Those Who Hunt the Night

A James Asher Novel, Book 1

By: Barbara Hambly

Narrated by: Gildart Jackson

At the turn of the 20th century, a former spy is called into service to hunt down a vampire killer.

Once a spy for Queen Victoria, James Asher has fought for Britain on every continent, using his quick wits to protect the Empire at all costs. After years of grueling service, he marries and retires to a simple academic’s life at Oxford. But his peace is shattered one night with the arrival of a Spanish vampire named Don Simon. Don Simon can disappear into fog, move faster than the eye can see, and immobilize Asher - and his young bride - with a wave of his hand. Asher is at his mercy, and has no choice but to give his help.

Because someone is killing the vampires of London, and James Asher must find out who - before he becomes a victim himself.

©1988 Barbara Hambly (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Absolutely a 5 Star audio book

The voice actor phenomenal. The choice of words and range of descriptors absolutely spot on. The story line great. I liked the ending!!! Well done.

Great read.

I really enjoyed this book and I have already downloaded the 2nd offering. Great story and acting.

Probably my favorite vampire book, period.

Great mystery story, great characters, great vampire world building, just a very well-rounded, well-written book.

Genetics

this is a great book, was there ever more that were written? I would love to read more.

Love this series!!

I have loved this series for over thirty years and to have it on audible!! I drive over fifty miles each way to work!! I was so excited to see that this was on audible!! I would love to see the whole series available!! Thank you from a long term fan!!

Liked the unusual characters

Would you consider the audio edition of Those Who Hunt the Night to be better than the print version?

I read the book years ago and was most taken with Don Isidro, the vampire. I'm not a vampire lover in terms of books. However Don Isidro had some of the human characteristics he had in life such as honesty. He was, however a bit of a snob at times, having been born into Spanish aristicracy 300 or so years prior to the events in this book. I also like Professor James Asher even though he seemed to be a bit old for having been a spy. All in all, this was a good book. It kept my attention throughout.

Sucked me in, a masterful narrator

Would you listen to Those Who Hunt the Night again? Why?

Yes. To pay closer attention to he clues to the mystery that I might have missed the first time.

What other book might you compare Those Who Hunt the Night to and why?

It compares favorably to Stoker's Dracula in terms of the period feel and the subtle and overt deadliness of the vampires.

What about Gildart Jackson’s performance did you like?

His perfect characterization of the different voices.

Any additional comments?

A vampire novel that deserves a high place among the classics of the genre. I was consumed from the first pages and read long into the night as the ending neared.

It is the dawn of the 20th Century and James Asher, Oxford professor whose mild manner conceals a past as a spy for the Crown, discovers the night holds more terrors than he imagined when he returns home to find his household tranced into unconsciousness and a centuries-old vampire awaiting him.

Someone is killing the vampires of England. The murderous drinkers of blood are no longer safe, and may sink into their daytime sleep only to be impaled and beheaded. The society of the undead recruit and task Asher to track down these vampire hunters so they may be dispatched and the vampires can resume their unnatural lives of murdering innocent people in peace. Should Asher balk at his new directive, his loved ones’ lives are forfeit.

With the assistance of his wife, Lydia, a doctor and keen researcher, his investigation takes him deep into the underworld of the undead as they stalk their prey and are now stalked in turn. Asher will trail the vampire hunters, fully aware that not only is his quarry dangerous, but his vampiric employers are likely to dispose of him once he is no longer useful.

Not merely a vampire novel, but a detective novel, a spy novel, a Victorian suspense thriller, and a masterpiece of historical fantasy. Hambly embraces the tropes of vampirism and makes use of them in her own unique way, then goes further, with additional and logically extrapolated originality that takes the story to wholly unexpected places. I don’t dare write more for fear of spoilers.

Suffice it to say that Hambly captures the progress of the vampire living through history to rival Anne Rice, without ever being bogged down or losing the action and suspense of the plot, although the author’s delight in the history and environs of London and Paris that Asher explores comes through.

And by the time the mystery is fully revealed, the reader gets a hint of an entirely new and different story going on behind the scenes, one that may easily continue in future installments.

But it is the main characters of James and Lydia Asher themselves who stand out as one of the best husband-and-wife detective teams in the genre of supernatural investigation.

Lovers of mystery and historical fantasy will particularly relish finding the pieces of this puzzle and fitting them together.

Special recognition to Gildart Jackson, who narrated the audiobook. His voice suited the tale perfectly and lent layers of meaning to the characters and their interactions.

Well Done!

Well thought out plot, wonderful details and what is meant when they say a “Page Turner”, No sparkly vampires here!

The Georgette Heyer of vampire fiction. Wonderful!

You will find a number of well wrtten reviews about the story line in this series but I would like to give a "kudoes" to one of the skills Ms Hambly uses when she writes this series. She uses real facts, historical slang and accurate point of view for her various characters, an enhancement which is often overlooked by writers in this genre. Ms. Hambly has enhanced the James Asher Series with histoically realistic backgrounds and filled it with characters who act and speak with the words and habits from the times they were born into. For those of you familiar with the late Georgette Heyer's creations, you will know that her mysteries, fictions and romances were made far more interesting and exciting by her use of accurate hisorical facts, places and personalities to act as the foundations for her stories. Ms Hambly has succesfully done the same. Her writing style blends the character's unique habits and speech patterns so smoothly that the conversations and plot descriptions never become overwhelming or boring. The vampres in this series were born, lived and were turned over several hundred years. They come from different countries, economic and educational backgrounds, as well as having different reasons for being turnned. Ms Hambly uses these facts to make even the background characters more realistic and it brings the story to life in a way that makes the more cookie cutter styled books fall flat.

While I have continued to purchase the new books in the series as she publishes them, I hope she will allow the entire series to be released on audiobook. No computer read book can hold a candle to a professionally read book. Give me a reader who has done their homework on how to pronounce unusual words and takes time to bring each character to life with an unique and appropriate accented voice. I hope you enjoy this series as much as I have. Eyes and fingers crossed that she will continue to bring more stories of James, Lydia and Simon for us to read. Thank you Ms Hambly, for these wonderful stories.

Great but seemingly long.

I loved this book but it took seemingly forever even though pretty short compared to my other books. The characters are very dinamic, with a great plot twist at the end.