Katie MacAlister: Zen and the Art of Vampires

Review by Vicky London

Zen and the Art of Vampires by Katie MacAlister is the seventh book in her Dark Ones series.

Pia Thomason doesn’t have a typical life, but she wants one. The husband, the kids, the house in the suburbs…With her fortieth birthday looming, she decides to do something drastic, and takes off on a singles’ tour through romantic Europe. But the few guys on the trip leave much to be desired - unlike the two men Pia sees in a small Icelandic town. Handsome, mysterious, and very dangerous…Just the sight of them puts her in a dither. When their paths cross again, Pia knows one thing for certain: Where vampires are concerned, love isn’t the only thing at stake.

Usually I really enjoy the Dark Ones books but this one was a bit of a non-starter for me. I kept waiting for the story to begin and I felt like it never really got off the ground. Pia as Kristoff’s beloved wasn’t very believable to me and I was disappointed with how the story ended. You’re left with a big cliffhanger in their relationship that won’t be resolved until a future book (or books). This seems to be a new device for MacAlister as she did it with her spin off Silver Dragons series. Also Pia’s “encounter” with Alec left me feeling squicked out. As with several of her heroines, Pia stumbles and bumbles around the plot never really using her common sense to figure out what the hell is going on. It left me feeling frustrated and annoyed. The action also took some winding routes which lost my interest quickly. I’m sure I’ll read the next book, Crouching Vampire, Hidden Fang but I’ll definitely be tempering my expectations.

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