cover image Vickie Van Helsing

Vickie Van Helsing

Solomon J. Inkwell. Oakberry & Inkwell (www.createspace.com), $14.95 trade paper (270p) ISBN 978-0-615-44840-4

This farcical vampire novel from Inkwell (a pen name for writer James Grea) centers on a high school outcast, 17-year-old Vickie Jenkins, who is unaware that she is descended from the Van Helsing line until assigned a project to research her genealogical history. Hopelessly and uncharacteristically smitten with football captain Rod Rainfeld, Vickie doesn%E2%80%99t have slaying the undead on her mind. But when Rod%E2%80%99s eccentric father receives a delivery in the form of the Vladimir Dracula (who can only be reanimated with virgin blood), Rod and Vickie discover that their connection spans centuries into the past. Readers will inevitably find parallels to Buffy the Vampire Slayer as Vickie, her horror-obsessed friend Kyle, Rod, and a hip teacher confront the vampires that have overtaken their town. Vickie is smart and tenacious, but her heavy use of slang (%E2%80%9CThat would be a hell-with-a-side-of-no%E2%80%9D) feels forced. Inkwell offers effective dialogue and well-paced action sequences, and he weaves a compelling literary thread into the story. But as Vickie relays the events, the narrative point of view shifts uncomfortably between first-person and third, resulting in a clumsy overall delivery. Ages 12%E2%80%93up.