At 750+ pages it is an epic undertaking that will grab you up, and make you hold your breath till the sad and bitter ending. But WAIT! There is hope! Cronin promises this to be a trilogy and frankly I can't still long enough to wait for him to write and publish them!
The first thing you need to know about this book is that it is about vampires. Bad ones - and let me tell you these aren't your grandma's vamps! Bram Stoker's Vampire was a wimp compared to these bio-engineered bad-boys. Originally, the intent was to have a miracle drug that would help the human race live forever. But it went horribly wrong and what evolved was twelve nasty-looking, feral, animal-like vampires. Oh wait! And did I say these 12 subjects of the experiments were recruited from Death Row? Oh yeah. Like I said, bad, bad boys.
These twelve 'vampire-like' beasts get out of the medical unit and if they don't kill their victims, the victim becomes another vampire. It is described in the news stories as being virus-like. Whole states are quarantined, the US is quarantined, California secedes from the Union and eventually the United States is barren of humans except for a few pockets here and there fighting off the vampires.
But then there is Amy. Little 8-year old Amy who is the 13th vampire. She was given the corrected bio-engineered drug. She doesn't kill people or drink their blood, however she does live a very, very long time. One-hundred years after the virus destroyed the US, she is still alive and appears to be about the age of a 16-year old girl.
She wanders into an encampment of a little under 100 people. These folks have learned that they must keep the lights on all night long to keep the vampires away. They live in a fortress where fighters man the walls day and night. The original people who lived there taught other people how to keep the lights going and how to work with computers. This information was passed down generation after generation. Michael, the current computer geek, finds a radio transmission and links it to Amy - it is coming from her. It says, "If you find her, bring her home."
There starts a journey from California to what used to be Colorado. They fight the vampires on the way, find friendly people and bad folks and finally make it to Colorado. Amy, it turns out, can help protect them from the vampires, telling them telepathically to turn away. Though this trick does not always work and they end up having to kill the vampires through their hearts.
Cronin uses a lot of similarities to other vampire stories - for example, killing through the heart, not being able to tolerate light and living forever. However there is a new aspect to these vampires - they are vampires for the 21st century that we live in and belong to. This book is exciting chilling, and hopeful.
Long Live Amy!
Rating: 10 / 10
ISBN: 9780345504968
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Edition: 1st
Remainder: No