cover image The Vampire King

The Vampire King

Heather Killough-Walden, read by Antony Ferguson. Tantor Media, unabridged, six CDs, 7.25 hrs., $34.99 ISBN 978-1-4526-1119-8

Killough-Walden’s vampire novel—which is connected to her Big Bad Wolf series—forces narrator Antony Ferguson to plunge right into the action: the book opens in medias res, with a female author named Evie injured and trapped by a romantic rival in a cold basement. How Evie got there, and how vampire king Roman D’Angelo threw her life into turmoil, is unraveled gradually, allowing Ferguson to draw the listener into the myth slowly and deliberately. The narrator’s steady pacing works well here, as the book contains much information about Killough-Walden’s imagined universe, and a more hurried delivery would risk losing those details. Ferguson proves himself equally adept at rendering dialogue and action scenes—and the result is a fun listen for fans of the genre. (Apr.)