Last Vampire & Black Blood: Bks. 1 & 2 (Last Vampire) (Paperback) - Common

The Last Vampire #1-2

by Christopher Pike

Beautiful, strong, dangerous, deadly. Alisa Perne is not your average teenager. Alisa has lived for 5000 years. She has endured heartbreak, betrayal and narrowly escaped death enough for several lifetimes. Now Alisa is living in the present day and is still plagued by enemies from the past - an ancient and powerful enemy. She will protect herself and her secret no matter what the cost - she must...the last vampire will not die!

Genres: Vampires, Young Adult, Paranormal, Fantasy, Fiction, Teen, Horror

416 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1997

About the author

Christopher Pike is the pseudonym of Kevin McFadden. He is a bestselling author of young adult and children's fiction who specializes in the thriller genre.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

McFadden was born in New York but grew up in California where he stills lives in today. A college drop-out, he did factory work, painted houses and programmed computers before becoming a recognized author. Initially unsuccessful when he set out to write science fiction and adult mystery, it was not until his work caught the attention of an editor who suggested he write a teen thriller that he became a hit. The result was Slumber Party (1985), a book about a group of teenagers who run into bizarre and violent events during a ski weekend. After that he wrote Weekend and Chain Letter. All three books went on to become bestsellers.

Reviews

[Jodie✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I owed it to my tween self to reread this book. For nostalgic purposes I had to give it a high rating LOL.

[Nemo (The ☾Moonlight☾ Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading Book 1 with Taneika!

Taking into account this was written in 1994:
strengths: flashbacks, narrative voice, originality.
weakness: insta-love, that fucking ending.

Taneika and I will be discussing this book at some point (we have a 3 hour time difference so we have to synch up LOL) so watch out for a joint review kinda thing.

Book 2 to come later.

[Liv · Rating 3 out of 5]

Been wanting to reread this ever since i first read it in high school. classic bad ass vampire story.

[Britt Meter · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Last Blood and Black Blood were two books in one and I found I like the first one a lot more than the second book. The Last Blood was telling about Alisa Perne a 5000 year old vampire who is trying to find out who is stalking her and wants her dead. Alisa lived through everything in her life and blending into the human world, and believing she's the only vampire. Until she found the vampire who created her. I found it interesting and how much information the author but in (timelines, history Alisa has been through, names of demons etc)
Black Blood was a bit of a let down I wanted more action especially with Alisa and Eddie (both are vampires). Maybe more romance between Alisa and Ray also. Overall I didn't hate the book but it wasn't my favourite, and I wanted more action and romance between the characters. It was a 3-3.5

[Tabatha · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, I really liked the Fist book--The Last Vampire. But I thought the second book --Black Blood-- went slowly downhill as the story progressed. This was a shame, because I thought The Last Vampire had a good storyline and was really eager to read the sequel's.

So, yeah. I gave this * * * * because even though I was really disappointed by Black Blood, I liked The Last Vampire enough to boost the stars up. (:

Over & Out, T xx

[Froukje · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved this book! I thought it was much sharper written than for example the books of L.J. Smith. So much more does happen! At some point it gets a bit gory, but I like that (just like in the Southern Vampire Mysteries and even a bit worse than that haha)
I would recommand this book to everyone who likes Sookie over Elena ;)

[Daii · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a good book so far! im onto book two cuz it has two books in one..*jst pointing out the obvious* and its abt this chick who is a vampire *again pointing out the obvious* its sooo good cuz for once theres a book abt the GIRL being the hero! GO US CHICKS WOOP WOOP!

[Natasha Curulli · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first Christopher Pike book that I have read and I I must say that I did enjoy reading it. The storyline was clear and captivating right from the first chapter.
The edition I read contained book 1 and book 2, which allowed me to continue on with the story seamlessly, particularly since Pike seems to end on cliff hangers. The story follows Alisa Perne who is the last vampire in the world - or so she believes.
I found the theme of God and belief quite interesting. Alisa's faith and connection to her god Krishna is facisnating. Pike's use of Indian culture and belief system is intriguing and it does add an extra element and gives the main character Alisa more depth.
My only criticism is that in parts (while this sounds weird considering I'm reading a book about vampires), is that the text in areas became almost too convenient and unrealistic. This did distract me and took me out of the story momentarily while I thought to myself 'as if..' Again, the irony is not lost on me about an unrealistic seen in a vampire book.
Other than that I really enjoyed both books and I would definitely recommend reading them. A unique vampire story that is not typical.

[Angelika Belko · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have very mixed feelings about this one. I felt gripped by the writing from the start, but then there were a few moments were I couldn't help cringing. My main issue were the thought processes of the characters. I could fall for the main character's perspective and her choices, as she is a very very old vampire. But, the decisions of "normal" human characters were much less believable... What average teenager decides to leave his girlfriend for someone who he just met? Especially when not knowing anything about them and seeing all these red flags of trouble lurking around this stranger? This is not how people behave. If these scenes happened later on in the book, then yes, it would be more believable. But because everything happens right away there's no time to connect with the characters properly.

[Kayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75 I really really liked the first book it was amazing the character growth was really good and the story line was just fantastic the reason I related it 4.75 stars Is because black blood wasn't as good. There was a few plot holes in it and just overall not as good as the first book.I love Alisa even though she can be arrogant at times I think that is just part of her character though. I liked Ray and his character really added to the story.

[Louise Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well this is definitely a different kind of vampire book. Written in her POV. It’s not got gangs of vampires like most vampire books have. Also it looks back into her history quite a bit which I like.

[Amber "Epp" · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this series when I was younger I really enjoyed re-reading the series and and adore the fact that after a VERY VERY long wait Sita is back with more books I am soo soooo sooooo happy ... :)

[Apriljoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book,can't wait to read the next one!

[Charlotte Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Didn't think I would enjoy it, but once started I was unable to put down.

[Goh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the fact that the book was fast paced and contained great amount of details!

[Angela Maynard · Rating 4 out of 5]

These books have been on my tbr pile for a couple of years now. Thought I'd see what they're like. Little bit different to "normal" vampire books but I quite like them

[Emma Streets · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book opens with a brief narration. A young woman who calls herself Alisa Perne appears to be in her late teens, but she is not what she appears to be. She is actually a 5,000 year old vampire born as "Sita" and to her knowledge she is the last of her kind. Many of the things supposedly harmful to vampires are discovered not to be true. Alisa can stay out during the day, though such a feat was incredibly difficult until she aged a couple thousand years. She can die from sufficient injuries, such as decapitation or impalement, and her body still requires food. However, she possesses many of the same attributes of modern vampire legends: enhanced stamina, strength, vision, hearing and speed, accelerated healing and eidetic memory. She explains that as she ages, her powers grow stronger.
I loved the book from the start i thought it was brilliantly written by christopher pike and i loved reading about a female vampire for her once It, at the beging i really didnt like her that much she seemed a little big headed but i loved the ides of her being the last vampire on earth the first book was an axciting and interesting start to the series which let us look into the past of this vampire and how they became one. with plenty of twists and excitement the book moved along quickly.

Black Blood: after the events of the last book alisia is recovering and getting used to her new life, with ray beside her this book introduce a few new characters eddie and jjoes who quickly became interesting and really important to the books story line the book is agin fast paced and east to read and will not keep you up all night trying to get it read. the last vampire series is a breat hof fresh air if you dont enjoy the twilight books

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a review about all the books in general. The last vampire books have fabulous story lines, Christopher Pike has done very well to write these and I'm sure a lot of you will agree. I love that he wrote it in first person and not only that he wrote it in a woman's view which I feel would be really hard and challenging since the author is a man. The moment I picked these books up I fell in love with them, I didn't even put them down! I highly recommend that you read them I you haven't already. Now I am a fan of the film and book 'twilight', can I just say that if you say that the last vampire books are quite alike the twilight books, the twilight books were written after these were, I do actually think they have a few similarities but I guess that just means that Stephenie Meyer read the books and loved those ideas. I got my first 'the last vampire' book when I was about 10, it happened to be the fifth and sixth, I read a few pages up to when it said 'sex' and I realised I was too young to be reading that book so I hid it, a few years later when I was 13 I decided to read it and loved it, the next time my family and I went shopping I begged for the first book, the last vampire and black blood, and my dad was kind enough to get me 1,2,3 and 4, after that I read the 6th one and got the 7th one for when I went on holiday and after that I got the 8th one and I can't wait until the 5th march well the 9th comes out

[Luna ❤Thing 5❤ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm on the edge 3.5. I liked the story on the whole, but the book read like a bunch of facts not only that but it felt very cold and distant. Even when Sita showed supposedly deep emotion I felt nothing and even the secondary characters didn't have much personality to them. They seemed to blend in with each other. In fact Joel, Ray, Seymour read like Sita as if they were just different sides of her many opinions. I couldn't connect character wise, there was just nothing, bland, bleak, boring. Even reading moments of emotion it felt like it was just too cold to be actually felt. But this might be a way to portray what a five thousand year old being might be like after losing their humanity, to kind of give you and insight to their might and emotional response. Though the writing felt too timed and robotic. It doesn't have a natural rhythm like you'd have if people were in the same situation. Even enemies had no depth or quirks. Unfortunately I wasn't on the edge of my seat with plots and twists, this was probably the most basic see-through plot line there is. Though I have to admit I liked the portrayal of the gods and the history inside. Unsure of this book but over all like the story in general.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read so many Christopher Pike Books as a teenager. I read the entire Last Vampire series and remembered it fondly. Somewhere between house moves I lost my copies, so when I found out that another book had come out since I’d read the series, I was delighted when I found the complete set for sale secondhand. I was really excited about rereading it, and thought I’d remembered it well. Some of it I did, but it turns out I remembered bits of it out of order, and some of it I didn’t remember at all.

Unfortunately, I actually found the main character quite grating this time around! I get that she’s 5,000 years old and a beautiful, and a deadly predator, but she’s so arrogant! I also found it a little jarring how one minute she’s supposed to be super powerful and can do really high jumps onto the top of buildings, and the next she can’t, then she can again… It’s like the author forgot little details as he went along.

But anyway. Overall it’s a decent read, it didn’t live up to my memories but I will still read the next book as I’m still looking forward to reading the final book that I never read previously. I still recommend it, if only for the nostalgia - just be prepared for a female main character who reads like she was written by a lustful teenage boy!

[MakeErinOver · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm, was good, but I feel the first one was pretty much the same as the second,

but what really annoyed me was that in the start of the book she was a cold, rough, mean, bloodthirsty vampire, and towards the end of the book she starts to feel and doesnt want to kill anymore.. i mean fair enough in the real world, but this is a book, I wanna read that your ripping a guys head off for looking at u in the wrong way... lol

SPOILER...

Ray... im glad he died, he was irritating, and not anywhere near strong enough to keep up with her, and as for Joel? I think she should have left him to die... he made it clear he didnt wanna be a vamp now we are gonna have another moany boy following her around like a lost puppy making her all weak and misserable... she started off a strong character, the prefect woman in a book... but these guys are dragging her down...

Oh well on to the next one....

[Alisha Brook · Rating 3 out of 5]

Title: The Last Vampire/ Black Blood
Series: The Last Vampire (#1-2)
Author: Christopher Pike
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 2.5 stars

I wasn't the biggest fan of this book to be honest.

The storyline was okay, it twisted and turned and was interesting enough.

Alisa Perne, the main character, she is just not a very likable character. She is very cold. She doesn't much care when she kills people, it all just seems like a game or a sport to her. It's a not a big deal to her. And there's really no other character for readers to relate to, or want to relate to.

Then there's the writing style, or maybe the voice, I don't know which. But I wasn't very phased with it either. It put me off a little. I think it's the voice - a male writing the female, didn't work. Maybe Pike hasn't had much experience, I'm not sure. I'm not familiar with his work.

This is sitting low in my standards for vampire novels though. Not for storyline so much, but character and voice issues. Not good enough.

[Petra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, I'm just going to say it: I don't like the diction! I mean, I just think it doesn't suit her. The plot is catchy and exciting, but this just throws me off a bit. And I don't think Yaksha should have died - I mean come on! The ultimate vampire is dead? That's just crap. I wanted to see more action from him. And maybe Pike didn't make the vampires powerful enough. Compared to other books on this genre, some of them are way more powerfuller than these guys, and a hell of a lot younger! So, vamp them up and please, lay off the weird words/sentences. But I will read the other two, and see what becomes of them.

[Cloud · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yes I finished the book in two days because it was so good. I loved the plot and storyline in the first one and the second one but I wish that Ray didn't die and lasted a little bit longer as I loved the parts in the books with Ray a specially before he was a vampire so to have him nearly die in the first one is emotional as I was really connected to the book but then after he is turned into a vampire and Sita went out of her way to turn him and kinda break Krishna's safety of her is big but eventhough he was protecting Sita he still killed himself when he could have just lit it when he wasn't in it. Overall I love the book and can't wait to read the rest. Xox

[Caroline Cassidy · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a while to get in to this book, I think it is the style of writing as the story is told in first person. Though after pushing on I really began to again get addicted. The entire series took me about 2 weeks to read! After reading a section in the 5th or 6th book I thought 'that sounds a bit like Breaking Dawn' so grabbed out the Twilight series and then discovered that the first 6 books in this series actually predate Twilight, House of Night and Vampire Academy!! There you Go!!

[Sami · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in a time before vampires were known as romantic fairies, this book is pretty damn awesome.

It's written only from a vampire's point of view - Alisa Perne, who is many thousands of years old - as she explains her origins and why there is only one other being on Earth that could kill her. And as the story unfolds it is clear that that person appears to be making themselves known quite fast.

[Rachel (The Rest Is Still Unwritten) · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was an alright book.... readable.
There were some parts that i really liked and parts that bored me like mad though. Alisa was very cold as a character and she didn't really care when she killed people, i wasn't a big fan of that but i did enjoy how Alisa grew and changed through-out the book. She become more human in nature.....

[Ashleigh · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book because I liked the cover, that was almost the only thing about the whole series that I liked. It took me a long long time to get into this book and im not sure i ever really did. I finished because i just cant quit a book. If it was written from a third person pov instead of first person pov it might have been better.

[Aishwarya · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think the author has made Alisa too cruel and merciless,I won't say I hate her but I dislike her very much.She kills so much and most of the time when not needed.The culture of India and all is not very accurate.Her being so fair,blonde and blue eyed fails her as an Indian.She is not Indian in her nature.The Last Vampire was boring but Black Blood is better(I am currently reading it)

[Karolina Stankaityte · Rating 4 out of 5]

As much as I can remember I did enjoy this book very much. So much that I went out and bought the other ones! we're moving houses and unfortunately I lost them, been meaning to re-read them but haven't got to it yet. I would totally recommend it if you enjoy independant women characters and obviously like vampires!