Uprising: Vampire Federation by Sean McCabe

US Edition

Yet another offering from LibraryThing's Early Reviewers. I've been making out like a bandit, lately, I'm pleased to say. This time it's Uprising, the first book of the new Vampire Federation series by Sean McCabe.You may also know him as Scott Mariani, author of the Ben Hope thriller series, which is quite popular in the UK. In fact, Uprising has already been published in the UK, in June 2010, under the name Scott G. Mariani. But don't let the pseudonym get in your way -- Uprising is making it's American debut February 1, 2011. And, I gotta say, I think the US cover is much more appealing.

Back cover blurb:

A gruesome ritual murder has stained the Oxfordshire countryside. It's just the first incident in a chain of events awakening Detective Inspector Joel Solomon to his worst nightmare-and a dreadful omen of things to come. Because Joel has a secret: he believes in vampires.

Alex Bishop is an agent of the Vampire Intelligence Agency. She's tasked with enforcing the laws of the global Vampire Federation, and hunting rogue members of her race. A tough job made tougher when the Federation comes under attack by traditionalist vampires. They have a stake in old-school terror-and in an uprising as violent as it is widespread.
Now it's plunging Alex and Joel into a deadly war between the living and the unloving-and against a horrifying tradition given new life by the blood of the innocent.

UK Edition

I just finished reading this today, and I thought it was great. Granted, I wasn't immediately hooked. A few things stand out as less-than-perfect. For example, there's an overly narrated quality to the author's writing style that I didn't always like. At times, it felt like McCabe was trying to write things like a movie instead of a book. Some may enjoy that, but I felt that the narrative flow suffered. A few too many perspective changes, choppy action sequences, scene setups that were a bit forced ... that sort of thing. Overall, none if it stopped me from reading or enjoying this book, so let's move on to talking about the fun stuff.

Uprising scores well with me because I never once lost interest in what I was reading. The story unfolded pretty quickly and maintained momentum until the cliffhanger end. Some aspects of the plot were predictable, yes, but that didn't bother me too much since I was happily entertained, nonetheless. There was plenty of good action to be had -- chase scenes, firefights, and dramatic developments in creepy places. Best of all, there was the perfect amount of twisted, violent grit. Readers who fear that the vampire genre has plummeted down a hill of mind-numbing smut and broody Byronic types can happily turn to this book. Here the vampires are dark, dangerous ... and not a one of them glitters.

Uprising: Vampire Federation comes out February 1, 2011. You can read an excerpt here. Unfortunately, it's too early to know anything about the sequel, but I'm definitely looking forward to it.

Find more reviews of this book at Geek Syndicate and It's a Book Blog.