Vamparazzi [Dramatized Adaptation]

Esther Diamond, Book 4

By: Laura Resnick

Narrated by: full cast, Colleen Delany, Thomas Keegan, Bob Payne, Bradley Smith, Brian Hemmingsen, Todd Scofield, Christopher Walker, Yasmin Tuazon, Peter Holdway, Chris Genebach, Gary Telles

Length: 6 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

Everything you know about vampires is wrong, as struggling actress Esther Diamond discovers after taking a job as a victim in The Vampyre, an off-Broadway cult hit in Manhattan. Not only is she besieged by fang-wearing vampire groupies, fanatical anti-vampire activists, and the bloodsucking paparazzi, but she also has to put up with broody lead actor Daemon Ravel, who claims to be a real vampire. But when one of Daemon's fan girls turns up dead - and drained of all her blood - Esther is determined to help. She turns to her friend Max, a 350-year-old magician. Meanwhile, Detective Connor Lopez, Esther's ex-almost-boyfriend, is convinced that Esther herself is the blood-sucking killer's next target.

Performed by Colleen Delany, Thomas Keegan, Bob Payne, Bradley Smith, Brian Hemmingsen, Todd Scofield, Christopher Walker, Yasmin Tuazon, Peter Holdway, Chris Genebach, Gary Telles, Matthew Bassett, Danny Gavigan, Sasha Olinick, Steven Carpenter, Matthew Schleigh, Evan Casey, Dylan Lynch, Eric Messner, Tracy Olivera, Audrey Bertaux, Marni Penning, Ren Casey.

©2011 Laura Resnick (P)2017 Graphic Audio, LLC

New vampire mythos

Invents a new kind of vampire that doesn't add anything to entertainment. Just to muddle the mystery. Very little action. Unfortunately most of story is kibitzing. Adds nothing to the plot to listen to people who are tired of being at a bar , going on about how tired they are. The whole story revolves around listening to people complain.

I like the series a lot, BUT…..

The constant repeat of not letting Lopez and Esther end up together after now 4 books is infuriating

Full cast is great

Fun mystery with quirky characters and lots of action. Really like Esther and her friends. Loved the theatre setting and the background of the play with its odd cast. Graphic audio really kept me engaged. I listened straight through.

enjoyable

I've fallen in love w this series. The cast does an excellent preformance esp the MC's narrator. It was interesting to get a glimpse of Max's early life. I really enjoyed the twist on vampires.

And the point was … what, exactly?

Ugh, after the previous book’s expansion into more magic and greater creature variety, this installment reverts back to a 1 trick supernatural pony. Worse, the sole supernatural schtick is a vampire, the most overdone supernatural being ever. Here, vampire lore is tweaked to create three kinds of vampires.
Via mage Max, we get a lot of blah blah exposition on the three types, and even go off on a thirty minute vampire hunt flashback from Max’s younger days. But, was there anything exciting about any of this?
No, not at all.

The only new characters were vapid actors, directors, and reporters. The only other content was devoted to show biz. I agree with another reviewer (ljw) that way too much time was spent hanging out at bars prattling on about nothing. This book didn’t do anything to advance the MCs or any series arc.
Even for free in Audible Plus, I recommend skipping this one.