Vampire Wake

Title: Vampire Wake (The Kiera Hudson Series (Book Two))
Author: Tim O'Rourke
Published: September 2011
Synopsis from Goodreads

Since escaping from the Ragged Cove and finding herself suspended from the Force, Kiera Hudson is hired by the mysterious Lady Hunt to protect her sixteen-year-old daughter Kayla, from the stranger who lurks on the moors. But little does Kiera know that it is she who is really in need of protection.

Arriving at Hallowed Manor on the desolate Welsh moors, Kiera soon realises that the vampires that she has been ‘seeing’ are not the stuff of her nightmares, but are very real and closing in.

If Kiera is to escape the vampires that hunt her, she will have to discover the true identity of the bandaged man, the secret of the children’s graveyard hidden beneath the weeping willows and who or what is hiding in the ‘forbidden’ wing at Hallowed Manor…

Greta: Good gah that was awesome!!

Darkfallen: Awesome wrapped in chocolate...and then dunked in blood. *winks*

Greta: This book left me guessing up until the very end. Sure, there were a couple things that I figured out but ZOMG I was expecting this and that and this and oh THAT and THIS!! Jeepers!!!

Vampire Wake kinda had a Scooby Doo vibe to it but I guess most mystery books do. I kept expecting the Mystery Machine to pull up or for them to pull a mask off someone's head but never the less this book was most awesome!

Darkfallen: Now, hold on! Let's rewind. Rewind to the part where Kiera is suspended from the force and has been living out the last six months in work appointed therapy. Where she is constantly treated like she is as mad as the Mad Hatter for talking about the vampires and vampyrus back in Ragged Cove.

Greta: Oh yeah... I guess they should know that. COO COO!!

Kiera is back in Hobbit Land with her Mini that got pulled out of the snow in a tiny apartment or flat or whatever you want to call it and she's become super obsessed with clipping newspaper articles about things that sound vampy.

I know!! I totally gasped!! People still read newspapers? Crikey!! Who knew?!!

Darkfallen: Why was she doing all this? To find him...Luke. Searching for anything that might suggest vampires, and thus Luke there hunting them. Little did she know that she was wasting her time.

Greta: So, as Keira is kinda going through a hoarding period of her life... cuz let's face it... once you start collecting papers you might as well consider yourself a hoarder. A&E taught me that ;) Then she gets a knock on the door or... no wait.... Ummm... maybe it was a phonecall.. No... perhaps they met at a coffeshop... AHHH!! The details aren't important.... ANyways, this rich Welsh Chick comes and sees Keira and since she is Queen of the Hobbits (cuz all Welsh people are. Blessed Be Michael Sheen and his most awesome ways) she told Keira that she totes needed her to watch her youngin' over at her castly pad because she needed to go to NYC for a taping of SNL (or so I assume)

Keira isn't too sure but she's all like "Yeah, sure, Whatev'" and takes a ride in a limo with the Hobbit Queen and her driver her totally ignores her and doesn't even open the door. HOW RUDE!! (did you see that? I totally went Full House on this review)

Lady Hunt (Aka Hobbit Queen) jumps out of the car while they are on the interstate or toll road or umm... motorway or whatever the call em and says "Yeah dude! I'm gonna go jet to NYC and see my Dawgs... You have fun baby sitting my kid! And make sure that no one like spies in her bedroom! That's been happening and you know... that's kinda to catch a predatory so ummm... yeah!! Call Chris Hanson if you see any of that going on. Have fun!! Chow chow!"

Keira pulls up to a castle with a moat that probably doesn't have alligators or killer sharks with laser beams on their heads because it's too cold there. Seriously, why do places like that have moats when it's too cold to support the proper wildlife? I'll never understand that about Europe ;) And she's greeted by this Henny Penny woman (or that's how I envisioned her) named Mrs. Payne who goes all scary movie on her and is like "Stay out of the forbidden wing!". Hmmms... maybe it was more like Count Chocula... yeah, it was probably like that.

Darkfallen: Also, the place is cut off. Well if by cut off you mean no electricity, or phone lines, or tv, but cell phones work just fine. That is until you fall off a wall and lose your in a mote...So see? Here she is again without a cell phone.

Greta: Oh yeah! That's important!

So, Keira smells something foul (which I assume was Scooby Snacks) and totally wants to go check out that wing but doesn't do it because she decides to go to sleep and wakes up to find Kayla the teenage hormones of the story going through her totebag and playing with her Fruit Pod.

Keira makes friends with Kayla and throughout the story of Non-mani-pedis the adventure starts.

Darkfallen: It is really hard to give you much more without giving away all the twists and turns, and lets face it no one likes a spoil bunny. SO just know this...I thought Vampire Shift was made of awesome. Vampire Wake?! AWESOMETASTIC!! Tim O'Rourke improved a world that I didn't even know had room for improvement in the first place. Every time I thought I had something else figured out he would slap it down. There is no catching him. Tim has a way to paint a world that will leave you guessing up until the very end, and have you clawing your eyes out for more. I can't wait for the next book Vampire Hunt. I need it NOWS!!

And and Tim? If your out there reading this somewhere I just need to say one thing. A thing that only you and the others that have read this book will understand...Luke *GASP/SNIFFLES*, Potter *GASP/SWOON/HATES MYSELF FOR SWOONING*, Kiera *SIGHS*

Greta: I swear Man,.... you think you'll have all the answers and then WHAMO!!!!! The story twists and turns and flops upside down and well... that's what's awesome about this.... You think you'll pull off one mask and scream "DON KNOTTS!" but then you're screaming "SHERIFF TAYLOR" and then you scream "AHHH!!! WHo is it!!"

Darkfallen and Greta: And now for our highest of praise...

Buy it, borrow it, rent it, steal it if you have to....but you have got to...READ this book!!!