cover image Hunting Memories

Hunting Memories

Barb Hendee, . . Roc, $15 (306pp) ISBN 978-0-451-46291-6

Vampires continue to feud in the flashback-laced sequel to 2008's Blood Memories . Eleisha Clevon, one of the few survivors of Julian Ashton's serial destruction of his fellow vampires, seeks to gather others like her so she can spread the knowledge of feeding without killing through psychic memory manipulation. Joining her are Philip, a once-feral vampire reluctantly converted to her cause, and telepathic human Wade. When they meet up with reclusive vampire Rose de Spenser and her ghostly cousin Seamus, Eleisha urges a move to a safe haven in Portland, Ore., as the paranoid Julian wants them all dead. Hendee smartly handles unusual concepts like the vampires' unique supernatural powers and Julian's drive to destroy his own race, but stilted language, uneven characterization and a choppy narrative style prevent this tale from standing out in its overcrowded field. (Oct.)