23 Hours: A Vengeful Vampire Tale

By David Wellington

In the next 23 hours, there will be no reprieve,
no mercy, and no time off for good behavior.

When vampire hunter Laura Caxton is locked up in a maximum-security prison, the cop-turned-con finds herself surrounded by countless murderers and death-row inmates with nothing to lose . . . and plenty of time to kill.

Caxton’s always been able to watch her own back–even when it’s against a cell-block wall–but soon she learns that an even greater threat has slithered behind the bars to join her. Justinia Malvern, the world’s oldest living vampire, has taken up residence, and her strength grows by the moment as she raids the inmate population like an open bar with an all-you-can-drink supply of fresh blood. The crafty old vampire knows just how to pull Caxton’s strings, too, and she's issued an ultimatum that Laura can’t refuse.

Now Laura has just 23 hours to fight her way through a gauntlet of vampires, cons, and killers . . . 23 hours to make one last, desperate attempt at protecting the world from Justinia’s evil.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Jun 23, 2009
• ISBN: 9780307452788

David Wellington

David Wellington lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. He is the author of the Monster Island trilogy of zombie novels; the Thirteen Bullets vampire series; the epic post-apocalyptic novel Positive; and the Jim Chapel missions, including the digital shorts “Minotaur” and “Myrmidon,” and the novels Chimera and The Hydra Protocol.

Reviews for 23 Hours

[dagon12 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Unfortunately on my side, it's been ten years since I finished VAMPIRE ZERO. Needless to say, I pretty much lost all momentum and thrill from the previous books before I started reading 23 HOURS. On the plus side, I was able to pick it up again pretty quickly.As best as I can remember and as revealed in the book opening, the story continues not long after the last book. Laura Caxton is in prison for her actions from before and is now peacefully serving her time with the hopes of getting out quickly. However, Justina Malvern, the world's oldest living and last surviving vampire, wants revenge on Laura. Through careful planning, Justina is set to get it. While Laura is still in the prison.The story is fast paced and vicious. I was engrossed the whole way through. I constantly had questions of how was an unarmed Laura going to start killing the undead and vampires? Or how was Justina planning on getting away? What's going to happen after the climax of the story? Of course all was revealed while reading and I was not displeased! The story seemed compact but I'm sure that since the setting of most of the book was the prison, that helped. It made things more confining and limiting. At the same time though, it sped the pace up; every action was a room away from more guards, undead, and/or vampires. I've already learned from my previous mistake and have started the final book in the Laura Caxton series.

[silversurfer_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fast paced and fun, as we tag along with our Favorite Vampire Killer, Laura Caxton. This time she is going up against JUSTINIA MALVERN, the world's oldest living Vampire. And Laura has just 23 hours to close out this final chapter in this saga...but is it really over?

[cmwilson101 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

23 Hours is the fourth book in the Laura Caxton series, about a State Trooper who becomes a vampire-hunter. This story takes place in a prison, where Laura is an inmate. The vampires are scary, and the action is good, but Laura is not a very sympathetic character - she's actually pretty socially retarded. She is a good kick-ass character, and the story moves quickly; if you are after a quick vampire action story this book is a good choice.

[stang50logan · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Book is full of very good visual context. Overall Wellington was able to keep my attention with the story and make me not want put the book down. Cleaver premise to have a vampire take over a prison...

[drneutron_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I've been a fan of Wellington's Laura Caxton vampire books since the beginning, mostly because they're a great way to get back to stories about vampires as evil monsters rather than humans with superpowers. The latest is no different - lots of violence, lots of suspense. 23 Hours is somewhat flawed though. It's hard for me to imagine why Wellington decided to make it a written version of the old women-in-prison exploitation movie. I mean, you can tick the stereotypes off on your fingers as you go - and it doesn't help us get past the stereotypes that he's overplayed Caxton's sexual orientation in the whole series. Despite this, and maybe this comment is a tribute to his ability, the book mostly works and the twist at the end makes the book.

[lesleydawn · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Laura Caxton is one of those characters that has come to live with me. Even when I'm not reading one of Wellington's wonderful vampire novels, she is right there, she is real. That is the beauty of the writing. As Caxton is beaten and dragged through one horrifying and degrading experience after another, I'm right there with her feeling all of her pain. I love it. I think that David Wellington is a superb writer, and I can't wait to read what comes next.

[erikschreppel · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The latest install of the Laura Claxton vampire books started great. The setting was fantastic, the action zipped along wonderfully, and the concept was great. I really thought that this was the best of the series up until the ending. I absolutely hated the ending. Brought it down from 5 star review to 3 stars. Don't want to say more for fear of being a spoiler, but the ending felt like this is going to go on and on and on. It is a good (not great) series, time to end it and move on to another.

[clark7hallman · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the fourth installment of Laura Caxton's war to rid humanity of the evil Malvern and her progeny. Wellington provides another unique premise for this one. Think about women in prison with vampires and half deads! As Caxton struggles to cope with ruthless prisoners, an evil warden and her sadistic prison guards, and Malvern and her blood suckers, the reader is often convinced she will not survive. It's another satisfying vampire experience, but also a frightening glimpse of life in a maximum security prison. I've never been a fan of "women in prison" media, but I still enjoyed this book and recommend it to readers who liked the previous Caxton novels.