August 4, 2003
Stine delivers a fast and breezy vampire tale punctuated with a few nasty shocks. The summer before senior year, high schooler Destiny Weller and her twin sister, Livvy, are trying to put their mother's suicide behind them and are working as camp counselors. Each is attracted to—and bitten by—Lorenzo "Renz" Angelini, an ancient vampire masquerading as a hunky staff member. Back at home, Destiny and Livvy have no recollection of Renz, but both are secretly overcome by a sudden lust for blood. Gory scenes of the sisters killing and feasting on small animals will sate horror fans ("And both girls buried their faces in the warm body, and fed... fed so hungrily on the warm blood"). As the sisters race to find the so-called Restorer, who alone can cure their condition, Renz appears in another guise and stalks Destiny to make her a full vampire. As in his Fear Street books, Stine sends his characters through the details of a plot that is basically all chase; the few glimpses of the sisters' everyday life won't slow down readers who like their chillers quick and light. Ages 12-up.