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American Vampire (2000)

by J.R. Rain(Favorite Author)

3.88 of 5 Votes: 5

languge

English

genre

Romance

series

Vampire for Hire

review 1: There was a lot going on in this book. Vampire/PI Samantha Moon finally meets Fang, her online bestie, in real life. She also has to deal with her son suddenly suffering from a terminal illness while trying to find a little girl who has been kidnapped.I went down to two stars because I felt there was too much crying (though there was reason to), not enough explanation on Fang's backstory and some unexplained bits to the little girl story.
review 2: American Vampire (Vampire for Hire/Samantha Moon #3)by J.R. RainI was happy to get back to reading J.R. Rain's Samantha Moon series. However, the last two novels I've read were big disappointments to me, so it was nice to get back to an author who writes in a style I already know and, for the most part, enjoy.I'd pre... moretty much decided not to read any more of this series based on Rain's cliffhanger ending of the second in the series, critiques I'd read on the series that indicated Rain makes the cliffhanger ending a staple of the series, and my absolute abhorrence of cliffhanger endings for novels. Argggghhhh! However, I found a Kindle edition compilation that included the first 8 novels (2 of which I'd already read) and one novella -- all for 99 cents. Okay, that means that at least until I finish this, I don't have to wait the requisite year between series novels to get what should be at the end of every novel -- the denouement. I believe the 9th in the series is out now, or will be soon, so if I decide to go on from there, I can look for that novel. As long as the series continues to feature cliffhanging endings, I will refuse to rate it above a 3, no matter how wonderful the actual writing is. Yes, I am a stubborn bitch. I get to like what I like and not like what I don't like, and to express the same (even if I paid almost nothing for the experience!). However, the title of the 4th book in the series (Moon Child), which I'll probably start today, does negate the cliffhanger ending of American Vampire, although I'm sure those that read this series from the beginning didn't know that back then!Okay -- here's what I like about Rain's writing.1. Other than one peculiarity which I'll address later, Rain does an excellent job of editing/proof-reading. Grammar is good. Spelling is flawless. It makes the reading easy, enjoyable and effortless. The peculiarity? His uneven use of badly, the adverb. I'd noticed this in the earlier two novels I read, and in this one two. He often uses badly correctly, but occasionally doesn't -- such as at the end of paragraph 15 of Chapter 12, as part of a text message Samantha is writing to Fang(reading this multi-novel collection on Kindle, so I won't be using locations, as most would read the novels singlely): "His love meant everything to me. I needed it so bad and he wasn't there for me. I stopped writing and sat back." Yet,in the context it is used, I'm willing to give Rain the benefit of the doubt and assume he purposely made the error as a stylistic choice. Still, as I remembered this grammar anomaly from previous novels of his, it did make me stop reading to search out whether this was a one-time deal. Side note: Kindle's search feature is great for this type of thing!2. His characters are fully fleshed out, full of the idiocracies tht make real people, uhm, real. It is easy to imagine how each looks; easy to imagine what the characters' voices sound like; easy to either love, hate or feel conflicted about each one. It makes becoming engaged in the story effortless.3. He does a nice job of plotting and moving the action forward. Even in this novel, where there are multiple storylines to follow, he manages to keep the action smoothly on track, while allowing ample space to fully explore each twist and turn the story takes. 4. The easy way to put this is that Rain has a nice way with words. What I really mean is that he manages to be extremely descriptive about feelings, surroundings, nuances of movement -- and manages to do this without being flowery or maudlin. I find that my total involvement in the storyline, in the action, is instant, and I am happy to say, seldom interrupted by any elements of style. So why three stars rather than 4 or 5? Well, I already gave you my #1 reason -- the cliffhanger ending. That would knock a full star off my rating if it only occurred once in a series, let alone when it is a regular feature. With this one, however, I did feel ambivalent about the title "American Vampire." SLIGHT SPOILER HERE: While Fang is finally revealed, and the event which lead to his becoming known as the American Vampire is told, he really isn't that big a part of this storyline. There were other things and other people in this novel, all of which were more important than Fang and his sudden physical, rather than digital, presence in Samantha's life. I expected him to play a bigger part in the novel based on the title, and I was definitely disappointed that he did not. So, yes, I'm on to "Moon Child." Yes, I'm looking forward to it. Others of you may rate the novels of this series much higher than I do. As long as Rain includes the cliffhanger as his ending of choice, I will continue to mark my ratings down, no matter how much the rest of his writing blows me away. less

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