Customer Reviews

Resurrection (The Vampire Legacy, #6)

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

 

 

Resurrection is the gripping fifth entry in Karen E. Taylor's Vampire Legacy series. Mitch and Deidre are on the run from The Others, whose sole goal is to irridicate the vampire race. After a confrontation leaves Deidre infected with a poison which starts to rob her of her memories the race is on to find a cure before Deidre becomes a shell of herself. Mitch believes the woman and her child, who have moved into the pub to help out hold a key to what has happened to Deidre. The truth of why Mitch is attracted to the child will amaze and shock you.

*Atmosphere - is full of terror and tension.
*Characters - again Karen's characters are very well written and three dimensional.
*Story/plot - the story is awesome and the ending will blow you away.
*Pace - Resurrection is very quick paced and adds to the tension of the story.
*Style - as with Blood of My Blood, Karen's style is very easy to read.

My rating- 5 stars, a definite must have for your personal libary and I am anixiously awaiting the next installment in the series.

The past century has wrought a significant change in the old, reliable vampire genre. In those glorious old days, women were women, men were men, and vampires were... the bad guys. Now, vampires have feelings, try to develop functional relationships, and harbor deep doubts about their ethical position. In short, they do everything but have therapists, and, Lord knows, some of them should do exactly that. Humans, on the other hand, are the villains half the time, and often are just portable blood supplies that dot the backdrops.

One of the inventions of this shift of sympathy from the victim to the predator is the creation of a completely new genre of vampire story, one that I call vampire politics (or vampire sociology if you need a more generic title). As Karen Taylor's latest demonstrates, the story is completely about the interoperations and machinations of various groups of supernatural creatures, almost out of context with the world in which the author proposes they live. On of the other things 'Resurrection' demonstrates is that unless this is done very well, it would be better if it had not been attempted.

Deirdre Griffin has been around as a vampire for some six moderately successful volumes. She has stopped several monstrous killers, taking a vampire husband, and endured a certain amount of family problems. Until now, the stories have been marked by strong plots and a variety of interesting characters, vampire and human. Now hunted across the world by a mysterious group known as The Others, Deirdre and Mike are in a struggle for their very existence. Somehow, Deirdre has been infected with a poison that is gradually erasing her memories, turning her into an empty vessel living only in the moment.

What should have become a fast-paced race against time to solve the threat of The Others and recover Deirdre's essence turns into a series of pat moves across the narrow stage of a tiny English town where the most momentous events seem to happen more off camera than at center stage. In truth, the book has fewer settings than the average off Broadway play. Coupled with a lack of character development (Deirdre is degenerating and everyone else is staying the same) this results in a book that is missing some important ingredients for success. This explains its lackluster sales performance.

It is clearly Taylor's intent to write a sequel, since almost every story arc is left unfinished. Hopefully, some of the tedium of this volume is due to the necessity for setting the stage upon which more exciting events will play. I am giving this book three stars because I do not want to sell short an otherwise successful author without seeing where she is going with the entire effort. But unless you are entranced by vampire stories where the most exciting event is the death if a dog (and Deirdre's money worries) be warned that you may find this far less satisfactory than other efforts.

Karen Taylor has kept the romance and spice in her Vampire Legacy series very much alive--just as she has between her vampire lovers.

Deirdre and Mitch are anything but a routine married couple. The tension of their dangerous existence, on the run from mysterious Others trying to exterminate them, never falters, and neither does the ... attraction in their relationship. Meanwhile the mysteries mount and suspicions grow--and the revelations come as a complete surprise. The new characters are especially cool because you're never sure where you stand with them--sympathy and attraction battle with wariness. There's a particularly chilling little boy, and his mother...well, her charms work on the reader as well as they do on the characters around her.

Under the action and suspense of the plot, this is also a surprisingly poignant book that deals with issues of memory and identity and fidelity. And it paints a telling portrait of sensationalist television--what a juggernaut it can be and what harm it can do. Then there's the clever banter, and the reappearance of favorite old characters, and even fun, subtle homage to DRACULA and INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE. Great twists and turns. Great stuff!

Deidre Griffin and Mitch Greer are still very much in love and happily married but that is the only thing in their lives that have remained the same. They reside in Whitby, England where they run the local pub and live on the edge ever since vampires have come out of the closet and humans know that they are real. The Others, beings whose souls enter newborns specially bred for that purpose, are determined to exterminate vampires.

One day while Mitch and Deidre are looking for human blood, an Other attacks her. They destroy him but Deidre drinks his blood only to realize it has been poisoned and that toxin flows within her. Deidre falls ill and everyday that goes by she is losing more and more of her memory. A desperate Mitch calls Sam and Vivienne for help because if Deidre is not cured soon, she will forget all about the deep and abiding love she has for Mitch.

Nobody can ever predict what direction "The vampire Legacy" will take (probably the author as well) and RESURRECTION is no exception. Fans of this series will find many surprises in store for them, some joyous and some horrific. Karen E. Taylor's viewpoint of vampire society is fascinating and enthralling while her heroine endears herself to the audience with her human emotions of love and regret. This reviewer will impatiently wait for the next book in this popular series.

Harriet Klausner

This is the first book in which Deirdre Griffin was the foremost character that I have read, and it will certainly not be the last. I was fascinated, as I always am, with Taylor's work. The subculture she creates in which vampires are part of society is plausible, as is the news media which is the way The Others track them for destruction. For a vampire is safe only as long as a vampire is a myth -- when the truth of their real existence is known, they must flee.

The Others are an intriguing breed created to house souls. Of course, they know vampires are real, and the hungers, desires, needs, that lived in them before, return. Even a human soul can be placed in an Other body. The soul is dormant until awakened, and old enemies return, as do those who have been loved.

I loved the freedom of the shape shifting vampires, and found I longed to run without tiring as they did. Taylor explores this amazing quality in ways I have not read before. There is a reason for each character and each scene, for every word and expression. They are the ingredients for a plot that is entwined with past, present, and future.

She weaves love and danger, suspicion and change, energy and despair into her characters, and they change. The mark of a good author is to let the characters tell their own stories. Taylor is a master. Be prepared, the end, the cliffhanger, will probably drive you forward for the sequel to Resurrection.

Karen Taylor fans will not be disappointed, and those who are new to the terrors she creates are in for a treat. I give this five stars.

Victoria Tarrani

Deirdre Griffin returns as the star in this latest installment of the VAMPIRE LEGACY. She and her beloved Mitch have made a fairly happy life for themselves, opening a small pub to sustain their needs for money and blood alike. The shadow of the enemy Others hangs over them. It is only a matter of time until the next attack comes they know.

When it does come, the couple is unprepared for the insidious nature of it. Deirdre drinks from one of them, and finds that the blood is poisoned, and though she spits it out, the venom is in her long enough to have an effect. When a catalyst in introduced into her bloodstream, the less obvious poison that she was not able to avoid takes effect. Its intent is not to kill her, but slowly rob her of her memory. In desperation, Mitch and Deirdre reach out to their allies; to Vivienne and Dr. Sam and Lily and Victor. At the same time, they are presented with a mystery, one that may either be a gift or a curse. Two mortals come into their lives, a mother and son. Mitch has a strange attraction to the boy, and when they find out why, the truth is more horrifying and more welcome than they could possibly have dreamed.

***** The final secret is not revealed until the last page. It will leave you gnashing your teeth (or fangs) while you wait for the spring of 2004 for the next book. If you just can't wait, go over to Horrorfind Fiction and check out Ms. Taylor's spectacular BLOOD OF THE ROSE. It elevates her to a master horror writer, with skillful language and tone creating a sense of terror more than the actual events. It surpasses the VAMPIRE LEGACY for sensuality, and is far scarier.

RESURRECTION is definitely one of the finest vampire books I have ever read. It lacks nothing in continuity and has strong, developing characters who grow and have not stagnated. With each novel, the familiar players reveal new aspects of themselves, and old territory is never rehashed. It is a further note of excellence that the story is told so well in first person. Many times this point of view is ill used, and only the best can utilize it well. *****

Having been out of the country for a while, I was slow to get this book; but it hooked me on Taylor's style and characters. There are many times when I would love to transmigrate into an animal in the night -- generally to get into places that a man cannot while on duty.
5 stars.

A magnificently put together book that pits Dierdre & Mitch against, well, seemingly, everyone! I couldn't put this novel down--in fact, I believe I read it faster than anything I've read in quite a while.

The Author really has a handle on how to manipulate her characters (as well she should after 5 previous books!) into situations that are both plausible (in her universe), and so conflicting as to cause the reader much anxiousness and anticipation in how the puzzle will be solved.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book for any and all readers, and am anxiously awaiting book #7!

I'd read one of her previous books, the Vampire Vivienne, and was so impressed that I found and read the rest of The Vampire Legacy Series...and loved them all. Ressurection is no dissapointment. Quite the contrary, she gets better with each novel. Mixing vampires, love, and mystery seem to come easy to this author and I'm already anxiously awaiting her next release.

There's a firm plot, the setting and characters are realistic, and the protagonists, Deirdre and Mitch Greer, are as dynamic a duo as I've seen.

I have all the Karen E. Taylor books except this one, but I don't think this book is worth paying $20.00 for. I love all of these books but I think it's outrageous to pay so much for it!