Customer Reviews

Vespers

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This book is never boring, there is always something new happening when another ends, and it is not difficult to read at all. It is as if you become the characters in the book and everything that happens is so intense you can't help but continue to read. I am not a big reader and this book took me two days to read because it was so good I did not want to put it down. Trust me buy the book and you will not be sorry. The first chapter there is already two people who are murdered by these creatures and it done in great detail. Love the book!!!

If you want a book that's well-researched, has good characterization, and has a great hook-line...Giant bats and their buddies taking over New York... then, by all means, pick up a copy of "Vespers"! I'd give it 4 and 1/2 stars, but Amazon.com does not permit that kind of rating.

This was the first book that I've read by Jeff Rovin, but it won't be my last. He's a very good story-teller who's done his homework. "Vespers" contains great action, a descriptive tour of New York and a lot of information about bats that I'm sure most people never knew before. The story nevers bogs down because Rovin skillfully weaves a number of little sub-plots throughout the book.

Not one to give away much of the plot, let me just say that the story is set in present-day and contains more than a few unnerving scenes of violence. Giant bats have begun to breed and multiply after an accident involving radiation affects the growth pattern of one of the bats. A gutsy "batologist" and a brave detective are all that stand between New York and annihilation.

This is a very quick read and is great escapism. I heartedly recommend it to those who grew up when the great old "B" movies of the 50's and 60's told of man's encounters with radioactive ants ("Them"), 8-foot tall "carrot-men" from another world ("The Thing") and giant Japanese monsters (Godzilla).

To be honest, I wanted to read FATALIS but couldn't wait for it to be published. So I bought Vespers to familiarize myself with Mr. Rovin. WOW! I tore through this book faster than the bats tearing through their victims. A great summer read that'll keep you turning pages in excitement (and may even make you brush your hands through your hair a couple of times). Sure it's sci-fi and deals with giant monsters. But it's a FUN READ! Do yourself a favor and get this book!

A wonderful combination of chills, science, fast but not hurried plotting, and believable, sympathetic characters with some of the best action, especially the finale, I've read in a long, long while. Looking forward to more from this author.

As a fan of Rovin's non-fiction books about science-fiction (and the excellent Return of the Wolfman novel) I couldn't wait to read Vespers. I actually bumped into Mr. Rovin on line, and we chatted briefly. He was very gracious, and this book is GREAT! Take a 1950s monster movie (a la THEM) and throw in some 90s sensibility, and you have a new classic!

Scary, fun and you cna already smell the popcorn for the movie version!

The title gets its name from a family of bats containing hundreds of species. It is a successful family with members all over the world in almost every niche.

A young boy and his father are attacked at a little league game by some bats. The bats are insectivores but seem to be acting in a territorial fashion. Once the boy and his father move away the bats leave them alone. But then there are other sightings. The bat population of New York City seems to be climbing but there is also something else going on.

The carcass of a deer found in a tree top and some dead homeless in the city's subway system indicate something far more powerful than any bat. It could be that whatever is responsible is causing the normal bats to act with abnormal behavior. When a bat expert and a policeman team up they find a trail leading across the surrounding countryside and leading into the city. The evidence points towards a mutant bat brought in from Russia that has managed to propagate.

Now the problem is known but there is the matter of getting the right people top believe it. There is an abnormally large bat loose that somehow controls the smaller bats. But soon the bat is spotted by the authorities and plans are made for its capture. But there are two and one is pregnant so there is little time. The final confrontation is a real page turner.

VESPERS is a very interesting book. On the front of it we have a monster story. But that story is handled more like a vampire tale than anything else. Mix in some classic Night Stalker-esque interactions between the investigators and the City officials and you get a far more complex book than one would first think. In a way it reminds me of NIGHTWINGS, by Martha Cruz Smith, which also has bats on the surface but a much richer, and deeper, story line lurking just below. VESPERS is an excellent book and Jeff Rovin really knows how to pace it to keep the reading following.

Summary:
Vespers is about a couple of mutated bats that have been descended from one radioactive bat in Siberia, brought to this country, by a scientist. The story starts off by a little leaguer being mauled by normal, insect eating bats, in a town north of NYC. Upon further investigation, authorities find a full sized deer strung several feet up a tree, with teeth marks.
Enter Nancy Joyce, bat expert, and detective Robert Gentry.

A larger bat is on the loose, the size of a bull, using echolocation and its non human squeals to have the smaller vespers attack people. This big bat makes its way to the NYC subway system, while people go missing.

Joyce and Gentry track the origin of the mutated bat down to a man in New Paltz, New York, who was in Siberia 10 years earlier. In New Paltz, they see evidence of another large bat. So, there are two to deal with. One a male, the other a pregnant female.

Gotta destroy the bats, before she gives birth to more large mutated bats, that feast on humans, and in the populated environs of New York City.

Likes: For me, this was a very educational book. Learning how bats behave, and locate their food, send signals to other bats...etc. It was an average thriller, although I've read better horror books with bats involved, this was more science orieneted. Also a little history lesson on the Statue of Liberty!

Dislikes: The story was somewhat lame, and rarely did I feel like I was in a state of suspense. Pretty predictable.

Finally: Don't mix radioactive waste with the animal kingdom, a la Godzilla, you never know what could happen.

The first bat attack in "Vespers" takes place after a baseball game. A father and son are mysteriously ambushed in a parking lot next to the woods where the swarm seems to have emerged. Dr. Nancy Joyce, a 29-year-old zoologist, is the prime investigator to determine why these typically docile bats attacked. She's later joined by Detective Robert Gentry, a 33-year-old NYPD veteran and charge of the Accident Investigations Squad.

Several more bat attacks occur, each growing more violent, and all making a line towards New York City. However, some of the attacks don't seem to have been done by small bats, but a much bigger animal, possibly an abnormally large bat.

Their investigation leads them to a radiation specialist who had unknowingly transported a pregnant bat in his luggage on his way back from Russia. The bat (which immediately escaped upon arrival in the U.S. and later died after giving birth) had been exposed to radiation which would explain why her children would be so enormous. The biggest concern now is how many of her offspring are alive.

As the story progresses, Dr. Joyce and Detective Gentry pinpoint the two offspring--one female and one male, each protected by thousands of small bats. Apparently, the female is already pregnant and expecting to give birth soon. With the help of New York's best defenses, they set out to destroy these two bats before they have a chance to breed and further prey on humans.

"Vespers" is bloody in some parts, so if you're squeamish, I wouldn't recommend reading this one. Otherwise, fans of horror or bats (even though they don't necessarily win in the end) should pick this one up. It's well-written, fast-paced, and all-around entertaining. It's no wonder this book was considered to be made into a movie; it almost felt like I was watching a movie when I was reading it.

If you're still hungry for more bat fiction, you might like "Nightwing" by Martin Cruz Smith.

As I get older I've come to resent anything that is a waste of time. This book falls in that category. It was poorly written, uninformed, unbelievable and generally dull. The high point of the book was in the first few pages when a 600-plus pound deer is found dead up in a tree. As a devoted white-tailed deer watcher I can only imagine what a magnificent specimen this was. Truly a North American record-sized animal. Unfortunately the author would have us believe that 600 pounds is the average size of a full-grown deer. It went downhill from there.

This book is insipid. I'm a fan of horror, sci-fi and the like and this book is neither. The plot is vapid and the characters are completely underdeveloped. The author lacks the most basic descriptive powers. If I didn't live in NYC, I believe I would find the story's geography hard to follow. Stay away from this silly book.