VAMPIRE PLAGUE SERIES: “Mexico, 1850” by Sebastian Rook

SPOIL-FREE SUMMARY

Jack, Ben and Emily travel to Mexico, where they plan to banish Camazotz back to Hell and retrieve the last piece of the amulet, the crescent moon. But they are surprised to be greeted by the brotherhood of Chac and their leader, a man thought dead. Along the way, they discover betrayal, a newly converted vampire camp, a secret tunnel in Camazotz' temple, and a possible way to defeat the demon once and for all.

OUR RETURNING CHARACTERS

Jack, Ben, and Emily pretty much play the same roles. Emily the translator, Ben, much more hesitant and afraid of coming back, and Jack, still reckless and bold.
If I had one complaint, it may their lack of character development. There is a scene where Emily thinks back on their first meeting Jack, and how their lives have changed. As well as a scene where she and Ben see a grave. But there isn't much discussion about how this affects them. There is also a short scene in the beginning, where Jack wonders what life would have been life if he had never met Ben, and how he is glad he did.
The third in the series, the only things that needs resolving relationship-wise, if Jack wants to continue living with them. And that isn't resolved until the last page, and it's not discussed before then.

NEW CHARACTERS

Lorena is one of the member of the brotherhood of Chac. She has been the one translating the hieroglyphs on the temple of Camazotz. Together, Emily and her work to translate the parchments that Emily got from Paris.

Roberto is another member of the brotherhood of Chac and ends up with Jack and Emily when trouble breaks loose. Although we don't get to learn much about him, I still found him likable. He considers it his job to protect the children and is rather harsh on himself when he fails. Rook manages to make the story so it's up to Emily and Jack, not Roberto, to save the day. But he does so without presenting a dumb or ignorant adult. And Roberto still comes through and helps in the end.

Someone returns from Ben's past. This character is very important and although, it is ultimately Ben who discovers the last piece of the amulet, he is still assisted by this character. Earlier on, the rescue of Emily and Jack couldn't have been done without him. Once again, we get another adult character, who has an important role in the story, without stealing the focus away from our heroes.

STORY LENGTH

The first two books in the series are at least 200 pages long, while this one is slightly under that, so it is the shortest story of the three. But every page is used well, and the story doesn't dawdle. At the end of the first chapter we are presented with a shock that sucks us in right away.

FORESHADOWING

There is one use of foreshadowing, similar to it's use in the first book. It's not difficult to spot, as whenever we learn of something new, and relating to vampires or Mexico, it often comes into play. Remember when we first met the blood rose?

EXPOSITION

This story is all about Camazotz, so there is a fair amount of exposition. We learn all about the brotherhood of Chac, as well as the four pieces of the amulet and their meaning in the first part of the book. But really, only the first book in the series throws you into the story in the middle of it, and flashbacks to the beginning with a proper introduction. So if you were satisfied with the pacing of the last two books (such as I was), this should be no problem.

PACING

After Emily discovers something important in chapter 8, it's all action.
The characters are eventually separated into two groups: Emily, Jack and Roberto in one, and Ben and our surprise character in the other. The switching between these groups starts halfway the story and ends with only a few chapters to go. Instead of switching back between the characters in every other chapter (which some may expect), we get three chapters of each group. This may make the story feel slower paced, but Rook does a good job of weaving both stories together so they can meet at their natural point.

GRAPHIC CONTENT-SPOILERS

Similar to the first book, a large group of people are killed, but are not witnessed directly. Some characters get a small amount of blood drained from them. A ritual where a heart is cut out is discussed.

CONCLUSION

The third book in the series neatly sums up Camazotz, and is full of new and unique dangers that our heroes have never faced before. Mexico is another world than Paris and London, and quite a bit more dangerous. I give it four stars our of five.

What do you think? Did you read this book? Agree or disagree with me on any points? Please let me know!

VAMPIRE PLAGUES SERIES: “Paris, 1850” by Sebastian Rook

A SPOIL FREE SUMMARY

Professor Adensap is invited to France, the visit a friend, the Vicomte, Dampierre, who found a Mayan artifact and that is currently being kept at the Louvre. Jack, Ben, and Emily go along and discover the disease that hit London is happening in Paris-people are dying of anemia. It seems they didn't manage to banish the vampire demon for good, and once again the trio take up the mantle of fighting him.

OUR RETURNING CHARACTERS

As for Jack's character development, it's mentioned briefly that Jack has had a hard time adapting to his new life, but this isn't dwelt on enough to see the effect of this on his friends. That disappointed me. Although it was fun to watch his awkwardness of being admired by a new character, Dominique. And it was sweet to watch their friendship develop as he learns to appreciate her and the risks she takes for him, a boy she just met. It's really from her presence that we learn more about aspects of his personality.

Ben and Emily return in their same roles, Emily as the translator, and Ben as a leader. When it comes to character development, I suppose it is slightly stagnant. Relationships don't change much within the group, and even though the two apologize to Jack for not believing him about Camazotz there isn't really time to dwell on this, and how it made Jack feel.

Professor Adensnap returns as our mentor. But he is not in this book as much as the last one, to my disappointment.

OUR NEW CHARACTERS

Dampierre “The Vicomte” is the archaeologist who found “the eye”. He seems to be our mentor character, but he doesn't quite replace Adensnap, as our characters don't get to know him that well. Still, he does serve a purpose in the story. He has knowledge about Camazotz, and has an ancient manuscript that may help. His personality is nothing like Adensnap as he thinks himself rather important and even above the rules because of his position.

Dominique is the Vicomte's niece. In the beginning, she seems silly and a little dumb, but her tendency to babble on about unimportant topics are actually quite amusing. And she doesn't stay this two dimensional for long. After Jack saves her life, she becomes infatuated with him. She could have easily been a nuisance, but instead she joins the group in their fight to defeat Camazotz. Her presence at first serves to make Jack uncomfortable, but he soon grows to respect her bravery, and they develop a sweet friendship.

THIS FEELS FAMILIAR...

There are many aspects of the story that feel like a rerun of the first book. The Vicomte as our new version of Adensnap. He has a manuscript that needs translating. You get a feeling of deja vu in that regard. But there are plenty of new elements to keep you interested and in reality, in each book were learn more about Camazotz, and we can't do this without new manuscripts. Obviously, the Vicomte was needed to bring our characters to Paris. In that sense, we have to rinse and repeat regarding this pattern.

AN ODD BEGINNING

The book opens with a dream sequence. We enter Jack's personal thoughts of how he is fed up with Ben, for trying to teach him how to act, and how he misses the freedom he once had but no longer fits in with his old crowd. So when it ends up being a nightmare, with everyone turning into a vampire, this reader was left slightly confused. Was Jack really mad at Ben? Or was this a dream-argument with dream-Ben?
I think it might have served the book better to have had the scene at the docks be real and later, simply reference that Jack has been having nightmares. Or even cut to that later, showing him waking up screaming.

FORSHADOWING

Their is a slight hint at what is to come when Jack dreams, and discovers the bat artifact in his pocket. Also, Jack spots someone in the museum that doesn't seem important, but later comes into play when Jack falls into a trap.

WHAT'S NEW?

What was hinted at in the first book, the importance of the two artifacts, the “bat” and the “crown” are finally revealed. And the bulk of this book focuses on this new information and will eventually lead us to the third book. We learn about Chac, another Mayan idol, who was the enemy of Camazotz.

PACING

The pacing of this book overall, is slightly slower than the last one. Something bad happens that urges our heroes to recognize that Camazotz is alive and well pretty fast, but it's not until we are halfway though the book that we are forced to face a vampire head on. Although, to be fair, we get a precursor to the trouble three chapters before.

A DEATH

When a character dies, there isn't a feeling of sadness for very long. One might critique that aspect as a lack in character development or realism, but I believe Rook spent little time on it so as not to slow the pace of the story down. Although, I do think it would have been nice if some time later in the story was spent mourning him, perhaps with Jack blaming the others for not believing him about the threat, or Emily and Ben for blaming themselves in not believing Jack.

LIVE TO FIGHT ANOTHER DAY

The climax might be not what the reader expects but it didn't bother me, as I had purchased all three books together. We do finally meet Camazotz himself, but our heroes are so outmatched that there is no real fight scene, just a scene where we try to stay alive. I think this is completely acceptable as it showed the power of Camazotz in away that first book did not. Here they are quite outnumbered by the many vampires of Paris, and they have no real way to kill Camazotz.
This book needs to be viewed as what it is, a middle piece; a precursor to book three.

GRAPHIC CONTENT-SPOILERS

There is no more gore than the first book. Two characters we know are killed, but neither are witnessed at the time. A stranger is killed later, and his body is discovered right after. We get a brief description. Also, we overhear Camazotz killing some of his vampires when he gets angry.

CONCLUSION

A worthy sequel to the first book, with a likable new character, and a taste of Camazotz real power. I give Vampire Plagues: Paris, 1850, four stars.

What do you think? Did you read this book? Agree or disagree with me on any points? Please let me know!

VAMPIRE PLAGUES SERIES: “London, 1850” by Sebastian Rook

SPOILER FREE SUMMARY

In “London, 1850”, young Jack Harkett is an orphan and a pick-pocket who spends his time on the docks of London. There he meets Ben, who has recently stowed away on a ship. Ben tells Jack his fantastic story, and not to spoil it too much, it involves a trip to Mexico, a pagan temple, and a demon named Camazotz. From there we meet Ben's sister, Emily and the trio decide it is up to them to stop Camazotz, who has brought his vampiric bats with him and intends to turn the citizens of London into vampires.

OUR CAST OF CHARACTERS

Jack Harkett is street savvy, adventurous, and curious. Being the outsider, he often see's things differently than his two friends. Often times, Ben turns to Jack for advice, like when they have to sneak into Camaztoz' current residence. Through the story we learn that he actually envies the siblings' relationship. Because of this aspect of his character, the reader is readily sympathetic too him.
The author doesn't spend time trying to get the reader feeling bad that Jack is an orphan and has to be a thief. Indeed, I never once thought of him as a victim but as a survivor. I found that refreshing, as I have read so many stories where the main character is a victim in almost every way imagined, in order to gain our sympathy.

Emily Cole is kind, caring, and studios. She serves as a key component to the story, as she helps gain knowledge on Camazotz. She also isn't afraid to put her life on the line, as she does almost instantly. She is obviously written for a twenty-first century audience, as girls weren't commonly students in this time period, nor so independent. Although this is slightly acknowledged, when Emily reveals she has knowledge of , Professor Adensnap seems surprised but pleased.
Even so, she is not written to be the overly-perfect female, doing anything that the boys can do, but better. In fact, she even has to be rescued by them.

Benedict Cole, having witnessed the true evils of Camazotz and his many murders, has a bit more of a realistic view on the demon Camazotz and more of a fear of him. Because of this, he is more hesitant to rush in than his sister and Jack. It's not that Ben has suffered under the demons that endears him to the reader, but the fact that he is still willing to fight. He has a strong sense of the sacrifice he may have to make.

Professor Adensnap, is a sort of mentor presented in the story, and I think he played his role well. He is neither stupid nor dense, as are many adult characters present in childrens' book. And he actually serves to help, giving the children information about the demon's history and how to send him back to Hell.

As for our villains, Camazotz comes off creepy and scary, but not cartoon-sh as some childrens' book villains have been known to do. As does his vampire minion, Mr. Brown, the butler.
We learn some of his history throughout the book but he isn't quite fleshed out. But the story doesn't suffer for it.

PACING AND FLASHBACKS

The story is well paced, never staying still too long for the reader to get bored. The scenes of research and respites are not overly long or tedious. The first portion of the book is a flashback to Mexico, and takes up about 37% of the book. I have often read on the dangers of flashbacks, but the first chapter is really trying to start us in the middle of the story, to get us curious. So it makes complete sense that we have to go back in time to see what brought us to the first chapter of the book.

ASPECTS OF THE STORY

The book is part mystery, part horror, and part action. And although there are plenty of vampire-fighting scenes, the reader is not overwhelmed, as there are plenty of other things to keep them interested, such as a chase scene, an intruder who sneaks into the Coles' home during the middle of the night, as well as the mystery of how to defeat Camazotz himself.

USES OF FORESHADOWING

There are two instances where we, the reader gets a glimpse of something that will be of much importance in the future and in defeating Camazotz. The first one was not quite as obvious as the second one. Also, in the epilogue of the book, Jack spots a vampire in the sky, and this is obvious a hint of future battles to come. As a bonus, there is also a foreshadowing of the importance of two objects, that have to do with the second book in the series. We never quite learn why they are important in this book.

AN ORIGINAL TAKE ON VAMPIRES

London makes a perfect backdrop to this story, and I would have to say the most original thing about it is the vampire King himself. Instead of our traditional vampire story, we get a new interpretation, a new origin, as well as some new rules. Although Camazotz, is routinely called a god, it is done in the same tradition as Bram Stoker, as he is a demonic force and must be sent back to Hell.

GRAPHIC CONTENT

Although many people get killed in the book, most of the deaths are not witnessed directly, but overheard (as Ben stowed away in a ship). And although one character is murdered later, it's not described in detail. Mayan history is discussed and the human sacrifices that were made.

CONLUSION

You don't have to love vampires, or even horror stories to enjoy this story. I consider myself mostly a fantasy fan, and I still loved it.
With likable characters, an original take on vampires, and plot driven not only on action but mystery, I rate “London: 1850” four and a half stars our of five.

What do you think? Did you read this book? Agree or disagree with me on any points? Please let me know!