Note from Zombie Hayes: My contributing writer, M. Scott Baker, is an author himself, so I pass on most any horror novel I get to him for review. I thought it was great when I approached him back in June about reviewing a book by an author named...Scott M. Baker! HA! That book was THE VAMPIRE HUNTERS. This review is for author Scott M. Baker's second book in his Vampire Hunters trilogy, VAMPYRNOMICON. So, just to clear up any confusion, the author of this book did not write his own review, and my contributing writer is not the author of this book. Confusing enough for ya? HA! On to the review....
VAMPYRNOMICONby Scott M. Baker
I love to find those rare genre series that keep me wanting more, even long after the final sentence has been read. I am, of course, referring to book series in this aspect...not movies. Author Scott M. Baker gave me one of these series with the first book in his Vampire Hunters trilogy, titled with the same name. This review is for the second book in the series, titled VAMPYRNOMICON (to read my review of the first book, click here).
Here is the plot synopsis for VAMPYRNOMICON, courtesy of the book cover:
Hunters and vampires seek The Vampyrnomicon, a book that could destroy the vampires...or mankind! Within the vaults of the Smithsonian Institute lies the key to find The Vampyrnomicon, the Book of the Undead that contains the history and secrets of the vampires. According to legend, whoever possesses the book can establish a vampire nation on earth - or destroy the undead once and for all. With an opportunity to end the war against the undead so close, Drake Matthews is determined to find the book. But the vampires also want the book. When Master Chiang Shih and her coven of the most powerful and dangerous vampires arrive in Washington to claim the book as their own, the hunters find themselves facing their most deadly enemy yet. With the stakes so high, so is the ferocity of the struggle...
First, the good.
Baker once again weaves an interesting tale of vampires in modern day America. And, just as before, his bloodsuckers are just as ruthless as last time, unrelenting in their pursuit of blood and total human domination. This time however, the stakes are even greater (no pun intended).
Baker's prose is easy to read, which makes the action tighter and faster paced. I especially enjoy the battle descriptions and find myself grinning from time to time as I marvel at their uniqueness. Likewise the characters, both old and new, are well imagined and come to life easily in the reader's mind. The vamps, while not exceedingly full of depth, pose striking figures with their brutality and lack of compassion.
All in all, Baker has created a believable and likable world, in which darkness borders on overtaking all that is good.
But now for the bad.
For all of Bakers good ideas, there are a few that are extremely recycled and some that I think are owned pretty well by other series. For example, the concept of the Daywalker, not to mention the term itself, appears in the book. My immediate thought was "Hey...that's from BLADE.". Granted, it's not a copyrighted term or concept...but it's pretty obvious that the other series made it predominant in the minds of genre fans.
The other striking negative for me were the amazing number of grammatical errors. I was astounded with how many there were...there are even more in this book than the first. Many of them were silly editing errors, like the use of 'site' instead of 'sight'. Also, there are several places that have an extra 'the' in sentences and even completely omitted words that make sentences lose their meanings.
Here is the plot synopsis for VAMPYRNOMICON, courtesy of the book cover:
Hunters and vampires seek The Vampyrnomicon, a book that could destroy the vampires...or mankind! Within the vaults of the Smithsonian Institute lies the key to find The Vampyrnomicon, the Book of the Undead that contains the history and secrets of the vampires. According to legend, whoever possesses the book can establish a vampire nation on earth - or destroy the undead once and for all. With an opportunity to end the war against the undead so close, Drake Matthews is determined to find the book. But the vampires also want the book. When Master Chiang Shih and her coven of the most powerful and dangerous vampires arrive in Washington to claim the book as their own, the hunters find themselves facing their most deadly enemy yet. With the stakes so high, so is the ferocity of the struggle...
First, the good.
Baker once again weaves an interesting tale of vampires in modern day America. And, just as before, his bloodsuckers are just as ruthless as last time, unrelenting in their pursuit of blood and total human domination. This time however, the stakes are even greater (no pun intended).
Baker's prose is easy to read, which makes the action tighter and faster paced. I especially enjoy the battle descriptions and find myself grinning from time to time as I marvel at their uniqueness. Likewise the characters, both old and new, are well imagined and come to life easily in the reader's mind. The vamps, while not exceedingly full of depth, pose striking figures with their brutality and lack of compassion.
All in all, Baker has created a believable and likable world, in which darkness borders on overtaking all that is good.
But now for the bad.
For all of Bakers good ideas, there are a few that are extremely recycled and some that I think are owned pretty well by other series. For example, the concept of the Daywalker, not to mention the term itself, appears in the book. My immediate thought was "Hey...that's from BLADE.". Granted, it's not a copyrighted term or concept...but it's pretty obvious that the other series made it predominant in the minds of genre fans.
The other striking negative for me were the amazing number of grammatical errors. I was astounded with how many there were...there are even more in this book than the first. Many of them were silly editing errors, like the use of 'site' instead of 'sight'. Also, there are several places that have an extra 'the' in sentences and even completely omitted words that make sentences lose their meanings.
Still, with that aside, VAMPYRNOMICON is a fun read and the story is definitely interesting. This book has a bit of a cliffhanger ending, so I'm itching to get my hands on the third and final book of the trilogy. Definitely give this one a look if you want some fast-paced vampire fun!
Hayes, thanks for the excellent review, and for pointing out the grammatical errors. I'm embarrassed by those, but will be extra careful when proofing future books.
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