Currently entered in the running for the “Worst Book I’ve Read This Year” is The Silver Kiss by Annette Curtis Klaus. I’m not sure if this pathetic drizzle of a vampire story is quite as bad as Christopher Pike’s The Last Vampire, but I’d call it close, and I must offer the same advice that I offered in my review of Mr. Pike’s book: stay far away unless you’re a diehard.
Zoë (does anyone else find her name ironic?) is a bitter young girl whose mother is dying of cancer and whose father is growing distant. Her best friend, Lorraine, is a shallow, self-centered teen who is preparing to move to Oregon. On top of this, murders have been occurring in Zoë’s hometown in which the victims are found drained of blood, sometimes with their throats ripped out.
Enter Christopher, a teen vampire who skulks about the park by night and snoozes in an abandoned school by day. He sees the oh-so-attractive Zoë sitting by herself one night and becomes fascinated by her. The two of them join forces to defeat Christopher’s younger vampire brother.
I have to say that the best parts of the book were from Christopher’s POV. He had this really degrading way of talking about Zoë sometimes. Simply hysterical. Not to mention that he pissed on somebody’s porch…disgusting but hilarious. Never before have I read a vampire novel in which a member of the undead, uh, marked his territory in such a way. I was amused.
Zoë wrote admittedly terrible poetry. Another high point (one of oh, say, two) was the title of the poem she wrote for her mother- “Spells Against Death”. Touching, ne?
Annette Curtis Klaus dedicated The Silver Kiss to her writing support group and those who encouraged her to write a novel. I think her “supporters” were only being polite.
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