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Once Bitten
Jamie Beaverbrook is an English psychologist working for the Los Angeles Police Department. His job - to sort out the insane from the sane, the crazies from the ones who are pretending to be crazy. But Beaverbrook's life is turned upside down one night when the police find a girl crouched over a man with his throat torn out. The girl has blood on her lips but claims she only found the body. Beaverbrook doesn't take long to establish that she's totally sane - but he is forced to face a bigger question. Is she a vampire? And what does she want from him?
Once Bitten is a fast-paced 73,000 words, about 280 pages.
FOUR AND A HALF STARS from Laura Wallace, a member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team.
"4 1/2 STARS for Mr. Leather - Stephen Leather is a well known and successful journalist in the UK and China, and he's written for The Times, The Daily Mail and South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. He followed up his successful journalism career with bestselling novels, earning a place on best seller lists. Once Bitten is his latest foray into the world of novellas, being a short but compelling read. This is a book that I would highly recommend, especially on a dark and stormy night!"
FOUR STARS from Amazon Top 50 Reviewer Joseph Haschka - "Once Bitten isn't a thriller in the conventional sense. And it's neither scary nor very bloody. Rather, it presents the reader with a different interpretation of the vampire creature of legend and, perhaps for the contemplative reader, poses the question "What if?"
"Leather was thinking outside the box. I like that."
Stephen Leather is one of the UK's most successful thriller writers. He was a journalist for more than ten years on newspapers such as The Times, the Daily Mail and the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. Before that, he was employed as a biochemist for ICI, shovelled limestone in a quarry, worked as a baker, a petrol pump attendant, a barman, and worked for the Inland Revenue. He began writing full time in 1992, he has sold more than three million copies and his books are published in more than ten languages. You can find out more about his work at www.stephenleather.com
Once Bitten is a fast-paced 73,000 words, about 280 pages.
FOUR AND A HALF STARS from Laura Wallace, a member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team.
"4 1/2 STARS for Mr. Leather - Stephen Leather is a well known and successful journalist in the UK and China, and he's written for The Times, The Daily Mail and South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. He followed up his successful journalism career with bestselling novels, earning a place on best seller lists. Once Bitten is his latest foray into the world of novellas, being a short but compelling read. This is a book that I would highly recommend, especially on a dark and stormy night!"
FOUR STARS from Amazon Top 50 Reviewer Joseph Haschka - "Once Bitten isn't a thriller in the conventional sense. And it's neither scary nor very bloody. Rather, it presents the reader with a different interpretation of the vampire creature of legend and, perhaps for the contemplative reader, poses the question "What if?"
"Leather was thinking outside the box. I like that."
Stephen Leather is one of the UK's most successful thriller writers. He was a journalist for more than ten years on newspapers such as The Times, the Daily Mail and the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. Before that, he was employed as a biochemist for ICI, shovelled limestone in a quarry, worked as a baker, a petrol pump attendant, a barman, and worked for the Inland Revenue. He began writing full time in 1992, he has sold more than three million copies and his books are published in more than ten languages. You can find out more about his work at www.stephenleather.com
241 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 21, 2010
154 people are currently reading
832 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Leather
245 books1,528 followersStephen Leather was a journalist for more than ten years on newspapers such as The Times, the Daily Mail and the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. His bestsellers have been translated into more than ten languages. He has also written for television shows such as London's Burning, The Knock and the BBC's Murder in Mind series. For much of 2011 his self-published eBooks - including The Bestseller, The Basement, Once Bitten and Dreamer's Cat - dominated the UK eBook bestseller lists and sold more than half a million copies. The Basement topped the Kindle charts in the UK and the US, and in total he has sold more than two million eBooks. His bestselling book The Chinaman was filmed as The Foreigner, starring Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan and grossing more than $100 million.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 105 reviews
January 26, 2011
Stephen Leather is a well known and successful journalist in the UK and China, and he’s written for The Times, The Daily Mail and South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. He followed up his successful journalism career with bestselling novels, earning a place on best seller lists. Once Bitten is his latest foray into the world of novellas, being a short but compelling read.
Jamie Beaverbrook is a UK psychologist hired by the LA police department. His job is to test people that have been arrested, identifying the insane from those acting insane. Jamie has found an accurate way to decide this for the police through a program he developed with specific questions. Although his professional life is successful, his private life is anything but successful. Jamie has lost his infant daughter, and his wife is divorcing him, while he is going through an intense middle age crisis. Jamie becomes intrigued with a prisoner, a young woman found bending over a body and still having traces of blood on her lips. Not sure what it is about this woman, Jamie starts an investigation of his own, something he’s never done with previous prisoners.
Terry is a woman who looks to be in her late teens but later states she is in her mid 20’s. A fact that plays to Jamie’s apparent middle age crisis to the point where he is constantly defending the difference in their ages (only 10 years or so!) to the detectives. Caught with a body in an alley, lapping the dead man’s blood, Terry is proven sane by the Beaverbrook program, although appearances point towards insanity. When she is released on bail, Terry goes to Jamie’s home and invites him out on a date. Jamie is intrigued by Terry, and starts a relationship with her.
Finding out that detectives have a warrant to search her apartment, Jamie goes there to do his own searching. Only a few personal effects are found, including an old signed photograph of an actor sitting in a chair on a movie set. Taking the information within the picture, Jamie contacts people to find out who the actor is. This simple act leads Jamie through a maze with twists and turns with an impossible to believe ending: Terry has lived for a very long time, too long to be mortal.
Mr. Leather tells an intriguing tale of murder with clues that defy logic. As a psychologist, Jamie has a mental dilemma of his own, and discovers a hidden world of immortals that need blood to survive. Written in a first person narrative form, with a film noir feel, the reader could easily imagine this story as a black and white 1940‘s movie. The story is deceptively simple, making the reader think he has the plot and ending figured out, but then a new detail or clue comes into play and changes the course of your thinking.
As much as I enjoyed this book, I did find a few things to be distracting and redundant to the story. Mr. Leather uses “Beaverbrook Program” quite often when in most cases just the word ‘program’ would have been better suited. In addition, this is a story of a psychologist who has invented a program that is gold standard. It is widely used by other criminal psychologists, yet he doesn’t seem to have an inkling that he himself is in a mental crisis. Remember the old saying Physician Heal Thyself??? This is a very prominent factor in this book, and Jamie never addresses it professionally.
This is a book that I would highly recommend, especially on a dark and stormy night!
Review By Laura Wallace
Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jamie Beaverbrook is a UK psychologist hired by the LA police department. His job is to test people that have been arrested, identifying the insane from those acting insane. Jamie has found an accurate way to decide this for the police through a program he developed with specific questions. Although his professional life is successful, his private life is anything but successful. Jamie has lost his infant daughter, and his wife is divorcing him, while he is going through an intense middle age crisis. Jamie becomes intrigued with a prisoner, a young woman found bending over a body and still having traces of blood on her lips. Not sure what it is about this woman, Jamie starts an investigation of his own, something he’s never done with previous prisoners.
Terry is a woman who looks to be in her late teens but later states she is in her mid 20’s. A fact that plays to Jamie’s apparent middle age crisis to the point where he is constantly defending the difference in their ages (only 10 years or so!) to the detectives. Caught with a body in an alley, lapping the dead man’s blood, Terry is proven sane by the Beaverbrook program, although appearances point towards insanity. When she is released on bail, Terry goes to Jamie’s home and invites him out on a date. Jamie is intrigued by Terry, and starts a relationship with her.
Finding out that detectives have a warrant to search her apartment, Jamie goes there to do his own searching. Only a few personal effects are found, including an old signed photograph of an actor sitting in a chair on a movie set. Taking the information within the picture, Jamie contacts people to find out who the actor is. This simple act leads Jamie through a maze with twists and turns with an impossible to believe ending: Terry has lived for a very long time, too long to be mortal.
Mr. Leather tells an intriguing tale of murder with clues that defy logic. As a psychologist, Jamie has a mental dilemma of his own, and discovers a hidden world of immortals that need blood to survive. Written in a first person narrative form, with a film noir feel, the reader could easily imagine this story as a black and white 1940‘s movie. The story is deceptively simple, making the reader think he has the plot and ending figured out, but then a new detail or clue comes into play and changes the course of your thinking.
As much as I enjoyed this book, I did find a few things to be distracting and redundant to the story. Mr. Leather uses “Beaverbrook Program” quite often when in most cases just the word ‘program’ would have been better suited. In addition, this is a story of a psychologist who has invented a program that is gold standard. It is widely used by other criminal psychologists, yet he doesn’t seem to have an inkling that he himself is in a mental crisis. Remember the old saying Physician Heal Thyself??? This is a very prominent factor in this book, and Jamie never addresses it professionally.
This is a book that I would highly recommend, especially on a dark and stormy night!
Review By Laura Wallace
Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
October 17, 2011
Once Bitten is many things - a semi police procedural, a vampiric tale, a love story, but importantly, it's A-grade story telling by a master of the ebook world. Stephen Leather continues to deliver works unique to print that are as dark and characteristically complex as I've read. Once Bitten is a new take of the vampire lore in which DNA and selective evolution lead to a few 'humans' not aging. Terry, a seemingly innocent (though bloody) teenager is met by police consultant psychologist Jaime during an interview following her arrest for the murder of a private investigator. From there, Jaime's morbid infatuation with mortality compels him to profess his love to the undead Terry and over time and establish a relationship build on deception and deceit. For his part, Jaime is seeing life through gray shaded glasses following the loss of this wife (divorce) and daughter (death) and is all too easily swayed by the allure of mystery and youthful exuberance of a vampire. Dark and plausible yet fictitious enough to maintain a distinct separation of reality, however, ultimately gratifying and well worth exploring. Definite re-read appeal - 4 Stars.
not-interested
August 25, 2014Quote from author:
""One thing I have never been able to understand is why an organisation like the National Black Police Association is allowed to exist. It is by its very nature racist - hoping to promote the interests of a group solely on the basis of the colour of its members. A police officer can lose his job if he is found to be a member of the British National Party, which in the past excluded non-whites. But the NPBA, which is solely for non-white police officers, is allowed to operate with impunity. Hardly seems fair, does it?""
Source.
"Stephen Leather, who churns outs [sic] ebook and paperback thrillers, boasted at last month's Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival: 'As soon as my book is out I'm on Facebook and Twitter several times a day talking about it. I'll go on to several forums, the well-known forums, and post there under my name and under various other names and various other characters. You build up this whole network of characters who talk about your books and sometimes have conversations with yourself.'
Leather was not ashamed. He crowed like a prize cock and expected his fellow crime writers to applaud his cunning.
Jeremy Duns, a British thriller writer who exposes plagiarists in his spare time, found that Leather was nastier than that. When he wanted to fake an identity, Leather picked on Steve Roach, a minor writer who had made disobliging remarks about one of his books. Leather created Twitter ""sockpuppet"" accounts in the names of @Writerroach and @TheSteveRoach. Roach described on an Amazon forum how one account had '16,000 followers all reading ""my"" tweets about how much ""I"" loved SL's books'. He was nervous. He told Duns in a taped conversation that Leather was 'very powerful' and not a man to be crossed. Roach emailed Leather and begged to be left alone. Pleased that his cyber bullying campaign had worked, Leather graciously gave Roach control of the @Writerroach account he had created, to Roach's 'great relief'."
Source.
""One thing I have never been able to understand is why an organisation like the National Black Police Association is allowed to exist. It is by its very nature racist - hoping to promote the interests of a group solely on the basis of the colour of its members. A police officer can lose his job if he is found to be a member of the British National Party, which in the past excluded non-whites. But the NPBA, which is solely for non-white police officers, is allowed to operate with impunity. Hardly seems fair, does it?""
Source.
"Stephen Leather, who churns outs [sic] ebook and paperback thrillers, boasted at last month's Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival: 'As soon as my book is out I'm on Facebook and Twitter several times a day talking about it. I'll go on to several forums, the well-known forums, and post there under my name and under various other names and various other characters. You build up this whole network of characters who talk about your books and sometimes have conversations with yourself.'
Leather was not ashamed. He crowed like a prize cock and expected his fellow crime writers to applaud his cunning.
Jeremy Duns, a British thriller writer who exposes plagiarists in his spare time, found that Leather was nastier than that. When he wanted to fake an identity, Leather picked on Steve Roach, a minor writer who had made disobliging remarks about one of his books. Leather created Twitter ""sockpuppet"" accounts in the names of @Writerroach and @TheSteveRoach. Roach described on an Amazon forum how one account had '16,000 followers all reading ""my"" tweets about how much ""I"" loved SL's books'. He was nervous. He told Duns in a taped conversation that Leather was 'very powerful' and not a man to be crossed. Roach emailed Leather and begged to be left alone. Pleased that his cyber bullying campaign had worked, Leather graciously gave Roach control of the @Writerroach account he had created, to Roach's 'great relief'."
Source.
April 8, 2013
Please Note: Read and reviewed in November 2011 from a copy provided by the Amazon Vine program in exchange for an honest review.
My Synopsis: Jamie Beaverbrook is a psychologist who works for the LAPD, evaluating people who are brought in to determine if they are mentally competent. It is the night of the full moon when he first meets her - Terry Ferriman - and there is an instant connection. Even though she is 10 years younger than him, accused of murder and suspected of being a vampire - or at least thinking she is on - she is fascinating to him, and he starts trying to learn more about her. What he learns is shocking - he finds there is a whole separate group of people, mutants, that can be defined as vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters ... and the government wants them. And now the government wants Jamie.
My Thoughts: I defined this one as "vampire noir" due to its darkness. While there are definitely laugh-out-loud moments, overall it's a pretty somber piece. Also, these aren't vampires (or werewolves and shapeshifters) as we know them - but you'll learn more when you read the book. If you enjoy a good suspense story with elements of police procedural and paranormal, you should enjoy this book - I recommend it!
My Synopsis: Jamie Beaverbrook is a psychologist who works for the LAPD, evaluating people who are brought in to determine if they are mentally competent. It is the night of the full moon when he first meets her - Terry Ferriman - and there is an instant connection. Even though she is 10 years younger than him, accused of murder and suspected of being a vampire - or at least thinking she is on - she is fascinating to him, and he starts trying to learn more about her. What he learns is shocking - he finds there is a whole separate group of people, mutants, that can be defined as vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters ... and the government wants them. And now the government wants Jamie.
My Thoughts: I defined this one as "vampire noir" due to its darkness. While there are definitely laugh-out-loud moments, overall it's a pretty somber piece. Also, these aren't vampires (or werewolves and shapeshifters) as we know them - but you'll learn more when you read the book. If you enjoy a good suspense story with elements of police procedural and paranormal, you should enjoy this book - I recommend it!
own-but-unread
December 26, 2010See comments.
June 19, 2018
This is the second book by Leather I've read, the first being The Chinaman. That, too, was a very good book with an ending I didn't see coming. Leather did the same with Once Bitten.
This book tells us about Jamie Beaverbook, a psychologist on contract with LAPD helping them to determine when someone who has been arrested is sane or not. In the course of his job he comes across Terry Ferriman, a young lady who looks even younger who was arrested bending over a dead man devoid of blood in an alley.
And so the adventure begins.
Jamie is harassed by the cops who call him Van Helsing, The Vampire Hunter and adorn his classic British car with various vampire related items; a bat around his radio antenna, strings of garlic on his windshield among others. All this is due to his dealing with those arrested during the full moon, a time, according to Leather when the crazies come out in force.
But now Jamie may be dealing with a real vampire and with a super secret government agency that is hunting vampires, werewolves and shapeshifters.
Leather leads us on a psychological chase; are vampires real? Is he lovely Miss Ferriman one? Tune in this time next. . . wait, that's an old time radio show. In this one you'll have to read the book.
This book is well written and it begins at the end. . . sort of. How so you ask? Read the book and find out.
The book is intriguing, it makes what our horror story culture has attributed to the supernatural a part of science. In the end. . . the real end, you're left to decide for yourself who the bad guys are and who, if anyone, is the good guy. It's an intriguing read. I know, I said that before but it bears repeating.
This book tells us about Jamie Beaverbook, a psychologist on contract with LAPD helping them to determine when someone who has been arrested is sane or not. In the course of his job he comes across Terry Ferriman, a young lady who looks even younger who was arrested bending over a dead man devoid of blood in an alley.
And so the adventure begins.
Jamie is harassed by the cops who call him Van Helsing, The Vampire Hunter and adorn his classic British car with various vampire related items; a bat around his radio antenna, strings of garlic on his windshield among others. All this is due to his dealing with those arrested during the full moon, a time, according to Leather when the crazies come out in force.
But now Jamie may be dealing with a real vampire and with a super secret government agency that is hunting vampires, werewolves and shapeshifters.
Leather leads us on a psychological chase; are vampires real? Is he lovely Miss Ferriman one? Tune in this time next. . . wait, that's an old time radio show. In this one you'll have to read the book.
This book is well written and it begins at the end. . . sort of. How so you ask? Read the book and find out.
The book is intriguing, it makes what our horror story culture has attributed to the supernatural a part of science. In the end. . . the real end, you're left to decide for yourself who the bad guys are and who, if anyone, is the good guy. It's an intriguing read. I know, I said that before but it bears repeating.
November 30, 2018
This was a free download by a new (to me) author and it has been sitting in my to read pile for yonks. I got as far as page 82 which is more than a third way through but wasn’t engaging. It isn’t the sort of book I usually read so maybe that is the problem – it’s just not my thing.
February 25, 2012
The current version of the book has a different cover to the one above, I’m not sure I’m keen on the new cover and I probably wouldn’t have bought the book if I seen that version instead of the one above:), my Kindle edition calls the novel ’Once Bitten (A Thriller with Bite)’ and it definitely is a thriller. Normally I read a lot of Urban Fantasy which has elements of the thriller genre in it, in that the stories are usually underpinned by a mystery that the hero or heroine has to solve but overall they are character driven. In this case we have a thriller that happens to include vampires and due to the lack of the usual Urban Fantasy world/character building (the vampire world is not integral to the story) I’d probably call this a paranormal thriller.
It took me a few pages to get into this book due to the heavy use of similes in the first chapter, but I pressed on and while I was never fully overwhelmed I was impressed by the authors knowledge of psychology, and the highly scientific and plausible research disclosed later in the book.
Despite being a thriller the mystery of the dead man seemed to be tied up quite quickly and smoe of the thrill element dropped off as I found Jamie’s subsequent investigation of Terry was pretty inevitable in its conclusion. However I was still interested in how they would leave things between them and so I was a bit disappointed by the ending. Jamie is compassionate throughout and is moved by some of the more horrific cases he deals with and I also got the impression he had a sense of justice, so I though his solution to the problem he faced was a bit of a cop-out.
I’m having a tough job pinning down exactly what bothered me about this novel while trying not to give away the ending, as while the book was a bit average I don’t feel like I wasted time reading it so I wouldn’t want to ruin it for anyone. But had I known the ending which to me seemed hasty and went against the idea of the compassionate psychologist I imagined, I probably would have left it on my virtual ‘Unread’ shelf a little longer. The story had been reasonable up until the last chapters, and sadly the resolution at the end made no sense to me. Considering the amount of effort Beaverbrook put in to get there, I’m surprised he didn’t do anything with the information he had gathered, nothing about his feelings for Terry had changed at the end, and what he knew then he admits he had known from the beginning, so for me it made the whole thing seem pretty pointless.
As a result I could only call this average at best I’m afraid, but the Kindle price makes it a bit of a bargain at the moment and it’s on Amazon
It took me a few pages to get into this book due to the heavy use of similes in the first chapter, but I pressed on and while I was never fully overwhelmed I was impressed by the authors knowledge of psychology, and the highly scientific and plausible research disclosed later in the book.
Despite being a thriller the mystery of the dead man seemed to be tied up quite quickly and smoe of the thrill element dropped off as I found Jamie’s subsequent investigation of Terry was pretty inevitable in its conclusion. However I was still interested in how they would leave things between them and so I was a bit disappointed by the ending. Jamie is compassionate throughout and is moved by some of the more horrific cases he deals with and I also got the impression he had a sense of justice, so I though his solution to the problem he faced was a bit of a cop-out.
I’m having a tough job pinning down exactly what bothered me about this novel while trying not to give away the ending, as while the book was a bit average I don’t feel like I wasted time reading it so I wouldn’t want to ruin it for anyone. But had I known the ending which to me seemed hasty and went against the idea of the compassionate psychologist I imagined, I probably would have left it on my virtual ‘Unread’ shelf a little longer. The story had been reasonable up until the last chapters, and sadly the resolution at the end made no sense to me. Considering the amount of effort Beaverbrook put in to get there, I’m surprised he didn’t do anything with the information he had gathered, nothing about his feelings for Terry had changed at the end, and what he knew then he admits he had known from the beginning, so for me it made the whole thing seem pretty pointless.
As a result I could only call this average at best I’m afraid, but the Kindle price makes it a bit of a bargain at the moment and it’s on Amazon
November 17, 2011
ONCE BITTEN by Stephen Leather
11/11 – AmazonEncore – Mass Market Paperback, 300 pages
How much belief in something does it take to make it true?
Being a clinical psychologist for the LAPD, Dr. Jamie Beaverbrook has been involved in every unbelievable crime conceivable. He has heard all manner of excuses, recommended treatment as deemed necessary, and helped prosecute those hiding behind the veil of insanity. When Jamie encounters the bizarre crime Terri Ferriman has been accused of committing, he feels there may be no test created or appropriate line of treatment written to figure out what happened.
Terri claims innocence even though she was arrested standing over a savagely attacked man drained of all his blood. The more Jamie tries to figure out motive for the crime and determine if Terri is guilty, innocent, or insane he is drawn into a web of seduction with her that crosses every professional line he vowed to uphold. Her mysterious manner becomes intoxicating, her sense of darkness alluring, and while he fights it Jamie knows that she is taking him somewhere he should not go but so wants to be wherever she is hiding.
Jamie is not listening to the signals going on in his head that tell him something is not right with this woman even though she passes all of his tests. Her story may seem sincere but why do so many things not add up to fit her in this time, let alone century. Jamie believes in science facts, not tales of smoke and mirrors. Terri may have some power he is not aware of, and could she may truly be something he refuses to believe exists.
When the alphabet soup of national security steps in Jamie knows, whatever he does from this moment on is life altering. If Jamie crosses the line of being able to make factual decisions into those ruled by his heart he cannot step back without consequences. In the end, Jamie takes the facts and feelings he has and comes to a realization that makes him decide how he wants to live with the truth.
This book is so both scary and fascinating giving readers so much more than you can possibly imagine coming from one book. Read this book multiple times to allow yourself to understand everything that is going on and learn something new with each read.
11/11 – AmazonEncore – Mass Market Paperback, 300 pages
How much belief in something does it take to make it true?
Being a clinical psychologist for the LAPD, Dr. Jamie Beaverbrook has been involved in every unbelievable crime conceivable. He has heard all manner of excuses, recommended treatment as deemed necessary, and helped prosecute those hiding behind the veil of insanity. When Jamie encounters the bizarre crime Terri Ferriman has been accused of committing, he feels there may be no test created or appropriate line of treatment written to figure out what happened.
Terri claims innocence even though she was arrested standing over a savagely attacked man drained of all his blood. The more Jamie tries to figure out motive for the crime and determine if Terri is guilty, innocent, or insane he is drawn into a web of seduction with her that crosses every professional line he vowed to uphold. Her mysterious manner becomes intoxicating, her sense of darkness alluring, and while he fights it Jamie knows that she is taking him somewhere he should not go but so wants to be wherever she is hiding.
Jamie is not listening to the signals going on in his head that tell him something is not right with this woman even though she passes all of his tests. Her story may seem sincere but why do so many things not add up to fit her in this time, let alone century. Jamie believes in science facts, not tales of smoke and mirrors. Terri may have some power he is not aware of, and could she may truly be something he refuses to believe exists.
When the alphabet soup of national security steps in Jamie knows, whatever he does from this moment on is life altering. If Jamie crosses the line of being able to make factual decisions into those ruled by his heart he cannot step back without consequences. In the end, Jamie takes the facts and feelings he has and comes to a realization that makes him decide how he wants to live with the truth.
This book is so both scary and fascinating giving readers so much more than you can possibly imagine coming from one book. Read this book multiple times to allow yourself to understand everything that is going on and learn something new with each read.
May 16, 2016
This is one of those scientific vampire novels where it's all just a genetic anomaly. Vampires are just chemically different humans with cells that just keep on dividing. Excited yet? I wasn't. Sigh. It reads like played out pseudo science. Maybe if there was more going on it would have worked. The main character is a haggard, divorced, 35 year old psychiatrist who falls for the hot young looking vampire who gives him the best sex of his life. Author yada yadas this alleged great sex he doesn't have the imagination to write. What several characters around him ask, and what ends up being the crux of the story, is Why does SHE want YOU? It's a problematic question to a male with a healthy ego. Overall this book is what I hate most - sad.
March 26, 2011
Interesting, hard to start and quick to wrap up. The author is very smart and the concept was cool.
I had a hard time with the dialect. I know it is English. The author had a habit of writing in a UK English even when speaking for the American characters. As in the case of Sugar. He slipped and although I don't mind reading an English accent in fact I liked it, it was confusing a little. I understand the author is a Britt, but I have seen American authors do the reverse without issue.
I had a hard time with the dialect. I know it is English. The author had a habit of writing in a UK English even when speaking for the American characters. As in the case of Sugar. He slipped and although I don't mind reading an English accent in fact I liked it, it was confusing a little. I understand the author is a Britt, but I have seen American authors do the reverse without issue.
January 1, 2011
my fiance bought this as a book to christen the kindle i bought him for christmas. He read it and recommended I read it afterwards.
I am very glad I did. It was a great book and I would recommend it to anyone who loves their supernatural/vampire stories.
It was a light and easy read, yet captivating at the same time. Awesome =D
I am very glad I did. It was a great book and I would recommend it to anyone who loves their supernatural/vampire stories.
It was a light and easy read, yet captivating at the same time. Awesome =D
April 21, 2012
Not a typical vampire book, in fact the suspected vampire may not even be one at all at the beginning of the book but it becomes very obvious that she is. And this is not a spoiler. The question is, what is the nature of her relationship with the criminal psychologist who examines her when she is found over a dead body in an alleyway with blood around her mouth?
A quick and enjoyable read
A quick and enjoyable read
May 18, 2011
This was a really good read. Based on the title you'd think it was your basic vampire story. It is anything but basic and once you start reading you become engrossed with the characters. I think some of the characters could have been expanded and it ended rather abruptly but I enjoyed the book.
November 21, 2011
Loved it! I've only read two of the Inspector Zhang short stories of Stephen Leather previously. They were ok, but after this I will definitely be reading more! I didn't want this to end, and it didn't end how I wanted, but that's not a bad thing!
October 13, 2011
A brilliant read from Stephen Leather, love this author's work
October 30, 2011
Loved This book a definite re read :)
December 10, 2011
Really enjoyed this book, admitedly it was not as dark or as good as 'The Basement' but it was a very enjoyable read all the same with a nice twisting plot right up to the end.
January 21, 2011
It wasn't what I expected, but it was good. Although I'm not terribly sure about the end...
April 5, 2020
I wanted to like this book more than I did. With the title of Once Bitten, I was expecting a paranormal something. I would classify this story to be more of a thriller. It is not until page 165 does one of the main characters finally accuses the other main character of being a vampire. Their response is a laugh and "Do I look like a vampire?" As the reader my response was yeah... you don't age and you need blood to survive. Last time I checked that's a vampire. Turns out the term vampire is just thrown around because that is what morals used to call them in folklore. In actuality, they are considered mutants being hunted down by the government to be studied. It's not a terrible story. Just a different take on vampires. If you leave your vampire expectations at the door it's a short, enjoyable read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 14, 2016
I am really torn in regards to this book. Here, there is a perfect example why half stars can increase the accuracy of the reviews. Because for me it was a solid 3.5 book, but because there is no 3.5 rating, I went with 4 stars instead of 3. Good writing, good characterisation, interesting plot and a lot of suspense. ...."I'm an Englishman in New York!" - anyone?
January 16, 2018
This is supposed to be a thriller but it took half the book to even start to thrill a bit. Then just when it began to get interesting it finished. A major anti climax. I was disappointed to be honest. Not sure if there is a sequel but there needs to be otherwise the story was pretty pointless because it didn't actually finish!!
March 1, 2020
Not good
I have read a lot of books about vampires and thoroughly enjoyed them. I haven't enjoyed this book at all. There is an awful lot of rambling and you spend all of the time not believing that they would ever get together and that in a way they are using each other. Definitely won't be reading any other books by this author.
I have read a lot of books about vampires and thoroughly enjoyed them. I haven't enjoyed this book at all. There is an awful lot of rambling and you spend all of the time not believing that they would ever get together and that in a way they are using each other. Definitely won't be reading any other books by this author.
August 30, 2018
There were plans and false plans, there was a lot going on, but nothing is ever set and some plans go awry. But there are still plans, there are still cases. There maybe promises, they maybe false, everything is so complicated.
January 30, 2019
The book is very gripping should be a follow up very entertaining and just drags you allowing with the plot
Great read if there is a follow up book I will be looking for it a more up-to-date version of the vampire story
Great read if there is a follow up book I will be looking for it a more up-to-date version of the vampire story
January 19, 2018
All roads seem to lead to a vampire, but is that true? As I neared the end, I thought I will need to read the sequel, but no need with the unexpected ending.
May 30, 2018
Dont bother.
what a waste of my time and that ending! I waded through it in the hopes of a great end and...nothing!
Anticlimatic
what a waste of my time and that ending! I waded through it in the hopes of a great end and...nothing!
Anticlimatic
August 18, 2018
Just too far-fetched
February 4, 2019
Easy different read
A remove from the usual but enjoyable enough book to read...worth a go if you can't resist a pretty vampire!
A remove from the usual but enjoyable enough book to read...worth a go if you can't resist a pretty vampire!
March 19, 2019
Original
I borrowed this book as part of my kindle unlimited subscription as an audiobook.
Lovely to read a stand alone book in this genre. Genuinely unexpected ending
I borrowed this book as part of my kindle unlimited subscription as an audiobook.
Lovely to read a stand alone book in this genre. Genuinely unexpected ending
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