Reading on the Dark Side weighed in with a nice look at Alex Van Helsing: Vampire Rising::
Alex Van Helsing is definitely a Young Adult book, which is not a bad thing. I can really imagine that readers around the same age as the protagonist (especially the male ones) will really enjoy this book.
What really appealed to me were all the literary references throughout the book: Jason Henderson ties his vampires to Lord Byron (yes, THE Lord Byron), Dracula, Frankenstein and adds a literary nod to zombies and you get a James Bond meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer for Young Adults, even though older readers might prefer another kind of book.
I really appreciate this because it brings up an interesting question. Do you have to be younger to gravitate towards a story that's much heavier on adventure then relationships? I think that well describes the rockem-sockem world of Alex Van Helsing, who is 14 when we find him in his book series. They are action-adventure first, though the cross-relationship complications will grow as the series progresses (certainly there's more in Book 2.)
I'm really thankful for these reviews, by the way, especially when they're coming from around the world-- Dark Side, for instance, appears to be in Germany. I'm especially thankful because this book has been out since May, so we're in a quiet period until the launch of Book 2 in July.
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