Vampire tales, as we all know, are HOT. Enter Francesca Lia Block. Anyone familiar with Block's work (she won the Edwards Award from YALSA a few years ago) like WEETZIE BAT, should know she will have a slightly different take on this familiar tale. And she does indeed. Think WEETZIE meets Vlad. No, that's not quite right. What we do have is a strong heroine in Char who is changed by William into one of the eternal ones. As the novel opens, Char is living on her own. She befriends Emily, a bit of a waif with a tough story of her own. When emily dies (an apparent suicide), Emily's boyfriend, Jared becomes Char's companion and more. Complicated relationships, flashbacks, and some other twists of the plot make this one rip fodder for those who are ready to graduate from series vampire books on to vamps with a touch of hipness. Oh, great cover, too, right?