother. She can't drive because, she's 15. Sure, she's been 15 for almost half a century, but that's besides the point. Pretty much the only time she gets out is on Tuesday nights, when she gets picked up and given a ride to the local church for the titular support group. There she meets with the collection of Sidney vampires of her acquaintance and they basically bitch and moan about all of their woes.
The vampires in Sidney are sickly and weak. Living on guinea pigs and an assortment of special supplements, they are not threat they are believed to be. Every way they've been romanticized in books and movies and television is all just a big lie. That doesn't change perceptions and when one of the group is killed, they set out to protect each other and find the killer so they can let him know that they aren't a threat to anyone.
Two vampires and a priest go on a road trip to find a killer... so they can let him/her know just how pathetic vampires really are. It's quite a plan.
Although they are all extremely whiny, they do manage to find some excitement that brings the members together, helps Nina finally come to terms with who and what she is and they make some new friends. The fact that they are a very supportive group and have learned to work together to do what's best for them as hidden, struggling vampires and as their own little exclusive group.
As I said, I don't know what I expected from this book, but it wasn't at all what I would've thought. The vampires are so very helpless and sickly, they whine so much about absolutely everything and their idea of dealing with a killer is to inform him/her that they are weak vulnerable and easy to kill. In the long run, I mostly liked Nina and there is a cast of characters that while not necessarily all likable, are definitely interesting. The characters, when not whining, were the best part of the book. I can really only be pretty meh about this book.
1 comment:
I don't do well with whiny characters, it instantly makes me not like them very much.
However I do love audiobooks. I think they bring something completely different to the book, but I understand how names and spellings are difficult. I always have to look at synopsis and reviews to figure out how to spell the names of people and places when I do an audio review.
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