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Vamp Camp #2
The Obscurati
Sequel to Vamp Camp
Vamp Camp Book Two
A hundred years after his turning, Mårten Larsson and his lover Oberon have taken the compassion and caring they found in Vamp Camp and created an empire that brings balance to vampire society around the world. Once two giddy young vamps, now they're the most formidable vampire hit squad in The Obscurati.
As the “Unseen Death,” the duo enforces vampire law. When a vampire breaks the rules anywhere in the world, or when the local vampire leaders can’t control a situation, that's when The Obscurati show up. Mårten and Oberon turbo-charge the action with the latest in anti-vamp firepower and more, all the while pushing their steamy relationship to the next level.
Vamp Camp Book Two
A hundred years after his turning, Mårten Larsson and his lover Oberon have taken the compassion and caring they found in Vamp Camp and created an empire that brings balance to vampire society around the world. Once two giddy young vamps, now they're the most formidable vampire hit squad in The Obscurati.
As the “Unseen Death,” the duo enforces vampire law. When a vampire breaks the rules anywhere in the world, or when the local vampire leaders can’t control a situation, that's when The Obscurati show up. Mårten and Oberon turbo-charge the action with the latest in anti-vamp firepower and more, all the while pushing their steamy relationship to the next level.
210 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 3, 2011
1 person is currently reading
77 people want to read
About the author
Wynn Wagner
18 books26 followersWynn Wagner is the author of numerous books on several topics. You can find books on tarot, liturgy, science fiction, fantasy, and gay romance.
His fiction is usually funny and sometimes snarky. One of his books — Brent the Heart Reader — was the 2012 entry into the Gay Book Hall of Fame. Another fiction work is TIME FLIES, a coming out story in the science fiction genre.
Since 2010, Wagner has lived without a pancreas (Whipple procedure), which means his body no longer produces insulin or digestive enzymes. He says it makes nutrition a real science project. And because he had several books in the pipeline, readers got new releases throughout his 5-months in the hospital.
He and his husband are both retired. They live in Dallas, Texas (USA).
Dr. Wagner received a Th.D from St. Wolbodo Seminary and elsewhere a Masters of Liberal Arts and undergraduate degrees in English and Philosophy. “Ancient history,” he said. “The earth has cooled significantly since all that.”
He is a retired archbishop and former president of the World Conference of Old Catholic Churches and Coadjutor of the North American Old Catholic Church.
He has written numerous gay and spiritual books. The author Patricia Nell Warren calls him a “powerhouse in GLBT publishing.”
Before that, he was a programmer who helped write the tax software used by some of the world’s largest corporations. He also wrote Opus-CBCS, a computer bulletin board system that was wildly popular in the 1980s. Opus generated millions of dollars for HIV and AIDS, back when almost nobody was helping fund research or caring for those suffering from the disease. He also wrote a short piece called “HIV: Day One” for those who have just learned they have HIV. “Day One” is hosted by AEGiS, an HIV web service operated by a religious order in San Juan Capistrano, CA (USA).
Before programming and writing, Wynn worked in radio in Texas and New York. Before that, he was a pimply-faced teenager.
He was awarded a key to the city by the mayor of Corpus Christi, Texas. It was a key to the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, a town Wynn has never visited. “No respect, I tell you,” he says.
Wynn is the son of Swedish immigrants who was adopted at birth. He sang as a boy soprano in the Texas Boys Choir and appeared on such television shows as Ed Sullivan and Perry Como. His singing took him to Carnegie Hall, to Europe, and to record dates like the last recording conducted by Igor Stravinsky.
Wynn Wagner is a member of The Authors Guild.
His fiction is usually funny and sometimes snarky. One of his books — Brent the Heart Reader — was the 2012 entry into the Gay Book Hall of Fame. Another fiction work is TIME FLIES, a coming out story in the science fiction genre.
Since 2010, Wagner has lived without a pancreas (Whipple procedure), which means his body no longer produces insulin or digestive enzymes. He says it makes nutrition a real science project. And because he had several books in the pipeline, readers got new releases throughout his 5-months in the hospital.
He and his husband are both retired. They live in Dallas, Texas (USA).
Dr. Wagner received a Th.D from St. Wolbodo Seminary and elsewhere a Masters of Liberal Arts and undergraduate degrees in English and Philosophy. “Ancient history,” he said. “The earth has cooled significantly since all that.”
He is a retired archbishop and former president of the World Conference of Old Catholic Churches and Coadjutor of the North American Old Catholic Church.
He has written numerous gay and spiritual books. The author Patricia Nell Warren calls him a “powerhouse in GLBT publishing.”
Before that, he was a programmer who helped write the tax software used by some of the world’s largest corporations. He also wrote Opus-CBCS, a computer bulletin board system that was wildly popular in the 1980s. Opus generated millions of dollars for HIV and AIDS, back when almost nobody was helping fund research or caring for those suffering from the disease. He also wrote a short piece called “HIV: Day One” for those who have just learned they have HIV. “Day One” is hosted by AEGiS, an HIV web service operated by a religious order in San Juan Capistrano, CA (USA).
Before programming and writing, Wynn worked in radio in Texas and New York. Before that, he was a pimply-faced teenager.
He was awarded a key to the city by the mayor of Corpus Christi, Texas. It was a key to the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, a town Wynn has never visited. “No respect, I tell you,” he says.
Wynn is the son of Swedish immigrants who was adopted at birth. He sang as a boy soprano in the Texas Boys Choir and appeared on such television shows as Ed Sullivan and Perry Como. His singing took him to Carnegie Hall, to Europe, and to record dates like the last recording conducted by Igor Stravinsky.
Wynn Wagner is a member of The Authors Guild.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 22, 2011
While I quite enjoyed Vamp Camp #1, the sequel didn’t have the same entertainment factor for me. The characters are amusing with the same dry wit and tendency to tell the reader the story but unfortunately the plot meanders back and forth with no real tension and no strong purpose. Instead this feels like a bunch of scenes thrown together with the right elements: sex, romance, blood, vampires, wealth, power, fights, secret councils, and even death of major characters but it doesn’t come together in a cohesive, interesting narrative.
Obscurati begins some 100 years after the first novel. Marten is once again the narrator and right away there is an amusing back and forth with his confessor. After this scene the story jumps back and forth between past events in the characters’ lives, the events that have happened in the past 100 years and current actions. The past events are meant to give more insight into the characters and their histories, how they each came to be vampires and what it means to them. The events in between the last book and the current book are meant to help any new readers and remind old readers of what happened previously and sort of catch everyone up. Then there is the current action of the secret vampire assassin group which is the loose thread holding the book together.
Right away I had a problem with the disjointed nature of the narrative. Jumping back and forth creates an uneven texture to the story and seems to offer scenes randomly. Many of these are meant to add various elements such as a graphic sex scene, an amusing antidote, witty reparate, a dry humor about the history of vampires and so on. While these scenes do achieve those goals, they do so in a very chaotic, non linear way. This never let me get into a flow with the story and instead kept feeling like I was reading random scenes added together without a tight, focused, purpose. Part of this is that the story is almost entirely told the reader versus shown.
Marten doesn’t speak to the reader as much as he did in the first book but there are sly nods and winks quite often. He’s trying to draw the reader into the various situations to laugh along with him. Some of this works quite well and there are numerous moments of charm and entertainment. On the whole though this simply fell flat for me and didn’t contain anywhere near the same amount of enjoyment and fun the previous book had. A big problem is that the story lacks a strong plot and focus. The secret vampire assassin society is the biggest focus in the current time but this feels too weak and easy unfortunately. There is very little tension and mostly a recitation of the various jobs Marten, Oberon, and Hamlet commit as assassins.
Since all three are the best of the best, the most talented, the most skill, the richest, the fastest fliers, and so on the jobs are not daring and breath taking. Instead they’re almost mundane and boring. The best part is the brief skirmish at Menz’s compound but the story moves on incredibly fast from that scene and loses any emotional impact. In fact I found the last 40 pages after that event incredibly boring. The narration starts to list the details of the jobs and the various toys the vampires start to use from guns to planes. Marten and Oberon are so successful that really this is an over the top way of showing how great, rich, and easy life is now for them.
In a sense that’s really what you expect of typical vampires – they fly around the world in minutes, have so much money they could buy the world and never be poor, they’re gorgeous and constantly sexual, etc – and this story plays up all those tropes. This trend really made me sad since the charm of the first book is the hapless, sarcastic Marten with his dry wit and engaging manner trying to navigate a world of vampire politics that doesn’t really suit him. In this story he’s become a super powerful player in that political machine without any of the conflict or fight. We’re simply told how great everything is and how much in love everyone is.
This leads to the last issue I want to touch on – the romance between Oberon and Marten. In the first book these two fell in love from having sex constantly and that’s changed somewhat here. Oberon still screws anything that moves and the two have a very open relationship while Marten eventually falls in love with another human. It doesn’t end the main relationship but instead creates a ménage that frankly left me cold. There are some very nice emotional scenes where Marten shows the depth of his love for Oberon – again not sure what it’s based on but there is love there – but most of this is shown through sex, sex, and more sex. So the inclusion of another makes absolutely no sense to me nor does it add anything to the romance. I don’t really feel any connection or chemistry between Lonny and Marten so I don’t particularly like or appreciate the pairing.
I will say that the author knows how to write and can write some really entertaining and amusing scenes. There is a sense of wry charm and wit that is hard to come across in books. I can easily see why some readers will find the narrator engaging and so charming they forgive the flaws. It’s really up to the individual reader to decide. Although I quite liked the first novel, the second didn’t live up to that promise and I probably wouldn’t continue with the series sadly but I am interested in what else the author does.
Obscurati begins some 100 years after the first novel. Marten is once again the narrator and right away there is an amusing back and forth with his confessor. After this scene the story jumps back and forth between past events in the characters’ lives, the events that have happened in the past 100 years and current actions. The past events are meant to give more insight into the characters and their histories, how they each came to be vampires and what it means to them. The events in between the last book and the current book are meant to help any new readers and remind old readers of what happened previously and sort of catch everyone up. Then there is the current action of the secret vampire assassin group which is the loose thread holding the book together.
Right away I had a problem with the disjointed nature of the narrative. Jumping back and forth creates an uneven texture to the story and seems to offer scenes randomly. Many of these are meant to add various elements such as a graphic sex scene, an amusing antidote, witty reparate, a dry humor about the history of vampires and so on. While these scenes do achieve those goals, they do so in a very chaotic, non linear way. This never let me get into a flow with the story and instead kept feeling like I was reading random scenes added together without a tight, focused, purpose. Part of this is that the story is almost entirely told the reader versus shown.
Marten doesn’t speak to the reader as much as he did in the first book but there are sly nods and winks quite often. He’s trying to draw the reader into the various situations to laugh along with him. Some of this works quite well and there are numerous moments of charm and entertainment. On the whole though this simply fell flat for me and didn’t contain anywhere near the same amount of enjoyment and fun the previous book had. A big problem is that the story lacks a strong plot and focus. The secret vampire assassin society is the biggest focus in the current time but this feels too weak and easy unfortunately. There is very little tension and mostly a recitation of the various jobs Marten, Oberon, and Hamlet commit as assassins.
Since all three are the best of the best, the most talented, the most skill, the richest, the fastest fliers, and so on the jobs are not daring and breath taking. Instead they’re almost mundane and boring. The best part is the brief skirmish at Menz’s compound but the story moves on incredibly fast from that scene and loses any emotional impact. In fact I found the last 40 pages after that event incredibly boring. The narration starts to list the details of the jobs and the various toys the vampires start to use from guns to planes. Marten and Oberon are so successful that really this is an over the top way of showing how great, rich, and easy life is now for them.
In a sense that’s really what you expect of typical vampires – they fly around the world in minutes, have so much money they could buy the world and never be poor, they’re gorgeous and constantly sexual, etc – and this story plays up all those tropes. This trend really made me sad since the charm of the first book is the hapless, sarcastic Marten with his dry wit and engaging manner trying to navigate a world of vampire politics that doesn’t really suit him. In this story he’s become a super powerful player in that political machine without any of the conflict or fight. We’re simply told how great everything is and how much in love everyone is.
This leads to the last issue I want to touch on – the romance between Oberon and Marten. In the first book these two fell in love from having sex constantly and that’s changed somewhat here. Oberon still screws anything that moves and the two have a very open relationship while Marten eventually falls in love with another human. It doesn’t end the main relationship but instead creates a ménage that frankly left me cold. There are some very nice emotional scenes where Marten shows the depth of his love for Oberon – again not sure what it’s based on but there is love there – but most of this is shown through sex, sex, and more sex. So the inclusion of another makes absolutely no sense to me nor does it add anything to the romance. I don’t really feel any connection or chemistry between Lonny and Marten so I don’t particularly like or appreciate the pairing.
I will say that the author knows how to write and can write some really entertaining and amusing scenes. There is a sense of wry charm and wit that is hard to come across in books. I can easily see why some readers will find the narrator engaging and so charming they forgive the flaws. It’s really up to the individual reader to decide. Although I quite liked the first novel, the second didn’t live up to that promise and I probably wouldn’t continue with the series sadly but I am interested in what else the author does.
January 11, 2019
Not horrible but not great either. This one is in the same vein as the first one but add in some rather monotonous guns details and Marten becomes a sniper. It has its funny moments and it does explore an open relationship and poly aspect although it does it shallowly.
September 6, 2015
This seems to really have little to no plot. It seems like a bunch of scenes from Marten’s life. It just seems like…almost a journal with a few flashbacks. I think the writing is good but I don’t see a storyline or plot to it. Descriptions are very detailed. I love hearing how Marten describes his surroundings and life.
Now I didn’t really love this book. The language got a little repetitious and childish, considering the “age” of the storyteller. I thought there would be more progression in the people than there was. I really didn’t see much growth. There was SOME but not like one would expect.
This book had the humor of the previous, which is just so fun. The no plot really doesn’t allow any connect to the story because it just doesn’t seem to really go anywhere. I really can’t figure out the connection for Marten to Oberon. I know the relationship is open but Oberon doesn’t seem to spend much time actually WITH Marten. He is having sex, tinkering in his lab, or they are off on a mission. Considering they only have daylight hours, there just doesn’t seem like much time for that intimate connection. But they do understand each other really well and care a great deal for each other. I can see that they are there for each other in the bad.
Now I didn’t really love this book. The language got a little repetitious and childish, considering the “age” of the storyteller. I thought there would be more progression in the people than there was. I really didn’t see much growth. There was SOME but not like one would expect.
This book had the humor of the previous, which is just so fun. The no plot really doesn’t allow any connect to the story because it just doesn’t seem to really go anywhere. I really can’t figure out the connection for Marten to Oberon. I know the relationship is open but Oberon doesn’t seem to spend much time actually WITH Marten. He is having sex, tinkering in his lab, or they are off on a mission. Considering they only have daylight hours, there just doesn’t seem like much time for that intimate connection. But they do understand each other really well and care a great deal for each other. I can see that they are there for each other in the bad.
March 10, 2011
The Obscurati, the second book in the Vamp Camp series, is a fun read. It doesn't ask much of the reader other than to enjoy themselves. There is very little angst and lots of sex--most of it by way of Oberon. While I enjoyed this book a lot and I have hopes that there might be another to follow, I enjoyed the first book better. It was fresh and had a very mischievous undercurrent to it. I like Mr. Wagner's writing style. It's very clean and uncluttered.
I give The Obscurati three stars.
July 22, 2015
I really enjoyed the first 3 books in this series (there are 4 and you can read my review on the 4th book there).
This is the 2nd book. These really need to be read in order.
Lots of hot sex and sarcastic humor. A unique vampire world and intriguing characters. Very entertaining.
This is the 2nd book. These really need to be read in order.
Lots of hot sex and sarcastic humor. A unique vampire world and intriguing characters. Very entertaining.
July 31, 2016
Second in a really fine series.
See my review for Vamp Camp.
See my review for Vamp Camp.
June 21, 2025
Not as good as the first volume in the series. This is plagued with contradictions (both internally and with Book 1) and irrelevancies. There is no central plot, the narrative just meanders about.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews