A fun tale of mayhem, January 23, 2011
Let me start this review with a little disclosure. I’ve read horror fiction before, but I generally prefer fantasy and science fiction. I’m also a small press author with a work available in the fantasy category which was purchased by someone who also purchased Darkened Hills. I looked at this book and I was afraid this was another example of the “romantic vampire” material deluging the teen reader market at the moment. I just simply don’t care for romantic vampires. I like the Max Schreck “Nosferatu” interpretation of the vampire as representing the core of the vampire myth – a night dwelling, blood sucking, cold blooded killer. I then read two of the negative reviews which are usually more telling about what I might like, and what I might dislike about a book. The first review gave it two stars, and indicated the subject matter was not the preference of the reader which I thought was fair enough. The second lesser review was a hate driven diatribe by a rabid fan of Stephen King. I like Stephen King well enough, and I enjoyed reading his “The Dark Tower” series of books. If someone can complain something came too close to Stephen King without being Stephen King enought to piss off an fan, then I figured this could possibly be a book I’d enjoy. I ordered the book, and finished it in two days.
As I read the Darkened Hills I was pleased to find that no brooding gloomy goth boy hunk vampires were present in the work. These vampires are the kind of smart evil monsters fueled by a hunger for blood which harkens back to Bram Stoker’s Dracula. These are the kind of vampires I can read and enjoy. The author also adds that touch of small home town sensibility complete with oddball personalities, local color, and a evil plot that gets set on its ear by bumpkin redneck good old boy cantankerous behavior. It was fun to read about evil monsters being set on their ears by small town folk with a “get ‘er done” kind of attitude. If I have any quible with the book, it is that Mr. Vincent neglected to pull the favorite redneck tool out of the handyman’s box. Where was the duct tape? Perhaps we’ll be lucky enough to see an appearance in the next book.
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