Well, it's a little unorthodox of me to review six books at once, and admittedly, I wouldn't normally do this because it's not fair to the plot, complexities of character, or the author's hard slog to create individuality within their story. But The Last Vampire series is relatively short, each book no more than about 180 pages in total, and they do follow on right where the last story left off, essentially making it one big novel that I've decided to measure as one.
The six books in question are; The Last Vampire, Black Blood, Red Dice, Phantom, Evil Thirst and Creatures of Forever. So let's get down to it.
The Last Vampire series follows the story of vampire Alisa Perne, or more commonly known as 'Sita' throughout the series. She is supposedly the last vampire, over five thousand years old and a young woman very capable, very determined, and very dangerous. Like all vampires she is strong, fast, limber, and decidedly attractive. She is smart as a whip, can speak multiple languages, but like the humans she still sometimes preys upon, holds the memories of her past close to her heart and lets them haunt her on a continuing basis.
Her character maintains complete consistency of dialogue - stiff, intelligent, and somewhat emotionless. Her thought processes are convincing for an entity with thousands of years of experience, and her decision making process is methodical and decidedly thorough. My only negative of Alisa was that her relationships within each story were hurried, often unbelievable, and forced. Depth of feeling is very rarely explored between characters other than the mere exchange of seemingly unemotional wording. Touch is brief and chilling, and friendships are somewhat convenient rather than carefully crafted to create depth within the sub-plots.
The series as a whole for me was rather lack-luster. Though each novel did have consistency and flowed with a new story filled with historical influence, I was still unable to be entranced due to the rather cold character relations. At no point did I feel total immersion within the story, which was disappointing considering the obvious attention to detail the writer displayed in his overall plot and historical references. We were often introduced to intense action scenes, dramatic blood baths, and tense moments of personal awakening. But as the story moved forward we were also jack-hammered with immortal priests, satanic dukes, and believe it or not, alien referencing and spaceship travel.
Although I commend the author for his clever ideas and creative imagery, I was not taken with this vampire series and hence will only be rating it two out of five fangs.
Synopsis's:
The Last Vampire: For five thousand years Alisa Perne has been living among and off humans. Alisa hunts alone, thinking nobody knows her secret. But someone is stalking her. Someone wants her dead.
Black Blood: An ancient evil - the first vampire - has returned. Alisa knows that she is responsible for his very existence, and so she must be the one to end his reign of slaughter.
Red Dice: Alisa is on the run. The U.S. Government is pursuing her, intent on obtaining her vampire DNA. But her blood is way too deadly and dangerous to be allowed into the public domain.
Phantom: Alisa has made a discovery that could bring her untold tragedy and danger. And all the time a powerful force is watching. Someone who knows all that ever was, and all that will be ...
Evil Thirst: Alisa has a heartbreaking dilemma. Her daughter, Kalika, has disappeared posing great danger to the human world. But can Alisa bring herself to destroy her own flesh and blood?
Creatures of Forever: Someone means to destroy Alisa, and her only hope lies in reliving the evil of her monstrous past. Then she can eliminate it. Forever.
Well, what it means is that I want to give three lucky readers the opportunity to grab one of the these freshly printed, autographed paperback copies of The Damned to read in advance! Yes, you will get your copy weeks before anyone else will get their hot little hands on a purchasable book.
