Red Moon Rising: A Vampire Novel

Billie Sue Mosiman, in Red Moon Rising, presents the reader with a promising new vision of vampirism. The author's basic premise is a good one, and it bodes well for the future of this book's sequels, but the storyline here begins to unravel a bit by the end, somewhat weakened by a lack of closure. There also seem to be a couple of inconsistencies over the course of the novel, but these do little harm. Red Moon Rising is a fast and enjoyable read, possessing a spirit of novelty that few vampire novels manage to attain these days, but it comes up a little short due largely to a few rushed spots and a few weaknesses in characterization.In the world of Mosiman's creation, vampirism is caused by a mutated form of the blood disease porphyria (although vampires can be "made" on rare occasions); crossing the threshold from life to undeath involves a spiritual journey. There are three types of vampires - Predators, Naturals, and Cravens - and the afflicted Soul is transported to a dark and frightening world in which he/she must choose what type of vampire he/she wants to be. It is easy to give in to the Predators; these are the more stereotypical vampires, holding some disdain for mankind and partaking of fresh meals any time they want to. The Cravens also hold some allure to journeyman souls in this confusing new world, but Cravens are looked down upon by their brethren for their cowardly inability to cope with the change and take care of themselves in their new "lives." The Naturals reject the animal-like blood lust of the Predators and seek to live their lives in the guise of normal human beings, relying on the Predators' supply of bagged blood for their sustenance. As the novel opens, eighteen-year-old Dell Cambian is forced to make her choice. She is a typical teenager who just happens to come from a family of vampires, but she had desperately hoped the disease would pass her by. An ancient vampire named Mentor is called upon to help Dell through her transition, and in a sense both of these characters compete for the role of protagonist as the book rolls along. Mentor has more to worry about that Dell's rebelliousness and growing love for a human boy, though. The Predator in charge of the area's blood supply business is poised to take drastic action when a pair of humans finds evidence of the vampires' existence, and an even bigger potential threat looms in the form of a filthy rich old man dying of the normal form of porphyria and seeking out a vampire to give him eternal life. The novel starts off really well, especially in terms of Dell's troubles adjusting to her new "life." The reader also gets valuable insight into Mentor, a most unusual vampire who has undertaken the job of guiding all of his young charges in the area. The novel loses cohesion toward the end, however, and certain key elements simply come about without much explanation. Clearly, Mosiman was setting the stage for a sequel, and this results in a definite lack of

If you're looking for a great Vampire story with a twist, then Red Moon Rising is just the book for you. Instead of coming up with another variation of what the Vampires will be, Billie Sue Mosiman takes the predominant qualities and separates them into three distinct type of Vampires; the Predators, the Cravens, and the Naturals. Making this type of distinction no longer limits which qualities, powers, weakness', personalities, etc. the particular Vampires have to 'fit' in. Della Cambian, a high school senior two weeks away from graduation, has finally caught the 'disease', the one which transforms one into a Vampire. Her mother, father, younger brother, and most of her blood relatives have already gone through the transformation. To help with the transition and to make sure Della make the right choice of which of the three types of Vampire she will be, the family's summons Mentor, the areas helper and guide.Mentor has a variety of roles, which include keeping the peace in the Vampire community, making sure their secret is safe from mortals, and getting involved in disputes. One of the main crisis he has to deal with is when a doctor finds one of the local blood banks is shipping out untested blood, a situation that may have been going on for over a century. Unknown to her, the Blood Bank is run by a Predator Vampire who supplies the blood to the rest of the Vampires, for a fee. It is up to Mentor and Ross, the head of the Blood Bank, to ensure their secret isn't found out.This book is very fast paced and has an engrossing storyline. It's well written, entertaining, and hard to put down once you get started.

If you enjoy reading Ann Rice then You MUST check this writer out! This was the second Billie Sue Mosiman book I've read, and she is awesome! This one really put me on the edge of my reading chair! Happy reading...

I enjoyed this book and read it in one go. I liked the twist on the old vampire-story, where vampires are living among us and are just sufferers from a disease and trying to live "normal" lives. Where not all vampires are just preying on humankind. Predators, to prey, supply blood for other vampires and kill renegades. Cravens, little weaklinglings. Normals, as it says: no killers and trying to fit in with the humans.Seems to me to have overtures of the Kindred: vampire-clans, Mentor like Archon, a vampire who tries to keep peace between the clans and a leader to help other vampires cope with their existence.Nice concept and I hope it will be a first in a series rather than a stand-alone novel.

There exists a rare blood disease that is fatal to most humans. The illness turns a person into a monster with distorted facial features and leaves the victims in excruciating pain. Thankfully their life span is short. In a statistically insignificant part of the population, a gene turns some individuals into vampires upon their death. That particular gene is dominant leading to whole families of vampires, but each clan differs on their approach to human contact. One clan, the Predators sees mankind as a food source while another The Craven prefers to hide in the depressing darkness away from people. The Naturals live among humans drinking their blood sold to them by Predators who own a blood bank.High school senior Dell Cambien falls for Ryan just before she undergoes the change. Ryan struggles to control her new abilities as she chooses the path her life will take, which might include Dell shaking the foundation of vampirism to its core.This novel provides a new fascinating twist to the vampire legend. Billie Sue Mosiman is excellent at creating characters that appear genuine even those who are supernatural because she makes her supporting evidence sound believable and scientific. Although the obvious inclination is to categorize RED MOON RISING as horror or perhaps urban fantasy, the novel contains a coming of age plot that deals with choices, morality, and honor. Genre fans and some mainstream readers will toast Ms. Mosiman for her creative novel.Harriet Klausner