Chasing the Sun (Robin Baker, Pantera Press)

Chasing the Sun is a story about vampires who definitely don’t sparkle. Rather, they take drugs, wear sunglasses at night and have jobs in fields such as pet psychiatry. Honda is a self-absorbed vampire who is content to live in the moment, only looking out for himself and perhaps his friends if it suits him. That is, until he and his friends come up against a group with an ageing serum that promises to eradicate vampires for good. Robin Baker, author of Killing Richard Dawson, has written a story that is tight and fast-paced and raises some interesting questions about mortality and the morality of genocide. Unfortunately, it asks us whether it is right to kill off a race of vampires who have lived for hundreds of years and mercilessly kill humans every second night. It’s a bit hard to feel sorry for characters who continue to murder people even as they plead for their lives. But, then again, I suspect that’s half the point. Chasing the Sun is a darkly comic take on contemporary society. It will appeal to lovers of urban fantasies who like moral questions that stay with them long after the book is finished.

Meghann Laverick is a bookseller at Dymocks Chermside

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Category: Reviews