American Vampire

Vampire for Hire, Book 3

By: J. R. Rain

Narrated by: Dina Pearlman

Length: 5 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

Mother, wife, private investigator... vampire. Six years ago, federal agent Samantha Moon was the perfect wife and mother, your typical soccer mom with the minivan and suburban home. Then the unthinkable happens, an attack that changes her life forever. And forever is a very long time for a vampire.

Now in American Vampire, the sequel to Vampire Moon, private investigator Samantha Moon receives a heartbreaking phone call from a very unlikely source: a five-year-old girl who's been missing for three months. Now on the hunt, Samantha will use her considerable resources, including her growing supernatural abilities, to locate the missing girl before it's too late. And as she gets closer and closer to the horrible truth, she receives devastating news on the home front.

Now, with her world turned upside down, Samantha Moon is forced to make the ultimate choice of life and death. And through it all, she discovers the identity of one mysterious man... a man she has grown to love.

Blood money: listen to more in the Vampire for Hire series.

©2011 J.R. Rain (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Moon Revealed

In this second installment in the Samantha Moon Vampire for Hire series we see more of the PI and woman to add to the dimensions we've experienced of the mother and vampire.

At this point her code of honor is more visible and we are privy to her internal motivations which aren't always benign. She is growing into a full character and her conscience is evident.

This story has her fighting crime concurrent to solving a mystery. It's now evident that she knows more about her kind and other immortals. She shares candidly without the fear of judgement as she considers the outcomes worthy of the questionable actions that precede them.

Dina Pearlman gives a good vocal performance and achieves identifiable diversity with new characters while cementing those from the first Moon tale.

The story, acting and total package are worthy of four stars and a future purchase of the next installment.

Good, Light Reading

I am a fan of this series, but it's a bit like a good bowl of popcorn; you enjoy it while you're eating it, and you're certainly sorry when it's done, but if something else exciting comes along, you can easily put it down. That said, I have purchased every book and will continue to do so. The writing is smooth, although I felt something was 'off' on the interpersonal relationships until I discovered JR Rain is a man-- then it made sense. Don't get me srong, he is a good writer and makes a great story and an easy read, but the women's inner voice seems like a man's version of a woman's inner voice if you know what a mean. This is a good combo of supernatural and mystery, reminded me of Dresden Files a little. Overall, a good, solid easy to digest series that I will stick with.

So much world building and sadness

I know writers want you to read the next book but these long drawn out cliffhangers seem like blackmail. On the other hand, once I start the next book just to find the end something else keeps me reading past it. The world and characters surprise me regularly and aren't just run of the mill.

Too repetitive!

"Fang, who wasn't really Fang was a blah, blah, blah....." She narrated this like every chapter, as if we'd forget. Fang was a better personality in the chatroom. Her love life altogether is irratating. The occult, the cases and her discovering more about her abilities are the only things keeping me interested which seems to be replaced more and more by boring @ss Fang. This series should focus more on the Supernatural and not prudish, sexually repressed soccer mom stories.

Great addtion to the Series!

What did you love best about American Vampire?

I love how the characters development over the series, and how Samantha's skills seem to evolve with each story.

What did you like best about this story?

In this story, we finally get to know who Fang is which I did not see that coming. I love it when a plot takes me by surprise.

Any additional comments?

This is not typical vampire story and does not betray vampires as being perfect. Yeah, Samantha has heightened senses and strength, but she cannot been seen in a mirror, or go out in the sun. Oh, and she can only drink blood and some white wine. Then she can turn into a creature that can fly.

Fizzled

I enjoyed the first two books in this series as light-hearted entertainment to listen to while driving and working. The narration is excellent, and I do recommend Dina Pearlman as a narrator. In this book the inconsistencies and bizarre decisions by the main character are really off-putting. I finished it, but do not find myself interested enough in the cliff-hanger to go on.

In reviews for the previous two books, I saw that people commented on a man writing from a woman's perspective, and this may be the problem I had with the inter-personal relationships in this book especially. While I know that sexually appreciative descriptions of the opposite sex are the norm in this detective-style genre, they struck me as excessive in this book. This was especially awkward in her relationship with the older detective, which came across as creepy rather than endearing, crossing the line between fatherly mentor and sexual object with Sam's weird descriptions of him.

I hate to leave a bad review, but I was very disappointed that I used my credit for this book.

Vampire for Hire Series

Found this on Kindle Free with audio. The first book is a little slow but entertaining enough to go for the second. The second had a huge cliff hanger. I am finding each book gets better so keep reading them. They have serious parts, scary parts, hilarious parts, a bit of everything.

the shine wore off

this one wasn't as good as the other two. I think maybe the author got bored with his characters as nothing new develops for them. The story goes to its logical conclusion.

pretty good for a short read/listen

I actually love these books...Rain manages to weave the traditional lore and myths along with adding new twists and turns along the story line.....definite reread quality

Great series

This is the third book in this series I have listened too so far. I thought this was the best book so far. This story is much darker then the others , but it has so much more content and depth too it. I love Samantha humor. The narrator is awesome. I will definitely get the next book