Night Prayers: A Vampire Novel [Paperback]

P. D. Cacek (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1998

Stoker Award winning author P.D. Cacek turns vampire fiction inside

out in this wryly witty romp through the seamy underbelly of LA. Meet Allison Garret,

thirtysomething, unlucky in love and life, waking up after a three day binge: alone again.

Only now, she's a vampire without a clue about how to survive. It will take more than a

night full of prayers to help her and her new sidekick, a Bible-thumping street corner

preacher, when a catty coven of vengeful vamps target the both of them for destruction.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"Allison silently damned Seth's already damned soul to the lowest pit of Hell for sucking her dry and not leaving her with so much as a training manual. Producing fangs was no effort--she managed that while Buck was ripping her skirt off up against the back fender of his station wagon (they couldn't use the back seat because it was filled with kid's toys); and she'd even lulled him into near-orgasmic euphoria by running the tip of her icy tongue up and down the throbbing veins in his neck, just like Seth had done to her. But then she lunged. What would Christopher Lee do at a time like this? ...

"Buck screamed as he wadded up and shoved his dripping hand into her face. 'Look at that!' Allison did. And her mouth watered... 'How am I going to explain this to my wife? I could kill you!'

"'Too late,' Allison whispered."

One moment 37-year-old Allison is crying in her tequila in a country-western joint; the next, she's a vampire. After coming to her senses about how to survive as the newbie undead, she meets up with a Bible-thumping street preacher with a wild hair up his tail, vampire shapeshifters who do erotic animal acts in a sleazy pit of a bar, the "furvert" clientele who drool over them, an aging Jewish-mother type named Miriam ("is this a vampire we got here or a whole ferstinkena zoo?"), and various other bizarre inhabitants of southern California nightlife.

This is a funny romp of a vampire novel in the tradition of Nancy Collins's Sonja Blue stories and Christopher Moore's Bloodsucking Fiends. As horror critic Ed Bryant writes, Night Prayers "is a gorgeous confection, blood pudding whipped to a tasty scarlet froth.... The tone is smart-ass to the extreme." --Fiona Webster

Product Details

• Paperback: 219 pages
• Publisher: Design Image Group Inc. (March 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1891946013
• ISBN-13: 978-1891946011
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,161,373 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Worst I've read, July 21, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Night Prayers: A Vampire Novel (Paperback)

I bought this book with the good reviews that said it was "great" because it was "different". Ugh! I found the storyline boring from the very beginning. And the preacher! The preacher in the story (Mica) was soo annoying that I ended up skipping a few of his chapters. Now for the main character, Allison Garret. I don't think a vampire character could be more slow-witted. Even the rest of the characters were impatient, nymphomaniacs. I've read a LOT of vampire books (Laurell K. Hamilton, Anne Rice, Karen E. Taylor, etc) and this was THE worst. My advice to you? Save your money for one of authors mentioned above.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A slightly different approach with a slightly humorous twist, March 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Night Prayers: A Vampire Novel (Paperback)

Mid-thirties woman is turned into vampire and becomes stripper. Christian shill for joint tries to save her soul and defeat the other vampire strippers. Instead, is saved by new stripper and lives somewhat uncomfortably with her "ever" after. Good character development and a slightly unusual story line. A good read!

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Come to the Cabaret..., August 14, 2001

By 

Marc Ruby™ "The Noh Hare™" (Warren, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Night Prayers: A Vampire Novel (Paperback)

How would you feel if your latest in a long string of short term boyfriends reveals he is a vampire? He beds you, bites you, and, without a by or a leave, rides off into the sunset. Leaving you a vampire yourself, sexy, powerful, and totally uninformed about what to do next. Well, that's exactly what happens to Allison Garrett. Clueless and hungry, she wanders through Las Angeles snacking on strangers, until she falls into the hands of Luci, owner of the Fur Pit cabaret, and vampiress extraordinary. Luci and her cohorts are topless fur dancers in Los Angeles only strip joint for furverts. Luci's cohorts are Miriam, who has a gruesome fondness for cats, Gina, a tough, irritable vampire with a yen for Luci, and now, Allison.

The human contingent at Luci's consists of Gypsy, a happy go lucky biker type who tends bar and stops fights and Mica, who touts at the entrance. Attracting customers is Mica's night job. During the day He is a bible toting street evangelist, trying to save the souls of the local residents. Needless to say, this is a difficult task in Los Angeles, and Mica frequently comes back from his soul saving stints with as many brochures as he started out with. Mica is a bit young, and alarmingly naïve. He has managed to miss the fact that the Fur Pit is not just your ordinary den of iniquity. Mica's holiness helps by keeping him pretty close to indigestible (he makes Allison sneeze) but Luci's pet project it to lure Mica from his sanctified state.

What happens as Allison attempts to adjust to her to role in unlife and Mica finds he has to temper his lust for the sexy new vampire or be bitten out of going to heaven is the true plot of "Night Prayers." Not really a horror story, or a romance, but simply a vampiric comedy of errors with a plot that adds new meaning to the phrase 'willing suspension of disbelief.' All the vampires can read each others minds, which makes it tough for Allison to hide all of her disbelief in Luci's line of gab. Gina is always trying to kill someone, usually Allison. This has something to do with the 'liking' Luci has taken for the newest. Mica is head over bible in love with Allison as well. When he discovers they are all vampires he spends half his time trying to stake her and the other half trying to... Well, we won't go there.

"Night Prayers" is almost successful. It teeters between funny and serious until the reader gives up trying to resolve the issue. It actually is pretty plotless, which is a rare complaint for a book that is only 220 pages. But the worst fault in my mind is that every single character is a stereotype. The two that are potentially the most offensive are Gina, the big, bad black woman, and Mica the bible thumping, born-again lay preacher with a heart filled with lust. Gina is almost acceptable, but many fundamentalists might find Mica's character upsetting, and I wouldn't blame them. The story is readable, so it gets its three stars, but I won't be looking out for a sequel.