Afterage

by Yvonne Navarro, Brian Hodge (Introduction), Rick Sardina (Illustrator)

Overview

A plague of vampirism has taken over, reducing cities to ghost towns. Chicago, scattered survivors hide, raiding deserted stores for dwindling supplies.A hungry vampire population also struggles for survival as their prey grows scarce, forcing them to capture alive the last remaining humans as breeding stock for the blood farms that will ensure their future. Now a small band of humans makes a desperate last stand against their vampire masters, fighting back with the only weapon that can kill the dead...

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781892950581
Publisher:	Overlook Connection Press, The
Publication date:	10/22/2002
Pages:	360
Product dimensions:	0.94(w) x 6.00(h) x 9.00(d)

Editorial Reviews

Originally published in paperback in 1993, this horror extravaganza shows a first-time novelist laboring to milk a drop of originality from the tapped-out theme of global vampire takeover. The tale is set in Chicago's downtown Loop two years after a vampire uprising has decimated the human population and turned the city into a mausoleum ruled by the undead. These are not the sophisticated killing machines of other vampire apocalypse stories, but a headstrong, impulsive lot who have all but depleted their food supply and must feed sparingly on a small herd of human cattle penned up in the abandoned Merchandise Mart. This sets the stage for a Dirty Dozen scenario in which a troop of guerrilla mortals, most of whom assumed he or she was the last living human, unite to liberate the captives. Navarro (That's Not My Name) skimps on developing significant plot details like how the vampires rose to power and how one mortal has acquired mystic knowledge of the secret for destroying them focusing instead on individual stories of mortal and vampire survival that make up the mosaic narrative. This panoramic approach keeps the tale moving briskly in swift, cinematic cuts, but also ensures that individuals will never be in the spotlight long enough to transcend clich? character types: the cowardly collaborator, the martinet enemy lieutenant, the doomed couple who find love among the ruins. Essentially a war adventure with a supernatural twist, this novel is a competent if unremarkable addition to the modern vampire canon. (Nov. 1) FYI: This edition features a brief prequel and excerpt from a forthcoming sequel. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly