How Dear the Dawn

By: Dave Pedneau, Marc Eliot

Narrated by: Chiquito Crasto

His power began in the ancient world, long before you and I were born. He is the master vampire. And he's here. Now.

Imagine a vampire brought back to life by a crazy old man in a sleepy coastal village. Imagine a horror so unspeakable, so threatening, that no one is safe. No one is immune. Now imagine yourself the only person in town who believes the truth, the only person who can halt the terror. Then keep your eyes wide open. Look over your shoulder. Because this isn't your imagination. This is for real.

Sleep only if you dare…

©1990 Holly Pedneau (P)2013 David N. Wilson

Great story, terrible reader

I love this story. Have the novel and thought this would be nice to listen to on a long drive. I can not believe how bad this voice actor is at reading this story. The opening of this story is to set the mood of the impending doom about to creep over the beach town, but the way this man reads makes it almost impossible to stay with the book. I turned it off 20 min in and had then finally I listened to the rest of the book though it was rough. Another great book ruined by a bad reader.

Good Story Bad Bad reader

Would have been a good story if the reader wasn't so bad. If your going to read a book say the words right.

A Diverting Vampire Tale

"How Dear the Dawn" did exactly what I expected it to: it provided me a couple days' entertainment while I did household chores & yardwork. It was a serviceable, if dated and undistinguished thriller, perfect for people who want a "Salem's Lot"-type book, but who have already read Robert McCammon's "They Thirst" and others of the like.

There aren't any real surprises here, nor any deep scares, but the story kept my interest. The characters are recognizable, if not particularly well fleshed-out. The small-town setting lent a certain isolated atmosphere to the story.

By far the worst part of this audiobook is the production and narration. The production is particularly amateurish--at times you can hear background noise, thumps, etc. There are a few instances of repeated sentences. There also aren't any breaks between scenes, which can be momentarily confusing.

The narrator isn't bad, per se. I'd actually listen to another book narrated by Chiquito Crasto--he has a very pleasant voice and speaking style (although he doesn't vary that style at all, so scenes of intense action are read at the same measured pace). However, his thickly accented English isn't really suited for a book about vampires in small-town South Carolina. Although he speaks beautifully, there are many words which are mispronounced or just flat out wrong. He has a great deal of difficulty with the English "V" sound. You'll hear "Wampire" a lot.

For readers looking to scratch their "vampire" itch, this might be a good choice, but anyone else might prefer to give it a pass.