4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best of the series so far, December 21, 2008
This review is from: Vampire Zero: A Gruesome Vampire Tale (Paperback)
Vampire Zero, the third installment in Wellington's Laura Caxton series of novels, is, I think, the best of the series so far. While the first two, 13 Bullets and 99 Coffins, offered plenty of action and good old-fashioned vampire chewiness, this one, in my opinion, has the most compelling plot. I think it's also the tightest of the three.
Caxton has been promoted from State Trooper to Deputy U.S. Marshall and put in charge of the vampire-hunting task force based in Pennsylvania. Luckily, after the events of 99 Coffins, there are only two vampires left in the world. One is so old and decrepit she can't even leave her coffin. The other is a man who was once Caxton's mentor, the man who taught her everything she knows about fighting vampires. It's not just that he's a vampire now that's worrisome, nor the fact that he can anticipate all of Caxton's moves because he taught them to her himself, but rather the fact that he's a vampire zero, intent on spreading the curse and turning others into his kind. In particular, the members of his family. And that's what makes this the best of the series, to me at least. The personal element of the ticking clock plotline elevates this one to the status of a damn fine, and damn fast, read.
The Laura Caxton series gets better and better with each book.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great book!, June 6, 2010
This review is from: Vampire Zero: A Gruesome Vampire Tale (Paperback)
I adored this book until the ending. I started reading it and simply could not put it down. It's got great characters, good writing, excellent dialogue and plot. It's not exactly realistic at all times, but what vampire book is?
But the ending fell short. I feel like I was whisked into this whirlwind story only to be dropped. I think because it's a series. Most series make me excited for the next book though, and this one simply left me wary. It's also not that gruesome.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
No sparkling here., January 12, 2010
This review is from: Vampire Zero: A Gruesome Vampire Tale (Paperback)
Two kinds of vampires have emerged from modern media. One sort is a romantic, misunderstood creature who is beloved by a troubled, isolated heroine. The other is a terrifying, (literally) bloodthirsty monster which preys on humankind. At one end of the spectrum, Edward Cullen sparkles and smolders in the hearts of adolescent girls.
David Wellington's vampires are not Edward Cullen. They are, in fact, at the far end of the spectrum, past Stoker's Dracula and Whedon's Buffy. These vampires are vicious, inhuman and utterly without remorse. Wellington's vampires quickly lose what connection they once had to humanity, and when not feeding on us, find slowly torturing us quite amusing.
This book is the third in David Wellington's Vampire Tales, and is the most terrifying and suspenseful of the series so far. Laura Caxton is a state trooper who was inadvertently cast as a vampire hunter just over a year ago, when Jameson Arkeley recruited her. Arkeley was a federal agent who, over 20 years, made it his personal crusade (obsession?) to obliterate the last shark-toothed, rotting, throat-ripping vampire in existence.
Noone knows vampires like Arkeley. During his career hunting them down, he learned every trick in their book and every strategy for catching them and killing them. Arkeley taught Caxton everything she knows about killing vampires--which is unfortunate, because now he is one.
Jameson Arkeley is the smartest, strongest, most vicious vampire Caxton has ever faced, and now she faces him alone.
This book kept me on my toes, defying my most confident (and usually correct) predictions as to where the story would go. Caxton never gets a chance to rest, and neither does the reader, as you always have to know what slaughter the next night will bring.
The development (or perhaps decay) of both Caxton and Arkeley is also fascinating, as Caxton finds herself casting aside everything else that once mattered to her and becoming the obsessed loner she despised in Arkeley and Arkeley finds himself becoming the single-minded killer he once made it his mission to destroy.
Wellington's setting for the final confrontation was a brilliant choice, borrowing a real-life hell-on-earth for the vampire's lair. (I won't ruin the surprise, but I will say that it's a real, man-made disaster area in Pennsylvania, and will remain so for another century or two.)
Wellington crafts an excellent adventure/thriller story, but he occasionally allows distracting, overly poetic language to creep into his book. I don't need elaborate metaphors to describe the scene of impending slaughter. If I want poetry, I'll read Robert Frost. But this is a minor gripe about an excellent horror novel.
Overall, I highly recommend this to anyone who loves a good suspenseful, scary read. And I promise, you won't find anyone sparkling in this book.
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