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The Last Vampire #1
The Girl behind the Wall
A lot can change in 400 years - and still be a teenager…
Put into a deep sleep as a teenager, Victoria has no clue centuries have passed. That is, until she’s accidentally woken up by a father and daughter on a vacation.
Cars? Cell phones? What’s an Instagram? How can Craig and Alexis explain the world?
No one said educating a teenage vampire would be easy.
First they have to figure out how to get her back to the United States without anyone figuring out she’s not quite human. Public school should be interesting. Cheerleading tryouts, driving lessons, skilled fighter and fangs?
Time to pull some strings, get Vicki to the United States and start her education into modern life as a teenage vampire.
Join Vicki, Craig, and Alexis on a journey that will change their lives - in The Girl Behind the Wall.
Put into a deep sleep as a teenager, Victoria has no clue centuries have passed. That is, until she’s accidentally woken up by a father and daughter on a vacation.
Cars? Cell phones? What’s an Instagram? How can Craig and Alexis explain the world?
No one said educating a teenage vampire would be easy.
First they have to figure out how to get her back to the United States without anyone figuring out she’s not quite human. Public school should be interesting. Cheerleading tryouts, driving lessons, skilled fighter and fangs?
Time to pull some strings, get Vicki to the United States and start her education into modern life as a teenage vampire.
Join Vicki, Craig, and Alexis on a journey that will change their lives - in The Girl Behind the Wall.
318 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 13, 2019
683 people are currently reading
217 people want to read
About the author
Judith Berens
78 books199 followersJudith Berens is a figment of your imagination, made up of the fevered brainpower of Michael Anderle and Martha Carr, fueled by a lot of people helping them out - as well as all of you, The Fans. Great stories mixed with a lot of great readers equals more adventures to follow.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
June 6, 2019
Where do I begin?
This is badly researched, badly put together and too sloppy for words. Big spoiler alert...
Finding treasure in someone else's house and keeping it would be stealing. A household library in Austria would have books written in German - why is that a surprise? How surprising is it that there's a book on WWI in English - fairly - the Austrians have their own books about WWI. Victoria is not a 17th Austrian name - at a pinch you could try Viktoria. Rather than being desperately concerned for the fate of her family, the newly awakened 'Vickie' has a jolly good day out shopping and lots of girly giggles watching vampire flicks. And then the adult thinks about how he can smuggle this vampire into the US to hand over to the medical community, because he's not going to leave her in the hands of Nazi doctors..? Seriously? The war's been over for 70 YEARS people! And child exploitation? Smuggling children across borders to hand over to scientists? I gave up at this point. There were loads of other squirmy moments that made me wince. Normally I enjoy Judith Berens and Martha Carr but this was not a good example of their collaboration. It's promising idea, but not well executed.
This is badly researched, badly put together and too sloppy for words. Big spoiler alert...
Finding treasure in someone else's house and keeping it would be stealing. A household library in Austria would have books written in German - why is that a surprise? How surprising is it that there's a book on WWI in English - fairly - the Austrians have their own books about WWI. Victoria is not a 17th Austrian name - at a pinch you could try Viktoria. Rather than being desperately concerned for the fate of her family, the newly awakened 'Vickie' has a jolly good day out shopping and lots of girly giggles watching vampire flicks. And then the adult thinks about how he can smuggle this vampire into the US to hand over to the medical community, because he's not going to leave her in the hands of Nazi doctors..? Seriously? The war's been over for 70 YEARS people! And child exploitation? Smuggling children across borders to hand over to scientists? I gave up at this point. There were loads of other squirmy moments that made me wince. Normally I enjoy Judith Berens and Martha Carr but this was not a good example of their collaboration. It's promising idea, but not well executed.
May 18, 2019
This was an okay book. I liked the main character, Victoria/Vickie, and Alexis and Craig. The plot was pretty slow, and not very much happened. There was very little action, and the vampire stuff was pretty low-key, which was a bit boring for me. The general writing style was decent though. I'm not sure I would recommend it if you're looking for a lot of action or vampire related hijinks, as it's mostly emotional growth/changes. 3 stars.
May 15, 2019
Good book
Probably better suited to younger people ( teens ) as opposed to this grumpy old man. Still it was a fun light read .
Probably better suited to younger people ( teens ) as opposed to this grumpy old man. Still it was a fun light read .
June 12, 2019
This is one of these books where I should really point out that my reviews are non-professional and reflects my personal opinions. I’m sure a lot of people will find this book great but to me…well let’s just say that it was not my cup of tea.
For starters, if you think about reading this book because Michael Anderle has his name on it then maybe you should reconsider. I doubt he did more than write the Author’s Notes at the end.
Second, this is really a young adults book with emphasize on young. Sometimes I quite like young adult novels. This one not so much. It’s really too much teenage giggling, angst and unrealistic story bits. Also, I do not really need several pages of tutoring in how to clean and paint my toenails. Nor do I find giggling teenagers on shopping sprees that interesting.
The story is indeed somewhat ludicrous at times. Like the parts about smuggling her into the US, the ease by which they manage to get papers for her. Even if she gets (fake) papers that’s actually good enough, what about visa? And this 400 year old teenager comes to grip with modern science over the course of a couple of weeks. Etc etc… Even young adult stories ought to have some common sense and realism in them.
The core of the story is not really bad an it’s not really poorly written either. It would have been a lot better, in my opinion, if it would have been somewhat more adult and a little bit less young though.
For me, I think I leave this series to readers who might better appreciate it.
For starters, if you think about reading this book because Michael Anderle has his name on it then maybe you should reconsider. I doubt he did more than write the Author’s Notes at the end.
Second, this is really a young adults book with emphasize on young. Sometimes I quite like young adult novels. This one not so much. It’s really too much teenage giggling, angst and unrealistic story bits. Also, I do not really need several pages of tutoring in how to clean and paint my toenails. Nor do I find giggling teenagers on shopping sprees that interesting.
The story is indeed somewhat ludicrous at times. Like the parts about smuggling her into the US, the ease by which they manage to get papers for her. Even if she gets (fake) papers that’s actually good enough, what about visa? And this 400 year old teenager comes to grip with modern science over the course of a couple of weeks. Etc etc… Even young adult stories ought to have some common sense and realism in them.
The core of the story is not really bad an it’s not really poorly written either. It would have been a lot better, in my opinion, if it would have been somewhat more adult and a little bit less young though.
For me, I think I leave this series to readers who might better appreciate it.
July 21, 2019
I really love reading the books created by all these authors. I wish this series fell in before the Oriceran world or during that time; but, a change in pace is always great.
Definitely a great set to sink your proverbial teeth into. I highly recommend books created by Judith Berens, Michael Anderle, and Martha Carr. They write with others, as well, and those books are well written, too.
There are a few grammatical and spelling errors throughout the series but nothing a good editor would be able to pick up if they do their work correctly.
If there was a way to go back through the books and be able to highlight the errors to be corrected and sent directly to you, I would do it in a heart beat.
Keep up the excellent writing! Remember those Goosebumps stories? I think these are much better, especially in this day and age. I would definitely recommend these to my kids schools to help promote fictional literature and creativity in middle and high schools. Even adults who have active imaginations and a love for escaping our world, one book at a time.
Definitely a great set to sink your proverbial teeth into. I highly recommend books created by Judith Berens, Michael Anderle, and Martha Carr. They write with others, as well, and those books are well written, too.
There are a few grammatical and spelling errors throughout the series but nothing a good editor would be able to pick up if they do their work correctly.
If there was a way to go back through the books and be able to highlight the errors to be corrected and sent directly to you, I would do it in a heart beat.
Keep up the excellent writing! Remember those Goosebumps stories? I think these are much better, especially in this day and age. I would definitely recommend these to my kids schools to help promote fictional literature and creativity in middle and high schools. Even adults who have active imaginations and a love for escaping our world, one book at a time.
June 13, 2019
Stopped reading around 25%.
May 29, 2019
This book had a great idea. Very good writing, but it was missing some action. I think if the book sped ahead to interacting in HS it could get interesting with character interaction, story building and of course the action. If you are reading a vampire book your expecting suspense and intrigue.
July 28, 2019
Bleh
Reads like a mediocre mainstream (maybe YA -whatever that means) novel, which is the best feature of the book. The characters are iffy at best and the culture shock of a newly awakened 400 year old vampire is limited to her reaction to TV. That's all that is demonstrated by both the internal or external dialogues.
After reading other reviews, I realize that I owe It to others to talk about the things that were particularly bad. There is the question whether the father should sell the orphan in the US for experimentation and for lots of money. Your character is ready to smuggle a fourteen year old girl into the U.S. to sell her!!!! The decision next is whether to keep her or sell her. "Keeping" her rests on her value (she makes his daughter smile) vs the financial reward of selling her. There's no moral discussion in either of the U.S. characters. The daughter is happy to have a "pet" project, teaching her that painting her nails will demonstrate her good hygiene, that only girls need to work on being presentable because boys are fine and more. Her only concern is making her pet popular.
In all this, the smuggling of a teenage girl across borders doesn't make the writers queasy? The father managing to do It so effortlessly is scary. That the two US tourists don't ever frame their planning as what might be in the orphan's best interest, is very disturbing. The writers don't see any wrongness here? Is this leading to sex and the teenage vampire or worse?
The definition of what is a vampire is bizarre. She's a vampire whose sole vampire powers are that she can move fast a and is strong. Oh, she has also she has fangs. This is a girl who can be put in stasis for 400 years with a potion. Her family "inherited" a castle (but she's not nobility). Her whole background is covered by a passing reference to the wars of religion. That only gets mentioned as background for the bad guys.
The story is slow and yet still races along like it's late for an appointment. The mystery bad guys wear cloaks, so enough said about them. The skeeve factor is through the roof. The character personalities are flat and scary. I'm satisfied that I read enough of the series and both Barr and Berens. I hope that no teenagers are reading this book.
Reads like a mediocre mainstream (maybe YA -whatever that means) novel, which is the best feature of the book. The characters are iffy at best and the culture shock of a newly awakened 400 year old vampire is limited to her reaction to TV. That's all that is demonstrated by both the internal or external dialogues.
After reading other reviews, I realize that I owe It to others to talk about the things that were particularly bad. There is the question whether the father should sell the orphan in the US for experimentation and for lots of money. Your character is ready to smuggle a fourteen year old girl into the U.S. to sell her!!!! The decision next is whether to keep her or sell her. "Keeping" her rests on her value (she makes his daughter smile) vs the financial reward of selling her. There's no moral discussion in either of the U.S. characters. The daughter is happy to have a "pet" project, teaching her that painting her nails will demonstrate her good hygiene, that only girls need to work on being presentable because boys are fine and more. Her only concern is making her pet popular.
In all this, the smuggling of a teenage girl across borders doesn't make the writers queasy? The father managing to do It so effortlessly is scary. That the two US tourists don't ever frame their planning as what might be in the orphan's best interest, is very disturbing. The writers don't see any wrongness here? Is this leading to sex and the teenage vampire or worse?
The definition of what is a vampire is bizarre. She's a vampire whose sole vampire powers are that she can move fast a and is strong. Oh, she has also she has fangs. This is a girl who can be put in stasis for 400 years with a potion. Her family "inherited" a castle (but she's not nobility). Her whole background is covered by a passing reference to the wars of religion. That only gets mentioned as background for the bad guys.
The story is slow and yet still races along like it's late for an appointment. The mystery bad guys wear cloaks, so enough said about them. The skeeve factor is through the roof. The character personalities are flat and scary. I'm satisfied that I read enough of the series and both Barr and Berens. I hope that no teenagers are reading this book.
June 3, 2019
Off to a Great Start!!
This is going to be a very good series based on the first book I just finished. As stated in the "About This Book" blurb, Nickie is a 14 year old vampire who has been asleep for 400 years. Through her eyes, you will look at the world we live in with amazement and appreciation! It is great fun to read about her discovering the world around her and the father and daughter who make her part of their family. From serious to amusing, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and cannot wait for the next adventure!
This is going to be a very good series based on the first book I just finished. As stated in the "About This Book" blurb, Nickie is a 14 year old vampire who has been asleep for 400 years. Through her eyes, you will look at the world we live in with amazement and appreciation! It is great fun to read about her discovering the world around her and the father and daughter who make her part of their family. From serious to amusing, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and cannot wait for the next adventure!
November 28, 2019
Lame, too unbelievable for suspension of disbelief.
This is a generally nice story. The simple plot and character development is fine. Copy editing flawless to my eye. I am disappointed with the inanities and incongruous inconsistencies attributed to the American teenage girl. Further compounded by an approach to grief that is not only unrealistic but unhealthy. The story has some charming aspects that should have been distilled by a better publisher / editor. As a raw product it has solid potential, as a finished product it was a miss.
This is a generally nice story. The simple plot and character development is fine. Copy editing flawless to my eye. I am disappointed with the inanities and incongruous inconsistencies attributed to the American teenage girl. Further compounded by an approach to grief that is not only unrealistic but unhealthy. The story has some charming aspects that should have been distilled by a better publisher / editor. As a raw product it has solid potential, as a finished product it was a miss.
May 27, 2019
Entertaining Fun Read
Vicki has been asleep for 400 years. Her Vampire parents put her to sleep and hid her to protect her. Alexis and her father Craig find and awaken her. Vicki's exposure to the modern world is very entertaining. The aura of impending danger permeates the story. A lot of humor is involved in her attempt to live a "normal" life . Will she escape eradication by those who would see her race totally wiped out? I look forward to the next book.
Vicki has been asleep for 400 years. Her Vampire parents put her to sleep and hid her to protect her. Alexis and her father Craig find and awaken her. Vicki's exposure to the modern world is very entertaining. The aura of impending danger permeates the story. A lot of humor is involved in her attempt to live a "normal" life . Will she escape eradication by those who would see her race totally wiped out? I look forward to the next book.
June 18, 2019
I bought this book when it first came out. I read a third of it shelved it until I read some new books!
So here we are and book two came out! So I pulled the first book from my Library (Amazon) I have been reading the first book from the begining and, loved the book! I'm now going to read the second book. I hope it's as great as the one I just finished. Thanks for the good times. Peace
So here we are and book two came out! So I pulled the first book from my Library (Amazon) I have been reading the first book from the begining and, loved the book! I'm now going to read the second book. I hope it's as great as the one I just finished. Thanks for the good times. Peace
February 25, 2024
It was Okay. Perhaps if I hadn’t read it thinking it was a part of the Oriceran universe I would feel differently. Straight off the bat it was off-putting. Really, “Vickie”. The name “Victoria” is not old-fashioned. We are not talking about “Buelah” or “Geraldine” here. The quickness in which Alexis (a name that is fairly old-fashioned-Dynasty anyone?) decided to pushed the 3-D movie onto Vickie was just asinine. Alexis is supposed to be intelligent. We didn’t get a lot to prove it in this book.
May 27, 2019
Anderleitis for Young Adult
My greatest hurdle in introducing Anderleitis syndrome to my boys is the number of swearing that is integrated into the storyline and can't be easily edited out without serious re editing. These YA series has been a boon, and now I'm out to spread Anderleitis to my whole house!! Long be the sleepless nights of one more chapter!!!
My greatest hurdle in introducing Anderleitis syndrome to my boys is the number of swearing that is integrated into the storyline and can't be easily edited out without serious re editing. These YA series has been a boon, and now I'm out to spread Anderleitis to my whole house!! Long be the sleepless nights of one more chapter!!!
May 30, 2019
Fantastic book
I loved this book! A nontypical vampire story combing the trials of teenage girls and being a vampire makes for a great read. I can't wait for the next one. Rooting for Victoria and Alexis to get through life and keeping her alive from threats is a great book. You have to read Asap!!
I loved this book! A nontypical vampire story combing the trials of teenage girls and being a vampire makes for a great read. I can't wait for the next one. Rooting for Victoria and Alexis to get through life and keeping her alive from threats is a great book. You have to read Asap!!
April 15, 2021
Great young adult series starter! Clean and fast read appropriate for middle and high school urban fantasy fans.
Vickie is preparing to fit in to life in Milwaukee after sleeping away 400 years in an Austrian castle. Her parents saved her life, but now she’s got to start over as an American teenager.
Vickie is preparing to fit in to life in Milwaukee after sleeping away 400 years in an Austrian castle. Her parents saved her life, but now she’s got to start over as an American teenager.
May 15, 2019
This is an other book wel done i read it in a half day and it differnt kind of story we used to get from the writers but i like it an only can advise buy this book and read !! i cant wait for the nex book
May 20, 2019
First in a series
This is the first book in a new series and I’m anxious to see where it goes. I mean 414 year old teenage vampire that has to get up to speed on American teenagers and the dread years of high school. Oh yea and vampire slayers......
This is the first book in a new series and I’m anxious to see where it goes. I mean 414 year old teenage vampire that has to get up to speed on American teenagers and the dread years of high school. Oh yea and vampire slayers......
May 23, 2019
Awesome book!
What an awesome first book in the new Girl Behind The Wall series! I just loved the characters and can't wait to see what happens next. Keep churning out the awesome stories guys!
What an awesome first book in the new Girl Behind The Wall series! I just loved the characters and can't wait to see what happens next. Keep churning out the awesome stories guys!
May 25, 2019
Description was a little misleading it still good
It does end the book in a cliffhanger but not really were the description suggests it does. Very confusing. Plus the chapters were from a couple different points of view. Otherwise very good!
It does end the book in a cliffhanger but not really were the description suggests it does. Very confusing. Plus the chapters were from a couple different points of view. Otherwise very good!
May 26, 2019
Really, really great Vampire story
Love the concept and this first story in this series. Love that it seems to involve a lots of family dramatics. Typical teen she things and coping with loss.
Love the concept and this first story in this series. Love that it seems to involve a lots of family dramatics. Typical teen she things and coping with loss.
June 1, 2019
Fantasy Vampire
I found this novel to be more geared towards younger readers. I found it difficult to get into it. I think if I were ten or fifteen years old I would have enjoyed it! Being sixty years old made it almost impossible for me to get into the story.
I found this novel to be more geared towards younger readers. I found it difficult to get into it. I think if I were ten or fifteen years old I would have enjoyed it! Being sixty years old made it almost impossible for me to get into the story.
June 13, 2019
Well I am enjoying another series
Now another take on Vampires, this is a awesome saga. The development of each character is well thought out. The development of the story evolves with you. Defiantly worth reading over and over again.
Now another take on Vampires, this is a awesome saga. The development of each character is well thought out. The development of the story evolves with you. Defiantly worth reading over and over again.
June 20, 2019
This book is ok yes it could be better I keep thinking something is gonna happen to liven it up a bit so far it hasn't yet but I'm still interested enough and invested enough that I'm looking for book 3 the girl with a secret
August 21, 2019
Teen vampire
A new series for teens, but definitely for adults, too. A little different to other books I’ve read by these authors, but I enjoyed it. It will be interesting to see how Vicki fits in to high school.
A new series for teens, but definitely for adults, too. A little different to other books I’ve read by these authors, but I enjoyed it. It will be interesting to see how Vicki fits in to high school.
November 22, 2019
This is really good
So I have never read any books by this author and I really enjoyed it. A different take on vampires. Great writing. I felt like Vickie seeing the world with fresh eyes. I look forward to reading more.
So I have never read any books by this author and I really enjoyed it. A different take on vampires. Great writing. I felt like Vickie seeing the world with fresh eyes. I look forward to reading more.
May 10, 2020
Not my cup of tea at all. Way too YA. Basically nothing happened this book to classify it as urban fantasy. I love the other series by Michael and Martha so I'll just chalk this series up as not for me and move on to the next
May 15, 2019
A great start..
A fun opening gambit in this new series. The story has a fun premise and the characters are shaping up well. Looks like another enjoyable series.
A fun opening gambit in this new series. The story has a fun premise and the characters are shaping up well. Looks like another enjoyable series.
May 20, 2019
Good read
I enjoyed the first half quite a bit, but it started to drag on a bit, though I am rather interested to see where it goes from here.
I enjoyed the first half quite a bit, but it started to drag on a bit, though I am rather interested to see where it goes from here.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews