In two previous novels from author D.A. Holmes a winsome, young laggard tells his parents that he’s gay (Coming Out of the Coffin) and then later he tells the rest of the world via social media that he’s a vampire (Bottoms and Bloodsuckers). 

And now, with the release of Vampire Rites, the latest (and final?) novel in the series, 23-year-old Vladimir Radu is grappling with the inevitable consequences of his actions. 

“All my life I’ve been struggling with expectations,” he laments. “My parents expected me to be just like them. They wanted me to fall into the same old bloodsucking routine. I didn’t want to lurk in the shadows and drink human blood—I just wanted to be me.” 

But as the poster boy for all vampires, Vlad realizes that he has a unique opportunity to shift the narrative. To paraphrase Voltaire and Stan Lee: with great vampire power comes great vampire responsibility.

The first thing he does is form a confederacy of likeminded vampires. The mission of the Fang Society is to help them all come out of the shadows (and coffins). There’s only one teensy-weensy problem, however. After nine months of hard work, Vlad and his disciples have failed to recruit any vampires except for an actor being paid to cosplay as Count Dracula. 

Fang didn’t have a lot of requirements, but there was one major ground rule—namely, the abandonment of human-sourced blood for the foreseeable future. After all, vampires and humans couldn’t live peacefully side by side if human blood was always on the menu. 

Lots of people aren’t thrilled with Fang’s longterm agenda—vampire hunters in particular. Nobody will ever convince them that vampires and humans can coexist. “The future is here,” says a rattled slayer. “The suckers are changing, tricking the world with their nice act. When the world embraces them with a hug, that’s when they’ll take a chunk of your neck.”

The novel’s climax features a war between these two age-old combatants (as expected). Popular characters die, complicated family relationships are mended and long-time rivalries form a winning alliance. Like always, the author displays an effortless knack for combining horror, tragedy and humor in one big tangled mess. 

Most importantly, Vampire Rites contains an emotional undercurrent that trumps everything else. Vladimir Radu has spent three novels looking for love and he finally finds it. Props to the author for giving his reluctant hero and his readers what they wanted. 

[ Vampire Rites / By D.A. Holmes / First Printing: May 2025 / ISBN: 979-8316976768 ]