Vampire, Interrupted (Avon Books, 2008)
Review by G.L. Giles
Written by Lynsay Sands

I really enjoyed this darkly-delightful-paranormally-romantic- reading romp of 370 pages. Vampire, Interrupted is a novel in Lynsay Sands’s Argeneau vampire series. Set primarily in England in current times, I was happy to be taken to that place across the pond where I also picked up some new lingo, like the word snickelway. In Sands’s mythology, vampires prefer to be called immortals, and they can eat human food, though most generally don’t unless they’ve only recently turned or have found their lifemates. The storyline centers around Marguerite Argeneau and her lifemate, Julius Notte. They were together centuries before as well, until their love was interrupted by the dastardly deeds of Notte’s immortal sister, Vita Notte. Vita was bitter because her family valued males more than females, so when her brother, Julius, was born, she hated him and tried to destroy him. There are lots of other interesting immortal characters included as well: Christian, the son of Marguerite and Julias, for one, and Marcus, Julius’ best friend, for another. Plus, a mortal called Tiny does a good job of holding his own, even when he’s outnumbered by immortals most of the time. My only criticisms are: I think the title would have perhaps been better as Immortal, Interrupted (since they’re mostly referred to as immortals and because it has more alliteration that way), and I really felt for Vita Notte, as an immortal who was not entirely valued by her family just because she was born a female, so even though her actions were heinous, I was somewhat underwhelmed by the fact that she didn’t really end up getting a fair deal after all. Definitely worth picking up a copy. I give it a 7 out of 10.