I had a hankering for another spooky book for the season, and since it is also International Infection Prevention Week, I jumped at the chance to listen to a Novella by Elena Pavola.
Pavlova is a Bulgarian writer, who's written under a few other names and seems ot have been consistently publishing over the past several years.
I was super grateful for the audio version of Infection Points: A Winter Census of Urban Predators. My eyes have been less interested in reading- especially E-books, so an audio was fantastic. Julian Elfer read the novella and I enjoyed his rich voice, feeling as if really brought something to the charm of this short volume.
For me, i felt like the cover was kind of fun with the characters in shadow. It deftly represents one of the first scenes in the book. Loved it.
This is a book in translation, and I did feel like maybe the translation wasn't as smooth as it could have been. That said, this is Bulgaria in winter, with a pack of vampires So perhaps SMOOTH wasn't the intention!
No Spoilers here- Our Main character is working for an organization that tracks vampires. These vamps live in nests and tend to improve the lives of others around them. This makes them prime study material for some academic types, looking to build a reputation off of the work of the Nest minders. Vampires are also susceptible to a fungal infection. When infected there's a few options- all of them risky. Once this nest appears to be infected, two separate parties start to race to apply their brand of cure. If you want to know what happens, you'll want to make time for this one.
I enjoyed the story and would have loved it to be a bit longer with more character development and back story. I was struck by the harshness of the description of the life of a Bulgarian Vampire minder. I felt the author brought to life the gritty, cold and somewhat bleak nature of winter in Bulgaria and I loved that! Definitely one if you want to sneak in something before we hit the season of gratitude!
STATS
First Published: 11/10/2026
Pages: 112
Available as an Audio Book : YES ~ 2.25 hours
Trigger Warnings: Alcohol use, smoking, death, body horror, vomit, Supernatural beings.
(this is not a full list, read responsibly)
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