The Making of a Monster (Abyss)

Rating:
Summary: Making of a Monster...Amazing!
Review: I absolutely loved this book. I am an avid vampire reader and of all the books I have read, this rates at the top. I will say that Gail Petersen isn't better than Anne Rice, so much as different. I only wish she had written more books about Kate. Did she ever find Justin? Did they finally find the love that kept eluding them? Anyway, I definetly recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: "In the city of angels, she crossed over to the other side."
Review: I don't know which book I hate more Tanya Huff's "Blood Debt" or Gail Petersen's "The Making of a Monster". I think what really offended me about this book is at the top there is a comment from Tyson Blue who says "Impressive...Better than Anne Rice!". Let me tell you, this book is neither impress nor is Gail Petersen a better author than Anne Rice. This book just oozes cheese.

There is nothing worse than the cartoonish caricature of a vampire being a musician. Anne Rice made this ridiculous stereotype more interesting with her eloquent writing while Gail Petersen just made me wretch with this book. How many times must the public endure the same ol' crud like the character Kate stuck in limbo with her so-called "suffering"? This storyline (if you want to call it) is laughable and the writing was a bigger joke.

Rating:
Summary: Still my favorite book...
Review: I got this book off a supermarket rack and bought it on a whim. It has a fairly plain cover, and a cheesy back cover description, but I thought it might be a fun read. What I got though, was a phenominal story that I ended up staying up all night to finish.

The storyline keeps you guessing, the charecters are believeable (insomuch as is possible given preternatural circumstances), the narrator and main charecter Kate is so well developed... the reader finds themselves identifying with Kate right away, and then gets sucked down with her, into her gradual charecter shift from 'Suzie homemaker' to 'monster at heart'. And at each step the shift is so subtle, you never stop identifying with Kate as fate makes a monster out of her.

11 years later, its still my favorite book. I've read it more often than any other book i own... which is saying a lot, my book collection is well over a thousand books at this point. I even bought additional coppies to loan out to people, my first copy stays at home.

Rating:
Summary: Started well then ....
Review: I really wanted to like this book. It started out well enough and I almost gave it 3 stars. However, I asked myself if I'd recommend this book to anyone and changed to 2 stars. The beginning started out well and I really liked the interaction between Justin and Kate. I did find Kate's struggle with Vampirism interesting. But, when Kate decided to become a rock star the book took, IMO, a turn for the worse. It was too contrived. When I did get to the end of the book it started to pick up again, but with only a few chapters left. The book would have been much better without the rock star section which was a big chunk of the story and expanding on the evil doctor and Justin relationship. I think Gail decided to write about what she was most comfortable with (rock n roll bands) than what could have been a great story.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best
Review: I've read most, if not all of the vampire books out there, and without a doubt this is one of top 10. Gail Peterson does such great work, it's a shame that there wasn't a sequel. It has an incredibly engaging story, that you just can't help reading it over and over again.

Rating:
Summary: A great Vampire book!
Review: It is such a shame that this book is out of print. The author wrote a very compeling story that kept me hooked from the first page on. The evolution of the main character, Kate, from being a bored housewife taking acting lessons, to a Vampire performing in her own rock group was fantastic and very believable. Considering that Gail, the author, is in a band, Kate's interaction with her band is very believable, more believable than that very famous vampire's rock band. The auther did a great job in making this story intriguing by combining old vampire lore with a modern lifestyle. I highly recommend it and I hope it goes into print again. This book should be read by horror and vampire fans alike. It's just one of the all time best vampire novels around!

Rating:
Summary: A great Vampire book!
Review: It is such a shame that this book is out of print. The author wrote a very compeling story that kept me hooked from the first page on. The evolution of the main character, Kate, from being a bored housewife taking acting lessons, to a Vampire performing in her own rock group was fantastic and very believable. Considering that Gail, the author, is in a band, Kate's interaction with her band is very believable, more believable than that very famous vampire's rock band. The auther did a great job in making this story intriguing by combining old vampire lore with a modern lifestyle. I highly recommend it and I hope it goes into print again. This book should be read by horror and vampire fans alike. It's just one of the all time best vampire novels around!

Rating:
Summary: "In the city of angels, she crossed over to the other side."
Review: Shortly after moving to Los Angeles from New York with her husband (Ben), 27-year-old Kate Davis meets a seductive man named Justin in her acting class, who she has a short but horrifying affair with. After that one night, Kate is made into a vampire against her will and then ultimately abandoned.

After spending a couple years aimlessly roaming L.A.'s streets and befriending an elderly woman (Lil) who is later killed by a werewolf (Henry), Kate takes a gambling hiatus in Las Vegas, where her love for music is renewed. She then returns to Los Angeles to become a musician, by targeting and then snuffing out a band's (The Uninvited) bass player and taking his place.

Despite the band's growing success, Kate can't ignore her quarterly blood lust or her weakening humanity. There is also the added danger of being discovered, whether by the detective who is still investigating the previous bass player's death or by her paranoid band mate (Charly). And then there's Drew, the lead singer of The Uninvited, who Kate has fallen hopelessly in love with. But can she suppress her need to kill while she's with him--or will Drew just be another one of her victims?

"The Making of a Monster" isn't one of my absolute favorite vampire novels, nor is it as erotic or scary as I had expected, considering the suggestive front cover and the tagline; but it's a relatively quick read and quite enthralling. Gail Petersen's previous experience as a musician/songwriter in the alternative rock band, The Catholic Girls, comes into play a lot in this book (after all, this book was inspired by a vampire song she had written), as well as her strict Catholic upbringing. Both elements give Kate's own musical and religious struggle a bit more credibility. This book is certainly worth a try if you're a vampire lover. Also recommended: Anne Rice's "The Vampire Lestat" (vampire musician).