The Vampire of Highgate by Asa Bailey - Revision history

Sue at 15:39, 22 April 2018

2018-04-22T15:39:32Z

Sue at 13:36, 14 December 2014

2014-12-14T13:36:01Z

Sue at 06:27, 17 June 2012

2012-06-17T06:27:14Z

Sue: Created page with "{{infobox |title=The Vampire of Highgate |sort=Vampire of Highgate |author=Asa Bailey |reviewer=Robert James |genre=Teens |rating=3.5 |buy=Maybe |borrow=Yes |isbn=978-14449035..."

2012-06-17T06:26:54Z

Created page with "{{infobox |title=The Vampire of Highgate |sort=Vampire of Highgate |author=Asa Bailey |reviewer=Robert James |genre=Teens |rating=3.5 |buy=Maybe |borrow=Yes |isbn=978-14449035..."

New review

{{infobox
|title=The Vampire of Highgate
|sort=Vampire of Highgate
|author=Asa Bailey
|reviewer=Robert James
|genre=Teens
|rating=3.5
|buy=Maybe
|borrow=Yes
|isbn=978-1444903515
|paperback=1444903519
|hardback=
|audiobook=
|ebook=B0085NZR52
|pages=352
|publisher=Hodder Children's Books
|date=June 2012
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444903519</amazonuk>
|amazonus=<amazonus>1444903519</amazonus>
|website=
|video=
|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.
}}
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.

{{amazontext|amazon=1444903519}} {{waterstonestext|waterstones=8139989}}
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-{{infobox
+{{infobox1
 |title=The Vampire of Highgate
 |sort=Vampire of Highgate
@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 |publisher=Hodder Children's Books
 |date=June 2012
 |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.
 }}
 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.

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 |borrow=Yes
 |isbn=978-1444903515
 |pages=352
 |publisher=Hodder Children's Books
@@ Line 34: / Line 30: @@
 [[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.
-{{amazontext|amazon=1444903519}} {{waterstonestext|waterstones=8139989}}
+{{amazontext|amazon=1444903519}}
 {{commenthead}}

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 |date=June 2012
 |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444903519</amazonuk>
-|amazonus=<amazonus>1444903519</amazonus>
+|amazonus=<amazonus>B0085NZR52</amazonus>
 |website=
 |video=