The Vampire of Highgate by Asa Bailey

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The Vampire of Highgate by Asa Bailey

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Buy The Vampire of Highgate by Asa Bailey at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Category: Teens
Rating: 3.5/5
Reviewer: Robert James
Reviewed by Robert James
Summary: Steamy and fast-paced vampire book is enjoyable enough but the fairly flat characters stop it from being as good as it could have been. Still worth a look.
Buy? Maybe Borrow? Yes
Pages: 352 Date: June 2012
Publisher: Hodder Children's Books
ISBN: 978-1444903515

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Kathy Bilic can barely remember the sister she was separated from when they were tiny. An ocean lies between them – she’s been adopted by an American couple and Amber is living in London. When she hears that Amber has gone missing, though, and receives a mysterious package, she flies to London to see if she can help to find her sister.

This is billed as being inspired by the real-life story of the Highgate Vampire, a media sensation of the early 1970’s which saw a couple of people claim they’d seen a vampire and try to hunt it down. It’s not a retelling of those events, though – rather it’s a very up-to-date story which follows on from them.

First, the good news – if you’re looking for a fun vampire read which isn’t particularly taxing, grab this now. There’s evil villains, a likeable main character, an interesting mythology for the vampires (although I think that Christians may find parts of it offensive…) and it moves along at a good pace. I was interested in what was happening throughout and liked Bailey’s writing style – it’s also contains some of the steamiest scenes in recent teen fiction. Nothing explicit but very, very hot – right up there with Jessica Verday.

That said, there were a few issues – none of the characters are particularly well-portrayed, Kathy is a bit too much of a ‘damsel in distress’ for my liking and some fairly minor characters end up playing rather a major part in the ending compared to her. I also found the parts which set in earlier years to be rather distracting from the main narrative rather than adding to it.

There’s such a huge amount of vampire fiction out there at the moment that this is rather a mild recommendation due to the issues above. Having said that, it’s an enjoyable enough way to pass the time and I liked Asa Bailey’s writing style and will be looking forward to his future books."

By Midnight by Mia James is another vampire story set in Highgate - I loved it, thanks to a brilliant grasp of the setting and some fabulous characters.

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Buy The Vampire of Highgate by Asa Bailey at Amazon You can read more book reviews or buy The Vampire of Highgate by Asa Bailey at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
Buy The Vampire of Highgate by Asa Bailey at Amazon You can read more book reviews or buy The Vampire of Highgate by Asa Bailey at Amazon.com.

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