Leah is a recently-stamped PhD with a tentative book deal and a clear sense of purpose: right an old wrong by determining, scientifically, what caused a rash of evidently vampiric deaths on 19th-century Purgatory Island. Although she expects her work to mostly entail poring over dusty papers, she soon finds herself spending her time navigating the complex social dynamics of the island: an isolated small town, suspicious of outsiders, where families harbor grudges for generations.
Geraldine Burrows’ VAMPIRE ISLAND, RHODE ISLAND will be charmingly familiar to both readers of romance novels and residents of small towns. Leah is a strong-willed protagonist with a clear sense of purpose, and although she’s a fish out of water in this tiny New England town, she isn’t a damsel in distress or an ivory-tower academic: she digs around, gets dirty, trespasses occasionally, and is fiercely certain of her mission as a researcher. Her love interest, Adam, is an appealing turn on his type: he’s often stern and gruffly protective, but not of Leah – of his family, its legacy, and its privacy. Although their overall romantic arc doesn’t hold too many surprises, it’s still satisfying to see their personalities, and their priorities, play off each other.
For all that’s crammed into VAMPIRE ISLAND, RHODE ISLAND – a weathered, Gothic New England setting; a colorful cast of bit players, with a Rhode Island twist; the occasional sense of real, imminent peril; – one of the standout elements of the text is in fact Leah’s research. She does plenty, and as a sociology researcher she does get involved in the life of Purgatory Island (including its climate-conscious seagrass-planting festival), but Leah still spends a decent chunk of the novel looking at old objects and papers, and thinking. It’s difficult to portray the actual excitement of performing archival research, but Leah’s thoughts, feelings, and reactions are so well-drawn that the reader is infused with that excitement. From a technical perspective, this is most incredible achievement of the text. Even for readers who – for whatever reason – aren’t excited by characters leafing through old rubbings of tombstones, VAMPIRE ISLAND, RHODE ISLAND remains an appealing romance, a compelling mystery, and an overall satisfying experience.
VAMPIRE ISLAND, RHODE ISLAND is charming, compelling, and satisfying – everything a reader wants in a light romance or a two-century-old mystery.
~Dan Accardi for IndieReader