Night Life [Hardcover]

Ray Garton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2005

NIGHT LIFE, a brilliant sequel to the classic novel of vampires re-imagined--LIVE GIRLS When Ray Garton's LIVE GIRLS was published in 1987, it changed the face of vampire fiction. The gritty, urban story of Davey Owen's dark seduction and reluctant transformation into a creature of the undead has become a classic of the genre. In NIGHT LIFE, nearly two decades after battling the vampires of the Midnight Club in New York City, Davey is a marked man. He lives a quiet life in Los Angeles with the love of his life, Casey Thorne. The vampires he did not destroy back then have been hunting him ever since, eager to take their revenge-and now they have found him. For what he did to them, they are determined to make him pay with his last drop of blood. With the help of old friends and new allies, Davey and Casey must face the bloodthirsty nightmare of their past. This time, they may not have a future.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this tired sequel to Garton's memorable Live Girls (1987), about a seedy vampire-run 42nd Street peepshow, the protagonists of the earlier book, a brave reporter and a vampire couple, have left the now family-friendly street for the nondescript suburbs. The vampire couple have survived into middle-age by drinking bottled blood, unlike the "brutals," vicious vampires who prefer theirs fresh. Unfortunately, the story has also aged, the plot mechanism is unconvincing and the author's trademark sexual violence is clinically narrated. Garton fans may lap up this Bloody Mary, but most readers will find it as flat as bottled blood, uninspired treading on familiar turf.
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 262 pages
• Publisher: Subterranean Press (October 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159606014X
• ISBN-13: 978-1596060142
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,828,655 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great sequel to the fantastic novel 'Live Girls', December 23, 2006

By 

David "Laymon Fan" (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Night Life (Hardcover)

"Night Life" isn't quite as good as its predecessor, "Live Girls", but it's still great. I almost couldn't put it down. Usually that's an exaggeration. People say "I couldn't put it down", but they don't mean it literally. But with "Night Life" I read the entire book in one day. It was that gripping.

I'm a big horror fan, but I'm not specifically interested in vampires. I'll read a vampire book by an author that interests me. Garton is just fantastic, so horror fans should read his books regardless of what they're about. I recommend "Live Girls", "The Loveliest Dead", and "Darklings" for starters.

Don't read "Night Life" before "Live Girls." Also, don't read them back-to-back. They were written about 17 years apart and they are set just as far apart. Give yourself a breather between the two books.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A worthy sequel to a classic horror novel, November 29, 2005

By 

Henry W. Wagner (Rockaway, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Night Life (Hardcover)

NIGHT LIFE is the sequel to Garton's memorable 1987 paperback original LIVE GIRLS, published by Pocket Books at the end of the "horror boom" of the late 1980s. Described in blurbs as "The most nightmarish vampire novel I have ever read" by Ramsey Campbell, and as "gripping, original, and sly" by Dean Koontz, LIVE GIRLS is one novel that nearly lives up to the hype of its cover copy.

Set in a gritty urban landscape of New York City's Time Square, and exhibiting an overt sexuality not common at the time it was published, LIVE GIRLS accelerated the process of moving vampires out of their traditional Gothic settings by placing them squarely in the modern world. Its protagonist is the luckless Davey Owens, who, as the book begins, has just lost his job and his girlfriend. Seeking distraction from his problems, he drifts down to the seedy environs of 42nd Street, entering an establishment called Live Girls. There, he falls under the sway of the vampire Anya, who sustains herself by taking blood from clients who pay her for oral sex. At first seduced by the new life she offers him, Davey later turns against her, resulting in a bloody, violent and, ultimately, explosive confrontation with Anya and her extended vampiric family.

NIGHT LIFE picks up in 2005 as horror writer Martin Burgess hires two private investigators to look into the destruction of Live Girls in 1987. Their investigation puts them in contact with the retired Walter Benedek, a newspaper reporter who covered the bizarre story for the New York Post (the disaster, which was at first covered in the mainstream press, has since become tabloid fodder). Unfortunately, their activities draw the attention of the vampires who were forced to flee New York almost two decades earlier, triggering acts of retribution against all those who know the true story behind the events chronicled in LIVE GIRLS, including Davey Owens, now "living" near Hollywood.

Intense and swiftly paced, NIGHT LIFE should satisfy both new readers and long time Garton fans. After a slow build up, Garton plunges you into a ruthless and depraved world of sudden violence so intense it seems as if he's daring you to turn the next page. While not quite the book that its predecessor was, NIGHT LIFE is nevertheless a well conceived, tautly executed piece of work, one which once again demonstrates Garton's enviable ability to shock and surprise his audience.

Although the loose ends left dangling in LIVE GIRLS are resolved, Garton has by no means exhausted the story possibilities generated by the brutal reality he's conceived; the characters he's created cry out for further development, and the latent plot lines suggested by the action of NIGHT LIFE seem too numerous and fruitful to ignore. It will be interesting to see how Garton capitalizes on those potentialities should he decide to pursue a follow-up.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Night Life, August 26, 2007

By 

Kevin "spiralcity" (Chicago, U.S.A) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Night Life (Mass Market Paperback)

NIGHT LIFE

Night Life is Ray Gartons sequel to Live Girls. I purchased this book with the highest of expectations. I enjoyed Live Girls and felt the sequel couldn't miss.

I was wrong. The sequel was extremely weak. The character development was poor. With the exception of Gavin Keoph and Karen Moffett, we never get the feel of the other characters in this book. (Even the two PI's arent that well fleshed out.)

O.K we know Davey Owen. Right?
How about Mr. Barna? What in the world becomes of him? Who in the world is he? I'm banging my head on the keys as I write this. I have never read a book with so many poorly written charcaters.

We learn nothing about Mrs. Dupassie, Norman, Darrin, Steve or Neil. This makes it impossible to care about these characters. I could care less if these people disappeared from the story. With that being said, this story needs these characters to progress, so more detail about them would have made this story more interesting. Another hundred or so pages wouldn't have hurt this book, its only 338 pages as is.

Come on Ray tell us a bit more about these bottled-blood guzzling vampires. Let us enter their circle and learn who they are.

Ray Garton ended the book leaving the reader anticipating a new adventure featuring Gavin Keoph and Karen Moffett. It appears Mr. Burgess has another story brewing. This one deals with a haunted house.

I hope Ray Garton fleshes out the characters a bit more in any future books.

This book deserves no better than 2 1/2 stars. Not the three you see posted.