it is incomprehensible that this first truely awful book developed into a funny series.  i have read everyother book in this series except this one prior to reading it now.  i never read it because of the reviews.  the past reviewers were correct.  this is bad.  i had to force myself to read the first 50 or so pages.  then it got better but ended up being just as bad towards the end as the first 50 pages.  it is quite unbelievable that a 200 year old vamp could still be as incompetent as a 5 year old child. ugh. you do not need to read this book to appreciate the other books in the series.