Pulling Up Stakes

Pulling Up Stakes #1

by Peter David

Sick of vampire books? Movies? TV shows?

Yeah. So are we.

Sick of the entire unlife of vampires?

Yeah. So is Vince Hammond.

Unfortunately, Vince is in it up to his (wait for it) neck. Because Vince is a young vampire hunter who lives with his vampire hunter mother in an entire community of vampire hunters, who in turn are part of a cult of vampire hunters going back all the way to the French Revolution, which many believe to be an uprising of the poor against the rich but was actually a massive purging of vampires from the French nobility (hence the guillotine; way more efficient than shoving stakes into their hearts.)

And here's Vince's major problem: he's a vampire. But he dare not "come out of the coffin," as it were, and reveal his true nature, because his mother will literally kill him. And if she doesn't manage it, she has lots of friends and neighbors to help make sure that happens.

So instead Vince has to keep his head down and hunt his own kind while making sure not to actually kill them since, for the most part, vampires are law-abiding citizens who drink from eagerly volunteering "Wanna V's" hoping for their own shot at the night life. But when some out-of-town hunters show up with a very personal connection to Vince, his two worlds are going to collide in a way that may wind up forcing Vince to run for the hills...assuming he can get far enough away before Mom hunts him down.

Part 1 of 2

Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Urban Fantasy, Vampires, Humor

105 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 20, 2012

About the author

aka David Peters

Peter Allen David, often abbreviated PAD, was an American writer of comic books, novels, television, films, and video games. His notable comic book work includes an award-winning 12-year run on The Incredible Hulk, as well as runs on Aquaman, Young Justice, SpyBoy, Supergirl, Fallen Angel, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2099, Captain Marvel, and X-Factor.
His Star Trek work included comic books and novels such as the New Frontier book series. His other novels included film adaptations, media tie-ins, and original works, such as the Apropos of Nothing and Knight Life series. His television work includes series such as Babylon 5, Young Justice, Ben 10: Alien Force and Nickelodeon's Space Cases, which he co-created with Bill Mumy.
David often jokingly described his occupation as "Writer of Stuff", and he was noted for his prolific writing, characterized by its mingling of real-world issues with humor and references to popular culture, as well as elements of metafiction and self-reference.
David earned multiple awards for his work, including a 1992 Eisner Award, a 1993 Wizard Fan Award, a 1996 Haxtur Award, a 2007 Julie Award and a 2011 GLAAD Media Award.

Reviews

[Shiromi Arserio · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll be honest, I hadn't planned on reviewing this book yet, since I've technically only read half of it (Pulling Up Stakes is one story broken into two short ebooks). But as some of you may have heard, author Peter David suffered a stroke recently, and frankly even with health insurance the David family can use all the help they can get financially during what is likely to be a lengthy rehabilitation period. So here it is. I'm in the middle of another book right now, but you can expect the second half of this review around the end of the month.

Pulling Up Stakes follows Vince Hammond. Vince comes from a long line of vampire hunters. His father was one. His mother is one. You get the picture. The thing is, Vince is now a vampire. Yep, he got bit, and as it turns out, vampires aren't the evil beings that his fellow vampire hunters had made out. In fact, most of them don't kill people any more. Why bother when you have so many groupies? Unfortunately, he hasn't broken the news to his mother yet. Mostly because she's liable to turn around and stake him. As if Vince's problems with his mother weren't enough, a new clan of vampire hunters breeze into town, one of whom happens to be his future bride, that he knows nothing about.

If you're tired of vampire stories and think they've all been done before then you'll want to read Pulling Up Stakes. With his usual wit, the author manages to take a tired genre and give it a new little twist. David easily pokes fun of the current vampire craze, Twilight to True Blood to Buffy, nothing escapes the author's rapier sharp wit.

The story is an easy read, fast paced with plenty of humour. The characters are well fleshed out, particularly Vince, who's yes, our hero, but he definitely has his less than heroic moments. What can I say, if anyone knows how to write an anti-hero, it's Peter David. Apparently the publishing world weren't too interested in this story because if you wrote a vampire story the protagonist had to be female. Well as a female reader, I can honestly say I liked it a lot better than Twilight or any of those books. And, as it happens, there are some fabulously strong, witty female characters in here that I can't wait to see more of in book two.

If you've ever read Howling Mad, Pulling Up Stakes is very similar in tone. It's a short read, just eight chapters, but, hey, it's only $0.99. If you want to help support the David family, or simply want a good book to read, I heartily recommend this book.

I do also want to add that I read this just recently, during a really tough period in my life and it made me laugh, which is exactly what I needed. So thank you Mr. David. I just wish you could make it to ECCC this March so I could thank you in person.

[K.W. McCabe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pulling Up Stakes 4 of 5 stars and Pulling Up Stakes 2 - 4 of 5 stars

This is going to be a two-part review as the first book is more of a novelette.
Vince Hammond is a vampire slayer - but not just any type of vampire slayer (yes, there are more than one kind) he's a vampire slayer from an ancient order of vampire slayers - a thorough-bred vamp slayer, if you will.

The only problem is, he's been turned into a vampire himself.

Which is a problem since he has to now figure out how to balance his vampiric tendencies with his vampire-slaying legacy - and keep his vampire slaying mom from finding out.

But just how is he going to do this when his vampire-slaying fiance (that he didn't know he had) and all her family show up to raise hell?

I purchased Pulling Up Stakes by Peter David for $.99 and I'm glad I did.

The story was funny, fast-paced and entertaining - the major complaint I had was that it stopped abruptly in the middle.

I promptly purchased Pulling Up Stakes 2 for $2.99 and completed the story.

Pulling Up Stakes 2 continues with Vince Hammond's chaotic situation as he scrambles to try and protect his vampire-slaying fiance - while attempting to keep her family from discovering his true nature as he hunts down vampires who are up to no good.

But hunting vampires when you are a vampire is tricky business if you don't want the humans in your immediate surrounding knowing that you're a vampire too.

Will he be able to hide his nature effectively while wooing his unwanted fiance? Or is all hell going to blow up in his face?

Both stories were funny, lively, and the action never stopped.

I enjoyed both stories, but the funny thing about reading this series was that I didn't realize I had read this author before until reading his book listings at the end of his book.

I've had the pleasure of reading his traditionally published book The Woad to Wuin and enjoyed his dry brand of humor there as well.

I'll be sure to look out for the next book in the Vampire series: Raising Stakes.

[***Dave Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

(First part of a two part story)

One of Peter David's strengths as a writer is to take a world, trope, genre, and mine it for nuggets of undiscovered creativity, of the sort that make you slap your forehead and say, "Why didn't anyone else ever think of this?"

Here David enters the far-too-well-mined world of vampire novels, and comes up with something that is, on the surface, completely derivative, but which adds in a new and interesting and "why didn't anyone else ever think of this?" contribution almost every other page early on. Fans of genre will enjoy it for those new twists -- as will those who are not, as David's sly mockery of genre conventions has appeal there, too.

The tale does begin to lag toward the end -- the action (and chit-chat) continue unabated, but the incessent wittiness of the protagonist started to wear, and the territory, even in this too-short half-book, began to feel well-trodden.

Still, it's entertaining, creative (in a way that people will be trying to incorporate some of his ideas without, in fact, trying to look imitative) and, well, a quick read.

[Amberlee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fast, funny and can't wait to read the second book! Peter David really has a way of writing how real life should sound! :)

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Different, unique, & funny.

[Patrick Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliantly funny read of a vampire slayer named Vince, who's a vampire that hasn't told his mother. Adding to his troubles is another family of vampire hunters arriving in New York who take killing the undead much more seriously than he does. Oh, and he's been promised to marry their youngest daughter since he was a toddler. If he doesn't marry her he'll have to return the dowry that the family paid his father years ago. Vince's father died a few years ago and he and his mother don't know what he did with the money. To summarize: he's a vampire, his mother is clueless, he's engaged to a stranger, and something mysterious is killing vampires.

Outstanding action that's easy to follow, superb characters, with Vince's voice being wonderful, and constant twists and turns in the plot.

If you love vampire stories, you're going to love this.

I've been an immense fan of author David's Star Trek novels and comic books. This is the first original novel featuring his own creations I've read and I've discovered my readings of his other original books should commence quickly.

I've learned after reading this book that there's a sequel. I will hunt that book down to see what Vince and the survivors of this book do next.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is really only the first half of a novel. If you're going to read this, just know that you'll also want to read Pulling Up Stakes 2. So I can't really give an overall review for this. But, in general, it's a pretty typical Peter David book. Fairly clever and snarky dialog. Pop culture references. Puns. If you like Peter David's style, you'll like this. If not, you won't. The story is a riff on the usual "urban fantasy" vampire genre, with a few interesting tweaks. So far, it's a relatively light-hearted story and a lot of fun to read. It reminds me a bit of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files stuff, only with more puns.

[Paxton Holley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m a big fan of Peter David as a writer. I’ve read the majority of his output. Many years ago he wrote a werewolf novel with the twist that a wolf was bitten by a werewolf and it would turn human at every full moon. This novella is a similar twist on vampires. The son of a prominent vampire hunting family is in fact, secretly, a vampire. And apparently he’s also been betrothed to the daughter of another prominent vampire hunting family. Family drama ensues.

This was fun. I thought at first I wasn’t going to like the main protagonist, Vincent (he’s almost a little too snarky), but he evened out as the story progressed and I wound up really enjoying myself. It’s a cool setup and by the end I’m hooked and now want to read the second part immediately.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good. It ends really abruptly though.

[Julee · Rating 1 out of 5]

See my review for part 2. This “book” is nothing more than a marketing ploy for you to have to buy part two as this is truly only half a book.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Peter David is a great writer. I've enjoyed reading his books. That being said, this wasn't one of his better efforts.

[TheThirdLie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read that synopsis up there of the book. Go ahead read it, I'll wait. Read it? Sounds cheesy as hell, huh? I was thinking the same thing. I was also thinking that I really don't like books about vampires so much. They're all sexy, super human... humans... anymore and that's just boring. I like vampires as monsters to be feared, not something to jump in bed with. Forgive me, I digress.


So, the synopsis sounds terribly cheesy and not worth the read, right? Well, that's just wrong. It's great. Incredibly great. There is a lot of attention to detail with the world that is built around these clans of vampire hunters so much so, that you just accept them. They're actually quite believable. This makes the setup for this story work.

The characters were enjoyable, especially Vincent our protagonist. He's very well balanced in terms of being a good guy, but also having his selfish side. He's not just a white knight in shining armor. He's got his issues and doesn't always know what the right choice of action is. I like that. There's a good sized side cast that works well. I wish we could have seen a bit more of some of them, but maybe that will happen later in the series. Dina and Duncan are two I am particularly interested in.

The writing is superb. Flows very well and is witty. It's what I wish more Urban Fantasy authors would do with their writing. We can have badasses fighting monsters who can also speak intelligently. We can! There were times it was a bit repetitive, but it wasn't enough to deter me from enjoying this a great deal.


I thoroughly enjoyed this and recommend it to anyone looking for something different in the UF genre. Especially those looking for a new series with a male POV. This is good stuff.


The only thing that I can say I disliked about this is that for whatever reason, the book was split in half. I'm not sure what compelled the author or the publisher to push for this, but it's just... not necessary. I liked the "story so far" intro for the second half, but could have easily done without it. Because these two parts are really the same book, the review will be the same for both of them.

[Kaufmak · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been a Peter David fan ever since he took over the writing duties for X-Factor back in the early nineties. His strengths lie in pacing, dialogue and humor. Two of the three were on display in Pulling up Stakes. David still does a great job of getting a story going and keeps it moving and I still love that unlike most comic/sci-fy author makes the words coming from the characters mouths seem believable. Unfortunately, his attempts at humor fell largely flat. I think the biggest reason for this is that David hasn't really switched up his formula for humor. Also the subject matter, basically the struggle between vampires and humans, has been done and while this is billed as something different, it really isn't, especially the jokes. All in all, if you like David's other novels, you'll like this. It is quite short and a very breezy read. Compared to such books as Q-squared or The New Frontier books, however, Pulling Up Stakes just doesn't measure up.

I would encourage you to buy this book however even if you aren't into vampires or David in general. At the end of December 2012, Peter David had a massive stroke and while he has some medical insurance, the bills keep on mounting and making life unduly hard for him and his family. His wife, Kathy, has on numerous occasions said the best way to help Peter is by buying his work, especially from his publishing company, Crazy Eights (might be wrong on the specific name) Publishing. Pulling Up Stakes and a couple of other titles are by David and the sales of those books in particular help the family out the most. It isn't asking a lot, the books are fun and you would be helping an artist in need.

[Eric Juneau · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Peter David, and this book was only $.99 so why not? The problem as I soon discovered is that this is only part one. I’m not even sure if it’s the first half. (I think it is, cause the end blurb says “Coming Soon: the conclusion”) There’s no indication that this is just the first part, and no indication where the second half is or if it’s even forthcoming.

If I hadn’t paid just a buck for it, I might be pissed. I know how books are — sometimes it can be months or years between sequels (George R. R. Martin). Sometimes the writers never come back to those works — they just don’t feel like writing them anymore (Anne Rice). Sometimes they get made but never get published because of market demands (Fiona Apple).

What I do not like is getting half a story, no matter how cheap it was. I’m a bit of a completionist, and knowing that the story might be hanging out there forever, like a song that never reaches its final chord, does not make me a happy customer. It’s like making a recipe, but you can only make part of it now — the rest of the ingredients will come later. When maybe you don’t feel like eating anymore.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fangs for the Memory

Vampire in the closet, Vince is hiding in plain sight. His Mom is a slayer, his Dad was a slayer, his friends are all slayers. This isn't good. It gets worse when he finds out that he was betrothed as a child to the daughter of a traditional Aryan Slayer family.

Throughout the dangers and traumatic encounters, Vince's dry comments and humorous asides keep you chuckling. Very sensible discussions about vampire abilities are included. The part about mirrors is worth the book alone. Be aware that the book cuts off with a 100+ pages and you will have to buy the next book to conclude (I think). Should be worth it to find out how Vince gets out of this mess. Hopefully he won't make a miss stake. (Opps, he he he)

[John Kirk · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is only half a book; it's not the first book of a duology. So, be aware that you're not getting any kind of complete story here. However, if you're tempted by the book as a whole (both parts) then this is a cheap way to try it out: if you don't like it then you've only lost 99 cents (~= 70 pence) and if you do like it then you can keep going and pay a normal price for the overall story. Personally, I enjoyed this enough to go ahead and buy part 2: it's got clever ideas, action, characters, and humour.

[Lin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apparently this is a novella, not a full-length book. Oh, well. To quote Macklemore, "It was 99 cents!"

Fun, though, with typical Peter David wit. Vince is a member of the elite group of vampire hunters known as "Body Men". He comes from a long line of hunters, including his deceased father, and mother. Unfortunately for him, though, he's been turned into a bloodsucker. He's desperately trying to maintain appearances and keep the news from his mom--and then things go haywire.

I guess I'll buy the conclusion. It's more expensive, though--$2.99!! It works out to $2 each, so not bad, even for a short read.

[Ryan Atwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've never been a fan of Vampire fiction. I couldn't even get in to Buffy, and if Joss Whedon can't get me interested in a genre I don't know who can. Well, actually, apparently Peter David can. I always love when a writer takes an old idea and turns it on its ear and David has found a way to bring new life to the vampire genre. Honestly, I only picked it up because it was by David and was $1, but I found myself pulled in to the story and involved with the characters. Can't wait to read the second half and figure out what's going on!

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

It seem a bit unfair to rate and review this, since it's really not a book. "Pulling up Stakes" parts one and two together form a complete novel, and this is probably not even the first half. But as for what's here -- it's a fun take on the whole vampire hunter thing that fills so many books, movies and TV shows these days. It's a bit unfocused -- thoughts, jokes, concepts and narrative timelines bounce around like a room full of superballs -- but entertaining enough that I'm moving on to part 2 now.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Snarky and entertaining, if not ground-breaking, this book has a cute enough twist to not disappear into the pile of monster-hunting urban fantasies or vampire sagas. David can't resist the usual potshots at Twilight, but for the most part, the humor comes from voice and situation and works well. While I could see some of the ultimate resolution coming a mile away, it was still satisfying. (Although the answer of what happened to the dowry doesn't quite make sense, given previously established information.) Sets up for an on-going series, but the ending stands well enough on its own.

[Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I would've liked it better if it were the whole book at once instead of a two-parter. The first one wasn't really long enough. It felt like an episode of Supernatural or Angel as far as tone and storytelling. And maybe I've just read (and written) too many vampire stories. I may have become jaded to the whole genre.

Peter David is a good writer -- don't get me wrong about that! I like his stuff and I have several other books waiting in the queue to be read. I just don't think I'll be getting part 2 of this particular one.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really used to love Peter David, so I was excited to check out some of his newer stuff. David has always been great about mixing high concept comedy with comedy about the mundane details of his characters. He tries for the same thing here, but falls a little flat. Perhaps he's trying a bit hard, but it all comes off a bit forced, and not that funny. Liked it, didn't love it, definitely skippable.

[Leilani · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick fun read. I don't usually seek out vampire stories, but I heard Peter David read an excerpt when he was guest of honor at FenCon in Dallas last fall, and enjoyed it a lot. The rest of the first half of the story was just as good - the narrator is a bit smart-alecky, but in a likeable way, and the plot moves briskly.

[Brian Callahan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this is only half of a story, I really got into the main character, Vince, and his conflicted nature. I found the story to be entertaining. I am diving into part two. Don't forget that purchasing this book, among others, is an extra help to Peter David as he continues to recover from a stroke.

[Josh Talbot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yet again. Peter David doesn't disappoint.

A hereditary vampire hunter with a secret. He's actually a vampire himself. Now this is a set up that many authors could mess up, but not a pro like Peter David. He wrote a fine story that draws you in. Admittedly the story ends suddenly. However book two is out, so you're not left hanging.

[Tierney · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very different reading experience to me. It was like reading someone's thoughts instead the type of formal writing you normally see in novels. It was a breath of fresh air. Also, it ended on a kind of cliff hanger and now I have to go buy the second one!

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like this one suffers a lot from clumsy first person narrator issues, but enjoyable enough to make it through. My edition was riddled with typos, though, which was a bit distracting. Hopefully just a rendering issue.

[Bill Mould Jr · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was a fun read. It was standard fair from Peter David. The main character has a realistic view of his world and is, most of the time, sarcastic. The world view and sarcasm are generally character traits that PADs main character usually have.

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Enjoyed what I read and I would have rated it higher if it was the whole story. Instead of feeling like I had read book 1 in a 2 book series, it's was more like reading half of the story.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super quick read, really just lighthearted and fun. Also the narrator is a sarcastic ass and how can you not love a vampire book where fangs are compared to an erection on your face?