THE VAMPIRE'S HEART mark a roeder

The Vampire's Heart is a very creditable young adult story.  It would be rather glib to refer to it as a 'gay twilight', especially as this book came out (so to speak) in 2002--but there is an element of truth in the comparison. Graham is a puny thirteen-year-old with a crush on a arrogant high school jock. A gorgeous but strange new arrival at his school, 15-year-old Josiah divides Grahams loyalties. In a newly discovered world of vampires, it is hard to find out who he can trust--and making the wrong choice is likely to cost Graham his life.

Graham is a likable but rather self-obsessed and self-pitying first person narrator and quite a lot of the text his devoted to his musings rather than directly reported action.  Even so, the story is an easy and engaging read, perhaps more suited to a reader still in his or her teen years. Older readers shouldn't be put off too easily by the first few chapters.  Mainly of the plot elements that might seem implausible (such as why a nine-hundred-year old vampire would need or want to attend a high school) are convincingly explained as Graham gradually uncovers the truth of what is going on.

For me this book is an 4.5 out of 5, but for a reader more in the target audience I don;t think 5/5 would be out of the question.