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Talli McAlister #3
The Coach
After destroying the vampire who had been terrorizing Westerberg High and his followers, Talli McAlister faces a new menace from the coach, who will do anything to transform Talli into a vampire on his team. By the author of The Principal. Original.
211 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 18, 2023
A great end to the trilogy, got through this one in an evening! Talli has now been turned in to a vampire, and desperate to feed she turns to a new vampire in town who claims she can solve all her problems. But Chris suspects there's more to this newcomer than meets the eye.
February 8, 2023
I loved all the books in this trilogy. I had a lot of fun reading about Talli and Chris and all that happens with them. So much fun and so much nostalgia reading the books I loved as a teenager in the '90s.
June 10, 2025
The five-star rating is not just for the book alone but the whole Talli McAlister trilogy.
Out of all of Sumner's books I have read, these are his best when handling supernatural matters.
Even though Talli is the main protagonist, the stories shift some focus towards other characters, and every book has a lingering presence of the last evil at the center.
Spoilers for those who have not read The Principal or The Substitute, yet each book tells the reader enough of what happened on its own to keep you from being completely lost but you will have to have at least read The Substitute as it goes right into The Coach so...yeah.
Chris Delany is taken to the jail in Westerberg because Sergeant Lansky, who we have not seen since The Principal, believes he has something to do with the latest missing teen in town: Casey Pays.
She befriended him when he moved to town, but Chris knows that Casey isn't missing: he had to kill her. She became a vampire when Talli McAlister's boyfriend Alex Cole came back to Westerberg and used as his experiment in turning another person into a vampire...just as Principal Volker did to him.
Casey was going to harm his sister, Donna, Chris had no choice but to stab her with a silver knife.
It was the only thing he could do because Alex successfully has started a change in Talli even though she set his body ablaze in Volker's old home. Talli is becoming a vampire, unable to eat human food or go out into the daylight, so her parents believe that she is just sick and have kept her home from school.
Sergeant McAlister has told Talli to stay away from Chris and Donna has told her brother to stay away from Talli now that she is changing but they are the only people each one can trust. On a secret drive, Chris says he will find the cure for Talli, but she is beginning to enjoy her heightened senses and not being bothered by the frigid snow.
It all changes on that night when in the shadows of the cemetery, Talli is drawn to a new vampire in town. His name is Seth, and he claims he has come to clean up the mess of all the missing teens in Westerberg and promises to "help" Talli with her change.
Chris knows Seth can't be trusted and is also unsure of his companion, another vampire named Sky who looks no older than himself or Talli. Chris is now going to the library, doing all the research he can on vampire legends and other roots into even shapeshifter lore to try and change Talli back to human.
The "coach" of the title is an interesting play on words. There is an actual coach in the book who just happens to be Casey Pays' father, Willard, who coaches football and is out to find for himself just what happened to his daughter. Figuratively, Seth compares himself to a coach in wanting to teach Talli how to be a vampire but for all the wrong reasons...
For a change, Talli is not the main character even though you want her to get better having followed her through these three books and all of the trauma of losing people she has cared about. Chris steps up to be our main character as a sort of Van Helsing/Jonathan Harker to try and save not just Talli but Sky as well.
Sky is an interesting character to bring into such a late book but...Westerberg seems to be running low on teenagers for us to root for and none of the adults are much help. Talli's parents are just too in the dark about the truth; Lansky is not fond of his Podunk surroundings and Donna does try but can you imagine having your parents murdered and then almost being killed by vampires to worry that your baby brother might be in danger?
The stakes are much higher in trying to save Talli from becoming a monster and Seth is the perfect kind of villain to be at the last chapter in this saga of Westerberg. To say we get a happy ending would be pushing it, but it is satisfying as a conclusion despite some bitter bumps in the road.
A trilogy worth seeking out even if you have to resort to reprints or e-books to hold it in your hands but a must-read bit of YA Horror vampire fiction.
Out of all of Sumner's books I have read, these are his best when handling supernatural matters.
Even though Talli is the main protagonist, the stories shift some focus towards other characters, and every book has a lingering presence of the last evil at the center.
Spoilers for those who have not read The Principal or The Substitute, yet each book tells the reader enough of what happened on its own to keep you from being completely lost but you will have to have at least read The Substitute as it goes right into The Coach so...yeah.
Chris Delany is taken to the jail in Westerberg because Sergeant Lansky, who we have not seen since The Principal, believes he has something to do with the latest missing teen in town: Casey Pays.
She befriended him when he moved to town, but Chris knows that Casey isn't missing: he had to kill her. She became a vampire when Talli McAlister's boyfriend Alex Cole came back to Westerberg and used as his experiment in turning another person into a vampire...just as Principal Volker did to him.
Casey was going to harm his sister, Donna, Chris had no choice but to stab her with a silver knife.
It was the only thing he could do because Alex successfully has started a change in Talli even though she set his body ablaze in Volker's old home. Talli is becoming a vampire, unable to eat human food or go out into the daylight, so her parents believe that she is just sick and have kept her home from school.
Sergeant McAlister has told Talli to stay away from Chris and Donna has told her brother to stay away from Talli now that she is changing but they are the only people each one can trust. On a secret drive, Chris says he will find the cure for Talli, but she is beginning to enjoy her heightened senses and not being bothered by the frigid snow.
It all changes on that night when in the shadows of the cemetery, Talli is drawn to a new vampire in town. His name is Seth, and he claims he has come to clean up the mess of all the missing teens in Westerberg and promises to "help" Talli with her change.
Chris knows Seth can't be trusted and is also unsure of his companion, another vampire named Sky who looks no older than himself or Talli. Chris is now going to the library, doing all the research he can on vampire legends and other roots into even shapeshifter lore to try and change Talli back to human.
The "coach" of the title is an interesting play on words. There is an actual coach in the book who just happens to be Casey Pays' father, Willard, who coaches football and is out to find for himself just what happened to his daughter. Figuratively, Seth compares himself to a coach in wanting to teach Talli how to be a vampire but for all the wrong reasons...
For a change, Talli is not the main character even though you want her to get better having followed her through these three books and all of the trauma of losing people she has cared about. Chris steps up to be our main character as a sort of Van Helsing/Jonathan Harker to try and save not just Talli but Sky as well.
Sky is an interesting character to bring into such a late book but...Westerberg seems to be running low on teenagers for us to root for and none of the adults are much help. Talli's parents are just too in the dark about the truth; Lansky is not fond of his Podunk surroundings and Donna does try but can you imagine having your parents murdered and then almost being killed by vampires to worry that your baby brother might be in danger?
The stakes are much higher in trying to save Talli from becoming a monster and Seth is the perfect kind of villain to be at the last chapter in this saga of Westerberg. To say we get a happy ending would be pushing it, but it is satisfying as a conclusion despite some bitter bumps in the road.
A trilogy worth seeking out even if you have to resort to reprints or e-books to hold it in your hands but a must-read bit of YA Horror vampire fiction.
November 13, 2011
Read this book years ago in elem.
I bought it at a second hand bookstore, and was unable to find the previous 2 volumes (The Principal, The Substitute).
It is a quick, easy, and dark read. Has a unique spin. If I was able to remember the plot and characters for a decade, it is memorable.
I bought it at a second hand bookstore, and was unable to find the previous 2 volumes (The Principal, The Substitute).
It is a quick, easy, and dark read. Has a unique spin. If I was able to remember the plot and characters for a decade, it is memorable.
June 4, 2024
Sumner Summons #3
Books of Blood #3
Third book in the series and it is average at best.
I did finish it but It was not for me really.
Books of Blood #3
Third book in the series and it is average at best.
I did finish it but It was not for me really.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews