Vampire$

By: John Steakley

Narrated by: Tom Weiner

Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

Suppose there really were vampires. Dark, stalking, destroying. They’d have to be killed, wouldn’t they? Of course they would. But what kind of fools would try to make a living at it?

In best-selling author John Steakley's vampire classic, one tightly knit band of brothers devotes itself to hunting down the monsters that infest the modern world—for a price. An exciting blend of horror and western genres, Vampire$ is a twenty-first-century Ghostbusters with an edge.

©1990 John Steakley (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“This is exciting and surprising stuff….a real genre-bender that keeps the best elements of both.” ( Locus)

“Gives a closer, longer look at violent vampire-hunting than anything else to date, often at a breathtaking pace.” ( Vampire's Closet)

I prefer the movie

For a book about vampire hunters, there isn’t much vampire hunting. The book drags a little too much for my taste, specifically a section where a character describes being seduced by a master vampire. I found myself checking to see how much was left.

Nights Black Agents in Novel Form

This is what you could call a masterpiece. Take the framework of Dracula, set it in the eighty's and turn up the Murder-hobo to eleven. It is in a way a blood soaked tribute to Bram. And a letter to the future gamers sat around a table, dice in hand trying to figure out just how the hell to kill this bastards. This wasn't written by a present day nWoD or old-WoD player and author. This, this could easily have been there template for NBA as much as Dracula. Makes you wonder if the people at White Wolf and Peligrane had read this.

So much better than the movie!

Do not go into this thinking that it’s just like the movie. It’s so much better and the characters are much more relatable than the movie.

Nail biting!

Loved the story, narration, and the plot! It will keep you on edge with each chapter. You find yourself excited, terrified, and every feeling in between with this story. Great work!

excellent narration

The narrator did a fantastic job bringing the story alive. The tones and sound effects were also a great addition to the storyline.

A great exploration of the modern vampire myth.

I thought this book was heavy in both prose and action. Something to Love for everyone.

Pass

audio porn with a vampire story thrown in. Had the potential to be good but lost all interest because the sex was to distracting

excellent listen with flaws

excellent listen, rather bleak at times. some characters voices don't match their characters however

Weiner Growls Through Steakley's Narrative

I remember reading this in college after finding it in the the old Davis-Kidd booksellers in Nashville, TN. Throwing in a cigarette-smoking band of mercenaries, fronted by the Vatican at America's vampire problem was awesome. Jack Crow and his protege/soulkeeper Felix lead a band of vampire hunters straight out of a Western. Whiskey, gore and sexually -charged decadence fit right in the post-80's pop culture that sparked a generation of horror. James Woods was cast as Jack Crow in the movie adaptation almost a decade later, but it is the narrator Tom Weiner that brings this audiobook to life. He growls through his cast of characters with a deference to the different members of Crow's team. Well done. If you like a good dose of gore from ridiculous weapons, it is worth your time.

Rock and Roll!

Very noticeable difference from the John Carpenter film adaptation. Instead of what we see in the film, where an ancient vampire is trying to find a mystical relic to allow him and others to live in daylight, we get a story about hunters being hunted and people being manipulated and victimized all for the sake of vampires taking out an apparently legendary vampire hunter called Jack Crow.

I found the story of the novel to be more enjoyable than the movie. I came to love and enjoy all the characters and when deaths rolled around, I actually felt sad, or at least surprised!

A scene heavy with orgies, blood spilling and drinking, or just overall erotic/sexual vampiric activity really caught my attention. It was different than the usual type of scene I'd read or watched in other incarnations of vampire lore.

Some bits like silver and holy items are the typical thing you'd see in a vampire story. The inclusion of ALL vampires hating rock and roll, and instead of loving opera is INTERESTING, but it was lacking in the end because they hardly expanded on it. Why did they hate rock and roll? Do different types do something more or less than other types? If this was expanded on, I think it could've been a lot more interesting.

The final "battle" with the master was a bit disappointing, but I suppose given the setting and circumstances, it was supposed to be simple, but I still feel it could've been more than it was.

All in all, I did enjoy this book! I'm glad I was able to find it for audiobook option. Hearing about vampire hunters going after bloodsuckers really helped my days go by with entertainment.