Customer Reviews

The Last Vampire : A Novel

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

It's a given that The Last Vampire is a sequel to The Hunger, and therefore there is some expectation that it comes with a built in audience of those who enjoyed the first book. That said, it is a complete mystery to me how an author could set out to capitalize on the fame of a previous book by completely ignoring the lyrical tone of the first, utterly disregarding the original character development, and apparently not bothered to reread original for continuity between the first and second books.

Miriam Blaylock in The Hunger is a creature of utter self possession and control. She is methodical, calmly ruthless, and performs her kills with dispatch and a certain degree of detachment. We're given that her kills occur on an unvarying schedule, and aside from this periodic need, she can move seamlessly in human society, unaffected by her "hunger." Even in a life threatening situation, she remains coolly calculating, and this is a part of her appeal and power.

In contrast, the Miriam of The Last Vampire responds to changing situations with panic, carelessness, and relies more on her physiology to extricate herself from situations rather than the force of her intelligence and personality. She is a considerably weaker character in the sequel than in the original. Moreover, she seems continually overwhelmed by the appetizing odor of humans, and seems to find it difficult to resist consuming them at inappropriate times - a condition we previously saw only in the collapsing condition of John Blaylock, the human made vampire at the end of his life cycle in The Hunger.

The continuity between the two books is odd, to say the least. I have no problem with the introduction of the concept of humans as a crop cultivated for the consumption of the Keepers, as vampires are referred to in this volume. This idea was never touched upon in the original, but it's introduction does not clash in any way with the previous book. Where things go astray is in the rich background detail that gave so much character and nuance to The Hunger. In The Hunger, we're given that Miriam's mother died in the "dangerous" act of childbirth, in a tent just outside pre-dynastic Egypt (approximately 6000 years ago). In the Last Vampire, Miriam's mother dies burned at the stake outside Dresden in 1761, and childbirth, far from being a life threatening prospect, is something Miriam is eagerly courting.

Likewise, rather than perishing in the Mediterranean while saving Miriam from drowning in ancient times, her father dies saving humans from the Hindenburg in 1937. In The Hunger, we're told that Eumenes is Miriam's first human lover made into a vampire, salvaged from the crucified army of Spartacus after several days on the cross, chosen for his obvious will to survive. In The Last Vampire, Eumenes is Miriam's husband, born a vampire, who loses the will to live when their child is stillborn, and starves himself. Over and over, these character points seem oddly inverted from their original source. Had the sequel been written by someone other than Strieber, the author would have been excoriated for failing to familiarize himself with the source material before attempting a sequel. What can be said of an author who cares so little for his own work that he doesn't bother to refamiliarize himself with an earlier piece in order to avoid errors in continuity and characterization in a sequel?

Even some of the smaller details are jarring - for instance, when Miriam, who in this book cannot seem to keep up with the times and speaks archaic French, refers to her mother as "mom," an entirely modernistic expression.

As for the larger plot points...well, the plot is rather thin, and not deeply engaging. Overall, what is lacking in The Last Vampire is a quality that made The Hunger memorable - an aura of hypnotic seduction, drawing both the victim and the reader in. Here, the overall sense is hurried, shallow, and none of the characters evokes even the smallest sense of empathy in the reader. A vast disappointment. Strieber is capable of better than this.

"THE HUNGER" was one of my favorite vampire novels growing up (and if you had read the book, the movie can be appreciated as well). Strieber's vivid imagery (I can never forget the descriptions of Miriam Blaylock's house),clever plot devices as well as the depiction of glamourous and rich vampires was unforgettable. I was very excited to hear that Miriam Blaylock was back in "The Last Vampire" but am disappointed with the book. It starts off very good and Strieber's descriptive prose weaves yet another dreamy spell as we follow Miriam through the streets of Bangkok and Paris seeking out "The Keepers" to warn them of a group of destructive humans that threaten their existence. About half way, though, the plot begins to disintegrate as Miriam unbeleivably falls in love with a very cocky and unlikable CIA agent. It is all too much and some chapters, such as the one where they finally make love, is unbelievably stupid as Miriam runs around screaming "I'm in love, I'm in love!". The chapter contains some of the worst dialog I have ever read! The ending sets the book up for a sequel but the whole turn of events in Miriam's life is disappointing, unbelievable and a let down.

They self proclaimed themselves the Keepers because they are responsible for the evolutionary advances and population increases of mankind. They look at humanity as prey to eat when the hunger becomes impossible to ignore. Mostly, they hide their identities from their food source because they know that their victims would hunt them down if they knew the truth and death could occur if the assailant knows how to perform the act properly.

CIA Agent Paul Ward knows about the Keepers since he realized one of them killed his father. Miriam Blaylock is a unique Keeper who appreciates the modern age conveniences developed by her human counterparts. When Paul and Miriam become aware of one another, they take turns becoming predators and prey until a unique development occurs that shocks everyone in the know.

Over a decade ago Whitley Streiber published the “The Hunger” and finally gifts his fans with the sequel, THE LAST VAMPIRE, which holds up well when compared to the classic first tale. Readers understand Miriam and actually empathize with her needs that make her a killer. The obsessed Paul is trapped inside a mental war between his desires and his need for vengeance. Mr. Streiber remains an excellent teller of horror tales and belongs with the elite of the genre.

...

Where to begin. First of all, the cover jacket describes Paul Ward as an Interpol agent, but he is CIA in the book. Eumenes is described as Miriam's Egyptian Keeper lover in this book when, in The Hunger, he was a dying Greek slave that Miriam rescued in ancient Rome. Her father perishes in the explosion of Thera in The Hunger, but then is described as dying during the Hindenburg explosion. I think Strieber should have re-read the Hunger before writing this book!

And then there are problems with the Last Vampire that do not have anything to do with the Hunger. It simply is not believable that Paul Ward, who has hunted down vampires for years, would not question his own Keeper traits (rough tongue, fast healing etc.). And how is that he can go to a club where a reporter disappeared investigating vampires and not be suspicious at all, until he is trapped of course. Completely unbelievable.

Sad but his broad view of how vampires controlled human history is more credible than the actual story of the present day!

"The Last Vampire," Whitley Strieber's first work of fiction in almost a decade (1993's "The Forbidden Zone" was his last non-alien-encounter book) proves well worth the wait, and makes the reader hunger for more.

A sequal to Strieber's popular vampire novel "The Hunger," "The Last Vampire" takes up with that novel's bad-one, Miriam Blaylock, and follows her as she stumbles, almost pitiably, through a modern world that in many ways has evolved, with the aid of technology, beyond the threat of the once ferocious vampires, or the Keepers, as they are known here.

Miriam travels the world, from Asia, to Europe, looking for more of her kind, but soon finds she has a few unpleasant surprises in store. As she attempts to blend her anachronistic self into the modern world, she soon discovers she has become the hunted rather than the hunter.

For a good portion of the book, the chapters alternate between Miriam's bloody adventures and those of Interpol agent Paul Ward and his team of mere-mortals as they attempt to capture the femme fatale in question.

The book is paced very well, and manages to carve out a pleasingly original channel in the often-overtrod continent of vampire lore.

What impressed me most about this novel, however, was the quality of the writing. Strieber writes with a wonderfully light, and at times witty, finesse, that is just a pleasure on the eyes. It's a treat to read this kind of skilled prose, no matter what the genre, but especially in the horror field, where it's something of a rarety.

Whitley Strieber should be welcomed back to what he does best with open and grateful arms. If you've been looking for a good, intelligent horror novel, look no further. Strieber's your man.

This book is a sort-of sequel to Whitley Strieber's the Hunger. I have never read that book,but I'm going to because this one is wonderful. It held me spellbound. There is just no other way to describe it's effect. I love a good read, and this writer really delivers! The only other vampire-related novel I've ever read was Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice, and this story towers above it. Strieber takes you on a romp from the Thai jungle to the Paris catacombs to an exclusive and decadent New York club that just has to be there. You fall in love with Miriam Blaylock and Paul Ward and Sarah Roberts in all kinds of ways you would never expect. This has got to be some kind of a classic.

**** this review contains spoilers and the ending to "The Last Vampire". If you do not want to know, please go to the next revew.****

I have to agree with all of the other reviews that said the story was inconsistent. For instance, at one point in the story, Paul surmises that he heals quickly because while slaughering Keepers, some of their blood gets on his shoe (i know, but that's what he thinks).... but then later on it's revealed that he's part of some experiment to breed Humans and Keepers. And then one moment Miriam is fierce and the next girlish. And let's not forget that in the first novel, it seemed that Miriam liked how independant and headstrong Sarah was, but in this novel, she calls her "boring". I was trying to like the book, but all of the inconsistencies ruined it for me.

Another glaring mistake: page 378 has Paul laying in bed with Miriam and saying "You are my wife" and thinking, "She lay in his arms, gazing at him with such adoration that he almost wanted to laugh from the pleasure it gave him." He even says "I will never leave you" and he feels this was their marriage vow. Now, please turn to page 384 - yes, only 6 pages ahead and the last page of the book. Now we see Paul with an old coworker, one he hadn't thought about it at least 100 pages and who, at least in this book, had only been in her presence a total of a few days. And now: "When he kissed her at last, he immediately found what he'd lost hope of ever finding, which was his heart's true happiness."

Whah? You were just saying you loved Miriam and wanted to stay with her - ONLY SIX PAGES AGO! You told Miriam that you were her husband and those were your marriage vows.... and now you want another chick who hasn't even been in the book but for possibly 4 pages?

The only thing I can think of that happened is that page 360 came along and Strieber thought, "Crap, I have to have this book done in under 400 pages" and completely abandons the story. Or worse, gave it to a friend to end the book for her. That is my #1 pet peeve about some of these books - you get sucked into a story and you stick with it even during the bad parts in hopes of a good ending, and then all of a sudden, you get shivved in the courtyard and you're left thinking, "What just happened?"

The last 6 pages of the book will make you scratch your head and reread the last chapter in order to "Get" what is going on. If you want to waste some time, get this book. I do not recommend it though.

This is not a sequel to the novel "The Hunger" that I have read more than any other piece of fiction (with the possible exception of Shirley Jackson's, "Haumting of Hill House"). The names may be the same as in The Hunger, but there are some very large inconsistencies with the "facts" presented in the first novel. Facts involving Miriam, her family and the nature of her species have been reworked to a less satisfying result. This was apparent within the first twenty pages or so. The film, which I thought took a nasty and detrimental detour from the facts of the novel (no matter how divine Catherine Deneuve was as Miriam), now more closely resembles the original world of Miriam Blaylock than does The Last Vampire. The Hunger I can read over and over and marvel at the brilliance of the writing and the novel twist on the vampire myth ( I don't think the word "vampire" even appears in the first novel). The Last Vampire, on the other hand, I am having a hard time even getting though once. I may be able to find something satisfying in this novel, but it can't be as sequel to The Hunger.

Am I the only one who noticed that the author seemed to have changed his mind about the storyline of the "Hunger" by the time he wrote "The Last Vampire". The author keeps the same characters, but only the characters and completely changes the storyline.

I read them back to back and it drove me nuts! I usually don't write reviews, but this author ticked me of so bad that I just had to!!

If you are writing a series stick to your story, or else make each book free standing!

By the way as for the latest book Lilith, wasen't she supposed to be Miriams mother, or has the storyline been changed yet again!

I'm sorry to say that I was totally disappointed with this book. I am a fan of the vampire genre and it takes an awful lot for me not to like a book, but I didn't enjoy this one.

From the synopsis, it seemed as though it was going to be really interesting, and I liked the fact that the main protagonist was a female rather than the usual male vampire. However, the thought that remained uppermost in my mind as I read this book was that it was written with the dollar signs of a future film rights sale uppermost in the author's mind. From the character descriptions, to the locales, to the sexual relationships, it was clear that the most important thing was how this all would look on the screen, rather than how it flowed as a novel.

The intial premise of the Keepers and their relation to the humans was interesting, but it was never really depicted well. The reader is just lectured about it. The behavior of the characters Miriam and Paul was just strange and rather disjointed. Not strange in "oh, how unusual" way, but more of the head-scratching kind of strange. I felt no empathy to any of the characters, and without that the book was dull. Also, the ending was a very obvious set-up for the next book in this series.

If you really want to read this book, I'd say take it out of the library rather than wasting your money on it.