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Esther Diamond #4
Vamparazzi
Everything you know about vampires is wrong…
After a grisly murder casts a pall over The Vampyre, an Off-Broadway play in which Esther plays a vampire victim, she and her friend Max confront a dizzying array of suspects among the vamparazzi—the rival factions of vampire groupies and anti-vampire obsessives who surround the theatre every night. Meanwhile, Esther’s almost would-be boyfriend, Detective Connor Lopez, fears that she may be the killer’s next target!
Esther’s quest to thwart Evil and ensure a decent run for her play ultimately brings her into conflict with real vampires, vamparazzi, and an ancient cult of vampire hunters with whom her friend Max has a checkered past. Her adventure takes her into the forgotten tunnels and vaults beneath New York City, where Esther learns that having your neck gnawed upon by a bloodthirsty prince of the night isn’t nearly as much fun as she makes it look onstage.
After a grisly murder casts a pall over The Vampyre, an Off-Broadway play in which Esther plays a vampire victim, she and her friend Max confront a dizzying array of suspects among the vamparazzi—the rival factions of vampire groupies and anti-vampire obsessives who surround the theatre every night. Meanwhile, Esther’s almost would-be boyfriend, Detective Connor Lopez, fears that she may be the killer’s next target!
Esther’s quest to thwart Evil and ensure a decent run for her play ultimately brings her into conflict with real vampires, vamparazzi, and an ancient cult of vampire hunters with whom her friend Max has a checkered past. Her adventure takes her into the forgotten tunnels and vaults beneath New York City, where Esther learns that having your neck gnawed upon by a bloodthirsty prince of the night isn’t nearly as much fun as she makes it look onstage.
407 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 4, 2011
13 people are currently reading
419 people want to read
About the author
Laura Resnick
109 books272 followersLaura Resnick is an award-winning science fiction and fantasy author, the daughter of prolific science fiction author Mike Resnick. She was the winner of the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in Science Fiction for 1993. She also writes romance novels under the pseudonym Laura Leone
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews
December 11, 2021
Vamparazzi
(Esther Diamond #4)
by Laura Resnick
Enjoyable but too much info or describing in places. This book deals with Esther in a play about Vampires. But there are real vampires too. The realistic cop is undercover looking to look for the person killing victims by draining their blood. Of course he doesn't believe in vampires! The two would-be lovers may never get together!
(Esther Diamond #4)
by Laura Resnick
Enjoyable but too much info or describing in places. This book deals with Esther in a play about Vampires. But there are real vampires too. The realistic cop is undercover looking to look for the person killing victims by draining their blood. Of course he doesn't believe in vampires! The two would-be lovers may never get together!
March 26, 2021
This book is worth reading for Esther's take down of romantic vampires. There is a bit too much info dumping at times, but the book is a fun read.
October 31, 2011
First of all, it's hilarious. I could hardly stop laughing. Not only is it a murder mystery with vampires and a 350 year old magician, but there's also backstage intrigue at a play featuring a wanna-be vampire and vampire groupies who mob the theatre every night (the vamparazzi).
For someone who's hooked on paranormal mystery/urban fantasy, but who can't find hardly any up to my storytelling standards, this book was a welcome discovery. Don't worry that it's book 4 (unless you want to read the other books first. I just finished book 1, which was also hilarious.) Also surprisingly devoid of R rated scenes, given that the actress main character keeps practically falling out of the dress provided by a malevolent wardrobe mistress.
For someone who's hooked on paranormal mystery/urban fantasy, but who can't find hardly any up to my storytelling standards, this book was a welcome discovery. Don't worry that it's book 4 (unless you want to read the other books first. I just finished book 1, which was also hilarious.) Also surprisingly devoid of R rated scenes, given that the actress main character keeps practically falling out of the dress provided by a malevolent wardrobe mistress.
October 26, 2011
I have really liked the past Ester Diamond books but the pacing in this latest installment makes Vamparazzi just ok.
Vamparazzi is slow to start, a grinds to a halt for a flashback in the middle, and finally wraps up with a frantic frenzied run to the finish. I still like Ester, and I used to like Lopez who pops in and out at key moments but at this point they need to be either an item or he needs go away altogether - which is too bad, since I think that they could have been interesting together.
Anyway, I might still read the next book - I just love the title - Polterheist, but I won't rush out and buy it until the reviews are in.
Vamparazzi is slow to start, a grinds to a halt for a flashback in the middle, and finally wraps up with a frantic frenzied run to the finish. I still like Ester, and I used to like Lopez who pops in and out at key moments but at this point they need to be either an item or he needs go away altogether - which is too bad, since I think that they could have been interesting together.
Anyway, I might still read the next book - I just love the title - Polterheist, but I won't rush out and buy it until the reviews are in.
May 7, 2025
I enjoyed how Laura Resnick twisted the vampire tropes and gave the reader an alternate description and history for vampires. Finally the Lithuanian piece of the puzzle fell into place.
Esther is in a pretty niche off Broadway play. She was supposed to just be a side character but ends up semi-stealing the show and there are a bevy of people fascinated by the character in the play that have decided to cosplay her character. The leading man, claims to be a vampire and somehow becomes the lead suspect when one of the fans is found dead, drained of blood.
Lopez is on the scene again with rational explanations for everything. Esther is in the middle of all of the trouble again and seems to have caught the killers eye. She is also surrounded by a few real vampires, who knew. With Max's help she is able to call in some support and save the production from going under, well mostly.
I liked this one a little better. The play on the vampire stereotypes was fun. The Max flashbacks were a little strange and made the pacing a little odd but it was a way to show the history of the vampires and so Vamparazzi didn't suffer from quite as much info dumping.
Again these are easy no brainer reads and I'm just popping through them like they are candy. So there must be something to them that is a little addictive for me.
The Graphic Audio narration is really was is making these really enjoyable overall. Not sure I'd have half as much fun with them if I wasn't listening the a full cast narration. Esther and Lopez's voice actors do a really great job and make the story for me.
Esther is in a pretty niche off Broadway play. She was supposed to just be a side character but ends up semi-stealing the show and there are a bevy of people fascinated by the character in the play that have decided to cosplay her character. The leading man, claims to be a vampire and somehow becomes the lead suspect when one of the fans is found dead, drained of blood.
Lopez is on the scene again with rational explanations for everything. Esther is in the middle of all of the trouble again and seems to have caught the killers eye. She is also surrounded by a few real vampires, who knew. With Max's help she is able to call in some support and save the production from going under, well mostly.
I liked this one a little better. The play on the vampire stereotypes was fun. The Max flashbacks were a little strange and made the pacing a little odd but it was a way to show the history of the vampires and so Vamparazzi didn't suffer from quite as much info dumping.
Again these are easy no brainer reads and I'm just popping through them like they are candy. So there must be something to them that is a little addictive for me.
The Graphic Audio narration is really was is making these really enjoyable overall. Not sure I'd have half as much fun with them if I wasn't listening the a full cast narration. Esther and Lopez's voice actors do a really great job and make the story for me.
September 10, 2018
As expected and fun.
World: The world building is solid, it serves this story with the introduction of vampires and their lore. Max does a huge info dump on them and that’s fine cause he has to establish the rules, it’s a bit convoluted but that’s fine. The rest of the world building is tied to the characters which is good as it slowly but surely fills in more about Esther and her group.
Story: Expected and par for the genre, there are little bits and pieces of nice character banter and chemistry that makes this series fun, but the story is expected. I will say that the actor angle so far for the series has been interesting and amusing. This book as I said above is pretty much what you expect from this series, there’s nothing mind blowing or earth shattering here, just solid genre work.
Characters: Esther is fun, her personal voice is good and a good point of view character. I will say that she’s grown on me, even if she is made up of bits and pieces of genre tropes. The rest of the cast is also good. I did feel we got less Max which kinda made me sad.
I liked it, it’s fun.
Onward to the next book!
World: The world building is solid, it serves this story with the introduction of vampires and their lore. Max does a huge info dump on them and that’s fine cause he has to establish the rules, it’s a bit convoluted but that’s fine. The rest of the world building is tied to the characters which is good as it slowly but surely fills in more about Esther and her group.
Story: Expected and par for the genre, there are little bits and pieces of nice character banter and chemistry that makes this series fun, but the story is expected. I will say that the actor angle so far for the series has been interesting and amusing. This book as I said above is pretty much what you expect from this series, there’s nothing mind blowing or earth shattering here, just solid genre work.
Characters: Esther is fun, her personal voice is good and a good point of view character. I will say that she’s grown on me, even if she is made up of bits and pieces of genre tropes. The rest of the cast is also good. I did feel we got less Max which kinda made me sad.
I liked it, it’s fun.
Onward to the next book!
October 22, 2011
PB/Urban Fantasy: This is book four in the series and my last. I gave it one more chance after the last book. Granted, this book is better, but Lopez needs to go. In my argument of the last book, it's time that Lopez believed what Max & Esther are telling the truth about all things paranormal. It's getting old and Lopez needs a replacement. I really wanted to like this book, but I figured who was the vampire by the second or third chapter. There were no surprises in the plot or Esther's love life. Again, she is a doormat and still not speaking up for herself.
As for my biggest peeve of the book: continuity. It took me an hour to read the first scene that involved Esther and Lopez. Now, I'm not the fastest reader, but I'm not the slowest either. According to Esther, the conversation was only 20 minutes! There are a lot of time continuity problems in this book. Conversations take FOREVER(and while a dog is suffering, in this book and the last.) There is none of the witty banter that the first two books had. The middle of the book was okay, but the whole "three different kinds of vampires" was stupid.
SPOILERS: The question of why Max doesn't like Lithuanians was still not answered which really made me mad. It tells how he knows them, but I being of Lithuanian decent would like to know.
The end of the book was inconceivable. The secret vampire hunters show up with crossbows, in front of people in a public place, when showing up at three in the morning at a private residence would make so much more sense.
Lopez has been undercover in a sewer all day and smells like poop. Esther cuts her hand and is bleeding. Lopez gives her his sweaty/poopy bandana (how sterile) to wrap around her hand; then Mr Smelly starts to lick her wound. It is not sexy thinking of a fictional character getting a staph infection.
Yes, I understand that this book is supposed to be a comedy, but it was empty. I wanted more. Not only were there not many questions answered, there were no new questions that make me want to proceed with the next book. I wish I hadn't read past the first two books Disappearing Nightly and Doppelgangster.
As for my biggest peeve of the book: continuity. It took me an hour to read the first scene that involved Esther and Lopez. Now, I'm not the fastest reader, but I'm not the slowest either. According to Esther, the conversation was only 20 minutes! There are a lot of time continuity problems in this book. Conversations take FOREVER(and while a dog is suffering, in this book and the last.) There is none of the witty banter that the first two books had. The middle of the book was okay, but the whole "three different kinds of vampires" was stupid.
SPOILERS: The question of why Max doesn't like Lithuanians was still not answered which really made me mad. It tells how he knows them, but I being of Lithuanian decent would like to know.
The end of the book was inconceivable. The secret vampire hunters show up with crossbows, in front of people in a public place, when showing up at three in the morning at a private residence would make so much more sense.
Lopez has been undercover in a sewer all day and smells like poop. Esther cuts her hand and is bleeding. Lopez gives her his sweaty/poopy bandana (how sterile) to wrap around her hand; then Mr Smelly starts to lick her wound. It is not sexy thinking of a fictional character getting a staph infection.
Yes, I understand that this book is supposed to be a comedy, but it was empty. I wanted more. Not only were there not many questions answered, there were no new questions that make me want to proceed with the next book. I wish I hadn't read past the first two books Disappearing Nightly and Doppelgangster.
October 19, 2017
This book is crazy. I've been listening to this series (done by Graphic audio) and I think that they are brilliant. The voices the sound effects- totally add another element to this book (and series).
And I think this instalment hilarious. Maybe it's just my sense of humour, but the bizarre encounters that Esther has, the places she find herself in, the inane banter, the cast of sidekicks..some parts are dead set laugh out loud.
And I think this instalment hilarious. Maybe it's just my sense of humour, but the bizarre encounters that Esther has, the places she find herself in, the inane banter, the cast of sidekicks..some parts are dead set laugh out loud.
August 7, 2022
Vamparazzi (2011) 386 pages by Laura Resnick
Esther Diamond is in her sixth week in an off Broadway play. The lead character is a vampire and Daemon Ravel, the actor, has hyped his persona to be a vampire. It's nice because they're playing in front of packed houses, but it's awful because the crowds outside the theater are getting boisterous and last night an overeager fan attacked Esther giving her a black eye. It turns worse when an exsanguinated victim is found and Daemon is the lead suspect.
This is the fourth Esther Diamond novel, so, of course Max and Lopez are in the book. There are flashbacks to Max and vampire hunters in the 1730's, filling us in on the lore of vampires. Lopez is working undercover on a case that may be related to the newest murder and is worried about Esther.
Fun read, well done mystery, always a great job with the series characters and interesting new characters. 4.6 stars.
Esther Diamond is in her sixth week in an off Broadway play. The lead character is a vampire and Daemon Ravel, the actor, has hyped his persona to be a vampire. It's nice because they're playing in front of packed houses, but it's awful because the crowds outside the theater are getting boisterous and last night an overeager fan attacked Esther giving her a black eye. It turns worse when an exsanguinated victim is found and Daemon is the lead suspect.
This is the fourth Esther Diamond novel, so, of course Max and Lopez are in the book. There are flashbacks to Max and vampire hunters in the 1730's, filling us in on the lore of vampires. Lopez is working undercover on a case that may be related to the newest murder and is worried about Esther.
Fun read, well done mystery, always a great job with the series characters and interesting new characters. 4.6 stars.
February 22, 2017
#4 Esther Diamond series - Urban Fantasy - Mage/Magic/Vampires
4.5 stars
Thank you to my friend and Good Reader Yvensong for sending me this book. I'm kicking myself for letting this funny, well developed, really cool book sit on the shelf so long. I laughed through much of this highly entertaining book. The characters are a kick. The great plot is another bonus.
Esther Diamond, a struggling actor in NYC, takes a part in an off-Broadway play "The Vampyre", which develops a large and enthusiastic cult following. "Black clad, fang-wearing vampire groupies, fanatical anti-vampire activists, and the bloodsucking paparazzi" go crazy over the lead actor and rumored vampire-in-real-life, the handsome Daemon Ravel.
Fighting the crowds to get in and out of the building is the actors' biggest challenge, until one of Daemon's fan girls turns up dead -- and drained of all her blood.
Esther enlists the aid of her friend Max, a 350 year old magician. Her kind-of boyfriend, a police detective, believes Esther is the next target. "Pursued by crazed vamparazzi, real vampires, and an ancient cult of vampire hunters", Esther is caught in a whirlwind of danger and mystery.
I'm going to read books 1-3 in this series. It's been a long time since a vampire book has been so entertaining!
4.5 stars
Thank you to my friend and Good Reader Yvensong for sending me this book. I'm kicking myself for letting this funny, well developed, really cool book sit on the shelf so long. I laughed through much of this highly entertaining book. The characters are a kick. The great plot is another bonus.
Esther Diamond, a struggling actor in NYC, takes a part in an off-Broadway play "The Vampyre", which develops a large and enthusiastic cult following. "Black clad, fang-wearing vampire groupies, fanatical anti-vampire activists, and the bloodsucking paparazzi" go crazy over the lead actor and rumored vampire-in-real-life, the handsome Daemon Ravel.
Fighting the crowds to get in and out of the building is the actors' biggest challenge, until one of Daemon's fan girls turns up dead -- and drained of all her blood.
Esther enlists the aid of her friend Max, a 350 year old magician. Her kind-of boyfriend, a police detective, believes Esther is the next target. "Pursued by crazed vamparazzi, real vampires, and an ancient cult of vampire hunters", Esther is caught in a whirlwind of danger and mystery.
I'm going to read books 1-3 in this series. It's been a long time since a vampire book has been so entertaining!
October 19, 2011
A little thin in comparison to earlier Diamond stories. Resnick creates an interesting and clever mythology here but it doesn't make up for a kind of strange-seeming pacing. I'm not sure how that could have been coped with, given the setting of the novel, but the repetition of place makes some sections seem like they go on forever. Not in the sense that they are dull, but you go through a hundred pages and little time has passed in the novel. It feels very oddly compressed.
Light and fun, I'm glad to have read it but perhaps wish I hadn't paid the full $8 kindle price. $3 used would have felt more appropriate.
Light and fun, I'm glad to have read it but perhaps wish I hadn't paid the full $8 kindle price. $3 used would have felt more appropriate.
February 4, 2012
I absolutely LOVE this series! Esther cracks me up. There are some staple characters, but each book always has a new cast of quirky characters that keep this series fresh. In this particular book, she is working in a terrible off-Broadway play based on a gothic vampire novel. They have a crazed level of fans, due to the popularity of the main actor, who claims to be a vampire himself. There's a murder, a sneezing supernatural dog, Esther kicks ass in a Victorian dress, "real" vampires who think the whole vampire mythology is ridiculous. A fun read, highly recommended.
March 27, 2023
2023 bk 106. At last the readers learn why Max is always asking about Lithuanians - forget the vampires, the theater, the obnoxious actor and equally obnoxious Tattler journalist - we finally know why. Esther is in a Vampire Broadway production (despite her agent's reluctance, she got the part) and things turn strange when her co-stars fans turn on her. Despite injuries to life and limb, Esther and company band together to help Lopez solve murders that occurred in the city beneath the city. Well done.
February 13, 2018
Funny twist on Vampire lore.
January 24, 2012
*Rating* 3.0
*Genre* Urban Fantasy
*Review*
Vamparazzi is the fourth novel in the Esther Diamond series by Laura Resnick. Esther once again finds herself in the middle of a supernatural quagmire when she portrays Jane Aubrey in a play called The Vampyre. When a body of a woman who previously attacked Esther is discovered exsanguinated, Esther is introduced to the real world of vampires who she thought were a myth.
If you haven’t followed this series, pretty much everything that Esther has ever known about the real world, has been thrown out the door after being introduced to Dr. Maximillian Zadok a 350-year old mage who works for the Magnum Collegium.
As for the story itself, nothing really remarkable happens other than the pulling back on the curtain of Max’s obsession with Lithuanians and a possible reunion between Detective Carson Lopez and Esther after a tumultuous break-up. Lopez is still a non-believer in the supernatural which puts his life in jeopardy time and time again. But, he also seemingly finds a way to thwart the bad vampire without even realizing he did so.
Esther’s agent Thackeray Shackleton is introduced after being a tertiary character for most of the previous three books. He has always been the person to whom Esther talks to on the phone about getting new acting jobs. Thack is a whole lot more than he appears to be which will be interesting to see if he plays more of a role in Esther’s life from here on out.
Then there's Esther’s new actor friend Leischneudel Drysdale. Drysdale protects her from the angry Vamparazzi mob who wants to get rid of her because of her role in the play and being close to Daemon Ravel the lead actor. Drysdale has a pretty nifty secret all of his own that he’s been trying to hide away from others. Thanks to Esther’s brilliant blundering about into the wrong place and the wrong time, his secret is exposed.
Back to Max. I've been waiting patiently for an explanation as to why he has an obsession with Lithuanians and stays away from them at all costs. With Vamparazzi's release, the reason becomes abundantly clear and readers shouldn't make claims that the facts weren't laid out perfectly for them by Resnick.
^ such a simple reasoning to a complex question.
The Esther Diamond series is part slap stick comedy, part urban fantasy, and part mystery as well. I found myself laughing, but not as much as the previous books. Naturally, the whole Lopez/Esther storyline has me boggled as to why she continually tortures us with hints of a rebound relationship.
One can only hope that Esther and Lopez either remain apart, or Lopez figures out that he has some very cool powers that have saved Esther several times over the course of the first 4 books.
Polterheist (Esther Diamond #5) releases October 2, 2012.
*Genre* Urban Fantasy
*Review*
Vamparazzi is the fourth novel in the Esther Diamond series by Laura Resnick. Esther once again finds herself in the middle of a supernatural quagmire when she portrays Jane Aubrey in a play called The Vampyre. When a body of a woman who previously attacked Esther is discovered exsanguinated, Esther is introduced to the real world of vampires who she thought were a myth.
If you haven’t followed this series, pretty much everything that Esther has ever known about the real world, has been thrown out the door after being introduced to Dr. Maximillian Zadok a 350-year old mage who works for the Magnum Collegium.
As for the story itself, nothing really remarkable happens other than the pulling back on the curtain of Max’s obsession with Lithuanians and a possible reunion between Detective Carson Lopez and Esther after a tumultuous break-up. Lopez is still a non-believer in the supernatural which puts his life in jeopardy time and time again. But, he also seemingly finds a way to thwart the bad vampire without even realizing he did so.
Esther’s agent Thackeray Shackleton is introduced after being a tertiary character for most of the previous three books. He has always been the person to whom Esther talks to on the phone about getting new acting jobs. Thack is a whole lot more than he appears to be which will be interesting to see if he plays more of a role in Esther’s life from here on out.
Then there's Esther’s new actor friend Leischneudel Drysdale. Drysdale protects her from the angry Vamparazzi mob who wants to get rid of her because of her role in the play and being close to Daemon Ravel the lead actor. Drysdale has a pretty nifty secret all of his own that he’s been trying to hide away from others. Thanks to Esther’s brilliant blundering about into the wrong place and the wrong time, his secret is exposed.
Back to Max. I've been waiting patiently for an explanation as to why he has an obsession with Lithuanians and stays away from them at all costs. With Vamparazzi's release, the reason becomes abundantly clear and readers shouldn't make claims that the facts weren't laid out perfectly for them by Resnick.
^ such a simple reasoning to a complex question.
The Esther Diamond series is part slap stick comedy, part urban fantasy, and part mystery as well. I found myself laughing, but not as much as the previous books. Naturally, the whole Lopez/Esther storyline has me boggled as to why she continually tortures us with hints of a rebound relationship.
One can only hope that Esther and Lopez either remain apart, or Lopez figures out that he has some very cool powers that have saved Esther several times over the course of the first 4 books.
Polterheist (Esther Diamond #5) releases October 2, 2012.
October 15, 2019
Much like the last book there’s a lot of info dumping. I think there were at least two straight chapters of Max talking about vampire history at one point, and that didn’t even cover everything Ether needed to know. As I said in
Unsympathetic Magic
, there surely could have been a better way to weave it all into the story. Adding to the abrupt feeling of the infodumps is the fact that much of it involves flashbacks to Max’s past as a vampire hunter. That’s great, except that this is the fifth book in the series and it’s the first time we discover anything about Max’s backstory, and there’s so much of it that it feels as though the author only just realized he should have one and was trying to make up for lost time.
Ignoring the backstory and info dropping (thus cutting out a quarter of the book) the plot was solid and Esther’s situation was entertaining. The new characters were funny and Resnick made good use of them, and it was nice to see the protagonist working like this (usually the show temporarily closes to give her time to fight evil, but Vamparazzi has no such interruption.)
CHARACTERS:
They all have their shining moments and no one was annoying or background dressing. Resnick did very good job of balancing a cast of strong characters.
SETTING/WORLD BUILDING:
Being a theatre kid I was right in my element. Even though most of the book takes place on the job the settings were lovingly created.
PLOT/SOLUTION:
The plot was strong and interesting. It wasn't Resnick's best (since she kept interrupting it) but it holds up well.
OTHER ASPECTS:
Way too much information. The info dumping about the vampires was bad enough, but throw in Max’s frequent flashbacks and you’ll be yearning to get back to the plot.
THE VERDICT?
Vamparazzi is one of the better (and funnier) Esther Diamond books, but I'm hoping the next one doesn't have Resnick infodumping again. Twice in a row is twice too often.
Ignoring the backstory and info dropping (thus cutting out a quarter of the book) the plot was solid and Esther’s situation was entertaining. The new characters were funny and Resnick made good use of them, and it was nice to see the protagonist working like this (usually the show temporarily closes to give her time to fight evil, but Vamparazzi has no such interruption.)
CHARACTERS:
They all have their shining moments and no one was annoying or background dressing. Resnick did very good job of balancing a cast of strong characters.
SETTING/WORLD BUILDING:
Being a theatre kid I was right in my element. Even though most of the book takes place on the job the settings were lovingly created.
PLOT/SOLUTION:
The plot was strong and interesting. It wasn't Resnick's best (since she kept interrupting it) but it holds up well.
OTHER ASPECTS:
Way too much information. The info dumping about the vampires was bad enough, but throw in Max’s frequent flashbacks and you’ll be yearning to get back to the plot.
THE VERDICT?
Vamparazzi is one of the better (and funnier) Esther Diamond books, but I'm hoping the next one doesn't have Resnick infodumping again. Twice in a row is twice too often.
October 7, 2011
3.5 stars
Two months after the events in book #3, Esther is now starring in an off-Broadway play about vampires, The Vampyres ... and of course, manage to get herself in trouble with real ones :).
I agree with one of the reviews for the series, that Esther Diamond is like Stephanie Plum for urban fantasy. Though not as humorous as book #1 and #2, this book still triggers out-loud laugh, especially when portraying crazy actors and the insane fans. My loudest and longest laugh is during the part where the detective tries to talk to the actors about the murder. So funny!!!
There are not many of the previous characters appearing here; but the newest ones are adorable too. Especially Esther's actor friend, Lieschneidel. There is a rather surprising information about Esther's agent, Thack. And how I WISH that Lopez and Esther's relationship blooms again, but alas, not in this book.
Oh, and after three books, we finally get the story behind Max's hang-up with Lithuanians!!
Two months after the events in book #3, Esther is now starring in an off-Broadway play about vampires, The Vampyres ... and of course, manage to get herself in trouble with real ones :).
I agree with one of the reviews for the series, that Esther Diamond is like Stephanie Plum for urban fantasy. Though not as humorous as book #1 and #2, this book still triggers out-loud laugh, especially when portraying crazy actors and the insane fans. My loudest and longest laugh is during the part where the detective tries to talk to the actors about the murder. So funny!!!
There are not many of the previous characters appearing here; but the newest ones are adorable too. Especially Esther's actor friend, Lieschneidel. There is a rather surprising information about Esther's agent, Thack. And how I WISH that Lopez and Esther's relationship blooms again, but alas, not in this book.
Oh, and after three books, we finally get the story behind Max's hang-up with Lithuanians!!
March 16, 2016
This is a really fun book, the 4th book in Resnick's "Esther Diamond" series. The characters, as always, are interesting and the laughs come fast and furious. I actually did laugh out loud a couple of times.
It's also a pretty good twist on all the old vampire lore. These aren't your sparkly vamps.
It does slow down a bit with a lot of backstory, and the book itself takes place over only a couple of days. It ultimately feels like not a lot happens, and the timeline for a couple of the characters' travels seems a little off.
But that being said, it's still a fun ride.
It's also a pretty good twist on all the old vampire lore. These aren't your sparkly vamps.
It does slow down a bit with a lot of backstory, and the book itself takes place over only a couple of days. It ultimately feels like not a lot happens, and the timeline for a couple of the characters' travels seems a little off.
But that being said, it's still a fun ride.
October 6, 2012
Another great book in the Esther Diamond series. This one, as the title suggests, is a peek into the world of vampires and everything we know is wrong - well almost. The story is wild, fun and very interesting. The mystery is well hidden and we get another piece of the Lopez puzzle and we finally find out what is up with Max and the Hungarians.
My favorite of the three and anxious to land the first (it is a recent reprint) and will have to patient for the next one.
My favorite of the three and anxious to land the first (it is a recent reprint) and will have to patient for the next one.
October 11, 2011
Another good book in this series. I look forward to the next book in the series.
October 9, 2014
Cheesy cover but a fun read. Story was a little slow, but I found the banter witty and fun enough to make it all worthwhile.
October 4, 2012
Another series that is a ton of fun and keeps getting better. And we finally have some explanation on the Lithuanian thing. And more Lopez, woo!
July 20, 2022
Comic paranormal mystery with a wonderful GraphicAudio, multicast performance
This story picks up shortly after the events at the end of the third book in this series. Esther Diamond is a 27-year-old, struggling actress in New York City. She is currently one of only four cast members in The Vampyre, an Off-Broadway play in which Esther’s character is murdered by a vampire. The vampire is played by an actor named Daemon Ravel, who claims to be a vampire in real life, and who keeps vials of blood in the mini-fridge in his dressing room. He also has a massive following of vampire-worshipping fans, whom Esther has nicknamed, “Vamparazzi.” They have been conglomerating in such disorderly crowds outside the sold-out theater for every performance of the play, the police have had to be continually called on to keep the peace. When a sensational murder occurs which involves the victim’s being drained completely of all of their blood, and the press declares it to be caused by someone imitating a vampire, Connor Lopez, the handsome cop who is Esther’s love interest, is part of the investigating team. Unfortunately, when Daemon Ravel becomes a chief suspect in the murder, the safety of the entire cast from angry, rioting Vamparazzi is at risk, and the very survival of the play itself is in jeopardy. Once again, Esther must call on her friend Max, a 350-year-old wizard, for help. But this time Max can’t get involved, because of a treaty he signed hundreds of years ago with Lithuanian vampires.
This entry in the series has a few instances of humor, quite a bit of exciting action, a touch of romance, and multiple moments of boringly esoteric exposition about several different types of vampires. In addition to the explanatory vampire lectures given by Max, the author also includes several scenes portraying events from hundreds of years in the past, in which we view, on stage, Max’s experiences as a vampire hunter in Lithuania. We finally learn why it is that, in all the previous books in this series, Max has frequently asked various people if they are Lithuanian. Unfortunately, these scenes slowed down the action for me personally, and I skipped over them.
There are multiple scenes between Lopez and Esther which are anything but romantic. They contain a huge “ick factor,” because they involve the two of them sloshing through the city sewers, getting covered with slime and smelling like feces, with never any mention of either of them even bothering to wash their hands—let alone the rest of their filth-encrusted bodies—while dealing with a bleeding wound on Esther’s arm, hugging each other, or Esther’s blithely making plans to show up at a restaurant for dinner.
As in the previous three novels, we see in this story an on-stage demonstration of Lopez’s instinctive use of his innate magical power, in this case, fire. And, as always, he explains it away as a natural phenomenon, having nothing to do with him.
This novel was originally published in 2011, but it was not until 2017 that it became available in audio format. The latter is a multicast production performed by the extremely talented actors of GraphicAudio, which is how I experienced this story. Typically, given that GA creates a script that the actors work from, similar to what happens when a novel is made into a movie (their motto is, “a movie in your mind”), a GA production is only about 60-70% as long as an audiobook version of a novel would be if a narrator had read the entire book straight through. Thus, this audio production is only 6.8 hours long, rather than the approximately 11 hours long that a regular audiobook reading of this novel would have been. Since I tend to get bored with all the clue-sleuthing involved in the mystery genre, this script abridgment is all to the good, as far as I’m concerned. The tedious parts have been reduced, and the entertainment value expanded enormously by the realistic, background sound effects and the terrific performances of the extremely talented cast of actors.
Below is a list of the complete ED series with the dates they were initially published. GraphicAudio released a dramatized version of each of them in 2017.
1 Disappearing Nightly 2005
2 Doppelgangster 2007
3 Unsympathetic Magic 2010
4 Vamparazzi 2011
5 Polterheist 2012
6 Misfortune Cookie 2013
7 Abracadaver 2014
I rate this audio-drama as follows:
Heroine: 4 stars
Romantic Interest: 4 stars
Subcharacters: 3 stars
Mystery Plot: 4 stars
Romance Plot: 2 stars
Paranormal Elements: 4 stars
Humor: 3 stars
Setting: 4 stars
Writing: 4 stars
GraphicAudio Performances: 5 stars
Overall: 3.7 rounded to 4 stars
This story picks up shortly after the events at the end of the third book in this series. Esther Diamond is a 27-year-old, struggling actress in New York City. She is currently one of only four cast members in The Vampyre, an Off-Broadway play in which Esther’s character is murdered by a vampire. The vampire is played by an actor named Daemon Ravel, who claims to be a vampire in real life, and who keeps vials of blood in the mini-fridge in his dressing room. He also has a massive following of vampire-worshipping fans, whom Esther has nicknamed, “Vamparazzi.” They have been conglomerating in such disorderly crowds outside the sold-out theater for every performance of the play, the police have had to be continually called on to keep the peace. When a sensational murder occurs which involves the victim’s being drained completely of all of their blood, and the press declares it to be caused by someone imitating a vampire, Connor Lopez, the handsome cop who is Esther’s love interest, is part of the investigating team. Unfortunately, when Daemon Ravel becomes a chief suspect in the murder, the safety of the entire cast from angry, rioting Vamparazzi is at risk, and the very survival of the play itself is in jeopardy. Once again, Esther must call on her friend Max, a 350-year-old wizard, for help. But this time Max can’t get involved, because of a treaty he signed hundreds of years ago with Lithuanian vampires.
This entry in the series has a few instances of humor, quite a bit of exciting action, a touch of romance, and multiple moments of boringly esoteric exposition about several different types of vampires. In addition to the explanatory vampire lectures given by Max, the author also includes several scenes portraying events from hundreds of years in the past, in which we view, on stage, Max’s experiences as a vampire hunter in Lithuania. We finally learn why it is that, in all the previous books in this series, Max has frequently asked various people if they are Lithuanian. Unfortunately, these scenes slowed down the action for me personally, and I skipped over them.
There are multiple scenes between Lopez and Esther which are anything but romantic. They contain a huge “ick factor,” because they involve the two of them sloshing through the city sewers, getting covered with slime and smelling like feces, with never any mention of either of them even bothering to wash their hands—let alone the rest of their filth-encrusted bodies—while dealing with a bleeding wound on Esther’s arm, hugging each other, or Esther’s blithely making plans to show up at a restaurant for dinner.
As in the previous three novels, we see in this story an on-stage demonstration of Lopez’s instinctive use of his innate magical power, in this case, fire. And, as always, he explains it away as a natural phenomenon, having nothing to do with him.
This novel was originally published in 2011, but it was not until 2017 that it became available in audio format. The latter is a multicast production performed by the extremely talented actors of GraphicAudio, which is how I experienced this story. Typically, given that GA creates a script that the actors work from, similar to what happens when a novel is made into a movie (their motto is, “a movie in your mind”), a GA production is only about 60-70% as long as an audiobook version of a novel would be if a narrator had read the entire book straight through. Thus, this audio production is only 6.8 hours long, rather than the approximately 11 hours long that a regular audiobook reading of this novel would have been. Since I tend to get bored with all the clue-sleuthing involved in the mystery genre, this script abridgment is all to the good, as far as I’m concerned. The tedious parts have been reduced, and the entertainment value expanded enormously by the realistic, background sound effects and the terrific performances of the extremely talented cast of actors.
Below is a list of the complete ED series with the dates they were initially published. GraphicAudio released a dramatized version of each of them in 2017.
1 Disappearing Nightly 2005
2 Doppelgangster 2007
3 Unsympathetic Magic 2010
4 Vamparazzi 2011
5 Polterheist 2012
6 Misfortune Cookie 2013
7 Abracadaver 2014
I rate this audio-drama as follows:
Heroine: 4 stars
Romantic Interest: 4 stars
Subcharacters: 3 stars
Mystery Plot: 4 stars
Romance Plot: 2 stars
Paranormal Elements: 4 stars
Humor: 3 stars
Setting: 4 stars
Writing: 4 stars
GraphicAudio Performances: 5 stars
Overall: 3.7 rounded to 4 stars
March 14, 2018
Vamparazzi: Esther Diamond 4
Read in chronological order
3 🌟
In A Nutshell:Esther is in work she is cast in a significant role in The Vampyre, where her boobs are on display. All goes well until the police investigation into the death of an adoring fan by exsanguination. Oh dear, I found myself laughing out loud on the train ☺️.
The Plot:Is Daemon Ravel Esther's leading man a vampire as he claims? And if so did he murder his adoring fan?
The Protagonist:Esther Diamond is our protagonist, and she is the antithesis of the urban fantasy hero. Esther saves the world on the down low and without magic. It's her competence that makes Esther a winner. She does not possess killer looks although she has gorgeous cheekbones! With her wonderful sense of humour and winning personality you just have to love this crazy lady.
When magic is afoot, Esther has to call upon her crew; Dr Maximillian Zadok, 350-year-old mage, Nelli, his familiar and Lucky a semi-retired mobster. Lucky was on holiday in this episode, and although I missed him, the newbies do make exciting reading.
We finally understand Dr Max's obsession with Lithuanians and get to meet Esther's agent other than through telephone calls. While the book gives a new take on vampire lore, Esther's and Connor's relationship is still building and at its usual pedestrian pace. Which is fine, it's the style of the narrative that I have not wholly settled into.
I am loving this series and recommend it to you.
Book Rating
Sexual Content: 15
Language: 18
Violent: 12
Would I read the next oneor reread ?: Can't wait.
My rating system (* = star)
0* Could not finish this book (waste of time)
1* Finished the book but didn't like it.
2* Finished the book it was okay.
3* A good read worth your time.
4* An excellent read often with a novel concept or unusual plot.
5* A magnificent read. A prominent example of the genre.
Read in chronological order
3 🌟
In A Nutshell:Esther is in work she is cast in a significant role in The Vampyre, where her boobs are on display. All goes well until the police investigation into the death of an adoring fan by exsanguination. Oh dear, I found myself laughing out loud on the train ☺️.
The Plot:Is Daemon Ravel Esther's leading man a vampire as he claims? And if so did he murder his adoring fan?
The Protagonist:Esther Diamond is our protagonist, and she is the antithesis of the urban fantasy hero. Esther saves the world on the down low and without magic. It's her competence that makes Esther a winner. She does not possess killer looks although she has gorgeous cheekbones! With her wonderful sense of humour and winning personality you just have to love this crazy lady.
When magic is afoot, Esther has to call upon her crew; Dr Maximillian Zadok, 350-year-old mage, Nelli, his familiar and Lucky a semi-retired mobster. Lucky was on holiday in this episode, and although I missed him, the newbies do make exciting reading.
We finally understand Dr Max's obsession with Lithuanians and get to meet Esther's agent other than through telephone calls. While the book gives a new take on vampire lore, Esther's and Connor's relationship is still building and at its usual pedestrian pace. Which is fine, it's the style of the narrative that I have not wholly settled into.
I am loving this series and recommend it to you.
Book Rating
Sexual Content: 15
Language: 18
Violent: 12
Would I read the next one
My rating system (* = star)
0* Could not finish this book (waste of time)
1* Finished the book but didn't like it.
2* Finished the book it was okay.
3* A good read worth your time.
4* An excellent read often with a novel concept or unusual plot.
5* A magnificent read. A prominent example of the genre.
April 7, 2021
Okay, reading the next book in the Esther Diamond series is becoming one of my favourite things to do this year. I always look forward to catching up with her hilarious friends and dark world.
Esther is busy performing in a very popular off-Broadway show called The Vampyre, when her life is hit with a new dose of danger. Not only does she have to deal with the wannabe vampire leading man, but also with his violent crazed fans, and there might actually be a real vamp killing people too. If only she didn't have to add her ex-almost-boyfriend to this confusing mix...
What a bloody good time this installment turned out to be! 😂
It was only a matter of time before Esther found herself in the middle of some vampiric action, and her encounter with these bloodsucking fiends certainly didn't disappoint. Like the previous books in this series, a very familiar creature and all its tropes becomes something completely different. I love the worldbuilding in this series so much!
It was so cool how Esther was working on a play adapted from a lesser known classic tale. I've actually read The Vampyre and found it quite disappointing and dull, but they did a much better job adapting it to the stage in this book. 😁
Esther is just one of those characters who wants to get on with her life but can't seem to stop attracting strange situations. And dangerous people. As well as the guy she so obviously craves but for noble reasons is trying to keep away from her. The way all of these zany things are dealt with always turn out to be so entertaining, hilarious, yet gruesome as well. The villains in this series are clever enough to stay in the shadows until they can no longer hide, and never disappoint. And the revelations in this book were unexpected but great.
It was also really cool to find out what Max's issue with Lithuanians is. Very cool.
This is such a fun series and I can't wait to read more!
Esther is busy performing in a very popular off-Broadway show called The Vampyre, when her life is hit with a new dose of danger. Not only does she have to deal with the wannabe vampire leading man, but also with his violent crazed fans, and there might actually be a real vamp killing people too. If only she didn't have to add her ex-almost-boyfriend to this confusing mix...
What a bloody good time this installment turned out to be! 😂
It was only a matter of time before Esther found herself in the middle of some vampiric action, and her encounter with these bloodsucking fiends certainly didn't disappoint. Like the previous books in this series, a very familiar creature and all its tropes becomes something completely different. I love the worldbuilding in this series so much!
It was so cool how Esther was working on a play adapted from a lesser known classic tale. I've actually read The Vampyre and found it quite disappointing and dull, but they did a much better job adapting it to the stage in this book. 😁
Esther is just one of those characters who wants to get on with her life but can't seem to stop attracting strange situations. And dangerous people. As well as the guy she so obviously craves but for noble reasons is trying to keep away from her. The way all of these zany things are dealt with always turn out to be so entertaining, hilarious, yet gruesome as well. The villains in this series are clever enough to stay in the shadows until they can no longer hide, and never disappoint. And the revelations in this book were unexpected but great.
It was also really cool to find out what Max's issue with Lithuanians is. Very cool.
This is such a fun series and I can't wait to read more!
August 27, 2018
This series is so much fun! Esther is a hoot, seeming to take things in stride. She's definitely more brave than I. I love that I can laugh while reading the scary stuff. It's eye-rolling at times, but I laugh and that's okay.
Cool premise of the vampire lore here, the fakers, the made and the true born. Esther has her hands full with a full time gig in a play with only four actors, two of which are divas to the max. Add to the mix the crazy fans who attack each night and I wasn't sure who was the more evil...vampire serial killer or the crazed fans who attacked Esther in hopes of gaining the attention of her costar who claims to be a vampire.
I do want Lopez, the cop/almost boyfriend, to get his act together. He has some kind of ability that he is not admitting to and he cares for Esther and she for him. GET TOGETHER!! She definitely deserves happiness. And less hectic gig. But maybe she thrives on it....
I can definitely recommend this book, this series and this author.
Cool premise of the vampire lore here, the fakers, the made and the true born. Esther has her hands full with a full time gig in a play with only four actors, two of which are divas to the max. Add to the mix the crazy fans who attack each night and I wasn't sure who was the more evil...vampire serial killer or the crazed fans who attacked Esther in hopes of gaining the attention of her costar who claims to be a vampire.
I do want Lopez, the cop/almost boyfriend, to get his act together. He has some kind of ability that he is not admitting to and he cares for Esther and she for him. GET TOGETHER!! She definitely deserves happiness. And less hectic gig. But maybe she thrives on it....
I can definitely recommend this book, this series and this author.
May 4, 2019
I find stories that 'reënvision' vampire lore tiresome, whether it be the Underworld movies or this. Whilst the GraphicAudio production was fine, as usual, the book didn't have any of the fun and silliness of previous entries.
Also, I kind of wish Max's reticence towards Lithuanians was left unexplained. I've always been a fan of Vera and Maris staying offscreen.
Also, I kind of wish Max's reticence towards Lithuanians was left unexplained. I've always been a fan of Vera and Maris staying offscreen.
November 21, 2022
The mystery on this was so much better written in this one. The humor was still on point, as it is a definite strength of the series, but I like how the overall plot leveled up in complexity without losing any of the elements that worked for it (humor and characters).
The GraphicAudio was always on-point and utterly delightful. 5 stars to them.
The GraphicAudio was always on-point and utterly delightful. 5 stars to them.
October 15, 2024
What happens when you mix a fake vampire, a made vampire and a born vampire? This latest romp through the somewhat dire acting career of Esther Diamond answers all those question and more including why Max is so curious about Lithuania. Other questions, like what's going on with Lopez, get curiouser and curiouser.
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