Review: V Games (The Vampire Games Series Book 1) by Caroline Peckham

V Games by Caroline Peckham
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Hunger Games with Vampires

This book is part The Hunger Games and part Urban Fantasy. It’s a weird description but then it’s an unusual concept. Selena has just been imprisoned for the murder of her abusive Step-Father. No one believed her story of abuse and therefore was convicted and at 18 years old she is tried as an adult.

Her cell mate is Cass, an arsonist. They become allies fairly quickly, which is all to the good when they get taken from prison in the middle of the night to an island in the North Sea with another 23 young women. There they are treated like game pieces as they are forced to fight for their lives, and their freedom if they survive. All they have to do is avoid dying when the feral vampires are let loose.

Varick is a vampire, but not a feral one. He is tamed with the use of threats and semi-regular feedings. He is the liaison between the women and the kidnappers during the games. He is drawn to Selena, a unique occurrence since becoming vampire. He wishes for her survival but is very limited to how he can help.

The women and the vampires are all prisoners of the Helsing family, hunters who have become twisted and worse than what they once hunted.

It’s a really unusual story, with the hunters being the bad guys and vampires being the victims. You find yourself rooting for murderers to survive just one more challenge.

I really like Selena as a character. She is a survivor, but she is not twisted by her past as much as some of the other women. She tries to retain compassion when others have let their’s fall by the wayside. She is loyal to her allies, especially Cass. However, she is a realist and chooses to survive if at all possible.

The writing style is smooth and easy to read and it’s nice to read an Urban Fantasy set in the UK for a change as there aren’t many. I really like the premise for the book and the plot keeps you guessing all the way through.

It’s an enjoyable book and I’ll probably read the rest of the series at some point.

Borrow Free From Kindle Unlimited
Buy From Amazon UK
Buy From Amazon US