Rating: 
Summary: Great cover art
Review: Anyone who reads horror, fantasy, sci fi, etc. understands that disbelief has to be suspended to a point in order to truly enjoy the story. I picked up VESPERS for a few reasons: 1) the summary made it seem like a fun, light read; 2)I like bats; 3) I like the idea of Manhattan being under attack from anything at all. The novel does a great job of providing some education about bat evolution, biology and behavior. The cover art on this hardcover edition is some of the finest I've ever seen.
With that said....This story is VERY light. I started out suspending disbelief and ended up watching my disbelief swinging from the gallows. The plot is rather thin, but I suppose that is to be expected from what is essentially a movie script. Detective Gentry and "bat lady" Dr. Nancy Joyce end up investigating the sudden appearance of and attacks by what are normally docile brown bats. They end up uncovering an ecological disaster that spawned a hellish form of bat. The next step is to figure out how to save Manhattan from becoming the nesting and feeding ground for these predators. Miraculously, Dr. Joyce and Det. Gentry feel that tug of attraction for each other and spend much of the novel gushing about their feelings of newfound love. Hmmmm...
If you want a light, quick read that doesn't require you to think too much, this is a great book. I've recommended it to some (much) younger readers who truly enjoyed the novel. However, if you're just curious about the contents, you might want to borrow a copy or find it at the library rather than investing the dollars to buy your very own. MIMIC and RELIC might be wiser choices if you want to read about scary, bizarre attacking creatures.
Rating: 
Summary: This is the best book I have ever read in my life!!!!!!!!!
Review: I have read this book and it is not one that leaves the reader saying "boy the infomercials are looking real good now". If you want a book with some plain old fashion guy and a gal verses the monster, then this is it. It's a fun read and would make a great movie, especially the elevator scene. Read it for the fun of a good scare.
Rating: 
Summary: Good story but not terribly original. But fun nonetheless.
Review: I heard this book as a book on tape and I will talk about that aspect at the end.
If you saw any of Hollywood's animal disaster B movies (Giant ants, snakes, bugs, etc. that attack humanity) than you get the idea behind this book. Normally placid bats are attacking people and gathering in a murderous swarm above New York City. Meanwhile, something else - something very large - is killing people in the subway tunnels. Will the animal expert and the rough cop be able to save the day?
Even though the plot is formulaic, I still found myself wanting to know what happened next. I couldn't wait to pop the tape in the player as soon as I got in the car!
The book on tape is read by Boyd Gaines who does a phenomonal job. Every character has a unique and distinct voice in accent. 5 stars for him, if I could.
Rating:
Summary: Really, Really Big and Scary Bats
Review: I LOVED this book. I am not the biggest fan of horror, but it wasn't that gruesome. This is not for the squeemish/light hearted. There is a considerable amount of swearing (Hey, this takes place in NYC, waddaya expect?!).Well, picture this. 2 really big, ugly, mutated bats get brought by a pregnant mutated bat from Russia. They continue to live peacefully and secretely in New Paltz, New York. Then for a reason that I don't want to give away, they come to NYC and terrorize the civilians. They even can control the other "vesper" bats for miles. What would YOU do?
Rating: 
Summary: Builds to a Startling Anti-Climax.
Review: I was disappointed in the book. I felt like there was exposition that was unecessary. The love story was forced and contrived. I didn't care whether the characters "made it" or not. This was a great idea that simply lost its wind.
Rating:
Summary: Builds to a Startling Anti-Climax.
Review: I was disappointed in the book. I felt like there was exposition that was unecessary. The love story was forced and contrived. I didn't care whether the characters "made it" or not. This was a great idea that simply lost its wind.
Rating:
Summary: No Guano ... you'll really like this book!
Review: If you want a book that's well-researched, has good characterization, and has a great hook-line...Giant bats and their buddies taking over New York... then, by all means, pick up a copy of "Vespers"! I'd give it 4 and 1/2 stars, but Amazon.com does not permit that kind of rating. This was the first book that I've read by Jeff Rovin, but it won't be my last. He's a very good story-teller who's done his homework. "Vespers" contains great action, a descriptive tour of New York and a lot of information about bats that I'm sure most people never knew before. The story nevers bogs down because Rovin skillfully weaves a number of little sub-plots throughout the book. Not one to give away much of the plot, let me just say that the story is set in present-day and contains more than a few unnerving scenes of violence. Giant bats have begun to breed and multiply after an accident involving radiation affects the growth pattern of one of the bats. A gutsy "batologist" and a brave detective are all that stand between New York and annihilation. This is a very quick read and is great escapism. I heartedly recommend it to those who grew up when the great old "B" movies of the 50's and 60's told of man's encounters with radioactive ants ("Them"), 8-foot tall "carrot-men" from another world ("The Thing") and giant Japanese monsters (Godzilla).
Rating:
Summary: Mutant bats infest the Big Apple.
Review: Jeff Rovin's novel is a very simple, straight forward monster story. A b-movie with all the awesome A-movie special effects eight imaginative fingers and two thumbs can peck out on a typewriter keyboard. What lifts this novel above three stars is the obviously huge amount of homework Rovin did on bats and how they live almost unseen in the urban jungle. Highly recommended to monster story buffs.
Rating:
Summary: Educational
Review: Summary:
Vespers is about a couple of mutated bats that have been descended from one radioactive bat in Siberia, brought to this country, by a scientist. The story starts off by a little leaguer being mauled by normal, insect eating bats, in a town north of NYC. Upon further investigation, authorities find a full sized deer strung several feet up a tree, with teeth marks.
Enter Nancy Joyce, bat expert, and detective Robert Gentry. A larger bat is on the loose, the size of a bull, using echolocation and its non human squeals to have the smaller vespers attack people. This big bat makes its way to the NYC subway system, while people go missing. Joyce and Gentry track the origin of the mutated bat down to a man in New Paltz, New York, who was in Siberia 10 years earlier. In New Paltz, they see evidence of another large bat. So, there are two to deal with. One a male, the other a pregnant female. Gotta destroy the bats, before she gives birth to more large mutated bats, that feast on humans, and in the populated environs of New York City. Likes: For me, this was a very educational book. Learning how bats behave, and locate their food, send signals to other bats...etc. It was an average thriller, although I've read better horror books with bats involved, this was more science orieneted. Also a little history lesson on the Statue of Liberty! Dislikes: The story was somewhat lame, and rarely did I feel like I was in a state of suspense. Pretty predictable. Finally: Don't mix radioactive waste with the animal kingdom, a la Godzilla, you never know what could happen.
Rating:
Summary: Beware the Bats
Review: The title gets its name from a family of bats containing hundreds of species. It is a successful family with members all over the world in almost every niche. A young boy and his father are attacked at a little league game by some bats. The bats are insectivores but seem to be acting in a territorial fashion. Once the boy and his father move away the bats leave them alone. But then there are other sightings. The bat population of New York City seems to be climbing but there is also something else going on. The carcass of a deer found in a tree top and some dead homeless in the city's subway system indicate something far more powerful than any bat. It could be that whatever is responsible is causing the normal bats to act with abnormal behavior. When a bat expert and a policeman team up they find a trail leading across the surrounding countryside and leading into the city. The evidence points towards a mutant bat brought in from Russia that has managed to propagate. Now the problem is known but there is the matter of getting the right people top believe it. There is an abnormally large bat loose that somehow controls the smaller bats. But soon the bat is spotted by the authorities and plans are made for its capture. But there are two and one is pregnant so there is little time. The final confrontation is a real page turner. VESPERS is a very interesting book. On the front of it we have a monster story. But that story is handled more like a vampire tale than anything else. Mix in some classic Night Stalker-esque interactions between the investigators and the City officials and you get a far more complex book than one would first think. In a way it reminds me of NIGHTWINGS, by Martha Cruz Smith, which also has bats on the surface but a much richer, and deeper, story line lurking just below. VESPERS is an excellent book and Jeff Rovin really knows how to pace it to keep the reading following.
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