A People's History of the Vampire Uprising

A Novel

By: Raymond A. Villareal

Narrated by: Taylor Meskimen, Christine Lakin, Jeff Bottoms, Robert Petkoff, Rena-Marie Villano, Jim Meskimen, Maxwell Hamilton, Ron Butler, Karissa Vacker, Andrew Kishino

In this ambitious and wildly original debut -- part social-political satire, part international mystery -- a new virus turns people into something a bit more than human, upending society as we know it.

This panoramic fictional oral history begins with one small mystery: the body of a young woman found in an Arizona border town, presumed to be an illegal immigrant, disappears from the town morgue. To the young CDC investigator called in to consult with the local police, it's an impossibility that threatens her understanding of medicine.

Then, more bodies, dead from an inexplicable disease that solidified their blood, are brought to the morgue, only to also vanish. Soon, the U.S. government -- and eventually biomedical researchers, disgruntled lawmakers, and even an insurgent faction of the Catholic Church -- must come to terms with what they're too late to stop: an epidemic of vampirism that will sweep first the United States, and then the world.

With heightened strength and beauty and a stead diet of fresh blood, these changed people, or "Gloamings," rapidly rise to prominence in all aspects of modern society. Soon people are beginning to be "re-created," willingly accepting the risk of death if their bodies can't handle the transformation. As new communities of Gloamings arise, society is divided, and popular Gloaming sites come under threat from a secret terrorist organization. But when a charismatic and wealthy businessman, recently turned, runs for political office -- well, all hell breaks loose.

Told from the perspective of key players, including a cynical FBI agent, an audacious campaign manager, and a war veteran turned nurse turned secret operative, A People's History of the Vampire Uprising is an exhilarating, genre-bending debut that is as addictive as the power it describes.

Critic reviews

"Vampire Uprising is well worth a bite: The creature-feature crew will discover that recognizable tropes can feel fresh, and readers who aren't horror fiends will find a beguiling entry into the thoughts of Dracula and his ilk living among us." (3 out of 4 stars)
—USA Today

"Relentlessly clever first novel...Villareal's cheeky blend of political satire and gothic thriller is enhanced by his background as an attorney and his deft use of convincing details...This wild ride of a novel proves that each era gets the vampires it deserves."—The Washington Post

"A full-on vampire infestation - or is it a colonization? - hits Earth, as documented in this zippy read via a clever series of narratives, interviews, historical documents, and newspaper reports."—Daneet Steffens, The Boston Globe

"Strikingly original . . . Daring, exciting . . . It's a wild ride in this world Villareal has created. . . . In 1976 with Interview with the Vampire Anne Rice smashed and recreated vampire mythology and lore--beginning a new era of vampire literature. Now perhaps it is A People's History of the Vampire Uprising's time to reinvent the genre."—Désirée Zamorano, Los Angeles Review of Books

New York Post "20 Best Reads for Your Summer Break"

"This page-turner is just shy of being too smart for its own good."—The Texas Observer

Included in Lit Hub's "Crime Reads" round up for the "Summer's Most Anticipated Crime, Mystery, and Thrillers,"
"Using vampires as stand-ins for those who experience other-ing by the state and as a way to explore growing xenophobia in the United States today"—Lit Hub

"A wide-angle, wild and weird exploration of politics, pop culture, and a diseased America. This tale of misguided hero worship and encroaching terror may be the perfect analogy for our own strange times."—Thomas Mullen, author of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist Darktown

"Told in the jumbled, frenetic urgency of a discarded case file, this is the history of both a social movement and a vector for disease. Mr. Villareal's vampires are not the ones we find most comforting. They are not seductive or beautiful or tormented anti-heroes. No, they are more terrifying than anything like that, an infection that will spread throughout our body politic, our institutions, our history, and ourselves."—Paul Park, author of The White Tyger and All Those Vanished Engines

horrible

boring uneventful not worth the time... a whole lot of nothingness. don't waste your time or money

kbird

good start. very promising beginning. i had high hopes for this book. bad ending though. very bad ending.

Cool concept; poor execution

As a lover of World War Z (book), I was stoked about a similar concept, but with vampires.

They lost me roughly 15 min in when I realized their "historic account" is all written in the present tense. Might not mean much to others, but the lack of attention to the core concept broke my immersion.

Well intended concept

Well intended concept, but poor plot structure, and lots of loose ends. plus it all happens within 3 years, that seems too fast for the social developments that occur in the story. voice acting was good.

great potential

this had so.e great ideas but because there is no overarching narrative and many of the plots threads are left completely unresolved it feels wasted. There is no real idea if what this books wants to be. I wish a good editior had gotten ahold ofthis and made it more coherent. There are at least 3 different novels in this mess.