Human medicine is easy. On her first day at Grace General Hospital, new intern Aline Harman risks vampire infection, demonic possession, and having her heart torn out of her chest… and this from her colleagues.
Juggling transhuman politics only becomes more difficult when a patient’s life is at stake. With a zombie to resuscitate and a mermaid in critical care, Aline has her hands full. At least the doctors are good-looking.
I have to be honest and admit a certain amount of uncertainty when I initially approached this ebook. This is not the sort of thing I would normally choose to read, and I was concerned that this would not be to my taste. As ever though, I am keen to try and broaden my horizons when it comes to reading, so decided to give it a chance. On reflection I’m glad that I did, as I was pleasantly surprised.
Our heroine Aline is immediately thrown in at the deep end and the author certainly seems to have captured, what I imagine to be, the frenetic chaos of an emergency room. Reading the opening chapters, and the descriptions of when she first arrives at Grace General, it was easy to picture Aline’s dumbstruck reaction as she enters an environment that is both familiar and alien at the same time.
Like most normal human beings Aline has never encountered vampires, mermaids, immortals and werewolves before, and the reader gets to learn about them all through her eyes. The author drops in the occasional nugget of information about the different species that Aline interacts with, and these help to flesh out the characters. These little tit-bits made perfect sense in the context of the story. I found myself smiling when learning about the dietary habits of immortals and the conservative opinions of paternal mer-men.
There are nods to more conventional hospital dramas as we have many of the regular staples – the hard but fair chief of staff, the over worked, over stressed interns and the dashing doctors. The supernatural elements make for a welcome addition. I always find it enjoyable when an author takes an existing genre and starts injecting fresh thoughts and ideas. In my experience, this always tends to be a positive move and it is certainly the case here.
Whether you like it or not, in these post-Twilight times, any book that has supernatural creatures, and particularly vampires, is always going to be compared with Stephanie Meyer’s uber-popular series. However, I am glad to report, that on this occasion, the comparison would be unfair. This book has more substance/merit/plot [take your pick] than the aforementioned teen romance.
If you are a fan of hospital dramas like E.R. and Grey’s Anatomy I would recommend you check this novel out. There is a lot you will recognize, but also a lot that will take you by surprise and no doubt entertain.
A sequel to Intern with the Vampire is due for release in June.
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