Blood Bank by Zoe Markham
Publisher - Kristell Ink Books
Price- £4.99 Paperback £2.31 ebook
Benjamin is a programmer moonlighting as a security guard at Dystopia, a seedy club that caters to the down-and-outs, the desperate, the addicts. He's been building his reputation, saving for a way out - but when he rescues a young woman from the nearby estate, he may just have stepped too far out of line...
Lucy is ordinary; a girl with a deadbeat boyfriend, a normal life Benjamin is a programmer moonlighting as a security guard at Dystopia, a seedy club that caters to the down-and-outs, the desperate, the addicts. He's been building his reputation, saving for a way out - but when he rescues a young woman from the nearby estate, he may just have stepped too far out of line...
Lucy is ordinary; a girl with a deadbeat boyfriend, a normal life and college studies. But when her world takes an odd twist, she starts to wonder about the people she's meeting, the situations she's in, the odd aversions and attacks happening around her. They're just coincidences...aren't they?
And Zack is in deep trouble. He's losing his girlfriend, drowning in debt, and has dwindling job prospects - and that's not the worst of it. His debt is to people who won't ever forget it, and who want the things closest to Zack's heart: his blood - and his life. In the heart of Swindon, an ancient order hides in plain sight, spreading their influence through the streets like a disease. But despite their widespread power they are catching up with the modern world: the vampires are going online, and the Order is about to become more powerful than even they would have dreamed...
When I think of the places where dread evil may be Swindon isn't I admit at the top of my list but in this novel despite the temptation to think this is a pastiche Zoe Markham actually plays this tale of Vampires and their victims straight and it's tale with some bite...(I'm sorry...I'm so sorry).
We are dropped into a spat between Zack and his girlfriend Lucy who have just been on an incrfedibly badly planned date. Zack is now broke; prone to vanishing and following an urgent call from a mystrrious job turfs Lucy out into the middle of nowhere. We quickly see that Zack has fallen into huge amount of debt and unfortunately slightly worse than your usual payday loan companies in his case he has found himself at the mercy of a local Vampire Group who cunningly are using their loan book for regular donations. While this goes on Lucy is attacked by a local gang and is saved by Benjamin who is a complex mix of computer geek and aide to the head Vampire. The tale revolves around the three characters reacting to their various lives colliding.
Two major pluses for me on this. Firstly Markham has made each character a little more nuanced than the initial premise suggests. Lucy initially appears the damsel in distress but quickly gains depth as we see she is resourceful and actually strats to notice how certain odd events don't add up. Zack appears the boyfriend from hell but we soon see he is actually putting other people's lives ahead of his own and finally Benjamin is sitting between his better and worse natures as he tries to work out which side apart from his own he is on. There is a nice tension that grows between the characters and I wanted to see how this developed.
The other advantage is Markham really wrotes action and horror well. Supernatural attacks are well choreographed and make you wince as bones are broken and bodies bled; a trip into a dark cellar is definitely eerie as you realise they are not alone and the Vampires are unsettling super fast and ruthless. The pace is fast and lots of plot strands start converging creating a much deeper world than I was expecting as we see Vampire groups appear to be in many cities.
This leads to my one caveat which is the book for me doesn't quite feel like I've read a full story more the end of part one of a really good pilot episode. Lots of plot points are raised but I don't feel the initial story had fully landed. I am aware the sequel is coming soon and I think I am very keen to find out where the series goes next.
Overall if you'd like to see a British take on a teen vampire action story that combines humour; adventure and horror with a very good ensemble cast I think this would be a good place to start. I will definitely be loking forward to reading more from Markham in the future. I also confirm roundabouts are mentioned....
