The Rovers Return: The Official Coronation Street Companion

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When Jesse and Johona inadvertently interrupt the Fiends’ job, they find themselves running for their lives. As the Bicentennial—July 4th, 1976—approaches, these three groups will converge in Las Vegas for a violent and bloody showdown. Iain MacLeod, Coronation Street series producer, said last month that viewers seeing a real sign outside the pub will make the story 'relatable'. What made my heart happy was the writing. I loved the relentless pace and bite of the words. Some of my favorite passages were the ones that played with light. Like “leaf shadows flitting across a patch of warm grass”. Or this beauty… There's little worse to the speculative fiction reader than a literary fiction writer who takes on the genre in an attempt to somehow "elevate" it. Conversely, magic happens when a literary fiction writer slides seamlessly into the genre not to prove something, but because that's where the story lies.

The final showdown takes place in Las Vegas, and setting it there in 1976, was a stroke of genius. In 1976 Sin City hadn't begun to cater to families yet. It was dark and seedy, Dirty and scary. Exactly the setting where a vampire showdown should take place! It was ironic that these vamps chose to travel throughout the parts of America with the longest days, harshest sunlight and grimiest underbelly. I love how Lange describes this book as Of Mice and Men with vampires. BOOM! I think that says it all. He gives us four points of view that slowly weave together to form one big, bad, bloody showdown in 1970s Vegas. I mean come on…what better place for the big bad to go down than Vegas, baby.

A patch of sunlight lay on the empty bed like a brilliant quilt. Another spilled off the table onto the floor. The bright spots only made the rest of the room darker. I had to squint to penetrate the gloom.” It will include the latest action both on and off the cobbles, what you thought about the soap's top storylines and what the stars are up to away from the set. Plus much more! Lange has a neat and visually descriptive writing style, which for me made this feel quite cinematic. Rovers reads like a Tarantino film looks and unfolds. Stylishly gritty, populated by archetype characters simultaneously larger than life and accurately reflective of reality, punctuated and ultimately defined by outrageous yet deftly framed violence. But as viewers know, the Rovers has been put on the market after Johnny Connor decided to sell up - after Jenny confessed to a one night stand with B&B lodger Ronnie Bailey.

We’re looking forward to getting it ‘sold’ like we do for thousands of homes across the country every year."

The vampire trope has hardly been 'overdone,' any more than Victorian romance or stories about armchair detectives and serial killers. This one is unique, IMO. The use of four different perspectives on the events that we see unfold add additional and distinct textural layers to this simple complex story. We learn what each character most desires, and see how that brings them to their ultimate place at the end, but are left to contemplate whether each truly got what they wanted. The nitty-gritty: A unique take on vampires, Rovers is an outstanding blood-soaked, tragic tale of revenge and redemption.