I finished reading Vampire Apocalypse: A World Torn Asunder ~by~ Derek Gunn late last night. I won this signed copy on a book club forum competition!
Synopsis Courtesy of Waterstones
The war is over and the Vampires have won. The drying up of the world's oil resources leads to the fabled End of Days. Technology stagnates and communities grow ever more insular. With communication between cities lost and attention turned inward, the vampires rise from the shadows where they have survived for centuries and sweep across the globe. By the time word spreads it is far too late and Vampires enslave humanity and keep them in walled cities to breed.
The Vampires are masters of the darkness but maintain control by day through the use of Thralls--humans who have been bitten but have not yet crossed over, and whose inhuman lusts make daylight as terrifying as night. In the midst of chaos, a small band of rebels lead a terrified existence, but their survival is threatened by the Vampire's new scanning procedures.
Peter Harris is an ordinary man. Young and reckless, he is frustrated with the group's stagnation and pushes for one more daring mission. His recklessness has exposed the group--but it has also increased the size of their community. Now, as circumstances force them to take the offensive, and accompanied by a small group of professional Vampire assassins, Peter will make one last stand for humanity's survival in the Vampire Apocalypse.
My thoughts:
I really liked the story's main character, a young man named Peter Harris who is one of the leaders in the rebels fight to overcome the vampires, strange given that his nearest brush with military style tactics is playing tactical computer games on his pc before the war broke out! He's had to learn .. fast. The vampires keep the humans in line by injecting them with a serum to keep them docile and easy to manage, just alert enough to perform their everyday functions and breed but docile enough so as to have no free will to be a problem. They are kept within walled towns and patroled during the day by the vampires 'thralls' humans who have been bitten but not actually fully fledged vampires, nasty buggers too. Harris and the band of resistance rebels have been put in a position where they have to act now or be caught and die a horrible death ...
It seems to be a no win situation and the story follows how the rebels come together forming bonds and strong friendships. The writing is fast paced and easy to read. The story is more like a blockbuster action movie than a
gothic horror, its not your typical Dracula or Anne Rice vamp read, the vampires are totally unlikeable! No Twilightesque romance involved! The descriptions throughout the book are quite vivid and the plot is easy to follow.
I enjoyed this book, its not my ususal type of vampire read but I ended up really liking it and would like to read the sequel at some stage.
8/10