Lilith's Dream : A Tale of the Vampire Life [Hardcover]

Whitley Strieber (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 8, 2002

After sterilizing the world of vampires, Paul Ward, leader of a team of vampire hunters, confronts Lilith, the mother of all vampires, with the soul of Paul's son Ian and the future of all humankind at stake.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Strieber's third, rambunctious novel in the vampire series he began with The Hunger in 1980 and continued in last year's Last Vampire introduces a new female bloodsucker to replace Miriam Blaylock (vanquished in The Last Vampire). She's Lilith-the biblical Lilith, first wife of Adam-and the mother of all vampires, or Keepers, who in turn created humanity, according to Strieber's elaborate vampire mythology. Like Miriam, Lilith is incredibly beautiful, powerful and rapacious. She lacks Miriam's modern sophistication, though, having spent many centuries buried in a cave. The novel begins as she awakens, outside Cairo, and Strieber adds a sprinkling of humor to this dark, emotionally intense series as Lilith fumbles through an array of modern technologies ranging from automobiles to bathtubs to credit cards. Returning in this novel is CIA vampire-hunter Paul Ward, who's part vamp himself and who in The Last Vampire fathered a son, Ian, (now 17) by Miriam. Also playing major roles are Paul's wife and fellow agent, Becky, and Leo Patterson, "blooded" by Miriam years ago and now a global singing star whom Ian worships. Much of the action takes place in Manhattan, where Lilith joins forces with Leo, and then kidnaps Ian, adoring him as a new, superior species, a blend of vampire and human; the novel climaxes back in Egypt, where Lilith, Leo and Ian are on the run from Paul and his cohorts. Strieber remains a superb prose stylist, with a coherent and persuasive vision of vampirism; the entire novel, though, exudes a frantic air, with emotions running at fever pitch and gobs of X-rated sex and violence; it's probably time for Strieber to search for new narrative blood.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

In 1981, Strieber published The Hunger, a well-written tale of horror that featured the seductive vampire Miriam Blaylock. (It later became a cult film starring Catherine Deneuve, Susan Sarandon, and David Bowie.) In 2001, he continued Miriam's story with The Last Vampire, a novel that unfortunately fell far short of its predecessor. Despite that book's title, the plot left no doubt that there would be a sequel. Now comes this story, loosely based on the Hebrew folktale of Adam's first wife, the woman who abandoned him and spawned demons to roam the earth. After a very long sleep, Lilith awakens in a cave somewhere in the Egyptian desert. Upon satisfying her desperate craving for blood, she sets out to discover what has happened to her children, both vampire and human. Meanwhile, Paul Ward, a CIA agent and dedicated vampire slayer, tries to make a normal life for himself; his wife, Becky; and Ian, the son he sired with Miriam Blaylock. Lilith's awakening creates a crisis for Paul, Ian, and a mortal woman named Leo, who has tasted vampire blood. The convoluted plot is by turns interesting and absurd, with an emphasis on the latter. Buy only where vampire tales and Strieber's books are popular.
--Patricia Altner, Information Seekers, Columbia, MD
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Atria (October 8, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 074345152X
• ISBN-13: 978-0743451529
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,746,868 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars why can't some things stay gold?, September 17, 2003

By 

V. Dalpe "Ursala V" (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lilith's Dream : A Tale of the Vampire Life (Hardcover)

I loved the Hunger, frankly I thought it was one of the most innovative and fleshed out vamp books to come out in the last thirty years (and believe me I know-I've read nearly everything on the subject) and I have to say this was a horrible and completely unnecessary book. The Last Vampire was bad enough, but this? Strieber's writing and attention to detail and plausibility have taken a steady decline. While Miriam was introduced as lonely and alien, and I will say this for the record, one of the only thoroughly believable ancient characters in vampire literature, she had become more and more ineffectual and trite as the "series" has progressed. I really thought the first book stood perfectly well on its own, the vampiric society left a lot to the imagination. Sigh. It's readable and you may even like it, but if it was up to me I'd say read the first and pretend like there weren't even two more.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The Worst Movie Script I've Ever Read, January 22, 2004

By 

LatinaView (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lilith's Dream : A Tale of the Vampire Life (Hardcover)

It is a shame, because this man CAN write. He DOES have enviable imagingation. But Strieber has sold his soul to Hollywood. His second book in the series, "The Last Vampire" was pretty good, and he sold the rights for movie production (see the book's back flap.) Apparently, "Lillith" is an attempt at a sequel to that. It was filled with enough action-horror-film elements to impress a 14 year old boy. One can see the author's struggle to tell a passionate story colliding with his desire to make a cheap-**s movie script.

The first two books in the series describe his vampire (Miriam) as a horrifying thing to be loved and feared, but she had dignity. She had an agenda that never slipped. This Lillith chick is just that--a chick with fangs. She doesn't know whether to enjoy her food or feel sorry for it. She doesn't know whether she is a creator or a monster. By the end of the book, neither do I!

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fast-paced supernatural thriller, October 9, 2002

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lilith's Dream : A Tale of the Vampire Life (Hardcover)

Lilith wakes up from a millennium long sleep in a cave in Egypt to find that the world has changed since the vampire created the human race. She finds that the rest of her kind is dead, slain by vampire hunter Paul Ward who has vampire blood flowing through his arteries. His son Ian is the product of a mating with a full blood vampire Miriam Blaylock. Paul watches him closely for he knows that if he turns, he will have to kill his son.

In New York, at a rock concert, Lilith connects with the last vampire Leo Patterson and Ian. The two women immediately know each other for what they are and they kidnap Ian in the hopes of turning him so that their race will promulgate and once again roam the earth. Paul and his wife follow them, determined to save their son or die trying.

This is last book in the vampire series that began with THE HUNGER and it is a haunting work that will thrill fans of horror by allowing readers to empathize with beings wanting to turn us into fodder as they react to their own biological imperatives. Whitley Strieber has written a fast-paced supernatural thriller that deserves at least a Bram Stoker nomination if not the award.

Harriet Klausner