It was just a trip to the Laundromat. It shouldn't have almost gotten her killed.When 16-year-old Kerry goes to the laundry to pick up her brother's teddybear, she stumbles onto what she thinks is a crime scene. There are adults -- grown ups -- beating up a kid. He's got to be no more than a college freshman, and he's bleeding - badly. They hold her at gunpoint, and say he's a -- vampire? Are they kidding? Kerry takes a gamble and helps him get free. It should all have ended right there... but it didn't. And the week just goes downhill from there.
Vivian Vande Velde's Companions of the Night really feels like it's one long nightmare, a feat of tension and darkness that is really excellent. The pace drives you onward, and the novel is short enough for a one-sitting feast, even for teens. This novel was also listed as an ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, proving that not all reluctant readers long to read the novelized tales of Jerry Springer shows. (Writers, take note!)
3 comments:
What's really strange to me about this work is that it really only has two characters: Kerry and The Vampire. It almost feels like a short story, in some ways, or a novella; and the only character which is truly developed to the reader is Kerry, which builds the isolation & suspense nicely.
That isolation is a major theme running through the work, both for Kerry and for The Vampire, and is perhaps one of those "reluctant reader" themes which are so annoyingly present, but at least here it's tastefully done.
Not anywhere near the darkness of the usual Vampire work, though, and totally devoid of eros (see Tanith Lee's Vivia).
Mmm, not totally... In the end, as he's covering her with kisses, there's, um... a moment...
"Companions of the night" is an EXCELLENT book! it was soooo gripping! i loved this book, everything about it, about Ethan and Kerry, their kind of spark between them, the wanting to be with eachother, and yet held back because he is a vampire. The end was left sooo open, that there has to be a sequel PLEASE VIVIAN WE REALLY want a sequel! it needs to continue, somehow they must bump into eachother again.pleaassee! they are meant to be together!
You, have some solution to write the next book. Ethan said that there is a way to reverse the vampire in him, but he didn't say how,...so there are some ideas!
and aswell, he said the vampire who made him was a he, but he didn't say who.....
PLEASE WE'RE begging u Vivian write a sequel PLEASE! all your fans are dying for one!!
thankyou
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