Thirteen Bullets (novel)

infobox Book |
name = Thirteen Bullets
title_orig =
translator =


author = David Wellington
cover_artist = Unknown
country = United States
language = English
series =
genre = Horror
publisher = [http://www.brokentype.com brokentype]
release_date = August 2006 (online)
media_type = ebook
pages =
isbn =
preceded_by =
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"Thirteen Bullets" is a vampire novel by David Wellington, published in serial online in March, 2006.

Plot introduction

"Thirteen Bullets" takes place in Pennsylvania in the year 2003, in a setting similar to the real world, but where vampires and other supernatural forces are rare but accepted phenomena.

Pennsylvania State Trooper Laura Caxton is partnered with Special Deputy Jameson Arkeley, sole survivor of a vampire incident twenty years earlier. With the last known "living" vampire in custody, they must combat a new vampire menace in the heart of Pennsylvania.

Vampire nature in "Thirteen Bullets"

The vampires in David Wellington's novel seem to lose all their human appearances once turned. Their ears become pointed, their hair falls out, all teeth become wickedly sharp, and skin color always becomes pale white, regardless of ethnicity and pigmentation in life. The vampire must remain in a coffin during the day, as their bodies literally die each sunrise, and flesh melts into a noxious fluid, with dead skin and maggots. They are put together when dusk comes, thus getting a new body at night. Physical damage, such as mangled ears, is repaired each morning, but atrophy due to blood-starvation is not.

The method of transferring the curse is very different from the "traditional" way. To transfer the curse one must accept the vampire's invitation to undeath, and then kill one's self to be reborn

Vampires also have the power to resurrect their victims from the dead to create undead servants. These "half-deads" quickly decay, and thus have weak and fragile bodies. In one scene, Arkeley tells Caxton, that the half-deads are "cowards" and are very easily frightened, though they seem to stand their ground despite massive casualties in later encounters. In combat, they typically use knives and other hand-to-hand weapons, as their hand-eye coordination is too poor to properly use firearms.

Vampires are nearly unstoppable. They exhibit increased speed and vastly enhanced physical strength (enough to twist open a steel padlock using bare hands). As long as they have a supply of blood, they can heal grievous wounds, including massive brain injuries, in seconds. The only way to kill one is by destroying the heart, over which an area of steel-hard skin. The Vampire is weakest when it regergitates blood onto another Vampire and can almost be killed with one shot. Arkeley himself uses a Glock 23 with cross-pointed bullets, which fragment within the target's body. It is suggested that a vampire with reserves of consumed blood in its body may be able to heal damage to its heart in time to prevent its death.

Release details

"Thirteen Bullets" was printed in book form in 2007 by Three Rivers Press.

External links

* [http://www.brokentype.com/thirteenbullets/archives.html/ Text of "Thirteen Bullets" online]
* [http://www.brokentype.com/davidwellington/ The author's site]
* [http://www.unshelved.com/archive.aspx?strip=20070909/ Unshelved Book Club on "Thirteen Bullets"]

ources, references, external links, quotations