Near Death

This novel isn’t straight horror. It almost reads like a paranormal romance would, except it classifies more under the horror label because of some of the horrid situations, the bizarre violence, and the ‘war against vampires.’ ­ things you don’t see in paranormal romance. One of the more violent scenes involve the sexual house dungeon with the sadist that uses both his fists and ‘snakes.’

The plot itself looks light and easy on the top, but really has some jarring twists thrown in constantly. The main female lead, Zero, has a job to do: Stake the vampire David via a sloppily written note. Not knowing what she’s gotten herself into, she begins the job while high as a kite, obviously not succeeding. From there, her and show more vampire David return to the city, to lay low in her apartment and discover who has kidnapper her younger ‘brother’, and who wants to kill him ­ presumably the same person. Throughout it all, more revelations are uncovered about Zero herself, David’s past life and enemies, the meaning of everything, and their evolving relationship. Many of the sex scenes were more detailed and harsh than one would see in a romance type, another reason it dons the horror tag.
Again, the surprises, when revealed, were biggies. This is what kept me glued to the book. Although there are faults, I kept reading to figure out what’s next after being stunned yet again by another thing I never thought would be true. That’s not to say everything unpredictable, though ­ I saw the end villain coming from a mile away.

Where the novel did fail, though, was that it was a bit cliché in terms of the romance relationship. It also had some characters that grated on my nerves a bit, and there was a sense of predictability toward the end. This is the type of formula these novels go by, though, and there’s nothing wrong with that. If this type of novel is what you dig, and erotic horror is your love, I think you’ll enjoy it.

The main characters were easily latched on to. They seemed realistic and although they pity themselves a bit too much at times, their personalities are both amusing and deep. I especially enjoyed the POV through the vampire, David, who came across both strong and competent, while still retaining some of his old human side. The main female lead, Zero, is definitely not the classic protagonist. With a horrendous past of abuse, then drug addiction, living in the crums of the city and supporting herself through prostitution, she’s an interesting breed indeed. With a IQ that’s not that sharp and an education that disappeared a long while back, she lends to the story child-like insight, amazing courage, loyalty to those she loves, and honest to God realistic human traits and vulnerabilities.

It starts with an intended execution and ends in a giant supernatural war. The pace was strong, consistent, with no scenes where the two just sat there ‘twiddled their thumbs’ for the heck of it. All scenes meant something and kept the novel moving at a steady rate toward the intended resolution. Goals were consistently changed to keep up with the new discoveries, and all actions on the part of the characters were logical, rang true, and didn’t seem ‘forced’.

Kilpatrick writes with a light hand, using mucho comedy in her piece, while also getting the point across in as little words as possible. She doesn’t rely heavily on cliché romantic ‘feelings’, such as the ‘lightning bolt sensation when her hand brushes his.’ She also avoids making either of the protagonists life too nice and clean - I applaud her on those two techniques.

Overall, the thing that wins this novel over from stale to something- you - cant -put -down- to- save- your- life is that there are surprises along the way that jarred me to the floor. Things about one of the protagonists I would have never imagined. Some of it was predictable, sure, but for the most part: complete disbelief.

I’d recommend this novel for some entertaining reading, but nothing I’d pay much money on. show less

Come il precendente capitolo di questa saga ci troviamo di fronte ad una scrittrice che rivolge la sua attenzione unicamente ad un target di lettori adulti ed amanti di un genere di fantasy dai torni forti. Finalmente un libro che mi mostra realmente la complessità di questi esseri che, supper fantastici, vengono spesso erroniamente descritti unicamente dal un punto di vita 'umano' dimenticando che, in realtà, questi sono degli esseri non più umani, degli assassini in fondo che poco possono comprendere la sfera sentimentale degli uomini. Nel primo questo elemento è stato esaltato in modo brutale, in questo libro ritroviamo una nota più 'dolce' rispetto al solito tono aspro e duro della Kilpatrick ma non per questo meno bello e show more coinvolgente. Spero di poter leggere presto il terzo volume e che questo sia ai livelli dei primi due.
Consigliato ad un lettore adulto. show less

Starts out slow, with a human drug-addicted American prostitute trekking to England to stake a vampire she's never met named David Hardwick. He's an effete, suffering, byronic, poet-spouting wimp who has retreated from life for the last 40 years while he nurses a broken heart from a lost love. He thwarts her half-hearted attempt, and the two begin a troubled relationship based on mutual needs for blood, security, and the knowledge the girl has about who is trying to kill David.

Eventually he grows a spine and things pick up in the second half, as the two hookup and try to fight back against the woman who broke the vamp's heart 40 years ago.

I thought the second half of the story was pretty engaging, but it took me a long time to warm up show more to either character. And I never did understand the attraction the vamp felt towards this damaged, uneducated, unsophisticated young prostitute. I did like the vampire community the author introduced toward the end of the novel, and if the book had been more about them, I might have liked it better. show less

Lettura riservata ai momenti di pausa tra un tuffo in mare ed un bagno di sole... senza troppi patemi per la sabbia tra le pagine EDIT - FINITO 18/08/2010 Mi ha decisamente deluso anche come libro da spiaggia, di solito la Kilpatrick ci mette un minimo d'impegno nei suoi libri, un po' di ricerca, una trama che regga, dei personaggi credibili, questo romanzetto l'è riuscito particolarmente male, sembra un copia/incolla da alcuni Harmony di terz'ordine con l'aggiunta dei vampiri. Lo sconsiglio

I like the Bryon poetry. But over all crude and boring.