An absorbing, well-written spin on the famous fanged creatures.
In this horror novel, a 12-year-old boy and his pals may be their isolated town’s last hope when vampirism infects most of the inhabitants.
The people of Stagnant Waters are fully aware of the existence of vampires. Five years ago, a trio of Stetson-sporting bloodsuckers strolled into town and began feeding. The townsfolk successfully combated these vampires, whom they called The Outlaws, primarily by hiding and depriving the vamps of their food source. When the people finally kill the last vampire, the reign of terror is over, and the town celebrates. But the next morning, young Jayden Smith quickly learns that his parents somehow have turned into vampires. Defending himself with a simple household product, Jayden stumbles on what may be a cure for vampirism, as his parents seemingly recover. But many others in Stagnant Waters are inexplicably vampires, and only Jayden’s friends Scott Weber and Tunisha Pugh are unaffected. Now armed with an easier, more efficient way to defeat bloodsuckers, the adolescents face off against infected townsfolk. But they soon devise an elaborate plan to free everyone of vampirism in one fell swoop, which necessitates help from an enigmatic vampire who’s been around for a while and whom Jayden seems to know. Though this novel doesn’t stray far from traditional vampire lore, Newsome (The BoogeyMann, 2012, etc.) gives his story some flair. The vamps’ origin, for example, is an African species that came to America by way of slavery. Likewise, the manner in which vampirism is spread in the present day is more disturbingly realistic than supernatural. As the tale centers largely on Jayden and his friends, readers unfortunately don’t see the full extent of The Outlaws’ menacing of Stagnant Waters. Although an eventual flashback details the vampiric trio’s ominous arrival, the backstory is only relevant to a couple of characters. Still, the narrative moves at a steady clip with minimal violence. And the ending, which features a few shocking turns, gives this book series potential.
An absorbing, well-written spin on the famous fanged creatures.Pub Date: Feb. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-79573-868-2
Page Count: 232
Publisher: Time Tunnel Media
Review Posted Online: June 13, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
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