 | Title: The Vampire Stalker
 Sexual Content: Kissing Rating:
Good - A fun read with minor flaws. Maybe read an excerpt before buying. |
Description
I glanced at him, and felt like the air had been sucked out of me.
His profile was straight and chiseled. Dark brown hair curled slightly over the collar of his long, cape-like coat. A line from Otherworld came to mind: He would have been classically handsome were it not for the forbidding expression on his face.
I gave my head a shake. After all I’d just been through, I was still thinking of Alexander Banks. It must have been a mirage—my mind’s way of bringing me comfort after the terror.
What if the characters in a vampire novel left their world--and came into yours?
Amy is in love with someone who doesn't exist: Alexander Banks, the dashing hero in a popular series of vampire novels. Then one night, Amy meets a boy who bears an eerie resemblance to Alexander. In fact, he IS Alexander, who has escaped from the pages of the book and is in hot pursuit of a wicked vampire named Vigo. Together, Amy and Alexander set out to track Vigo and learn how and why Alexander crossed over. But when she and Alexander begin to fall for each other, Amy wonders if she even wants him to ever return to the realm of fiction.
Review
There are a number of different factors that can cause a reader to buy a book: the cover, the author, the description, or maybe a good review. With THE VAMPIRE STALKER, it was a single sentence concept: A character from a popular vampire series steps out of the book and into heroines' reality. That’s it. I didn’t need to see the cover (which is perfect), I didn’t need to know who the author was (this was my first book by van Diepen), and I didn’t even need to read the full description (which just made me want it more).
The story is like TWILIGHT meets Kate & Leopold. There is an uber popular teen vampire series called Otherworld in the book that features two gorgeous guys who hunt vampires. Amy and her friends obsess about the books and characters. They camp out on new release days, write fan fiction, go to signings, and pine for a fictional love. Until one night Amy is attacked by a vampire and rescued by the hunter she loves: Alexander. It doesn’t take her long to accept what’s literally standing in front of her, and once she and Alexander figure out how he came to be in her world, they team up to get him home and track down the vampire who crossed over too.
While the concept couldn’t be more fun, the writing is unremarkable and a bit lacking when it comes to creating emotion. Like the main character Amy, I tend to obsess over my favorite characters, specifically in Paranormal YA, but these characters won’t be joining that list anytime soon. They are supposed to be older teens, but they came off more like tweens. It made it a little difficult to buy into the romance.
One other issue that presented itself very early on: I want to read the book within the book! It takes place in an alternate Chicago where vampires revealed themselves in the 1920’s essentially stalling all technological improvements as humanity struggled to survive. Two cousins lead lives as Hunters, one obsessed with avenging the death of his family, the other helplessly in love with the vampire who fights what she is. Honestly, I hope that the author considers writing it. I’d buy it in a second.
Overall, I don’t know that the characters in THE VAMPIRE STALKER will themselves become the next big obsession and the writing is pretty standard, but it was fun to see a fantasy that so many of us share brought to life in such a sweet and cute way. Younger teens will probably not notice my criticisms, and given that it’s such a quick read, I had fun with it too.
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