The Vampire Stalker - Alliso van Diepen

The Vampire Stalker – Allison van Diepen

Pages: 250

Publisher: Scholastic

Release Date: 3^rd November 2011

Other Titles by this Author: The Oracle of Dating, The Oracle of Rebound, Street Pharm, Stitch, Raven

Amy is in love with Alexander Banks. In fact, she’s obsessed with him. He’s brooding and handsome. He hunts vampires.

He’s perfect.

The only problem is, Alexander doesn’t exist. He’s a character in a book.

But, what if he showed up one day? What if he were somehow real?

The idea behind The Vampire Stalker is a brilliant one; I just wish it had been executed a little better.

There’s not a single reader out there who hasn’t fallen so head over heels in love with a book character that they wished they would appear on their doorstep: I know my list is scarily long... And that’s exactly what happens to Amy. I love how Allison van Diepen explains Alexander’s presence in Amy’s Chicago; it’s brilliant and easily my favourite aspect of The Vampire Stalker. However, I do think that it could have been made better use of; I honestly don't believe that it was used to its full potential.

With such a good idea, I expected the characters to hold up to serious scrutiny, but they didn’t really make the cut. I mean, I still enjoyed The Vampire Stalker, I just don’t think I could aspire to it or recommend it without explaining that the characters are rather superficial and aren’t explored as fully as they could be. Alexander was a standard dark, gorgeous and troubled vampire hunter, Amy was the typical not popular, not unpopular, secretly beautiful girl with a trademark burgeoning mean girl for a little sister. It was all a little stereotypical to me. And then there was the very cliché insta-love between Alexander and Amy – it was just SO quick and SO all-consuming that I couldn’t take it seriously.

Although I haven’t been particularly complimentary about The Vampire Stalker, it’s a quick, fun read that’ll quickly kill a few rainy hours.

Sophie