Eric is a very powerful vampire, a Vlad, but at this moment his life, or unlife if you prefer, is a mess. He is attacked by a werewolf that he kills, and now a powerful werewolf pack wants him permanently dead. His girlfriend Tabitha is pressuring him to turn her but that never works out for Eric, so he is trying to resist. Every other time he has turned a woman he has instantly lost interest in her, and he has had to kill most of them. His business partner Roger doesn’t want to be part of owning a strip club anymore and isn’t helping anymore. Eric has memory problems and depends on others to tell him what he needs to remember, like what time sunrise is. When Eric really gets ticked off, he blacks out, but it appears while he is out of control he is berserk and extremely dangerous, killing anyone around. What is a vampire to do? Can’t the people around him just leave him in peace?

I have mixed feelings about Staked by J. F. Lewis. I really like the characters; Eric is likable even though he is so mixed up. Tabitha is a little too dumb for me, and I keep hoping it is just an act and she isn’t really so bad. There are several secondary characters I like a lot. The premise of the story is great. Eric is a challenging character that is much more powerful than he knows. He doesn’t like being a vampire and wants nothing to do with other vampires; so he really is ignorant about a lot of things about the vampire world. He is surrounded by people who seem to either love or at least respect him enough to help him survive. Almost every time Eric goes out of his door however, it seems like he is attacked or has to attack someone to protect his friends. The story is loaded with violence, and the descriptions are pretty graphic about how the vampires and werewolves dispose of people they see as just food or their enemies. If you don’t mind the violence it is a great vampire story. Mr. Lewis has a sequel planned, and I look forward to reading it too. The end of Staked sets up a sequel beautifully, and I expect the sequel will tie up some of the loose ends I am left wondering about. On the whole I really liked this book and would probably have rated it higher if it wasn’t so graphic. I’d even go so far as to recommend this book if the graphic violence wouldn’t bother you, but I just can’t in good conscience do that since the violence bothers me.

Reviewed by: Stephanie B.