I was tempted to give this book just three stars because I found the character of Rosa irritating. She was basically the stereotype of the girl, who seems smart, but in the end is just another girl who fails to see something good in front of her to fall for the bad pretty boy. It's something I always find irritating; the kind of thing you want to just shake someone and tell them, "what the eff are you thinking?" However, the vampires-- Dave, Radu his master, and even Merle the biker-- make this into a pretty neat book. That is because the book presents an interesting take on vampires as average folk with practical concerns. The relationship between Radu and Dave is like nothing you will see in an Anne Rice novel (which the characters actually riff off on in this book). This and the small humor in the book keep it from becoming just another teen angst book. The book overall is pretty entertaining. I think a good number of young adult readers will enjoy it. Readers who have read Abel's other works will probably like this. Readers who may be jaded with vampires thanks to the abomination inflicted upon the world my a certain Ms. Meyer may find this a refreshing and amusing vampire tale. It does draw a bit on classical vampire lore, but takes it in a new direction, which is why I ended up liking it. Plus, I really liked the ending, which I am not giving away.
