Vampire stories aren’t new. In fact, they’ve been around hundreds of years. However, Scott Westerfield manages to make it feel new in his 2005 novel Peeps. There are no sparkling, magic vampires in this book; instead, it’s a disease. Specifically, a parasite. The title comes from a shortened version of the term “parasite positive,” prefered to vampire by the main character Cal Thompson. This young man was given the disease when he had a “chance encounter” with a woman shortly after moving to New York City. He is working with a secret organization to try and contain the disease. Cal plans to fix what he spread by tracking down his former girlfriends. However, while attempting to reach his goal, he realizes that there is something bigger and worse going on under all of this.
     Cal is a carrier, so he has the pros of the parasite (including super strength and speed) but none of the cons (cannibalism and dementia.) While this may sound a little far-fetched, Westerfield definitely did his research in writing this book. Every chapter, Cal describes a parasite and compares it back to his present situation. Each chapter’s parasite adds something and makes it seem as if the parasite could be an actual parasite in reality. The vampiric parasite can also be compared to many person-to-person spread viruses outside of the book. This book has deep but thinly veiled connections to these viruses, which makes it much more interesting and realistic.
     Scott Westerfield effectively takes an ancient story and makes it feel modern and compelling. His characters (mainly Cal and Lace) are funny and interesting, and make the reader want to know more about them. There is another book in this series called The Last Days. It follows the other characters, but it is set in the same universe if you enjoyed Peeps. I thoroughly recommend this book for anyone who likes either supernatural stories or Westerfield’s other works (like the Uglies series and The Risen Empire.) Peeps is a new twist on the supernatural genre that is refreshing and enthralling.