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The Withrow Chronicles #4
Attempted Immortality
Book 4 of The Withrow Chronicles, the hilarious award-winning vampire series.
Withrow Surrett, cantankerous vampire lord of North Carolina, is passing the long winter nights of the off-season in the sleepy resort town of Sunset Beach. Because where else would a vampire go but the beach? This is no vacation for Withrow and his cousin Roderick, though. They’re hunting down a nest of nasty elder vampires who want to take over the world!
But of course it’s not that simple, because for Withrow, nothing ever is. Withrow and Roderick - and their team of friends old and new - soon learn there are stranger things afoot than vampires' machinations among the dunes of Sunset Beach: mysterious mortals, twisted sorceries, and fleeting apparitions. Through sabotage, espionage, and bare-knuckled brutality Withrow must find and stop the elder vampires before they play the ace up their sleeve!
The fists fly fast and furious in the fourth installment of this comedy vampire series, perfect for fans of Rick Gualtieri, Jeff Strand, or Christopher Moore.
Withrow Surrett, cantankerous vampire lord of North Carolina, is passing the long winter nights of the off-season in the sleepy resort town of Sunset Beach. Because where else would a vampire go but the beach? This is no vacation for Withrow and his cousin Roderick, though. They’re hunting down a nest of nasty elder vampires who want to take over the world!
But of course it’s not that simple, because for Withrow, nothing ever is. Withrow and Roderick - and their team of friends old and new - soon learn there are stranger things afoot than vampires' machinations among the dunes of Sunset Beach: mysterious mortals, twisted sorceries, and fleeting apparitions. Through sabotage, espionage, and bare-knuckled brutality Withrow must find and stop the elder vampires before they play the ace up their sleeve!
The fists fly fast and furious in the fourth installment of this comedy vampire series, perfect for fans of Rick Gualtieri, Jeff Strand, or Christopher Moore.
280 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 21, 2017
1 person is currently reading
146 people want to read
About the author
Michael G. Williams
30 books86 followersMichael G. Williams writes queer-themed science fiction, urban fantasy, and horror celebrating monsters, macabre humor, and subverted expectations. He’s the author of three series for Falstaff Books: the award-winning vampire/urban fantasy series The Withrow Chronicles; a new urban fantasy series featuring real estate, time travel, and San Francisco’s most beloved historical figures, SERVANT/SOVEREIGN; and the science fiction noir A Fall in Autumn, winner of the 2020 Manly Wade Wellman Award.
Michael is an avid podcaster, activist, and gaymer, and is a brother in St. Anthony Hall and Mu Beta Psi. He lives in Durham, NC, with his husband, a variety of animals, and more and better friends than he probably deserves.
Michael is an avid podcaster, activist, and gaymer, and is a brother in St. Anthony Hall and Mu Beta Psi. He lives in Durham, NC, with his husband, a variety of animals, and more and better friends than he probably deserves.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 4, 2022
Another of the Withrow Chronicles, a Vampire series with a unique twist of changing subgenres each time. So far Mr. Williams attempted Zombie, Noir, and Superhero. This time the subgenre is thriller, putting the cantankerous Withrow and insane cousin Roderick to the test against the elders we peeked at in book three, proving the Withrow Chronicles is a series developing towards a conclusion instead of just a group of connected stories-of-the-week. Attempted Immortality does work as a stand-alone, but is even better within the series.
I love watching Withrow grow in his unwanted leadership position which changes the devoted loner into a spider with relationship webs entangling him as much as they enable him. He is reconnecting with humanity and responsibility whether or not he wants to. He says it is to gain freedom, but he is discovering the less people that are above you telling you what to do, the more people are below you asking you what they need to do.
Attempted Immortality starts with a race across town, and continues to quickly move from one scene to another, thriller style, with a huge looming big bad so big and so bad even the elders know they got a tiger by the tail. The technopagans return, as do the book people and the vampires of Raleigh - and Withrow needs them all just to survive in a small beach town wound down for the middle of winter which gets blown up, burned down, and knocked over in the vampire war between the Vampire Master of North Carolina (in the pudgy, home-body of Withrow Surrett) and a branch of the Charlotte Elders.
That takes up the first half of the book ... the second half of the book is even better with Roderick and Withrow trying to pick apart the web of deceit while also discussing friendships and family. Just reading the dialogue of these two is sooo much fun - I bet the audiobook is going to be a blast.
And like the last time, the ending revealed another twisty-twist from the twisted mind of Roderick which made me go back to the beginning of the book and reread three chapters. That boy is CRAZY.
I love watching Withrow grow in his unwanted leadership position which changes the devoted loner into a spider with relationship webs entangling him as much as they enable him. He is reconnecting with humanity and responsibility whether or not he wants to. He says it is to gain freedom, but he is discovering the less people that are above you telling you what to do, the more people are below you asking you what they need to do.
Attempted Immortality starts with a race across town, and continues to quickly move from one scene to another, thriller style, with a huge looming big bad so big and so bad even the elders know they got a tiger by the tail. The technopagans return, as do the book people and the vampires of Raleigh - and Withrow needs them all just to survive in a small beach town wound down for the middle of winter which gets blown up, burned down, and knocked over in the vampire war between the Vampire Master of North Carolina (in the pudgy, home-body of Withrow Surrett) and a branch of the Charlotte Elders.
That takes up the first half of the book ... the second half of the book is even better with Roderick and Withrow trying to pick apart the web of deceit while also discussing friendships and family. Just reading the dialogue of these two is sooo much fun - I bet the audiobook is going to be a blast.
And like the last time, the ending revealed another twisty-twist from the twisted mind of Roderick which made me go back to the beginning of the book and reread three chapters. That boy is CRAZY.
September 11, 2017
Withrow is in trouble. Again. Shocking, that a vampire (of all people) could ever feel endangered or threatened, or well--like the human being he originally was before Agatha turned him into a vampire in the first place.
There's these old vampires, see, and they would like to see human society go back to the days of yore. Days where humanity was simply cattle owned by them, where humans could just be plucked for slaughter. Sounds a lot like feudalism. Or current plans by the fictional Illuminati. Could the fictional Illuminati be vampires?
Then there are the younger vampires, who aren't in the mood to be an older vampire's slave. They'd like to just live.
Then there's Withrow, who has found himself actually caring about human beings he has gotten to know in life again. Turns out, just because he is a vampire does not mean that he doesn't have the capacity to feel guilt. Or shame.
Then there's Withrow's cousin, Roderick, who is a heck of a lot more complex than he seems. Maybe even for more noble reasons than originally thought. Or maybe not.
This book leaves us on a cliffhanger that made me wish fevently for the 5th book of the series. The entire series itself is a lot of fun. Highly recommended.
There's these old vampires, see, and they would like to see human society go back to the days of yore. Days where humanity was simply cattle owned by them, where humans could just be plucked for slaughter. Sounds a lot like feudalism. Or current plans by the fictional Illuminati. Could the fictional Illuminati be vampires?
Then there are the younger vampires, who aren't in the mood to be an older vampire's slave. They'd like to just live.
Then there's Withrow, who has found himself actually caring about human beings he has gotten to know in life again. Turns out, just because he is a vampire does not mean that he doesn't have the capacity to feel guilt. Or shame.
Then there's Withrow's cousin, Roderick, who is a heck of a lot more complex than he seems. Maybe even for more noble reasons than originally thought. Or maybe not.
This book leaves us on a cliffhanger that made me wish fevently for the 5th book of the series. The entire series itself is a lot of fun. Highly recommended.
September 22, 2016
I don't think you have to be a North Carolinian to enjoy this series, but it sure is fun if you live here. I've never been to Sunset Beach, but I've been to countless other coastal towns and the setting is well-evoked here.
I'm looking forward to the final book in the series, but at the same time, I don't want it to end. I just really like the main characters of Withrow and Roderick. I think that's the mark of a successful series, the creation of protagonists that the reader wants to spend time with, book after book. Michael G. Williams has done exactly that.
I'm looking forward to the final book in the series, but at the same time, I don't want it to end. I just really like the main characters of Withrow and Roderick. I think that's the mark of a successful series, the creation of protagonists that the reader wants to spend time with, book after book. Michael G. Williams has done exactly that.
November 8, 2017
Full review here:
http://jamesgenrebooks.blogspot.com/2...
Honestly, I look forward to volume five, the presumed end of this, since I'm curious as to what horrors await our anti heroes in Charlotte, where no one wants to go.
http://jamesgenrebooks.blogspot.com/2...
Honestly, I look forward to volume five, the presumed end of this, since I'm curious as to what horrors await our anti heroes in Charlotte, where no one wants to go.
February 16, 2021
A won this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
This series is getting better as it progresses.
In the previous book Withrow and his cousin found out that there was once a civil war between "old" vampires and their "children", but there are still remnants of the "old" vampires still causing problems in the modern world.
Withrow, the vampire boos of North Carolina, is investigating something strange in Sunset Beach, along with his cousin, Roderick and Jennifer and her group the Technopagans, who were introduced in the previous book.
This series is getting better as it progresses.
In the previous book Withrow and his cousin found out that there was once a civil war between "old" vampires and their "children", but there are still remnants of the "old" vampires still causing problems in the modern world.
Withrow, the vampire boos of North Carolina, is investigating something strange in Sunset Beach, along with his cousin, Roderick and Jennifer and her group the Technopagans, who were introduced in the previous book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 11, 2021
An excellent 4th installment in the Withrow Chronicles, the best of the series so far. Mr. Williams has found his stride in this book and he really shows it with the plot, character development, and pacing. His writing is easy to read but detailed and, at times, philosophical. I thoroughly enjoyed this outing with Withrow and can't wait to jump into the final chapter of the Chronicles.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews