LoveVampires - the website dedicated to vampire fiction.
With vampire book reviews, information and author interviews.

The Vampire’s Betrayal

Raven Hart

Published 2008               320 pages

Summary

Jack risks his life by opening a portal to the underworld to rescue Connie. While in the land of the dead, he witnesses an awesome ceremony as a band of honest-to-God angels swear Connie in as the vampire slayer! Using the power of his love, Jack manages to bring Connie back to the land of the living even though she threatens the existence of him and his kind.

Connie has no memory of being anointed the vampire slayer, and her activation won't be complete until a mysterious sword materializes. William orders Jack to kill her for her own good before she discovers her deadly mission. After all, if she dies before she is activated, she will spend eternity in paradise with her baby son. But if she lives to become the slayer, she will be immortal, doomed to the existence of a half-vampire, half-human killer. But how can an anguished Jack kill the woman he loves?

Meanwhile, the bloodthirsty Old Lords work to harness elemental powers to raise the evil dead! Their wicked plan would free every twice-killed vampire from hell and turn them loose on the citizens of Savannah. William, weakened by a power he doesn't understand, must do battle with the Vampire Council before they can unleash their bloodthirsty minions. Will he be able to survive the double onslaught of the Old Lords and the vampire slayer?

The Review

The Vampire’s Betrayal is the fourth book in Raven Hart’s Savannah Vampires series.  Events in this book start directly from where the cliff-hanger ending of The Vampire’s Kiss left off, so readers who haven’t read The Vampire’s Kiss may want to check that book out first.

The Vampire’s Betrayal is written in first person from the differing points of view of the story’s two narrators Jack and William.  Jack and William each have their own unique style, or voice – Jack is very much in touch with his humanity even though he has been a vampire since William turned him during the American civil war.  This comes across in his both his words and actions, as he is tasked to kill the woman he loves before she can turn into a mythical vampire Slayer and become a danger to good and evil vampires alike.

William, by contrast, appears more like the traditional vampire of horror fiction.  Over 500 years old, he has built up plenty of vampire angst (justifiably so after having to stake Eleanor, his treacherous vampire girlfriend) and his slightly cold, controlled demeanour is far removed from Jack’s naturally sunny disposition.

The twin narratives provide an effective counterpoint to each other.  If the story was told completely by Jack it would perhaps appear to be too humorous and light weight.  If the story was told completely by William, readers might find his narrative somewhat inhuman and find it hard to empathise with his character.  This way the story is well balanced, giving the readers the best of both worlds.

As mentioned previously in this review The Vampire’s Betrayal starts from exactly where The Vampire’s Kiss finished – The Vampire’s Betrayal finishes fairly abruptly too, with another cliff-hanger(ish) ending.  This leaves the book with a slight in-betweener vibe rather than feeling like a full story in its own right but since this is the fourth novel in a series with more novels planned to follow it (as far as I am aware) it’s not really a major cause for complaint.

The Vampire’s Betrayal is by turns romantic, tragic, horrific, fantastic and fun – a huge range for just one book!  Jam packed with vampires, werewolves, voodoo, demons, zombies and faeries there is plenty here to entertain fantasy and vampire fans alike.  Cleverly written with a fast-paced plotline and engaging characters, fantasy fans should definitely check this book (and series) out.

LoveVampires Review Rating: