Vampirates: Black Heart, by Justin Somper, is the 4th book in the Vampirates series.
Picking up where book 3 left off, teenage twins Grace and Connor are shocked to have their mother back from the dead. Grace is thrilled, but Connor doesn’t’ wants to distance himself from the Vampirates. Meanwhile, Sidorio and his new crew of ruthless Vampirates are out, leaving a trail of death and destruction. But they aren’t the only ones. A mysterious crew of beautiful vampire women appears and seems to be even more evil and deadly than Sidorio’s.
Connor joins up with new Captain Cheng Li who receive orders to hunt down the Vampirates, one-by-one. Connor feels a little conflicted since his sister is very close to several of them. Connor knows not all of the vampires are evil, but how can he convince his superiors?
Grace and Connor’s mother has returned mysteriously. But doesn’t have much time left. Grace slowly learns the true story of her mother meeting her father and what happened surrounding the event of the twins’ birth.
This is a decidedly darker and more intense installment than the previous. More gruesome death and suspense surround the evil Vampirates. In each book, Connor and Grace are gaining wisdom, new skills, and changing a bit as they get older. Some of the mystery surrounding the origins of the twins is a little predictable, but nonetheless is dragged out long enough to create a lot of suspense and expectation. Thankfully, I wasn’t disappointed. In fact, I still believe each book is gets better than the last in terms of adventure and character interaction.
I’ll be waiting with high expectations for the next installment. Connor and Grace seem to have exciting destinies. Fantasy fans, both young and old, need to check out this series. It definitely remains one of my favorites.