Antony J. Stanton: Twice Bitten, Twice Die

Okay, let's take a deep breath and plunge right in. You knew it was coming. Those who follow me on certain social media or read my blog know I can't but give it five vampire kisses. Why? If you are an unsuspecting person, then I'm gonna keep you in the dark. But let's say I have my selfish reasons to promote this book. Just joking, I'm gonna spill it out. I won a contest a few months ago and became a character in this book. Yeah, I'm still living from that. You, who have never become a character, can't probably understand the feeling (I don't mean it in some snobbish way, it's a genuine thing) but whoa! It's better that drugs. I think. I don't do drugs.
This book is a last piece of a trilogy (I guess, the word "series" on the cover probably gives the author open doors should he ever feel like writing more) and we finally get to see who of our favourite characters gets to live and how it all turns out for those rare few in the zombie-infested world.
Meanwhile, in the vampire camp things don't go smoothly either and authorities are questioned and deaths occur even in the immortal world. But at least the humans already know for sure the blood-suckers exist and can stop questioning their own sanity and start acting. Because vampires are just another threat since they have a very specific diet, right? Or can they help with the zombies? Should humans eliminate one enemy at a time or kill them all at once?

The author's writing skill is amazing, too. I know that some people hate adjectives but those are exactly what gives the reader the right description of stuff. I could really imagine the characters and scenes in the book. Just perfection :-)=
It's a roller-coaster ride without seatbelts since so many die but hey that's what the apocalypse is about. I advise you not to get attached to characters much. :-)=

GENRE: postapocalypse now

FANGS OUT: thrilling, well-built
FANGS RETRACTING: keep them out
TOTAL SCORE:

Antony J. Stanton: Once Bitten, Twice Live

In the first book, the apocalypse was introduced to the world and a couple of survivors had to come to terms with it - and with the fact that their beloveds may have turned into hungry zombies and they might actually need to kill them.
This book picks up where the first one left off, of course. So we see our survivors again, we see their attempts at making some kind of order in chaotic world and we also develop feelings for some because only times of trouble show who your friends are.
Aaaaaand the vampires! Finally! They were in the first book, too, but only a little bit for my taste. Here, however, they finally take up more space and start interacting and interfering. Within the clan two fractions appear and no one knows which stand to take. Oh, the decisions. Enslave the humanity and treat them like cattle or keep hidden in the shadows..
Except some of them haven't got the "we are not decided, do not act now" memo and showed their true nature to some survivors. So not only are the survivors scavenging for supplies and walking on tiptoes so that they don't wake up the zombies, now they have to face the fact that they're going crazy because surely vampires... that's too much for this crooked world, right?
This book is just as thrilling and adventurous as the first one. It develops the characters more and brings cruel plot twists so it's definitely a wild ride.

GENRE: postapocalyptic-thriller ride

FANGS OUT: vampires are finally out in the open
FANGS RETRACTING: not so many important things happened plot-wise (I mean, a lot of people died but you kinda get used to that)
TOTAL SCORE:

Antony J. Stanton: Once Bitten, Twice Die

You know I love post-apocalyptic books. And you know I love vampires (duh!) so how could I resist buying the first book of a trilogy just about that. Wait a moment, did anyone say zombies? Vampires and zombies? Well, now I am genuinely intrigued because I don't remember ever reading a book with the combination of these two species. Subspecies. Whatever. You know what I mean. Let's not talk imaginative creatures' biology right now.

So, this time we arrive into postapocalyptic Britain (finally somewhere more close to reality where not many people have guns at home) where some mad rushed scientists wanted to cure dementia and winded up with crazy people instead. Due to a series of unfortunate events the "cure" got distributed all over the world and before anyone started noticing odd behaviour and realized that the disease can be spread by biting, !POOF! most people died or became zombies. There is a military base which holds its ground and scavenges for food which is good in short-term but what about later?

And the vampires? The book cover promised vampires! They are hidden. They've been hidden for centuries after all and the British clan which is closest to the military base is unsure of what to do. See, there is a fraction there. The leader wants to wait before making any decision while some feel this is the right time to finally reveal themselves and rule the world - with people as cattle. 

It's a very enjoyable read given the fact that it's the author's very first book and it wouldn't even exist had he not made a bet with his friends. I mean, it's got vampires (not so much now but I hope for seeing them more in the following books), it's got survivors trying to figure out how to live while losing everyone they love, there's no time for cheesy romance, it's action packed, and there's interesting character development everyone tends to overlook until it's too late. Only if the people weren't so full of themselves, they would have prevented so much trouble. Oh yeah.

Anyway, you know I have to lower the score because of the cliffhanger. And there is one particular thing which nagged me the whole time. It's not about the story. It's about the print. When I saw yellowish pages I was happy because it hurts people's eyes less. Yay! But then I noticed that the ends of the lines weren't aligned. It was so distracting! I just discovered my biggest bookish pet peeve! It's not the annoying stickers you never get rid of or broken spines and folded corners. No. It's the text which hasn't been put into a nice block. Just look how much you hate this paragraph when you compare it to the ones above! Wow. Really. Sometimes I held my breath as I was turning the page if I'd miraculously see a page set right. Nope. The person responsible for it should rethink their career because book design isn't probably it.

GENRE: postapocalyptic

FANGS OUT: a ton of action and innovative elements
FANGS RETRACTING: cliffhanger, the ends of lines make my eyes weep blood
TOTAL SCORE: