Wednesday 6 April 2011

URBAN FANTASY REVIEW: Laura Caxton 1: 13 Bullets - David Wellington

Release Date: 07/04/11

SYNOPSIS:

All the official reports say they are dead - extinct since the late '80s, when a fed named Jameson Arkeley nailed the last vampire in a fight that nearly killed him. But the evidence proves otherwise. When a state trooper named Caxton calls the FBI looking for help in the middle of the night, it is Arkeley who gets the assignment - who else? He's been expecting such a call. Sure, it's been years since any signs of an attack, but Arkeley knows what most people don't: there is one left. In an abandoned asylum she is rotting, plotting and biding her time in a way that only the undead can. But the worst thing is the feeling that the vampires want more than just Caxton's blood. They want her for a reason, one she can't guess; a reason her sphinxlike partner knows but won't say; a reason she has to find out or die trying. Now there are only 13 bullets between Caxton and Arkeley and the vampires. There are only 13 bullets between us, the living, and them, the damned.


REVIEW:

I love an urban fantasy that takes me somewhere different and having only read David’s Werewolf titles I was hoping that the writing style would be maintained and his attention to detail would come across as well as it usually did. What unfurled within this book, is a story that is gripping, the characters are rounded and it brings the whole mythos of the vampire into something a little different, here they’re treated as feral animals with cunning alongside having half dead servants with a short lifespan.

It’s cleverly written, its fast paced and the dialogue alongside the prose really helps this title move at a pace without dragging the reader back. There’s seriously good concept of speed, great description and in a world where the Vamp went officially extinct in the 80’s it’s a world that has to face some harsh truths. All in a great start to a series and I’ll definitely make sure that I get my hands on the next offering as soon as possible.

1 comment:

Danielle La Paglia said...

This sounds very interesting!