Customer Reviews

30 Days of Night: Rumors of the Undead (Bk. 1)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This was a surprisingly good vampire story! Apparently, it is based on the graphic novels in a series entitled 30 DAYS OF NIGHT. I haven't read any of the graphic novels but this book worked extremely well as a stand alone novel. Andy Gray and Paul Norris are FBI agents searching for Stella Olemaun, a suspected terrorist due to her stockpiling of weapons. Paul is killed by a vampire- only Paul doesn't truly die but instead becomes a vampire himself. Andy begins investigating on his own and soon discovers that Stella is no terrorist. Instead, Stella and her husband, Eben, were involved in a vampire attack on the town of Barrow, Alaska, and Stella is only trying to remain safe while warning the world about the vampires. Andy doesn't believe in vampires initially but soon learns that the FBI is aware of vampires and trying to keep their existence a secret. The FBI attempts to stop Andy's investigations only Andy gets angry and hits his boss, resulting in his suspension. Andy continues researching while drinking heavily and wakes up one morning to find his wife and children dead from a vampire attack. Andy is obviously the prime suspect and so he begins moving from place to place, trying to gather evidence that vampires are real and hoping to locate and kill Paul. He befriends a biochemist and sets a trap for the vampires only to be outsmarted by them. The story includes flashbacks to Stella's account of what happened in Barrow and the authors do an excellent job of weaving the past with the present. Highly recommended!

For those that have read the graphic books, this novel is a 'must read.' The ending alone is worth the price of admission. The novel is very 'human centric' in the sense it mostly follows the pov of Agent Andy Grey, which means more backstory on him and his partner and less on the vampires themselves. For those that have never read the graphic novels, this book gets you up to speed real well and for those of us that have read them, well, this novel does a nice job of enriching that which we know.

The excerpt chapters from Stella's 30 Days were wonderful fun for myself as a reader - something I have always wanted to see in the kind of detail that only a novel can offer.

My only issue in the book: Grey's scheme to capture a vampire using hookers as bait - I felt that part was not well thought out and rushed, but that storyline is 30 pages out of 400.

The ending scenes in Barrow were my favorite - that is a very atmospheric town!

Bottom line: Rumors of the Undead is a fun read - worth the price easily!

If you are in the mood for a fairly well written book and can handle a very gritty/grim tone then give this one a try. Let's just say the main character goes through some serious stuff as he comes to grips with what is happening. For me a little too grim. Again, interesting in spite of this . . .

30 Days of Night: Rumors of the Undead / 978-0-7434-9651-3

"Rumors of the Undead" takes place after the '30 days of night' in Barrow, Alaska, where nearly the entire population of an isolated arctic town is massacred by vampires under an extended cover of darkness. Rather than being a direct sequel, however, "Rumors" follows in the footsteps of an FBI agent assigned to keep an eye on Stella Olemaun, one of the few survivors of that massacre, and author of a tell-all vampire expose book.

The basic problem with "Rumors" is that it suffers heavily from trying to make the Masquerade work - it wants to have an X-Files world where vampires exist but no one is willing to believe what is right in front of their eyes. As such, FBI Special Agent Andy Gray is not assigned to watch Stella Olemaun because she might be murdered by vampires for exposing them, but rather because she's been buying up some odd weapons lately and is therefore obviously a terrorist.

About 50 seconds into the 'investigation' - indeed, before the book even starts - Andy's partner gets himself turned into a vampire (after 400 pages, you still will not know how, when, or why), and goes on a killing rampage to frame Andy for the deaths of everyone he's ever met. Being that this is the fictional, X-Files version of the FBI, it comes out that the FBI *knows* about vampires, but is vested in covering them up at all costs, so they cheerfully put Andy on the Most Wanted list and he prudently decides to go on the lam with the end-goal of finding undeniable proof of vampires and warning the world.

It's not a terrible set-up, but the book does so much wrong with it that it loses its sting. We're told early on that Stella (who we never see directly in this novel) was furious at having her vampire expose labeled as 'fiction'. A terrified publishing executive confides to Andy that a mysterious 'They' (the vampires? the FBI?) 'made' them publish the book under the watered-down 'fiction' label, but that doesn't make *any* sense because neither the FBI nor the vampires want the book to exist at all, so why didn't 'They' force the publisher to not touch the book at all? For that matter, if vampires are such a powerful force that they can threaten publishing companies, then I have to venture to say that that particular cat is out of the bag.

Other issues with the Masquerade problem is that all the 20+ S.W.A.T. members who saw a vampire take multiple bullets to the chest have to be convinced that they didn't *really* see him get up afterward, the doctors who confirmed that a lack of a pulse wasn't preventing the suspect from walking and talking have to be silenced, the blood samples have to be gotten rid of, and several incriminating videos have to be deleted. All this can be swept under the FBI rug, but why? Even more ridiculous is when we find out that not only does Stella Olemaun have in her possession a an unreleased *video recording* from the 30 days of night, but when she and her husband become vampiric guardian angels of Barrow (don't ask - this isn't explained at all), despite the fact that *they are vampires*, they still can't figure out how to provide proof to the outside world that vampires exist - it never occurs to anyone to go on CNN and offer to let the anchor chop off a few bits so that they can miraculously grow back for the viewing public to see.

Even without the Fridge Logic, "Rumors" just comes off as very mediocre. It's a decent "man on the lam" story of a man out for vengeance, but the revenge motive is slightly dampened when the book hammers home repeatedly what a terrible husband, father, and human being Andy really is - not so much an anti-hero as an apathetic stand-in for one. The ancillary characters in this book are too many to count, and their lives and deaths are all so tangential to the revenge story that the focus of the book starts to become more about the FBI cover-up which is painfully under-motivated and forced. Maybe vampires just work better in Barrow, Alaska than in Los Angeles, California.

~ Ana Mardoll

This book is good; not great, not bad. The graphic descriptions are some of the best in current horror literature. The problem is in practicality and fluidity of the story. There is a saying, "freedom within form." A story should provide a plausible context for the reader to enter, even if fiction. Unfortunately this one doesn't at times, which is enough to keep the reader aware that s/he is reading a fictional story. Fiction doesn't equal unbelievable, which this book is at times. I won't elaborate in detail as I do not want to spoil it for other readers. In summary, I recommend the book for a quick and dirty read. Cheers.

Following in the footsteps of the highly successful graphic novels (coming soon to a silver screen near you), this novelization begins in Los Angeles, where we're introduced to FBI agent Andy Gray. Investigating a series of murders surrounding a visit from former Barrow, Alaska resident Stella Olemaun, Agent Grey is thrust into the world of the living dead when his long-time partner is not only slaughtered, but risen from the dead as a vampire.

Seeking to unravel the mysteries surrounding his former partner's new condition, Grey soon discovers that those who have come before him in exposing these secrets have paid with their lives. Following an FBI coverup of the supernatural facts, Andy takes the case into his own hands, delving deeper and deeper into the dark truths of the undead.

Soon more bodies surface, and, consumed by the task at hand, Agent Grey seeks refuge in the bottle, shutting out his family and friends. Before long the death toll hits closer to home, with Andy's wife and two daughters falling prey to the vampires who seek to silence him. As the prime suspect in the case, Andy soon finds himself on the run, alone and obsessed with bringing the secrecy of these vampires to life.

After a somewhat unfocused rambling in which Agent Gray wanders the country in seclusion, he follows a trail of clues to Barrow, the scene of the slaughter depicted in the first installment of the 30 Days graphic novels. There he will find the answers that he seeks... and a confrontation that may add his life to the body count.

Although a highly entertaining read, it feels as if too many plotlines were left open by the books end. Granted, this may be due to the fact that this novel is just one tale set in an entire world of comics, but as a standalone it feels as if too many loose ends were left untied, with no current mention of a sequel planned.

I read the comic book that this story is based upon. The comic was brilliant and unique and a really great story. The book tells an even better one. In this book you will meet FBI agent Andy Gray. Andy is a fairly normal, nerdy kind of guy. He is very nondescript and a little in awe of his more outgoing flamboyant partner. The story is about Andy's partner being turned into a vampire and Andy's quest to stop him. It is also about how to come to grips with hard truths about the people that you love and how wallowing in denial and self pity can ruin a life. You actually get to see Andy make mistake after mistake and you cringe and really don't like him a lot in this book, but you can't stop yourself from reading. The book is so gripping that you have to follow his tragic story to its conclusion.

this may be the best modern vampire novel i have ever read . great story line . in depth charcters.writen in a way to be totaly believable in todays era. what would you do if you knew it was all true and how far would you go to bring the existance of the vampire race into the light.

I bought this as a "quick read" for my commute on the train.

This is the bloodiest novel I have read in a long time. Yes, the vampires in this novel are monsters. Not at all sexy. They are one dimensional killing machines who leave a big mess behind them. They are repulsive and they smell like rotting meat.
They wipe out ENTIRE SAMLL TOWNS leaving nothing but carnage, body parts and disembodied heads in their wake.

Despite all this, they manage to remain just a RUMOR within an unsuspecting public.

Ok, Ok,...Just take it as a given that you will need to suspend any sense of logic while reading this, but heck, its a vampire novel! Just don't get too attached to any of the characters, because no one but the protagonist sticks around very long.

I picked this novel up after watching the movie version of 30 Days of Night (based on the graphic novel). I started this book and thought I might ought to read the graphic novel first. It has major differences from the movie. Major differences. I was glad I read the graphic because this book follows that story line but it isn't a pre-requisite by any means. I liked this book because it is intellegent and well written (except the hooker section). I am thrilled because the authors have continued with a sequel.