The Last Vampire 3: Red Dice by Christopher Pike

Published May 1995.

Alisa and her partner, Joel, are vampires. But Joel is also an FBI agent, and someone inside the government has discovered their secret. The government wants their blood, to study it, to duplicate it. They send a massive manhunt after Alisa and Joel. But using skills and abilities developed over five thousand years, Alisa manages to elude the hunt. Unfortunately Joel is caught, and taken to a top-secret base in the Nevada desert. Now it is Alisa's task to free him before the scientists break the DNA code of their blood, and transform the whole world into vampires. (book back blurb)

The body count had to have hit at least 20 within the first chapter. That's always a set-up for a win if I've ever read one. Pike doesn't pull any punches. If people need to die, then they're going to die. And do they die.

Alisa is still Alisa: a five thousand year old vampire just trying to survive and stay in her god's good graces while she's at it. The thing is, all of these human interactions are starting to wear on her and it shows. First Ray and then Joel. It's no surprise that as the series went on, Alisa has become less like a vampire and more like a human, grievous mistakes and all. Her barrier is breaking down. She's getting sloppy and it's getting people killed. And I love it. Well, not the people-killing thing but Alisa's vulnerabilities. It still reads like this slightly stilted, breath of old air type of vibe but her actions are breaking down. The words are becoming just a facade as the vampire dies and she leaves the grace she found protection under for so long.

I like the whole scientific/spiritual aspect of the story, how it started back in history and looped around to the present. I think it makes total sense that should a vampire get captured, the government would want to experiment on it. Imagine the cures! The undead armies! Kind of scary, though, don't you think? Alisa thought so.

Again, Pike doesn't spare anyone's feelings by the end of the book. Alisa was born to suffer, and suffer she will. But you care about her. She's not a floofy, sappy type of vampire. Yes, she feels love and compassion but when a job has to get done, she makes sure it gets done. Alisa is equal parts selfish and altruistic. She sure as hell doesn't want to die but if it means it'll save the greater good, she will. But she'll do everything she can to make sure that she doesn't have to make that kind of sacrifice before actually having to do it.

RED DICE is a great addition to THE LAST VAMPIRE series. I know there are three more books left that I must get my hands on. I need to see where the story goes, especially after the ending in this one. What a cliffhanger! Kind of cruel, really, since I don't have the next in the series to sate my interest. But I'll get it eventually. You can count on it! If you haven't started THE LAST VAMPIRE series yet, I'd highly recommend you do. There's a reason why it was re-released now. It's just that level of awesome.

The Last Vampire 2: Black Blood by Christopher Pike

Published November 1994.

Alisa and her partner, Ray, thought that they were the last vampires. Suddenly, however, in one area of the United States, there is a series of brutal murders that can only be the work of other vampires. Who created these creatures? How can they be stopped? (book back blurb)

Another fantastic book where Pike doesn't pull any punches.

Sure, Alisa has Ray, but they aren't alone in the world anymore and this creep creating vampires at will has world domination on his mind. Trust Alisa to point out to him how a world of vampires would ultimately fail. One of the reasons why I love her: her logic. You can't beat that.

Pike is absolutely ruthless with his characters and drives it home with Alisa. I don't want to spoil but I will say that she gets her heart ripped open in a few different ways. It's sad to read because you want something good for her but it's constantly down one alley of horrors after another. Still, it makes for an exciting read.

Pike doesn't spare details when it comes to gore and maiming his characters so when you set out to read BLACK BLOOD, make sure you're not really squeamish. But again, I think it makes it all the more real and even horrifying. It makes Alisa feel real. All of the loss and gain stands out more on the pages because she truly has to fight for it. Nothing comes easy for her.

The books, though, BLACK BLOOD included, ends with a spattering of hope which I think ropes you in for the next one. I'm anxious to read it. I want to know what sludge Pike is going to drag his characters through next.

While not really YA (Alisa is 5,000 years old and definitely doesn't have a YA voice, even for the 90s), the appeal is still there. It's vampires and love ripped through the shredder. I'm not surprised that it was marketed to the YA audience. If you like REAL vampires with horror and blood and loss, you'll love these books. Just don't forget the hope. There's still hope.

The Last Vampire by Christopher Pike

Published May 1994.

Alisa Perne is a five-thousand-year-old vampire. For ages she has hunted humanity, loved humanity, but now someone hunts her. Who is this person - what is he or she? Another vampire? Alisa is not sure. She thought she was the last of her kind.

Alisa has only one lead to follow. A detective, Mike Riley, has tried to blackmail her. In haste, before she could learn everything he knew, she killed him. Now she must go after the detective's son and find out what his father knew. Fifty centuries old, and she must enter high school and befriend Ray Riley, a handsome, shy boy who will attract her like no mortal has in centuries. Ray will make Alisa think the unthinkable, to make another of her kind, something she hasn't done since ancient times.

But will Alisa use Ray to help protect her from the mysterious enemy? Or will she just use him as bait? (book back blurb)

Love it! It'd been so long since I've read this book that, for the most part, it was like I was reading it for the first time all over again. Sure, some things were vaguely familiar but in a sense like trying to remember if something was real or just a dream. But it was fantastic whatever it was.

It doesn't read like a traditional YA book because you're being the eyes of a 5,000 year old vampire and it shows. She doesn't think like a teen, she doesn't act like a teen. She acts exactly how you'd think someone her age would act. But I don't think it detracts from the story at all. In fact I think it stands out more because instead of a moldy boy with sparkly semen swooping in to commit statutory rape, it's a chick who's far smarter and probably better looking too.

Pike makes Alisa ruthless and I love him for it. She's a vampire and therefore acts like one. You piss me off, I kill you. Dead. I'm hungry, I need to feed. Dead. You're a fly in my way. Dead. Sure it can leave a slightly messy trail but it's realistic, isn't it? Well, as realistic as a vampire book can be.

What I loved most about this was the history. There were flashback chapters that showed the beginning of vampires in this world and how it centered around an ancient people and their religion. It was fascinating and written in such a way that it could have happened. Why not, right? Also in that history is shows Alisa's vulnerabilities that even after 5,000 years are still soft spots. Enter Ray and you'll see why.

Now this is the original THE LAST VAMPIRE, not the repackaged and updated THIRST omnibus so I still had to read things like Alisa communicating with Slim via fax like two people would talk over IM. Kind of strange. I don't know this for sure but I have a feeling it's probably been updated to cell phones and emails in THIRST. What teen knows what a fax machine is, what it does and how it works let alone is going to believe that people actually had conversations over such slow mediums? Considering they're pretty much obsolete now, there's no sense in keeping them in the book, right?

This is truly what I remember of YA horror from my kiddy days. There's a hint of something sinister in this book, terrifying. Alisa functions with such a cold demeanor that there's pretty much no getting around that you wouldn't be anything special and couldn't win her over if you tried. She's far too clever for something like that. Her character hits home the way older vampires do. There's an authenticity and a true horror about it that actually makes you think instead of making you swoon. She's mesmerizing because she is a beast; Alisa is something evil that should be feared. She's a freakin' vampire!

And yeah, there is some type of love interest in this book but I think it'll take the reader by surprise. It surprised the hell out of Alisa so why not you? It very much stands apart from what's available today. I only wish there were more books out there now like THE LAST VAMPIRE. YA horror would be all the better for it.

OMG, I'M FREAKING OUT!

Christopher Pike's The Last Vampire series is being re-released in multiple book form! Two books with three books each inside. OMG OMG OMG OMG


Finally, the YA world will know what it's like to have GOOD vampire books out there again! Fuck you glitter pixies and Prada-wearing fanged bitches! Oh god the good is coming back! Hopefully next it'll be Fear Street and then I just might pee a little.

Yeah, I so pre-ordered this.