Here is the world's first apocalyptic, comedic, vampire thriller! Filled with romance and set in the modern West, it's "The Cowboy and the Vampire" by Clark Hays and Kathleen McFall.
New York City reporter Lizzie Vaughan doesn't know it, but she has 2,000 years of royal Vampiric blood coursing through her veins. Tucker, her cowboy boyfriend of six months, has a place in Lonepine, Wyoming, where there is little to do besides drink beer and wonder about who's cheating on whom at the Sleep-O-Rama Motel. Lizzie and Tucker don't know it, but their lives are about to take as many twists and turns as a bucking bronco ride.
Julius, the megalomaniac Vampire leader, wants his horde of maniacal followers to vanquish every living being on the planet so he can reign over Darkness for all eternity-with Lizzie at his side. But there are a few little problems he has to iron out first...
Julius' fatally seductive Vampire consort, Elita, is furious. She wants to be the only woman in Julius' undead life. His archenemy Lazarus, once the most powerful Vampire on the planet, is undoubtedly plotting against Julius and his diabolical scheme. But Julius has been living a quiet life, eating HoHos and reading the tabloids-has he lost his taste for bloodshed?
Lizzie herself is being difficult-she doesn't "want" to be Queen of the Vampires, or as she calls them, "blood-sucking, crazy freaks." Finally, there's Tucker, who is coming for his woman with his dog, his gun, and a couple of ragtag cowhands.
Who will be left when the sun rises?
After witnessing what she believes is the public murder of 20 people, NYC reporter Elizabeth Vaughn she finds herself on the run from what she can only describe as insane people playing at being vampires. Feeling her life is in danger, Lizzie runs to the only place she feels safe, into the arms of her very own cowboy. Showing their resourcefulness, after all they haven’t survived for centuries by being dumb, the vampires manage to track Lizzie down to LonePine, Wyoming with orders to bring her back to NYC.
I wasn’t sure what to expect at first. I found Tucker to be too stereotypical for my liking. I enjoyed him as a character, I just wish he didn’t remind me of every old cowboys movie I’ve ever seen, starting with his trailer and including his busted up, duct taped boots. However, not knowing any real cowboys myself, after all, I am a city girl, what do I know, maybe that is an accurate description of your average cowboy. Tucker wasn’t the only character I found stereotypical. Elita, for instance seemed to play up to the “Trampy Vamp” stereotype. Lizzie, however, I found very realistic. I especially enjoyed how the New Yorker seemed to come out in times of stress. Your average person would give in to hysterics, crying and screaming. Lizzie shows a sarcastic humor and attitude that I found refreshing and familiar. I found myself reading on just to see more of it. Lizzie isn’t the only surprise though. We are also exposed to an average looking vampire and an over weight vampire with a weakness for junk food. Being always exposed to the image of vampires being beautiful and irresistible I found the idea of these guys refreshing. No sparkly vampires to be found here.
If you can get over the verbal explosion of information, this novel will keep you flipping pages. Once started, I found it hard to put it down. It’s as if I needed to know how Tucker, our simple cowboy, would rescue Lizzie from the big city vampires. Will he get there in time? Will Lizzie be seduced to the dark? These are questions that kept me coming back for more. Personally speaking, if this is just the first offering in a series, I can’t wait to read the second. If you enjoy gutsy, hunky cowboys and take charge, no nonsense New Yorkers, I would definitely recommend picking this up and giving it a try.
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29 August, 2012:
Reviewed