An Unattractive Vampire

This witty debut imagines what might happen if the repulsive and monstrous vampires of old were brought into the contemporary milieu of glamorous and heroic vampires, with entertaining results. Centuries-old Yulric Bile wakes after 300 years to find his kind are no longer reviled and hunted, but rather celebrated, notably through the television show The Phantom Vampire Mysteries, created by and starring actual vampires. The show's intensely devoted fan base includes a current occupant of Yulric's home, 22-year-old Amanda Linske, who has been caring for her brother, precocious eight-year-old Simon, since their parents died. The show is one of her few refuges from her difficult life. When an esteemed Phantom Vampire Mysteries producer learns of Yulric's awakening, Amanda, Simon, and Yulric become unlikely allies in a showdown between old and new. It takes several chapters for the connections among the various elements to become clear, but once they do, the pages fly by. Engagingly complex characters and wry humor will keep readers coming back for more. (Mar.)