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**Warning**

If you haven't read Vampire Dawn (shame on you!) some of the following reviews may contain plot spoilers.

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The Alien Online - September 2004

I seem to have a problem with comic novels. I read Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and thought, ho-hum. I tried Terry Pratchett's Only You Can Save Mankind and I yawned. Arguably the latter isn't Pratchett's most revered work, but Hitchhiker's - it's hailed as a sci-fi humour classic. What's wrong with me?! The thing is, how can I then pick up Vampire Dawn by Philip Henry (whoever he is!) and get a real kick out of the book's humour? Go figure. Actually it might have something to do with the fact that both Henry and I are from Northern Ireland; I'm told we've got a particular sense of humour over here.

Vampire Dawn is Philip Henry's first novel. It's the story of a man called Christian Warke, whose job as a vampire hunter for "The Ministry" ends up putting his wife too much danger. When she gets drained by a vamp, Christian vows to track down and execute the one responsible. Many years later, Christian is a burnt out shell of a man, dependent on copious amounts of alcohol to get him through the day. But he's finally catching up with Xavier, the vampire he has sworn to kill. Xavier, on the other hand, has his own story to tell about what happened all those years ago.

I like the vampire mythology Henry has created. It has a light-heartedness about it that is probably derived from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but without all the ridiculous teen-speak (you know, words like "icky" and "gooey" and "thingy"). There's even a superpowered female Slayer in the novel, but thankfully she doesn't take the spotlight. And the similarities end there. The vampire hunters in this novel are not superhuman, but a very ordinary bunch of people who belong to an organisation called The Ministry, something more akin to the FBI than Buffy and her loyal chums.

The first chapter of the novel concerns a young couple parked in a car at night. Before they get predicably bitten, Henry treats us to a series of jokes derived from Queen songs lyrics, as the young man attempts to flatter his girlfriend. Anyone remember "Fat-bottomed girls, they make the rocking world go round"? You can imagine how well that one would go down with a girl. Henry has a genuine talent for telling a good joke, and you'll find plenty of them scattered throughout the novel. The story also gets very serious in places, particularly near in the end, in a chapter called "Heroes & Monsters," where there are some jaw-droppingly unpredicatable moments.

Henry's skill at bringing characters to life is fair - not good enough for me to care greatly about what happened to them, but they're certainly not cardboard either. At times the good guys acted in such a way as to make me dislike them, e.g. Christian with his drink-driving, toasting his bottle of whisky to a passing police officer and then using his Ministry credentials to bully his way out of a fine. "Well, you see," he later says to the girl in the passenger seat, "there's one set of rules for the rest of the world, and one set for me." It’s funny and it's macho-cool, but it harms the reader's attachment to the character. It's the same with all the swearing. I can live with it when the author is striving for realism, but not when it's just there to sound cool. Much as I enjoyed reading this novel, the characters left me with a slight bad taste in my mouth.

Early on in the novel, Henry introduces a spiritual element: the need to restore a proper "balance of good and evil" to the world. I thought this was illogical and hokey, and I feared it was going to kill the story, but it stays very much in the background, and could even have been snipped right out. Thankfully the story takes some unexpected turns and keeps the reader on his toes, never sure what to expect. Best of all, I found my interest level gaining the further I got into the story. Too often I've got halfway through a novel and found myself running out of steam, persevering with a story that has lost its momentum. Henry is a very capable story-teller for a first timer.

The Curse of the Small Publisher unfortunately rears its head with this novel. Maybe it's too petty to mention but I've noticed in general that small publishers do not proof read their books properly. It bugs me because two readers with a red pen each at the pre-press stage is all it would have taken for Black Death Books to catch 99% of the typos. Thankfully there's aren't many, and anyone who reads for enjoyment (which is the only way to read) can forgive it.

This one's definitely for those who prefer Joss Whedon to Bram Stoker. It's a worthy first novel, and Philip Henry is one to watch.

Darryl Sloan

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Romance Reviews Today - August 2004
Romantic Horror

Present Day Ireland

Claire and Xavier, two very old and very much in love vampires, have come to the conclusion that they are the only two of their kind left.  Not only that, but Claire has fallen into a melancholia, one that Xavier fears he cannot get her out of.  Claire has decided that the balance of good and evil is off kilter and that this is the reason she feels no need to feed any more.  After voicing her concerns with Xavier, he comes up with a perfect solution: Make more vampires.  And rule number one is not to be indiscriminate.  Embarking on their plan, Claire and Xavier separate, each to find the perfect victim to gift with immortality.

Christian Warke has been out for revenge for almost twenty years.  He has hunted Xavier ever since Christian's wife was savagely killed by the vampire.  When DNA from Xavier is found at a crime scene, Christian is ready to do whatever he must to kill this scourge and remove him from the face of the earth.

VAMPIRE DAWN is a wonderful tale.  The knowledge of just who the bad guys and who the good guys are gets murky as roles interchange and morality lines are crossed by all.  Claire is pragmatic, sensible, and for a hundreds year old vampire, has captured the twentieth century female perfectly, right down to her exasperation with her husband.  Xavier's forays into the world had me laughing hysterically.  From being burned by a holy water bather, to biting a woman wearing a cross and getting it stuck in his teeth, the comic relief is fantastic.

Secondary characters are woven well into the tale, rounding out the story.  Dialogue flows freely between the characters, and the descriptive narrative is vivid with scenes playing out in my mind as if in a movie.

VAMPIRE DAWN is a fast paced, exciting read with revenge, fear, romance both lost and found, and justice deserved for the true monster of the tale.  I highly recommend VAMPIRE DAWN for both a horror and a romance genre reader; Mr. Henry has captured both exquisitely.

Catherine McHenry

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Amazon.com - July 2004

For a hundred and six years vampires Claire and Xavier have been together. However, Claire has had recent doubts about being a predator as she is sick of the killings that have led to depression setting in her soul. Xavier also ails when neither has felt sick in over a century or so. A shrink would help, but how do you explain to a psychiatrist that you feel depressed because you get nourishment by drinking the blood of your former species. The duo concludes the shortage of vampires in the dawning of the twenty-first century has caused an imbalance between good vs. bad, which has caused a psychosomatic reaction that leaves them feeling feeble. They need to create new vampires.

For two decades Christian Warke has searched for the monster that killed his wife. He does not care one iota about some inane imbalance between good and evil or that he might save someone. All that matters is revenge by destroying vampires. Christian, Claire, and Xavier meet as good and evil confront, but who has right on their side when friends become foes and your enemy shares your blood?

VAMPIRE DAWN is a terrific tale that provides a fresh look at the vampire-human "relationship". The story line is told from the varying perspectives of Claire, Xavier, and Christian without regard to who is the real hero as none of the three are totally saints or sinners. Fans will appreciate this superb action-packed horror drama in which author Philip Henry leads his audience into a one sitting read that ends with the reader wondering who is the good guy for the means is as important as the ends.

Harriet Klausner

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The Eternal Night - June 2004

Claire and Xavier are vampires. They have lived together for centuries, most recently in an abandoned building in Portrush. Used to being immortal and invincible they understandably find it concerning when they start to feel ill and weak. Soon they come to realise that the cause of their illness is not physical. Rather, it is a reaction to an inequality in the balance between good and evil. Basically, there is a shortage of vampires.

Not wanting to lose their lifestyle (or their "lives") the pair decide to take things into their own hands and readjust the balance – by creating a whole load of new vampires.

Christian has searched for years to find the creature responsible for the death of his wife. His pain has caused him to seek solace in the bottom of a whisky bottle. Driven by vengeance he will let nothing come between him and his goal.

What is the true cause of the imbalance between good and evil? Will the creation of more vampires solve the problem? Only time will tell.

Vampire Dawn is a new look at the idea of the vampire story. Written from the point of view of both the vampire and the human it doesn't immediately assume that all vampires are evil. Claire and Xavier, although members of the undead, are happy to live a peaceful co-existence with humans. It is not until they start to grow sick and realise that it is all due to the imbalance between good and evil that they actively go out to create new vampires.

Although Christian would seem to be the hero of this story it is refreshing that he is far from being goody-goody. The extent he will go to in order to find the creature he believes responsible for the murder of his wife frequently crosses the line between good and evil. As the story progresses it becomes less clear who is the hero and who is the villain.

Vampire Dawn is a superb story of good versus evil. Original, well crafted and compelling – a must-read for any vampire fan.

Lesley Mazey

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