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The Vampire of Highgate (Highgate #1)

3.55 of 5 stars 3.55 · rating details · 40 ratings · 16 reviews

Kathy Bilic is adopted. Until now, she’s had only a vague memory of her real family. But terrifying dreams and visions of her sister Amber are waking her in the night. When Amber starts giving her messages, Kathy gets a sickening sense that her sister is in danger – from a deadly, inhuman source. Kathy hits London to find her sister – but when she arrives at her aunt’s hou...more

Paperback, 352 pages

Published July 7th 2012 by Hodder Children's Books (first published June 7th 2012)

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Jul 02, 2012 Suzanne (Paranormal Pages) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favourites-2012, vampires

My Rating 4.5 of 5 stars

This book was nothing like I expected. And while I can't say exactly what I was expecting, it certainly wasn't this. And I was most definitely not disappointed. I feel maybe I would describe this more as horror than paranormal, it was at times, scary and gruesome, but I was glued to it the whole time.

The vampires in The Vampire of Highgate are what I would describe as the old style vampires that I was used to (before I discovered Twilight and developed my paranormal addic...more My Rating 4.5 of 5 stars

This book was nothing like I expected. And while I can't say exactly what I was expecting, it certainly wasn't this. And I was most definitely not disappointed. I feel maybe I would describe this more as horror than paranormal, it was at times, scary and gruesome, but I was glued to it the whole time.

The vampires in The Vampire of Highgate are what I would describe as the old style vampires that I was used to (before I discovered Twilight and developed my paranormal addiction), not the romanticised version of today. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of the romanticised guy, but this was a nice change. Real horror, real terror. These vampires are still affected by crosses and holy water.

Kathy goes to Highgate in London to search for her sister Amber. They didn't grow up together as their parents died when they were young, but since Amber disappeared, Kathy has been dreaming about her. Then she receives a package in the post from Amber and she knows what she needs to do.

Kathy is a really likeable character, very easy to connect with. She takes all of the revelations of horror and magic in her stride with courage and acceptance. Her character grows immensely while she's in England. She does things she never would have done in the States, where she was a shy, awkward girl who lacked confidence and suffered from panic attacks. She embraces her heritage and is definitely making headway towards becoming a kick ass character.

All of the characters in this book were well written with depth pertaining to their role in the book, be it a long or short appearance. My favourite character was Kathy, but Antwain would have been a close second. I'm really hoping to see a lot more of him in future books. There is no romance in this, which usually puts me off because I love some romance in the books I read, but it didn't take away from this one at all. I am hoping though that what we seen in this was the build up to something that may occur in future instalments. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. There are flashes back to the past which I enjoyed as it enhances the present story for the reader.

When I started The Vampire of Highgate, I believed it to be a stand alone novel and was disappointed in the ending. But after some research, and a quick chat with the author, I've discovered that it's part of a trilogy. Yay! This totally changed my mind about the ending because I knew loose ends were going to be tied up. There's no cliffhanger, but the ending was open and I was left with some questions. And apparently, there is also going to be three movies made of this series and some spin off's. This sounds like it is going to be big, so make sure you don't miss out.
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Jan 03, 2013 AmareCallisti_Tallyn rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jun 19, 2012 Darkfallen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc, read-n-reviewed

Welcome to the story of the Highgate Vampire...

Kathy has spent her entire life in New York being raised be her two adoptive parents, and aside from being adopted has she is just your normal girl. That is until she starts having weird dreams about her sister that she hasn't seen since she was a baby. Dreams that her sister is in trouble and needs her help. The only problem is that her sister lives in London. Doing what she feels she has to Kathy goes to London after a mysterious book shows up in...more Welcome to the story of the Highgate Vampire...

Kathy has spent her entire life in New York being raised be her two adoptive parents, and aside from being adopted has she is just your normal girl. That is until she starts having weird dreams about her sister that she hasn't seen since she was a baby. Dreams that her sister is in trouble and needs her help. The only problem is that her sister lives in London. Doing what she feels she has to Kathy goes to London after a mysterious book shows up in the mail from her sister. A book in a weird language that she can't even read. All she knows is she has to try and save her sister, but from what? Landing herself in the in a world of vampires can Kathy save her sister? Or will she fall to the same fate at the hand of the Highgate Vampire?

This isn't your swoon worthy vampire novel. No these vampires are the things of nightmares and legends. All fangs, blood, and thirst! And the same goes for this book. With page after page of suspense and running for your life from blood crazed vampires this book brings back the traditional vampires we loved to be scared of in Anne Rice novels. I loved how the story kept me on the edge of my seat, and even scared me a few times. It was a nice change of pace from our cuddlepires that we all swoon over these days.

The only thing that is keeping this from getting 5 stars is the the way it was written. The story is told from Kathy's POV and she is from New York, yet the whole book sounds like it is being told from a Brit's POV. Yes I get that the story takes place in London, but Kathy wouldn't talk like she was from there being that she has never left the United States until she flew over to find her sister. Personally I just think it should have a more American accent to it. And say things like "tennis shoes" instead of "trainers", or "flashlight" instead of "torch". Again I only say this because it is being told by Kathy and she is, as the Brits would say, a Yankee; therefore I think the story should be told like one.

Other than that this was a great, fast read with vampires that just mught keep you up at night.(less)

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Jul 21, 2012 M rated it 3 of 5 stars

Vampires as they should be: scary, murderous, sexy, carnivorous and non-sparkly. The author added some new twists to the folklore that I could've done without (namely the acololytes and the glyphs, which felt to me as though they were in the wrong book), but the Vlad the Impaler and Stoker influences certainly show, to good effect. Our heroine, Kathy, is a bit of a drip, and I couldn't get past the whole 'My Dad is dying of cancer but hey, I'm going on vacation anyway' part, but overall, I liked...more

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Aug 27, 2012 Melissa (Book Nerd Reviews) rated it 4 of 5 stars

If you avoid vampire novels like the plague because you didn't like Twilight or any other paranormal romance, then you probably don't want to apply this prejudice to The Highgate Vampire because this is the real deal. Gritty, action packed and a smart story line that even until the last pages had you guessing, I flew through this book.

Kathy is our main charatcter, and I really liked her. She is vulnerable but not frail, awkward and yet attractive, shy but at times able to put on a false front. S...more If you avoid vampire novels like the plague because you didn't like Twilight or any other paranormal romance, then you probably don't want to apply this prejudice to The Highgate Vampire because this is the real deal. Gritty, action packed and a smart story line that even until the last pages had you guessing, I flew through this book.

Kathy is our main charatcter, and I really liked her. She is vulnerable but not frail, awkward and yet attractive, shy but at times able to put on a false front. She's a bit of a paradox. She flys out to London in search for her sister Amber who has gone missing. There's some family history that explains why Kathy was raised in America whilst Amber was raised in England. Kathy arrives in London with no knowledge of what exactly she's gotten herself into with her search and soon finds herself knee deep in vampires. Scary vampires too, not the Cullen kind.

Speaking of the vampires, you can probably tell already but I really found them reshreshing. They reminded me of the old 1950's style vampire horror movies we would watch as kids, where vampires where simple and scary. And that was it. These vampires of course aren't that straight forward, however I liked the traditional approach and I genuinely found myself scared at parts in the book!

I loved that whilst reading our main story, there are sub storylines from the past appearing with people being attacked by The Highgate Vampire. Usually I hate flicking back and forth, but the way the author did this was with deliberate intention and it certainly serves a purpose in enhancing the story. He was very smart in how he wrote this book.

The end of the book does somewhat leave us in position where it could either be the end of a stand alone book or the start of a trilogy. I am to believe that this is the first of a trilogy if the internet is telling me the truth. I am really excited by this, because there really isn't many other YA vampire novels of this kind on the market. It's a real horror/thriller style of novel.

Overall, really loved it, and I'll be reading any more books that Asa Bailey brings out about The Highgate Vampire!(less)

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Jun 24, 2012 SJH (A Dream of Books) rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: for-review, vampire, young-adult

When I read that this book was based on the real life story of the Highgate Vampire I was immediately interested in reading it. Although Asa Bailey has built on original elements of the story, he's also crafted something new.

Kathy arrives in London from America, hunting for her sister Amber who has gone missing. She gets more than she bargained for when she finds out about the legend of the Highgate Vampire and discovers a secret about her own family history which has enormous repercussions.

Set...more

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Jul 26, 2012 Jenny (hades2) (Chocolate Chunky Munkie) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: review-books-arc

I found this one to be very chilling and spooky; there is an undercurrent of tension that runs through this book which only adds to the heightened darkened mood.

What I found interesting was that this novel was based on the real life story of the vampire of Highgate. This is really exciting as it adds extra oomph to the story. I have a friend who lives in the area and she was very excited to find a book about the local folklore. There is certainly no glamorising of the vampires in this books, it...more I found this one to be very chilling and spooky; there is an undercurrent of tension that runs through this book which only adds to the heightened darkened mood.

What I found interesting was that this novel was based on the real life story of the vampire of Highgate. This is really exciting as it adds extra oomph to the story. I have a friend who lives in the area and she was very excited to find a book about the local folklore. There is certainly no glamorising of the vampires in this books, it is hard, ruthless and not at all romanticised.

I must admit I did take a couple of chapters to settle into the story, but once I did I really loved it. The main character Kathy is flawed, but she shows real power when it comes to finding out what happened to her half sister Amber. I think she is a very brave girl and you can certainly see her character develop throughout the book. She is a much different person from the girl who left America at the beginning of the book.

This book is dark and gothic and you can get to feel the real terror of some of the victims that befall the vampire. The scene is set well and you can certainly get the feel of the locations, this for me is a must in a book. I really want to feel that I am walking the streets with the character whilst also feeling their raw emotions.

It does jump period a little and I did have to re-read some of the pages again just to make sure I didn’t miss any detail out. These flashbacks were very useful as it made the story more detailed.

I wasn’t too sure what to expect of this book, but it did not disappoint me. I would recommend this book as I do think it is a chilling and worthy read. I thought the writing style flowed nicely, but like I said before I did have to re-read a few pages just to make sure I hadn’t missed out any of the vital details.

Overall summary:
If you want a dark, gothic and chilling read and don’t mind vampires being terrifying then this is the book for you. It has an added bonus of being based on a real life story of the Highgate Vampire.(less)

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Aug 25, 2012 Lisa Machen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Firstly I just want to say how refreshing it is to read a book about vampires, in which the vampires are actually scary and they kill people. This is good, a return to the gothic horror, Bram Stoker type of vampire that you can actually fear.

The descriptions of Highgate Cemetary set the whole tone and atmosphere for the novel. It is an old, spooky place with plenty of legends attached to it so it's the perfect setting for paranormal/horror fiction.

I liked Kathy's character, she isn't your typica...more

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Jan 13, 2013 Heidi. rated it 5 of 5 stars

At first, I thought this book wouldn't amount to much and it was quite confusing with the time changes and what have you, but as the book progressed, I found myself hooked. The development of each character no matter how little or how much time they had in the book was extraordinary, and I found myself attached to almost every one of them within a few pages of their first appearances. There are so many things that eventually fall into place that I would never have anticipated and I could have cr...more

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Nov 24, 2012 Shauna rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012

I hated it. I can't actually think of one redeeming quality. I even hated the main character. Kathy is a self-obsessed, ignorant bitch. There, I said it and I feel better for it.

The one character that could have been interesting, Oliver, is killed almost as soon as he's introduced. And I didn't buy Kathy's tears. She cries a fair few times throughout, but gets over her grief very bloody quickly. Not to mention that she left New York for London very quickly, based on nothing more than a few drea...more

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Jan 29, 2011 Kara marked it as to-read

Shelves: paranormal, young-adult

I've heard of the Highgate Vampire. Supposedly a true story and the stuff of legend. Fact or fiction? Should be an interesting read regardless.

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Mar 28, 2013 Abigail rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: okay

it was quite interesting but not amazing

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Sep 13, 2012 Andy rated it 2 of 5 stars

http://taliesinttlg.blogspot.co.uk/20...

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Apr 07, 2012 Lalaine ( Ficbookreviews ) marked it as review-wishlist

July. <3

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Dec 02, 2012 Charmin rated it 2 of 5 stars

it was okay

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Aug 23, 2012 RosenBerri rated it 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book immensely, on the edge of my seat waiting for another book. Fingers crossed.

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May 13, 2013 Heather rated it 3 of 5 stars

May 10, 2013 Hayley Russell rated it 3 of 5 stars

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Apr 27, 2013 Maria Sajelle rated it 4 of 5 stars

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Apr 09, 2013 Lorna rated it 3 of 5 stars

Apr 06, 2013 Sophia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Apr 09, 2013 Julia marked it as to-read

Shelves: series

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Shelves: omg-coverart

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About Asa Bailey

The first book Asa Bailey ever read was about Vlad the Impaler. He was six years old. Since then he has been fascinated by vampire history, the gothic, the bizarre and the fantastic. Asa is a novelist and film-maker who after living in London and New York moved to a medieval village high in the Snowdonia Mountain range of North Wales. Today, surrounded by dark mountains, forests and rivers, he lik...more

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