Book #30: A People’s History of the Vampire Uprising
My goal in 2018 is to read 52 books. Here is a list of all the books I’ve read so far this year. Each book is ranked on a 5-star scale (5 is best).
**** A People’s History of the Vampire Uprising
This was a really fun book to read. The premise is to imagine what would happen if vampires (or “gloamings” as they’re called in this book) were part of our society.
It’s an interesting thought exercise, and has some real parallels to how we treat people of different races today. In the book there is no concrete evidence (yet) that vampires are actually killing humans for blood, though we know that they need animal blood for nourishment. So now we have a new “race” that wants equal rights, that rises into powerful positions in society, and then you have people deciding to become gloamings (“recreated”), which is a dangerous process to undertake.
The style is written as an oral history, which was a fun way to experience the book. I highly recommend this one!
Amazon’s description:
This panoramic fictional oral history begins with one small mystery: the body of a young woman found in an Arizona border town, presumed to be an illegal immigrant, disappears from the town morgue. To the young CDC investigator called in to consult with the local police, it’s an impossibility that threatens her understanding of medicine.
Then, more bodies, dead from an inexplicable disease that solidified their blood, are brought to the morgue, only to also vanish. Soon, the U.S. government–and eventually biomedical researchers, disgruntled lawmakers, and even an insurgent faction of the Catholic Church–must come to terms with what they’re too late to stop: an epidemic of vampirism that will sweep first the United States, and then the world.
With heightened strength and beauty and a stead diet of fresh blood, these changed people, or “Gloamings,” rapidly rise to prominence in all aspects of modern society. Soon people are beginning to be “re-created,” willingly accepting the risk of death if their bodies can’t handle the transformation. As new communities of Gloamings arise, society is divided, and popular Gloaming sites come under threat from a secret terrorist organization. But when a charismatic and wealthy businessman, recently turned, runs for political office–well, all hell breaks loose.
Told from the perspective of key players, including a cynical FBI agent, an audacious campaign manager, and a war veteran turned nurse turned secret operative, A People’s History of the Vampire Uprising is an exhilarating, genre-bending debut that is as addictive as the power it describes.
Reasons why you might enjoy this book:
- You like vampires.
- You’re a fan of Walking Dead (similar concept, how would the world react).
- You’re looking for a fun, fast-moving book to help you ‘escape’ a little.
