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Pulling Up Stakes #2
Pulling up Stakes 2
Sick of vampire books? Movies? TV shows?
Yeah. So are we.
Sick of the entire unlife of vampires?
Yeah. So is Vince Hammond.
In the thrilling conclusion to this twisted new take on the vampire tale, Vince’s investigation into the murder of Tracy and the assault on Amber leads him down paths that he could not possibly have expected, including not only a confrontation with the woman who turned him into a vampire, but also a secret that could upend the entirety of the Order of the Chevaliers.
Yeah. So are we.
Sick of the entire unlife of vampires?
Yeah. So is Vince Hammond.
In the thrilling conclusion to this twisted new take on the vampire tale, Vince’s investigation into the murder of Tracy and the assault on Amber leads him down paths that he could not possibly have expected, including not only a confrontation with the woman who turned him into a vampire, but also a secret that could upend the entirety of the Order of the Chevaliers.
105 pages, ebook
First published December 30, 2012
7 people are currently reading
93 people want to read
About the author
Peter David
3,569 books1,364 followersaka David Peters
Peter Allen David, often abbreviated PAD, was an American writer of comic books, novels, television, films, and video games. His notable comic book work includes an award-winning 12-year run on The Incredible Hulk, as well as runs on Aquaman, Young Justice, SpyBoy, Supergirl, Fallen Angel, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2099, Captain Marvel, and X-Factor.
His Star Trek work included comic books and novels such as the New Frontier book series. His other novels included film adaptations, media tie-ins, and original works, such as the Apropos of Nothing and Knight Life series. His television work includes series such as Babylon 5, Young Justice, Ben 10: Alien Force and Nickelodeon's Space Cases, which he co-created with Bill Mumy.
David often jokingly described his occupation as "Writer of Stuff", and he was noted for his prolific writing, characterized by its mingling of real-world issues with humor and references to popular culture, as well as elements of metafiction and self-reference.
David earned multiple awards for his work, including a 1992 Eisner Award, a 1993 Wizard Fan Award, a 1996 Haxtur Award, a 2007 Julie Award and a 2011 GLAAD Media Award.
Peter Allen David, often abbreviated PAD, was an American writer of comic books, novels, television, films, and video games. His notable comic book work includes an award-winning 12-year run on The Incredible Hulk, as well as runs on Aquaman, Young Justice, SpyBoy, Supergirl, Fallen Angel, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2099, Captain Marvel, and X-Factor.
His Star Trek work included comic books and novels such as the New Frontier book series. His other novels included film adaptations, media tie-ins, and original works, such as the Apropos of Nothing and Knight Life series. His television work includes series such as Babylon 5, Young Justice, Ben 10: Alien Force and Nickelodeon's Space Cases, which he co-created with Bill Mumy.
David often jokingly described his occupation as "Writer of Stuff", and he was noted for his prolific writing, characterized by its mingling of real-world issues with humor and references to popular culture, as well as elements of metafiction and self-reference.
David earned multiple awards for his work, including a 1992 Eisner Award, a 1993 Wizard Fan Award, a 1996 Haxtur Award, a 2007 Julie Award and a 2011 GLAAD Media Award.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
June 28, 2024
The second novella in David’s vampire series.
This was as fun as the last one. Good world building. I liked the ending. Definitely set up for more books.
This was as fun as the last one. Good world building. I liked the ending. Definitely set up for more books.
January 26, 2013
This is really the second half of a novel rather than a book in its own right. That said, there was a weird discontinuity: part 2 starts out by talking about Rodney, and I assume that this is the character formerly known as Arnold, but it confused me for a while. I assume that the author renamed the character at some point, but only did it in one of the installments rather than both. Aside from that, there are a few typos (I counted 5 between both parts), but I've seen a lot worse in some other novels.
The story as a whole is very good, and I'm looking forward to the sequel ("Raising Stakes").
The story as a whole is very good, and I'm looking forward to the sequel ("Raising Stakes").
March 12, 2015
Part 2 ups the Stakes
Well, if you thought Vince was in trouble in part one, everything twists and turns and things get a lot worse. Vince and Hannah, sister of his betrothed, join together to battle their way through high vampire politics. The ending is totally perfect. There is a hint at the end as to further adventures coming up. Bring them on!
Well, if you thought Vince was in trouble in part one, everything twists and turns and things get a lot worse. Vince and Hannah, sister of his betrothed, join together to battle their way through high vampire politics. The ending is totally perfect. There is a hint at the end as to further adventures coming up. Bring them on!
February 15, 2019
Ok. Where do I start? Oh, yeah, I really wanted to like this book. The story seemed funny and a light read. What I got was a nightmare. And I don’t mean a scary one. Maybe it’s better to say, it’s a train wreck. One you just can’t stop looking at. But I digress. This is a story about a Body Man, which translates to someone who hunts vampires. But get this, he’s a vampire! Ok, this could be really funny. This book is so poorly written, I would have though a 10 year old was the author. The redundancy alone will about fry your brain. The narrator is the main character. And quite frankly, he’s an idiot. He has to tell the audience everything, because obviously we are so poorly educated, we can’t figure out what’s going on. His “fiancé” is a spoiled little brat who has her head so far up daddy’s ass, she can’t figure out anything on her own. Had any of these characters had a shred of intelligence, they would have figured out how to end this about 20 chapters earlier and saved us all the pain. There are so many typos, erroneous sentences, misstatements (i.e. something said in one chapter that is completely different further in the story), assumptions and leave-outs (meaning, as a smart reader, I couldn’t figure out how one scene got to the next), that it makes me wonder if this was a first draft and then never edited. In reading the author’s credentials I am really finding it hard to believe he actually wrote this. I mean, did he just use his name on a kids book? I’d be so embarrassed to publish crap like this, I wouldn’t put my name on it. What I’d really love to do is edit this garbage and send it back to him. All I can say is, don’t waste your time. Those are hours I can’t get back.
January 23, 2022
As mentioned by many other reviewers, this is the second half of the "Pulling Up Stakes" novel. I wasn't quite sure where Mr David was going to go with this, but I like the way things turned out. There's some closure at the end, but there's room for another novel.
This half of the story has more action and fewer puns, but there's still a good bit of humor to it. And there's a good bit near the end about the nature of being human, and spending your limited time on earth well, and the importance of love, and all that stuff.
I did feel like this book could have used a bit more editing. It felt a little unpolished at points. But it was a fun quick read, and I'd probably read a sequel, if Mr David ever writes one.
This half of the story has more action and fewer puns, but there's still a good bit of humor to it. And there's a good bit near the end about the nature of being human, and spending your limited time on earth well, and the importance of love, and all that stuff.
I did feel like this book could have used a bit more editing. It felt a little unpolished at points. But it was a fun quick read, and I'd probably read a sequel, if Mr David ever writes one.
September 23, 2019
Fun read!
January 7, 2013
Read that synopsis up there of the book. Go ahead read it, I'll wait. Read it? Sounds cheesy as hell, huh? I was thinking the same thing. I was also thinking that I really don't like books about vampires so much. They're all sexy, super human... humans... anymore and that's just boring. I like vampires as monsters to be feared, not something to jump in bed with. Forgive me, I digress.
So, the synopsis sounds terribly cheesy and not worth the read, right? Well, that's just wrong. It's great. Incredibly great. There is a lot of attention to detail with the world that is built around these clans of vampire hunters so much so, that you just accept them. They're actually quite believable. This makes the setup for this story work.
The characters were enjoyable, especially Vincent our protagonist. He's very well balanced in terms of being a good guy, but also having his selfish side. He's not just a white knight in shining armor. He's got his issues and doesn't always know what the right choice of action is. I like that. There's a good sized side cast that works well. I wish we could have seen a bit more of some of them, but maybe that will happen later in the series. Dina and Duncan are two I am particularly interested in.
The writing is superb. Flows very well and is witty. It's what I wish more Urban Fantasy authors would do with their writing. We can have badasses fighting monsters who can also speak intelligently. We can! There were times it was a bit repetitive, but it wasn't enough to deter me from enjoying this a great deal.
I thoroughly enjoyed this and recommend it to anyone looking for something different in the UF genre. Especially those looking for a new series with a male POV. This is good stuff.
The only thing that I can say I disliked about this is that for whatever reason, the book was split in half. I'm not sure what compelled the author or the publisher to push for this, but it's just... not necessary. I liked the "story so far" intro for the second half, but could have easily done without it. Because these two parts are really the same book, the review will be the same for both of them.
So, the synopsis sounds terribly cheesy and not worth the read, right? Well, that's just wrong. It's great. Incredibly great. There is a lot of attention to detail with the world that is built around these clans of vampire hunters so much so, that you just accept them. They're actually quite believable. This makes the setup for this story work.
The characters were enjoyable, especially Vincent our protagonist. He's very well balanced in terms of being a good guy, but also having his selfish side. He's not just a white knight in shining armor. He's got his issues and doesn't always know what the right choice of action is. I like that. There's a good sized side cast that works well. I wish we could have seen a bit more of some of them, but maybe that will happen later in the series. Dina and Duncan are two I am particularly interested in.
The writing is superb. Flows very well and is witty. It's what I wish more Urban Fantasy authors would do with their writing. We can have badasses fighting monsters who can also speak intelligently. We can! There were times it was a bit repetitive, but it wasn't enough to deter me from enjoying this a great deal.
I thoroughly enjoyed this and recommend it to anyone looking for something different in the UF genre. Especially those looking for a new series with a male POV. This is good stuff.
The only thing that I can say I disliked about this is that for whatever reason, the book was split in half. I'm not sure what compelled the author or the publisher to push for this, but it's just... not necessary. I liked the "story so far" intro for the second half, but could have easily done without it. Because these two parts are really the same book, the review will be the same for both of them.
January 8, 2013
Pulling Up Stakes 4 of 5 stars and Pulling Up Stakes 2 - 4 of 5 stars
This is going to be a two-part review as the first book is more of a novelette.
Vince Hammond is a vampire slayer - but not just any type of vampire slayer (yes, there are more than one kind) he's a vampire slayer from an ancient order of vampire slayers - a thorough-bred vamp slayer, if you will.
The only problem is, he's been turned into a vampire himself.
Which is a problem since he has to now figure out how to balance his vampiric tendencies with his vampire-slaying legacy - and keep his vampire slaying mom from finding out.
But just how is he going to do this when his vampire-slaying fiance (that he didn't know he had) and all her family show up to raise hell?
I purchased Pulling Up Stakes by Peter David for $.99 and I'm glad I did.
The story was funny, fast-paced and entertaining - the major complaint I had was that it stopped abruptly in the middle.
I promptly purchased Pulling Up Stakes 2 for $2.99 and completed the story.
Pulling Up Stakes 2 continues with Vince Hammond's chaotic situation as he scrambles to try and protect his vampire-slaying fiance - while attempting to keep her family from discovering his true nature as he hunts down vampires who are up to no good.
But hunting vampires when you are a vampire is tricky business if you don't want the humans in your immediate surrounding knowing that you're a vampire too.
Will he be able to hide his nature effectively while wooing his unwanted fiance? Or is all hell going to blow up in his face?
Both stories were funny, lively, and the action never stopped.
I enjoyed both stories, but the funny thing about reading this series was that I didn't realize I had read this author before until reading his book listings at the end of his book.
I've had the pleasure of reading his traditionally published book The Woad to Wuin and enjoyed his dry brand of humor there as well.
I'll be sure to look out for the next book in the Vampire series: Raising Stakes.
March 19, 2014
I love Peter David, and this book was only $.99 so why not? The problem as I soon discovered is that this is only part one. I'm not even sure if it's the first half. (I think it is, cause the end blurb says "Coming Soon: the conclusion") There's no indication that this is just the first part, and no indication where the second half is or if it's even forthcoming.
If I hadn't paid just a buck for it, I might be pissed. I know how books are -- sometimes it can be months or years between sequels (George R. R. Martin). Sometimes the writers never come back to those works -- they just don't feel like writing them anymore (Anne Rice). Sometimes they get made but never get published because of market demands (Fiona Apple).
What I do not like is getting half a story, no matter how cheap it was. I'm a bit of a completionist, and knowing that the story might be hanging out there forever, like a song that never reaches its final chord, does not make me a happy customer. It's like making a recipe, but you can only make part of it now -- the rest of the ingredients will come later. When maybe you don't feel like eating anymore.
If I hadn't paid just a buck for it, I might be pissed. I know how books are -- sometimes it can be months or years between sequels (George R. R. Martin). Sometimes the writers never come back to those works -- they just don't feel like writing them anymore (Anne Rice). Sometimes they get made but never get published because of market demands (Fiona Apple).
What I do not like is getting half a story, no matter how cheap it was. I'm a bit of a completionist, and knowing that the story might be hanging out there forever, like a song that never reaches its final chord, does not make me a happy customer. It's like making a recipe, but you can only make part of it now -- the rest of the ingredients will come later. When maybe you don't feel like eating anymore.
July 18, 2013
I'm not generally a vampire story fan, if I were this would get 4 stars for sure. I read the first installment in 1 afternoon and the second the next afternoon. Very much enjoy this author's writing style and pacing, but by the end of the book I can say I don't feel invested at all in the characters. Sure, they are quirky and interesting, but its vampires, or humans dealing with vampires (or a vampire pretending to be human dealing with vampires and humans), having external and internal conflicts about said interaction, meh. Will be looking up more of Mr. David's work, however, and seeing if I can find the treasure I'm looking for.
February 16, 2013
Like the previous installment, this was a fast and fun read, but like the last installment, the abrupt ending of the first book meant for an abrupt start of the second book. You almost fill like you've been thrown in the deep side of the pool, and it's a bit tough to remember all of the supporting cast. Still, this book is more than superior to the first "Pulling Up Stakes" with an unexpected twist which puts the entire premise on its ear!
August 14, 2014
Another fun, though brief, book. This continues the undead adventures of Vince, the body man/vampire in hiding.
There's some romance in this one.
There are also some political problems in the world of vampire hunters.
There's even a pretty awesome climactic fight scene, complete with super soakers, flame throwers, crossbows, and a collapsing building. Cool.
All that, and ultimately a happy ending. My kind of book.
There's some romance in this one.
There are also some political problems in the world of vampire hunters.
There's even a pretty awesome climactic fight scene, complete with super soakers, flame throwers, crossbows, and a collapsing building. Cool.
All that, and ultimately a happy ending. My kind of book.
July 3, 2014
A necessary sequel.
This and Pulling Up Stakes make one complete story. So for any other author I might have rated this lower. However Peter David is a master. He draws you in with a flawed but entertaining main character. There is also a bit of a bait and switch in the plot, but I can't say any more without giving away spoilers.
This and Pulling Up Stakes make one complete story. So for any other author I might have rated this lower. However Peter David is a master. He draws you in with a flawed but entertaining main character. There is also a bit of a bait and switch in the plot, but I can't say any more without giving away spoilers.
September 5, 2013
Great read but not for kids... I wished the language was toned down a tad as it would have been a great middle school alternative to those other vampire books! As it is high school and up will enjoy avince's tale despite the somewhat too pat and predictable ending.
December 4, 2013
Like the last instalment, this was enjoyable enough but ultimately suffered heavily from the first person narrator. Also was relieved to discover I didn't imagine the character name change toward the beginning of the book.
January 26, 2013
Entertaining cotton candy with bursts of originality.
February 5, 2013
I am ready for the next installment.
February 12, 2013
A really good follow up to the first, ties everything very nicely. A few issues with Amber's character, but overall such a fun read. And definitely one of the best vampire books I've read in awhile.
April 6, 2013
bit LEss funny than the first but still entertaining.
August 27, 2015
I couldn't even finish it. Definitely not as good as the first one.
July 19, 2015
A new take on the Vampire story.
January 31, 2013
I loved this two part tale. Vince is a vampire worth following!
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews