Customer Reviews

The Last Vampire

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

At just 275 pages it took me only a day to read The Last Vampire by T. M. Wright, but what a curious and wonderful read! From Elmo Land's first few appearances in the opening prologue, I was taken with his rather enigmatic patterns of speech. The year is 2047; most communication between people is done via email; there is very little physical interaction anymore. The reader meets someone named Harpo, who although living in a rather large house with 27 other people, spends most of his time in his own small, square room that "contains no uncovered windows." Harpo uses his Book, which I think is probably a laptop computer, for everything from telling him when his day should begin to emailing his housemates. Elmo Land is a vampire who appears, in a manner of speaking, to Harpo and asks to use Harpo's Book to record his story as a vampire. Then Elmo's story begins to unfold; and as I read it, I found myself rooted in my chair, turning page after page, all else around me forgotten. When Elmo begins to repeat himself practically word for word, I thought at first I'd misread or the editors had goofed up; but then as he did it more and more I realized something strange and bizarre and detrimental was obviously happening to him, but I couldn't figure out what. The ending took me by surprise, and yet seemed appropriate. Upon finishing the book my verbal comment to the empty room around me was, "What an odd little story!" and proceeded to read through the prologue again to perhaps better grasp its depiction of Elmo Land, at THAT point in time. One of the criteria I have for giving a book 5 stars is, if even knowing the ending, I intend to read it again. T. M. Wright's The Last Vampire satisfies all my 5 star criteria; and as a matter of fact, I intend to begin reading it again tonight!

The Last Vampire chronicles the life of Elmo Land, the last vampire living at the actual end of times. His story begins in the twenties when he becomes the victim of a neighborhood woman who happens to be a vampire. His story is a rather unique one. He tells his angst-ridden tale that somehow seems much fresher than most of the horror novels out there. He is neither fancy nor debonair but a very real character dealing with an insatiable hunger. Elmo tells the story of cowboy vampires and his journey as an undead killer. Its a great tale that never disappoints. Its funny, its frightening and most of all, its an odd story full of interesting characters. Great

Just when you thought all the vampire stories have been told and there is no longer any original work to be done in the genre, along comes T.M. Wright to prove you wrong. This a wonderfully dark story with fascinating characters you care about. T.M.'s emphasis is on atmosphere and less on graphic violence and gore (although he has that, too). This author writes for an intelligent audience by not spelling out everything for the reader. You have to read between the lines in many scenes. I became swept up in this novel and finished it in 2 days. If you are tired of the same old vampire story, give this breath of fresh air a try. You won't be disappointed.

I agree with all the other reviews posted here. Wright deserves a huge audience and maybe these Leisure reprints will give it to him. If you want non-stop violence look elsewhere, but if you want real-as-life characters, unpridictable plotting, and a truly dark take on life in general, try this book and Wright's other works.

Don't believe you've read this story before. It hasn't been written by Anne Rice, or Stephen King, or anyone else but Wright himself. Sure, it has the angst-filled vampire, Elmo Land, but he's got great reason to feel angst--he's becoming human again, and is also literally falling apart. He's becoming human because he's become unnecessary--supplanted by the evil of a third world war. There's LOTS more to this novel than that. The characterizations are wonderful and the story itself crackles with humor and negative energy. Read it.

The cover is deceiving,..the dialog on the back as well, as they make the book look/sound interesting when nothing could be further from the truth.
I found the story of Elmo Land, the last living vampire to be one of the most lackluster, uninteresting, and frustratingly boring books I have read in a very very long time.
Being the completest that I am I had to stick around to the very last page in the dire hope that somewhere, somehow, this plodding mess of a tale would get better...even a little. It didn't...it got worse.
The ending was a complete let down and when I had finished reading it I was so frustrated that I tore the damned thing in half! Someone who had seen the remains in the trash asked me, "Bad day?"
"No", I replied, "bad book."
If you're looking for a fun and engaging vampire story,...keep walking.
If you're looking for a plodding, pile of drivel...look no further.

What a delight- I would recommend this book, even to those who normally would not read "horror" fiction.
This book got so believably inside the psyche of a Vampire- from inception onward; it is remarkable because it is so natural and logical. I have loved everything I have read by this author. The plot of "The Last Vampire" is much more linear than his other books. Stunning.

Mondo Bizarro is one of the ways Elmo Land's is described at the end of the book. In fact, this entire book could be summed up in these two words. For most of the book I could only picture Elmo Land as a Forrest Gump type speaking in the voice of HAL from 2001, A Space Odyssey.

The book attempts to describe the world through Elmo Land's eyes in a post apoctoliptic time. Is he really a Vampire? Other than living for about 150 years, he could just as well have been a Hannibal Lecter, taking away all of the intelligence. Elmo's thought process is followed throughout the book as seen by the ongoing, disconnected thought pattern, as well as the continual repetition of text. This was entertaining for a while, but I could barely wait for the book to be finished. I got so bored with it after a while, the constant rambling, the repetition, the ignorance, and stupidity.

As a real Vampire novel, I'd say to skip this one. If you're into horror, then this will be a good one to pick up since, for what it is, it is well crafted and delivered in a unique and imaginative way.

If you pick up this book based totally on title, you might think you're getting something great (novel with the same title by Whitley Streiber), and you're really getting a middle of the road, forgettable book.

Don't get me wrong, it's not the worst book i've ever read about vampires, but it's also not in the top 100. If you cut out the complete paragraphs that are repeated throughout the novel (meant to illustrate the degeneration of the mind of the title character), you're left with about 125 pages of middle of the road prose.

The "Midnight Rodeo", with which the novel really begins, was a GREAT idea that wasn't developed and dropped out of the story after five pages. A rodeo that was performed at night, in which all of the "cowboys" were actually vampires... too bad that wasn't developed.

First, ignore the cover. its garbage and the dialogue on the back was very obviously written by someone who hasn't read the book. TM Wright, whoever you are, you should write your own cover...this one misleads.

The book has an amazing story. Read it, enjoy it. Bizarre take on vampires, completely unique.