Living like a Vampire by Jacky Dahlhaus @JackyDahlhaus #LoveBooksGroup

Happy Halloween!!

Today is my stop on the blog tour for Living like a Vampire, a thrilling Halloween read!

Synopsis:

Staying alive is hard in a world full of bloodsuckers. What do you do to survive?

Kate has just begun her new job as a high school teacher and is looking forward to living her suburban dream life. All her hopes and dreams turn into smoke as a virus turns people into vampires, roaming the world in packs and killing everybody they can get their hands on. Kate has to pretend to be one of them to stay alive. When she accidentally bumps into a handsome sucker who then mysteriously disappears, surviving is no longer the only thing on Kate’s mind.

Will Kate stay alive and human while pursuing this mysterious stranger?

Pick up this action-packed, fast-paced, suspenseful novel and explore the depths of Kate’s emotions as she struggles to make sense of it all.

Review:

Now I like a good vampire book, but this is a different take on the genre. It reads almost like an apocalyptic novel. A virus is spreading rapidly through the country, a pandemic, turning humans into suckers. A vampire for all intents and purpose, they need blood to survive and UV light will send them into an epileptic fits. They gain in strength and hunt in terrifying packs, killing the weak and turning the strong. Some of the most terrifying and intense moments of the story are scenes in which they are rounding people up.

Characters:

The story is told in first person from the point of view of Kate, a newly qualified teacher. She has landed her dream job in a small town with Charlie and Sue. Each has a quirky personality which worked well for the story. I liked this threesome, they gelled well together and provided some light relief from the tensions of the coming story. There are plenty of other characters to get behind and I do like the development of the suckers. Not all of them are mindless killing machines but you have to eat!

Kate herself goes on a interesting journey through this book. There were times I wanted to shake her and others where I wanted to give her a hug. Her character development is really well written, although some decisions she makes seem naïve at best, there is always a good reason behind them.

True love?!

I do have a slight issue with part of the book, you have to buy into the true love premise. One look into someone’s eyes and suddenly you are totally and utterly head over heals in love. I just can’t get behind that. This motivates Kate to do a lot of what happens next, and I struggled for a couple of chapters, but I am so glad I stuck with it. Overall this is really just a little part of the story and although decisions are made because of this, other more interesting consequences result.

Overall Thoughts:

From the opening chapters the tension ratchets up and stays that way. That and the short chapters have you racing through the book in no time. The pace is pitched perfectly. I read this in two sittings. I have a love hate relationship with short chapters, ‘oh just one more’ followed by ‘how is it 2am?!’. They certainly help you to speed through.

I did enjoy this book and it certainly is an excellent choice for a Halloween read! Many thanks to Jacky and Love Books Group for an invite onto the tour and a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

About the Author:

Jacky Dahlhaus lived in many countries, has worked many jobs, and tried many hobbies before she realized writing gave her such pleasure.  She now loves to write paranormal fantasy stories full-time while delving into the human psyche with all its faults and mysteries.

Next to writing novels, Jacky helps indie authors by promoting them on her blog, writes an online newsletter/magazine, runs a writing club for adults and for children at the local library, and is a writer/director/producer for Aberdeenshire Film Productions.

When not busy with the above (which is rare nowadays), Jacky works on renovating her Scottish Victorian home, watches movies with her family, and tries to stop her two Jack Russells from barking for no good reason.

Jacky has written three novels, all books of the Suckers trilogy which is set in Maine, US, a novelette (the Prequel of the Suckers trilogy), and Short Shockers, a bundle of short stories. She is currently working on the first book of her next trilogy, this time set in Alaska.

You can connect with me via:

Email:

jackydahlhaus@gmail.com

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/JackyDahlhaus

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/jackydahlhaus/

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/Jacky-Dahlhaus-Author-166614624053352/

Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14924554.Jacky_Dahlhaus

My Website:

https://jackydahlhaus.com