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in: Vampires as Main Supe, Sorcerers, Magical Objects,
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Void City series

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Staked - Gene Mollica

Staked (Void City #1) by J.F. Lewis - second version art by Gene Mollica

Staked (Void City -1) by J.F

Staked (Void City #1) by J.F. Lewis—Original cover art by Chris McGrath

Void City series by J.F. Lewis. 

Genres and Sub-Genres[]

Urban Fantasy /  Noir UF

Series Description or Overview[]

"Die Hard with a vampire" ~ JF Lewis

✥ Eric's got issues. He has short-term and long-term memory problems; he can't remember who he ate for dinner yesterday, much less how he became a vampire in the first place. His best friend, Roger, is souring on the strip club he and Eric own together, and his girlfriend, Tabitha, keeps pressuring him to turn her so she can join him in undeath. It's almost enough to put a Vlad off his appetite. Almost. Eric tries to solve one problem, only to create another: he turns Tabitha into a vampire, but finds that once he does, his desire for her fades—and her younger sister, Rachel, sure is cute. When he kills a werewolf in self-defense, things really get out of hand. Now a pack of born-again lycanthropes is out for holy retribution, while Tabitha and Rachel have their own agendas--which may or may not include helping Eric stay in one piece. All Eric wants to do is run his strip club, drink a little blood, and be left alone. Instead, he must survive car crashes, enchanted bullets, sunlight, sex magic, and werewolves on ice—not to mention his own nasty temper and forgetfulness. Because being undead isn't easy, but it sure beats the alternative.  ~ Staked (Void City, #1) by J.F. Lewis

Lead's Species[]

  • Vampire

Primary Supe[]

  • Vampires

What Sets it Apart[]

  • Holy Vampire

Narrative Type and Narrators[]

  • First Person narrative told alternately by Eric and Tabitha. 

Books in Series[]

Void City series: 

  1. Staked (2008)
  2. Revamped (2009)
  3. Crossed (2011)
  4. Burned (2012)

Shorts, Anthologies and Guides[]

World Building[]

Setting[]

Void City

Places:

  • Demon Heart: Eric's strip club in Void City.
  • Paris:
  • Carl’s: burger joint
  • Pollux: theater: recently redone, looks fabulous
  • Artiste Unknown:
  • Iversonian:

Supernatural Elements[]

✥ Vampires, werewolves, magic, mages, demons, ghosts, magical car, vampire hunters, demons, a band of chupacabra, a cursed cousin,

Glossary:[]

  • "Fang the 'Stang": Eric's Mustang; winds up with an unlife of its own by sorcery;
  • Chupacabra: vampiric small creature with spines on back
  • Vampires: the kind of vampire one becomes is partially informed by what they believe about vampire;
  • Void City Music Festival: vamps and other beasties aren’t allowed to feed on the unwilling during the festival;
  • holy symbol: as long as the wielder believes in it, it will work;

Groups & Organizations:[]

  • Mage Guild:

World[]

✥ In this world, per the author: his vampire mythos is "more focused on the power of the individual"... "So instead of being about bloodlines and such, vampires are more individually crafted... The more unique a person was in life, the more unique and powerful he or she will be as a vampire. It’s also fun to play in a world where the big war between werewolves and vampires already happened and nobody really wants another one."

✥ vampire mythology: In this world, vampires are categorized according to their power-level upon turning. Vampires come in four categories – Drones, Soldiers, Masters and Vlads – with Vlads being the big-poombah’s and Drones the... well, Drones. Lewis has written vampire mythology that’s a wonderful blend of practicality and far-out fantastical. He has written a very biologically plausible transformation process (that is disgusting!) but he’s also equipped his vamps with a plethora of cool abilities. Able to turn into animals, mist, disembodied blue-tinge thingys, built-in hologram telephones etc. This is one cool vampire universe J.F. Lewis has created. ~ ALPHA reader: 'Staked' Void City #1 by J.F. LEWIS

Protagonist[]

✥ Eric just wants to be left alone to run his strip club, drain the occasional waitress and drive his 64 Mustang but being undead isn’t easy and ‘life’ just keeps getting in his way. Compounding things is the fact that Eric was embalmed shortly after his ‘death’ and his short term memory now resembles Swiss cheese. He can’t remember who he had for lunch yesterday much less why he’s standing in a back alley with a Master Vampires head in his hands. Then theres the whole enchanted bullets and sunlight issues (he keeps catching on fire) the missing money and assorted business problems he’s having with the co-owner of Demon Heart, a girlfriend just begging to be turned -with a really cute younger sister and his would be wife Marilyn, who although getting up there in years still refuses to join him in undeath but won’t leave his side either. Throw in the fact that a pack of werewolves is seeking revenge for Eric killing one of their own (come on it was self defence) his girlfriend Tabitha is about to learn the unromantic version of what it means to be undead and oh, his kids are coming to visit. ~ Goodreads | Buggy

Sidekick[]

Name: Fang the Mustang / What: vampire car / Sidekick-to: Eric / About: occasionally eats people / Book First Seen: Staked

Character Chart[]

Characters What About
Eric vampire, strip club owner He has short-term and long-term memory problems
Roger best friend, vampire business partner; 
Tabitha girlfriend turned vamp keeps pressuring him to turn her so she can join him in undeath;
Rachel Tabitha's sister
Marilyn elderly love of his (mortal) life 's out to save Marilyn from soul-stealing demons
Lisette Empress vampire Eric's sire; lives in paris;
Greta vampire daughter insane; Eric installs her as Void City's sheriff of the supernatural
Talbot powerful demon
Magbidion morose mage
Fang the Stang vampire mustang Eric's car turned vampire by dark sorcery, bk-2; sometimes eats people 
Captain Stacey poloce Capt.

To expand the table, in Edit–Visual mode, right-press on a Row of the table (Control-press on a Mac)—choose add Row or Column. Or, in Source Mode: copy-paste rows.

J.F

J.F. Lewis

Author[]

J.F. Lewis

Bio: J.F. Lewis lives in Birmingham, Alabama with his patient wife, two growing sons, and a very hyper Labrador-mix mutt. J spent eight wonderful years working in comic and game stores and is currently employed by AT&T. He's always been a writer... but he decided that he wanted to be actually published when his college creative writing teacher questioned his sanity and suggested therapy. An avid reader, J also enjoys sushi, popcorn, lukewarm sodas, and old black and white movies. His two favorite activities are reading comics to his kids and typing into the wee hours of the morning. Fortunately, like the protagonist of his Void City novels, the author takes very little sleep. J is a member of the SFWA, where he volunteers as editor for their Pressbook pages. He is also a Codexian and a member of the League of Reluctant Adults. Like J on Facebook and follow him on Twitter... he does all his own Facebook and Twitter posts, so it's really him on there. ~ Jeremy F. Lewis - Author at Large - Official Website

Staked - Side by Side

Staked—sid-by-side: Chris McGrath's original version on the left, and Gene Mollica's version on the right.

Cover Artist[]

Publishing Information[]

  1. Staked (2008)
  2. Revamped (2009)
  3. Crossed (2011)
  4. Burned (2012)
  • Bk-1: paperback, 370 pages, Mar 11-2008—ISBN: 1416547800
  • Bk-2: paperback, 388 pages, March 10th 2009—ISBN: 1439102287
  • Bk-2: paperback, 405 pages, Jan 25th 2011—ISBN: 1439191328
  • Bk-2: paperback, 359 pages, Jan 31st 2012—ISBN: 1451651864
Publiser page: ReVamped—ReVamped | Book by J. F. Lewis - Simon & Schuster

Book Cover Blurbs[]

✤ BOOK ONE BLURB—Staked (2008): Eric's got issues. He has short-term and long-term memory problems; he can't remember who he ate for dinner yesterday, much less how he became a vampire in the first place. His best friend, Roger, is souring on the strip club he and Eric own together, and his girlfriend, Tabitha, keeps pressuring him to turn her so she can join him in undeath. It's almost enough to put a Vlad off his appetite. Almost. Eric tries to solve one problem, only to create another: he turns Tabitha into a vampire, but finds that once he does, his desire for her fades—and her younger sister, Rachel, sure is cute. When he kills a werewolf in self-defense, things really get out of hand. Now a pack of born-again lycanthropes is out for holy retribution, while Tabitha and Rachel have their own agendas--which may or may not include helping Eric stay in one piece. All Eric wants to do is run his strip club, drink a little blood, and be left alone. Instead, he must survive car crashes, enchanted bullets, sunlight, sex magic, and werewolves on ice—not to mention his own nasty temper and forgetfulness. Because being undead isn't easy, but it sure beats the alternative.  ~ Staked (Void City, #1) by J.F. Lewis

✤ BOOK TWO BLURB—Revamped (2009): Eric has lost his strip club, his Mustang, and even Marilyn, the elderly love of his (mortal) life. Even his body was obliterated. In short, they almost got him. But when you're a vampire, "almost" is a very important word. With a little magical help from his friends, Eric is restored to corporeal form, but his treasured Mustang gets caught up in the sorcery and winds up with an unlife of its own. Now, along with "Fang the 'Stang," he's out to save Marilyn from one of Void City's most powerful soul-stealing demons. But salvation comes at a high price, forcing Eric to venture into his own worst nightmare, Vampire High Society, to uncover the truth about the origin of his powers. At the same time, Eric's ex-girlfriend, Tabitha, has begun to wonder exactly what it was that she admired about those High Society Vampires in the first place. Her quest to find her own place in this deceptively vicious circle may lead her right back to Eric's side—if her little sister, Rachel, doesn't kill her first. And Eric will need all the help he can get, because it looks like someone is after his soul, too. Blood will flow, fangs will be bared, and the claws will come out, because revenge is never pretty...and Eric has plenty to pass around. ~ Goodreads | ReVamped (Void City, #2) by J.F. Lewis

✤ BOOK THREE BLURB—Crossed (2011): In spite of his continuing hot-blooded affair with his soon-to-be sister-in-law Rachel, Eric’s plan is simple: Give his vampire girlfriend Tabitha the fancy wedding she’s always wanted, then head off to Paris for their honeymoon in the hopes of tracking down his sire, the Empress vampire Lisette. The City of Love proves anything but romantic when the True Immortal rulers of Europe try to block Eric from entering the Continent—and subject Tabitha to a series of challenges to prove her vampire worth. Back home in Void City, Eric’s volatile daughter Greta is getting lonely and bored—and that’s not good news for anyone. And when, like a bat out of hell, Lisette descends upon Void City to wipe Eric and his brood off the face of the earth—forever—this much is clear: the honeymoon is over. ~ Goodreads | Crossed (Void City, #3) by J.F. Lewis

✤ BOOK FOUR BLURB—Burned (2012): Void City's resident badass vampire has a secret to keep, everything to lose, and a plan to win it all. Eric has taken control of the city's supernatural hierarchy, putting all the deals and contracts that allow Void City to function up for renegotiation. When he installs his insane vampire daughter, Greta, as Void City's sheriff of the supernatural, bloody mayhem ensues. To further complicate things, the love of Eric's life is back from the dead, immortally young, at a cost that has put Eric under the thumb of a very powerful demon. The mysterious mouser Talbot, morose mage Magbidion, and all of Eric's thralls are trying to help him keep things under control . . . But with early onset Alzheimer's, vampire hunters, demons, a band of chupacabra, a cursed cousin with a serious grudge, and Rachel as his new "handler" . . . there's just not an app for that. ~ Goodreads | Burned (Void City, #4) by J.F. Lewis

First Sentences[]

  1. Staked (2008) — Somewhere in the middle of my rant it occurred to me that I'd killed whoever I'd been yelling at, so arguing was no longer important.
  2. Revamped (2009) — If you've never been blown up before, I can't recommend it.
  3. Crossed (2011) — I shouldn't have been doing what I was doing, but I was.
  4. Burned (2012) — Vampires burn.

Quotes[]

Trivia[]

Awards[]

Read Alikes (similar elements)[]

See Category links at bottom of page

Notes[]

DD: Assume that I’m a mundane character, wishing to take a walk on the wild side in Void City, what are the must-see hot spots and the essential accessories I should take along?

JFL: Gather your wits and a few choice weapons, but don’t forget your checkbook. If you get into trouble, help can usually be found … for a price. You should get a burger at Carl’s (assuming you’re foolhardy enough to go one that side of town to begin with) and tell him your order is for a vampire so (while he will charge you more) it will look and taste literally perfect. If the Pollux is open and showing Casablanca, you should go see it, because Winter has redone the theater now and it looks fabulous on the inside (and Casablanca is the best movie ever). Don’t talk to any tall blonde women though. That might be Greta and she’ll eat you if she gets bored with the conversation. From there, brave souls could go to the Artiste Unknown or the Iversonian. The best time to visit would be during the Void City Music Festival, because vamps and other beasties aren’t allowed to feed on the unwilling during the festival. You should still avoid talking to tall attractive blonde women though, since Greta isn’t always one for following the rules. Oh, and be careful of 1964 1/2 Mustang Convertibles. One of them is likely Fang and he might eat you … ~ Welcome to the Void: An Interview with Author J. F. Lewis

See Also[]

Category links at bottom of page

External References[]

Books:

Summaries: 

World, Characters, etc: 

Interviews: 

Reviews:

2- ReVamped

3-Crossed

4- Burned

Articles:

Covers: 

Author: 

Community, Fan Sites:

Gallery of Book Covers[]

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