Justin Somper's Pirate Vampires have just the right amount of cut and thrust...

Published by SIMON & SCHUSTER, VAMPIRATES is the brainchild of JUSTIN SOMPER, and combines the genres of pirates, still very much in vogue with Johnny Depp's Pirates of the Caribbean, and the vampire myth. Without wishing to give too much away, pirates are de rigeur in the 26th century, but some of them are, well, different.

Conor and Grace are orphaned, but rather than make their home with the people they detest in the little vilage where their father had been the lighthouse keeper, they prefer to escape on the open seas, but are soon shipwrecked and separated.

Conor, desperate to find his beloved sister, refuses to believe she is dead.  The ship that rescues him is manned by pirates - ordinary pirates, and he is soon befriended and taught to use the rapier by one of the swordswomen on board.

Grace, meanwhile, has also been captured by pirates, but her crew consists of men who daren't venture out in the daylight, and who each have a donor to keep them supplied with the blood they need to survive. Children love pirates, and older children will love the creepy danger of the world of vampires. This is a brilliant pairing of the two genres in a highly original and most enjoyable series. Published by Simon & Schuster, and with brilliantly-illustrated covers and full-colour end-paper illustrations, these terrific paperbacks are absolutely first-class! You can read reviews of all three novels on the children's page.