Peter and Helen Radley live in the quiet
village of Bishopthorpe near Thirsk in North Yorkshire, with their two teenage
children Rowan and Clara.
They live a quiet life; one deliberately
chosen by Peter and Helen as they seek to distance themselves from the excesses
of their past and the temptations of the present. They have become abstainers,
foreswearing their natural addiction, as vampires, for blood.
Rowan and Clara know nothing of their
heritage, accepting their pale skin, aversion to sunlight (and garlic), and
general malaise with adolescent angst. But adolescence is a dangerous time,
even for vampires. Clara’s decision to become a vegetarian deprives her of her
only legitimate blood substitute; and Rowan’s under pressure at school, attracting
the attention of bullies who call him a freak and failing to attract the
attention of a new girl in class who he covets.
As Peter and Helen debate if it is time to
tell the kids, the decision is made for them in dramatic fashion. Suddenly
Bishopthorpe is no longer quiet. Peter’s brother Will (by no means an
abstainer) is called in to help. It doesn’t help; it makes everything worse as
his past misdemeanours stir up more trouble for the family.
What starts as an amusing domestic comedy
with a twist gradually darkens in humour and then plunges into a bloody and
gory, but still domestic, drama.
Well enough written to give an air of
disturbing credibility, the book provides an entertaining read and a worthy
precursor to the author’s excellent “The Humans”.
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