THE REFORMED VAMPIRE SUPPORT GROUP
by Catherine Jinks
Narrator Nina, “fanged” 35 years ago at age 15, supports herself by writing sexy vampire novels, but in fact she and her fellow Australian vampires (all seven of them) suffer from chronic nausea and extreme light sensitivity (which results in frequent eye hemorrhages), and subsist on animal blood and supplements devised by the 19th-century doctor in the group. When the barely reformed vampire who infected Nina is killed, she, rocker-vamp Dave (the liveliest of the bunch) and their human priest set off to find the killer but instead find a captive werewolf, a nerdy vampire slayer and—for Nina and Dave—a chance at love. Nina’s whininess may be off-putting but her growth rings true for a stunted adolescent, and Jinks’s quirky sense of humor will appeal to fans of her Evil Genius series. Those tired of torrid bloodsucker stories or looking for a comic riff on the trend will feel refreshed by the vomitous, guinea-pig–drinking accidental heroics of Nina and her pals. (Fantasy. 12 & up)