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Vampire Innocent #8
A Vampire's Guide to Surviving Holidays: Vampire Innocent, Book 8
Sarah Wright has gone through a lifetime of mess in a mere five months, but her most difficult challenge yet is making it through Thanksgiving without spilling blood.
It isn’t only her extended family tempting her to sprout claws. A vampire hunter has arrived in Seattle, his sights set on Professor Heath. Worse, the hunter seems like a relatively nice guy. Dedicating one’s entire life to destroying undead sounds like a perfectly reasonable response to witnessing a vampire kill your parents, right?
She doesn’t believe her mild professor used to be a bloodthirsty mass-murderer, nor does she want to straight-up kill a living man for merely existing. Her indecision and silence backfires. One of the local vampire elders, still fuming over Sarah’s decision to remain with her mortal family, seizes the chance to back her into a political
If Sarah doesn’t kill the hunter, she’ll bear the responsibility for anyone he destroys.
It isn’t only her extended family tempting her to sprout claws. A vampire hunter has arrived in Seattle, his sights set on Professor Heath. Worse, the hunter seems like a relatively nice guy. Dedicating one’s entire life to destroying undead sounds like a perfectly reasonable response to witnessing a vampire kill your parents, right?
She doesn’t believe her mild professor used to be a bloodthirsty mass-murderer, nor does she want to straight-up kill a living man for merely existing. Her indecision and silence backfires. One of the local vampire elders, still fuming over Sarah’s decision to remain with her mortal family, seizes the chance to back her into a political
If Sarah doesn’t kill the hunter, she’ll bear the responsibility for anyone he destroys.
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Published August 4, 2021
51 people are currently reading
13 people want to read
About the author
Matthew S. Cox
187 books265 followersBorn in a little town known as South Amboy NJ in 1973, Matthew has been creating science fiction and fantasy worlds for most of his reasoning life. Somewhere between fifteen to eighteen of them spent developing the world in which Division Zero, Virtual Immortality, and The Awakened Series take place. He has several other projects in the works as well as a collaborative science fiction endeavor with author Tony Healey.
Hobbies and Interests:
Matthew is an avid gamer, a recovered WoW addict, Gamemaster for two custom systems (Chronicles of Eldrinaath [Fantasy] and Divergent Fates [Sci Fi], and a fan of anime, British humour (<- deliberate), and intellectual science fiction that questions the nature of reality, life, and what happens after it.
He is also fond of cats.
Hobbies and Interests:
Matthew is an avid gamer, a recovered WoW addict, Gamemaster for two custom systems (Chronicles of Eldrinaath [Fantasy] and Divergent Fates [Sci Fi], and a fan of anime, British humour (<- deliberate), and intellectual science fiction that questions the nature of reality, life, and what happens after it.
He is also fond of cats.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
October 24, 2024
Continuing his exploration of how a vampire might balance their new life and their old, Cox demonstrates that sometimes a vampire hunter backed by technology and magic can be less of a challenge to handle than that one relative who always spoils family gatherings.
This novel is the eighth in Cox’s Vampire Innocent series. Probable spoilers for previous books ahead.
Like many American families, Thanksgiving is a time for the Wrights to host relatives they don’t get on with at an event that’s more stressful than usual to prepare under the pretence of being grateful. But what is merely a social obligation for most becomes another moral quandary for Sarah now vampirism has given her the power to force politeness on people. At least with the nights growing longer, her attempts to combine night classes and vampirism have become easier. Unfortunately, her sanctuary of (semi)normality is disrupted when a vampire hunter starts stalking one of her professors.
Where the supernatural threat of previous books came from the unintended consequences of Sarah’s attempts to help or from others choosing to make her a target, this novel explores the consequence of inaction: the hunter is unaware Sarah is a vampire, so she could let things play out. However, both the hunter and her professor seem like decent people, so that would involve letting someone die when she could have acted; but acting requires picking a side, so also brings responsibility. And, with the hunter more than willing to add any other vampires he identifies to the kill list, not resolving the situation quickly risks guilt for the deaths of other vampires too.
Notwithstanding the moral issue, not warning all vampires about the presence of a hunter to avoid one of them simply killing him leaves her vulnerable to political attack from those vampires who already consider her remaining with her family a betrayal of vampirehood.
Cox further complicates these dilemmas by denying Sarah certainty over her own judgements: Professor Harris seems decent, but she knows nothing of his unlife before he came to the college, so the accusation he was a brutal killer could be true; and the hunter has some mysterious protection against mental powers, so could be merely pretending to be a near innocent seeking to kill only monsters.
In parallel with the deep, but rare, moral questions of when it is acceptable to kill to save others and whether anyone actively deserves to die, Cox weaves the less horrific but arguably equally impactful question of when the happiness of many outweighs the total autonomy of others: with both telepathy and mind-control, Sarah can uncover the misunderstandings and prevent the insults that turn family gatherings into social torture; but that requires poking around in people’s heads and taking away their freedom “just” to make dinner more pleasant.
Although the core of this book remains the entirely serious struggle to reconcile vampirism with humanity that has underpinned the series, Cox also continues the dusting of farce, irony, and nostalgia that both leavens and enhances the action and horror.
Sarah remains a powerfully sympathetic protagonist. While she has the intelligence and compassion to find the situations morally challenging, she embraces action over introspection so does not mire the reader in angst-by-association or chill them with displays of philosophically supported perfect rectitude.
The returning supporting cast continue to develop nuance as their choices in previous books both guide their reactions to new events and come into conflict where they intersect.
Overall, I enjoyed this novel greatly. I recommend it to readers seeking an exploration of vampire morality that is neither angst-ridden nor prissy.
I received a free copy from the author with no request for a review.
This novel is the eighth in Cox’s Vampire Innocent series. Probable spoilers for previous books ahead.
Like many American families, Thanksgiving is a time for the Wrights to host relatives they don’t get on with at an event that’s more stressful than usual to prepare under the pretence of being grateful. But what is merely a social obligation for most becomes another moral quandary for Sarah now vampirism has given her the power to force politeness on people. At least with the nights growing longer, her attempts to combine night classes and vampirism have become easier. Unfortunately, her sanctuary of (semi)normality is disrupted when a vampire hunter starts stalking one of her professors.
Where the supernatural threat of previous books came from the unintended consequences of Sarah’s attempts to help or from others choosing to make her a target, this novel explores the consequence of inaction: the hunter is unaware Sarah is a vampire, so she could let things play out. However, both the hunter and her professor seem like decent people, so that would involve letting someone die when she could have acted; but acting requires picking a side, so also brings responsibility. And, with the hunter more than willing to add any other vampires he identifies to the kill list, not resolving the situation quickly risks guilt for the deaths of other vampires too.
Notwithstanding the moral issue, not warning all vampires about the presence of a hunter to avoid one of them simply killing him leaves her vulnerable to political attack from those vampires who already consider her remaining with her family a betrayal of vampirehood.
Cox further complicates these dilemmas by denying Sarah certainty over her own judgements: Professor Harris seems decent, but she knows nothing of his unlife before he came to the college, so the accusation he was a brutal killer could be true; and the hunter has some mysterious protection against mental powers, so could be merely pretending to be a near innocent seeking to kill only monsters.
In parallel with the deep, but rare, moral questions of when it is acceptable to kill to save others and whether anyone actively deserves to die, Cox weaves the less horrific but arguably equally impactful question of when the happiness of many outweighs the total autonomy of others: with both telepathy and mind-control, Sarah can uncover the misunderstandings and prevent the insults that turn family gatherings into social torture; but that requires poking around in people’s heads and taking away their freedom “just” to make dinner more pleasant.
Although the core of this book remains the entirely serious struggle to reconcile vampirism with humanity that has underpinned the series, Cox also continues the dusting of farce, irony, and nostalgia that both leavens and enhances the action and horror.
Sarah remains a powerfully sympathetic protagonist. While she has the intelligence and compassion to find the situations morally challenging, she embraces action over introspection so does not mire the reader in angst-by-association or chill them with displays of philosophically supported perfect rectitude.
The returning supporting cast continue to develop nuance as their choices in previous books both guide their reactions to new events and come into conflict where they intersect.
Overall, I enjoyed this novel greatly. I recommend it to readers seeking an exploration of vampire morality that is neither angst-ridden nor prissy.
I received a free copy from the author with no request for a review.
February 20, 2020
Vamp-baby
The continued adventures of a Vamp-baby (a newly turned vampire) are as entertaining as the first book in the series. Lighthearted and fun reading
The continued adventures of a Vamp-baby (a newly turned vampire) are as entertaining as the first book in the series. Lighthearted and fun reading
November 4, 2020
I like these books, the development of the family, especially the Littles and their increasing interaction with the paranormal.
November 19, 2019
Love all the books in the series ❤️😍
Every one of the books in this series was awesome to read and I couldn't wait to get the next 1 so I'm gonna try another book by this author!!!
Every one of the books in this series was awesome to read and I couldn't wait to get the next 1 so I'm gonna try another book by this author!!!
October 2, 2019
Trying To Be Thankful
•••NOT for the homophobic, transphobic, closedminded, or faint of heart!•••
This series must be read in order. The first book is "A Nighttime Of Forever". The second book is "A Beginner's Guide To Fangs". The third book is "The Artist Of Ruin". The fourth book is "The Last Family Road Trip". The fifth book is "The Phantom Oracle". The sixth book is "How Not To Summon Demons". The seventh book is "Ordinary Problems Of A College Vampire". This is the eighth book. I can't wait to read more!
Sarah is not really looking forward to her first undead Holiday. Great Uncle Hank ruins EVERY Holiday hands down. And besides something always goes wrong now... Supernaturally speaking. After running into a Vampire Hunter at school, she's not sure how things can get worse, especially since she can't read his mind at all- like there is some sort of shield on it. After Aurelie outs her about the Hunter at the Vampire Gathering, the Hunter becomes her problem- kill him or get rid of him... But she is also personally responsible for any Vampires he kills. How is she going to get rid of the Hunter? She doesn't want to kill him. How is she going to keep him from killing other Vampires? Especially Professor Heath? Sarah knows he has to be innocent of the deaths the Hunter attributes to him! If she fails, how will they punish her? Make her leave her family and wipe their minds? Or worse? Will they kill her? Can she make it through Thanksgiving Dinner and take care of her Hunter problem? What are the odds nothing else goes wrong? How does she keep getting into these types of messes?
•••NOT for the homophobic, transphobic, closedminded, or faint of heart!•••
This series must be read in order. The first book is "A Nighttime Of Forever". The second book is "A Beginner's Guide To Fangs". The third book is "The Artist Of Ruin". The fourth book is "The Last Family Road Trip". The fifth book is "The Phantom Oracle". The sixth book is "How Not To Summon Demons". The seventh book is "Ordinary Problems Of A College Vampire". This is the eighth book. I can't wait to read more!
Sarah is not really looking forward to her first undead Holiday. Great Uncle Hank ruins EVERY Holiday hands down. And besides something always goes wrong now... Supernaturally speaking. After running into a Vampire Hunter at school, she's not sure how things can get worse, especially since she can't read his mind at all- like there is some sort of shield on it. After Aurelie outs her about the Hunter at the Vampire Gathering, the Hunter becomes her problem- kill him or get rid of him... But she is also personally responsible for any Vampires he kills. How is she going to get rid of the Hunter? She doesn't want to kill him. How is she going to keep him from killing other Vampires? Especially Professor Heath? Sarah knows he has to be innocent of the deaths the Hunter attributes to him! If she fails, how will they punish her? Make her leave her family and wipe their minds? Or worse? Will they kill her? Can she make it through Thanksgiving Dinner and take care of her Hunter problem? What are the odds nothing else goes wrong? How does she keep getting into these types of messes?
January 9, 2020
The 8th book in this series about a girl who is killed and then bitten by a vampire, turning her into a vampire. She still lives at home with parents, sisters and brother, all of them knowing about what has happened to her. (This provides a lot of the power of the series and oftentimes humor.)
There's a vampire hunter she has to deal with, her younger sister being sexually harassed while playing a game online and a professor whose in danger.
The thing about this series, at least for me, is how well all the characters are drawn and how well Sarah, the young vampire, deals with being a vampire, dealing with a very high-up vampire, dealing with going to school, dealing with keeping things balanced with her family and dealing with other problems that come up. Sarah is an extremely strong young woman and her family is very loving and understanding. I've read every book in this series and I've enjoyed them all.
There's a vampire hunter she has to deal with, her younger sister being sexually harassed while playing a game online and a professor whose in danger.
The thing about this series, at least for me, is how well all the characters are drawn and how well Sarah, the young vampire, deals with being a vampire, dealing with a very high-up vampire, dealing with going to school, dealing with keeping things balanced with her family and dealing with other problems that come up. Sarah is an extremely strong young woman and her family is very loving and understanding. I've read every book in this series and I've enjoyed them all.
September 28, 2019
Perfect Holiday handbook to escape with.
Not sure how to actually wait for next installment. Think I will check how many I have finished. Maybe I missed one. Very attached to this character. Her balance on the edge of humanity is beautifully written. Fun adventures with extra side of paranormal.
Not sure how to actually wait for next installment. Think I will check how many I have finished. Maybe I missed one. Very attached to this character. Her balance on the edge of humanity is beautifully written. Fun adventures with extra side of paranormal.
September 27, 2019
Amazing!!!!
Thank you for continuing with this series.
It's my favorite, I dropped all other books I was reading to read this.
Thank you for continuing with this series.
It's my favorite, I dropped all other books I was reading to read this.
August 4, 2024
Sarah is your typical teen ager in so many ways but she has also been through so much in the last five months . She has been turned into a vampire had to fight her way through so many things and now she has a vampire hunter after her and the vampire politics backing her into a corner. Also she has to survive Thanksgiving dinner with her family. What is a girl to do, she has to figure out a lot and try and keep a man safe and watch the other man who is trying to kill her all safe.
We get to see Sarah try an combine her old life and her new life while trying to navigate the perils of being a vampire with her family. She really does handle the stress not too badly there are moments where we do see her really take on the world to save her friend. But underneath she is the same sweet girl that she was before but she does have the attitude of a wiser woman. Demarco is a new character and we get to see a vampire hunter at work. He is on a mission to find out who killed his family and is honestly kind of confused about vampires and Sarah really throw a kink into his plans . He didn't realize that vampires aren't all evil and blood thirsty. The family is back and funnier than ever . What Sam does at Thanksgiving is just the best.
These books just keep getting funnier and better . we get to see how Sarah is growing and becoming the best she can be. The author just takes us on such a fun ride and the characters are getting more and more complex . This series is just a fun read and it had me laughing all the way through the book . There are some scary parts but over all it is such a fun beach read that your teens would love
August 12, 2024
Not happy with the challenges of surviving the holidays without drinking someone, add a vampire hunter to the mix. Sara´s story gets better book after book, the challenges grow but the books never looses the humor and lightness that characterize them. This is a series that you don't want to miss
August 7, 2024
These books keep getting more and more interesting.
Have I said that before? I'm glad that she's not super powerful, but has enough strength to get her through.
Have I said that before? I'm glad that she's not super powerful, but has enough strength to get her through.
August 11, 2024
Laugh out loud funny! Sarah has so much going on in her life, school, vamp politics, Vampire hunters, the holidays with extended family, and Sam in a dress. And good old great uncle Hank.
Such a great series!
Such a great series!
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews