Customer Reviews

The London Vampire Panic

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

 

 

Michael Romkey has been a successful vampire chronicler for some time now. For some unknown reason I have never picked up one of his tales before "The London Vampire Panic." In any case, led on by the blurb on the back, which made the book sound like a Dracula reprise, I decided to try it out. To my surprise, Romkey has written something that is quite a bit more than what I expected, with a very intriguing viewpoint about the nature of the vampire.

On the surface, "The London Vampire Panic" is indeed modeled after "Dracula." Six men, American and British gentlemen, are led through London by Dr. Abraham Van Helsing on a quest to stop an incursion of vampires from becoming a plague. Both noble and commoner alike are threatened as vampires attack, sometimes secretively and sometimes in plain sight. The trail leads through poverty stricken streets, to graveyards and autopsy rooms. Disraeli and Prince Albert are fear that law and order will break down if this evil is not stopped.

As in "Dracula" the story is told from multiple viewpoints. The first narrator, Dr. Posthumous Blackley, is a young rake who represents the worst of Victorian immorality. While he is a good narrator, his constant focus on sexual escapades gives his description of the adventures of the vampire hunters a strong flavor of social commentary. When, a bit later, we get to read the testimony of a young prostitute who had been made a vampire, we are treated to more revelations about the underbelly of genteel society.

But, for the most part, this is a vampire story, not an expose. Romkey seems unwilling to use the cliches typical of most vampire stories, so the story takes many intriguing twists. His creatures are both more sympathetic and more terrifying for their surprising and exceptional qualities. On the whole, I found "The London Vampire Panic" a welcome change from standard vampire fare. But traditionalists beware! Romkey provides both exciting narrative and food for thought.

I'm not a big fan of vampire fiction, but I picked this up hoping for a bit of quick distraction. It's an accessible read all right, with a fun and interesting story, but it's also charming and funny, with a remarkably humane point of view and a number of endearing characters. I was sorry to see it end.

I have read all of Michael Romkeys Vampire books (& re-read some), and enjoyed them all. He has a new twist on vampires and how they came to be without losing the essentials of vampire lore.

I waited for Romkey's new book to come out as soon as I finished the last one. At first I was a little disappointed with the opening character and his narrative, (it seemed a bit slow) but it wasn't too long into the book and it took off keeping me with it to the very end. I was pleased with the reference to concepts in earlier books, even though the characters were new, it seemed to keep continuity to the entire line of Romkeys Vampire books.

Even though I made a pretty good guess where the "panic" started there is nothing to confirm this until Romkey chooses to reveal that fact. In the meantime he keeps the plot and characters moving so well that you will read every word til you get there. And you won't want to miss a word.

He develops his characters so well with the individual narratives that seem to be a hallmark of his style, that you feel you have actually met them on a personal basis.

Even though I was a little disappointed with the end, (I thought at least one portion could have been developed better-which is why 4 stars instead of 5) I wasn't let down by it, and as usual left me wanting more.

If you want something with depth and thought provoking, this is for you, and then don't forget to read the last five.

I think it is safe to say that Romkey has pretty well mined his vampire stories for all he can get out of them. Don't get me wrong, he started strong. I, Vampire is one of the finest books I'v read--I might be the only person to place it way up on my list of literature. He followed with two pretty good book, The Vampire Papers and The Vampire Princess, both well-written novels, though not of the caliber of I, Vampire. Then came two weak editions to his series, The Vampire Virus and Vampire Hunter. And now we have The London Vampire Panic, another weak edition to his work. It seems Romkey is running out of ideas. The first and last thirds of the book drag. The middle gets pretty good. There is the nice addition of Van Helsing--not the first time he's appeared in someone else's fiction, but Romkey throws a nice twist on the character (well done Mr. Romkey). But overall the book drags. And you can see where Romkey wants the reader to think of Stoker's Dracula. Roughly same time period, set in London, similar style, and Romkey tells the story through various letters and journal entries. But Romkey is no Stoker. I say stick with what you do best-- I, Vampire. But I think it might be time for Romkey to move on to new subject material.

I have never read a Romkey book before, but decided to pick this one up. I started the book not expecting much, but I was happy with the book from begining to end. I give it four stars instead of five, just because it wasn't a unique idea. It is the same about the same king of vampires you always read about. I really don't mind that, because I love vampire novels, but I like little twists, which I didn't get with this novel. All in all though, a good read. Bravo Romkey, I recommend this to everyone and will be buying another soon!

I have been reading books about vampires for years, starting as far back as Bram Stroker's "Dracula" and as current as "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They have all have one thing in common, they all tried to give the reader the illusion that vampires walk among us. Some stories worked while others failed. "The London Vampire Pinic" failed. What Romkey did was introduce familiar historical characters in his book to give us the illusion that a vampire could be anyone, including a great composer. It reminded me of a movie I watched years ago called "Death Becomes Her" with Bruce Willis. Just because the story wasn't interesting doesn't mean the book wasn't good. It had it's high points when it came to horror and suspense.

Michael Romkey is the kind of writer that you really want to see succeed. Having read all of his books to date, I think he is two thirds of the way there; in that his style of writing is very good and he does introduce fresh and unique scenarios and concepts into his novels. However, other than "I, Vampire", there seems to be a lack of captivation with the books. By that I mean that at any point in his books, I could put it down and never pick it up again. To be fair though, I have never done that.

In this novel, the story unfolds when there are numerous victims showing up dead, drained of blood with two bite marks in their necks. This happens in London, in and around the time of Jack the Ripper. Although Jack;s name comes up on several occasions, it is clear to everyone that these murders are quite different. When the murders hit close to home on the British government, the Prime Minister authorizes a formation of a secret committee to find the killer and put an end to the panic. Members include a variety of individuals with different backgrounds, and of course some are Vampire believers and others are not. The most interesting of the group is Dr. Van Helsing himself. Plans are made, investigations are performed and as they say ' the chase is afoot'.

There are several endings to this story, both of which take up the last 100 pages of the book. The take on Van Helsing is one of the more interesting ones I've read and we are also finally introduced to more detail on the Illuminati. All in all, this is a good book ... not a great book, but better than some of his previous novels.

A smooth read. I did enjoy reading this novel. Its characters and plot were vivid. And still another twist has been given to the vampire. I was particularly surprised by this author's presentation of Van Helsing, the well known vampire slayer--a first on this subject. I strongly recommend reading this novel.

Just as my title suggests, this new book is both fun and a refreshing addition to the genre. While most vampire books are a silly rehash of everything you've already read (essential two camps - Stoker or Rice), this add some nice twists and quirks. The characters were also interesting and enjoyable to follow.

The only reason I removed one star (I'd rather just removed a 1/2 star) was that I felt the ending was a little stupid. This observation is purely personal and I doubt many other readers will feel the same. I won't spoil the ending, but let's say I wasn't particularly satisfied on their explanation of vampires. Perhaps I am too partial to the Stoker camp.

This is a fine read. Pick up a copy; I think you'll enjoy it.

Okay, here's the reason why I rarely read any vampire novels...it seems that most authors feel some compelling need to make "a fresh new twist on the vampire genre" as a reviewer put it, and that's what Romkey does with this book.

Without giving away too much (for the benefit of those who still want to read this), Romkey strips away pretty much everything that makes a vampire a vampire with the exception of the need to drink blood. Even sunlight is a minor inconvenience that can be gotten used to.

The book start off strong and I was egaged by it through the midway point. Unfortunately after that it stops dead in its tracks, filling out the rest of the book with pure exposition. Although the "Panic" is taken care of, it's by no means an exciting conclusion and the reader only hears about it second hand from the novel's characters. At one point I only finished the book because I had gotten so far along it it that it seemed a waste of time not to follow through.

A plea to future authors: Would someone please write a vampire novel that doesn't change the basic vampire fundamentals? And for pete's sake stop trying to make vampires into sympathetic characters who are "appaled by what they've become and struggling to come to terms with it."