All About Books with Adrianne

E-book Novel

Haig, M. (2011). The Radleys. New York: Free Press.

Vampires have moved to the suburbs. At least the suburbs of England. The Radleys seem to be your typical suburban family, except for the small fact that they are vampires. Dad Peter is a doctor, Helen is a stay at home mom and Rowan and Clare are their high school-aged children. Peter and Helen have become abstainers, meaning they don't kill or drink blood as normal vampires do. The survive on large quantities of meat, but this "cure" leaves them weak and feeling poorly. The children don't know they are vampires and suffer from skin rashes, fatigue and depression. Things are terribly mundane until one day Clare is attacked as she walks home from a party. During the attack, instinct that Clare knows nothing about takes over. She has an OBT (overwhelming blood thirst) and kills her attacker in a frenzy. The blood gives her a strength and clarity that she has never felt before. The novel is about what happens in the aftermath of the death. Peter's brother Will is called in to help with the situation, even though the couple has not had anything to do with him in well over a decade. Will is not an abstainer, far from it. The police, who track vampires, have him pegged as a serial killer. The idyllic life portrayed to outsiders is shattered as the family deals with Clare's murder, Will and Helen's past relationship, Peter's flirtation with adultery and Rowan's denial and acceptance of being a vampire. This is a well written story with full characters that are believable despite them being vampires.

Vampire stories are a dime a dozen lately, but The Radleys is a fresh take on the genre. We are able to see into the lives of vampires trying very hard to live a normal suburban life. The story deals with the unhappiness that many people feel in the suburb, where they often feel they have to conform to what everyone else is doing. I liked the complexity of the story and of each of the characters. Not only are the Radleys living a life they weren't meant to live, Helen is keeping a secret from Peter that could easily destroy their family. That the secret involves Peter's brother Will makes it more dangerous. I read this book on my Nook, which I like to do, but I do find that unless I highlight as I read, it is difficult to go back and find a particular passage that I am looking for. I would recommend this book to readers 14 and up. Lovers of the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer would enjoy this vampire story, though The Radleys does not have as much teenage angst as the series.

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Matt Haig's website

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