Vampyres of Hollywood

Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (9/08) A maniacal serial killer, aka the Cinema Slayer, is on the loose in Hollywood. The first three deaths draw attention to the legendary screen queen Osvanna Moore because they were affiliated with her production studio. Five-hundred-sixty-year-old, beautiful Osvanna, who also happens to be the vampire Chatelaine of Los Angeles, does not want this attention. Neither do some other very powerful vampires. When more bodies start piling up, and I mean that literally, it appears that Osvanna is being targeted. The vampires let her know that she has 48 hours to figure out who is doing the murders or they will have to take action against her. Handsome Beverly Hills Detective Peter King is assigned to the case. He finds himself both drawn to Osvanna and suspicious of her. He knows that she is hiding something and he is determined to find out the truth. Little does he know how much he is about to discover about Osvanna and her kind. I loved this book! It combines all of my favorite elements into a great novel; mystery, adventure, romance, sex, and the paranormal. An alternate history is created that has had vampires influencing our mundane world for centuries. These influences range from altering major historical events to allowing the secret vampires in Hollywood to give us false beliefs about vampirism. This made the book so much more fun because their powers are much greater than can be imagined, which also makes them harder to destroy. Another positive aspect of the book was the inclusion of famous Hollywood actors as characters, including some of those who have passed on. Or who have supposedly passed on. This special touch brought forth the magical feeling of Tinsel town. It is very interesting to note that a beautiful Hollywood actress, who does not appear to be aging, is writing about a vampire actress who also is not aging. Hmmh, kind of makes me think, "What if?" Adrienne Barbeau and Michael Scott have formed a winning writing team with "Vampyres of Hollywood.". I truly hope that they continue to collaborate together.

For me this was a fun and unusual (but in a good way) mystery. The book slowly reveals the characters secrets while still progressing to figure out who is causing all the chaos. The view of Hollywood is something that will attract anyone who likes to find out what actors and actresses do. While (of course) the stars of Hollywood are not really vampires, many of the cold-blooded behavior, the favorites getting roles because of romantic entanglements, and many other touches are, I am sure, true. If you like the paranormal and you like mysteries this would be a must read for you.

Scream Queen Ovsanna Moore is the Chatelaine of Hollywood. That means all other vampyres within the city answer to her. And she has high standards to maintain. As an actress, screenwriter, and head of Anticipation Studios, she also controls much of the information the general public receives about vampyres. She has helped perpetuate the fictional big screen image of cross and garlic fearing creatures of the night so that her kind can exist among humans with little suspect. But when a killer begins picking off her Creations, it appears someone knows the truth and is out to destroy her self-created dynasty. Assigned to the Cinema Slayer case is Detective Peter King, a second generation cop. He knows a great deal about the film industry, thanks to his mother, a retired actress and movie fanatic. He knows there is something different about Ovsanna Moore, but he can't quite figure it out. She is behind the murders, or someone is setting her up to take the fall, but either way she has information she is not sharing with him. And he simply has to figure out the strange relationship between Ovsanna and her assistant, Maral. Vampyres of Hollywood is told from the perspectives of both Ovsanna and Peter, alternating chapters between the two protagonists. The witty storyline flows nicely between them. Authors Adrienne Barbeau (of Swamp Thing and Creep Show fame, among others) and Michael Scott (author of the bestselling novel The Alchemyst) bring a wealth of expertise and skill to the pages, creating a polished novel full of fun movie trivia. They have managed to incorporate numerous lost Hollywood legends into a contemporary work of fiction. It is both a mystery and a horror novel with plenty of gore. Readers are not likely to guess the identity of the killer right away, if at all. This novel has an incredibly wide audience: movie buffs, paranormal fans, and armchair detectives. The glamor and flamboyancy of Hollywood marred by scandal and covert lifestyles falls pretty close to reality. Vampire lore, ancient mythical creatures and sordid sex lives only make the story sweeter. Vampyres of Hollywood is an incredibly fun read and I hope Barbeau and Scott team up for future collaborations.

I bought this book simply because I enjoyed Adrienne Barbeau's first book ("There Are Worse Things I Could Do") very, very much. And I am not disappointed with her latest book! This novel is fast-paced, fun, sexy, scary and intriguing. The story, which was co-penned by Michael Scott, rolls along, revealing lots of surprises along the way. All in all, this is a light, fun, scary read -- perfect for reading by the pool this summer. My only complaint is there are some grammar problems. The authors don't seem to know the difference between "farther" and "further." And some other questionable grammar rears its head here and there, such as the writers meaning "I couldn't care less" but writing "I could care less." Common mistakes like those do distract, but the overall effect of the novel is quite charming. Perhaps a new editor should work on Barbeau's next book. However, this is a fun book. Buy it, buy it!

Ovsanna Moore-horror film scream queen, Peter King-hero detective for the Hollywood Police Department, and an enormous amount of "ancients"- very aged and devilish vampires from all over the world, and from the beginning of time. These "people"-and I use the word lightly-make up the characters in this story. I absolutely loved it. This book is captivating, action packed and informative. I would recommend this book to anyone, whether you believe or not!! This book rates the highest with me-6 stars. This book is very well written and is so suspenseful you won't be able to put it down.