Sep 4, 2009

Dark Road Rising - Vampire Book Review


Dark Road Rising (Vampire Files)
by P. N. Elrod
Ace, September 1, 2009

Book twelve in the Vampire Files follows the adventures of vampire Jack Flemming, currently residing in Chicago of the 1930s. He owns a night club, Lady Crymsyn, and has made friends within the mobster community. One such person is visiting New York honcho Gabriel "Whitey" Kroun who at the end of Song in the Dark (Ace, 2006) revealed himself to be one of the undead. He carries within a dark, frightening secret. Kroun glimpses bits of information about his mysterious past, but his memory serves him poorly, and he must search through dangerous territory to find answers. For Jack the psychic wounds he suffered when tortured by the psychopathic thug Bristow have yet to heal. Still he offers to help the clearly suffering Kroun. That help, however is rebuffed.

As usual Elrod does a fantastic job constructing well developed characters and a fast paced plot. Unfortunately the first quarter of the book is mostly backstory filled with names and events of previous novels having little to do with the main plot. However, once the story takes off it is impossible to not keep turning the pages. Fans of this popular series will definitely want to read this latest installment. Probably there is enough background offered that someone new would be able to enjoy it.

[A version of this review appeared in Library Journal Aug. 15, 2009. Reprinted with permission of Reed Business Information.]


The Vampire Files series
:

Bloodlist (Vampire Files, No. 1)

Life Blood (Vampire Files, No. 2)

Bloodcircle (Vampire Files, No. 3)

Art in the Blood (Vampire Files, No. 4)

Fire in the Blood (Vampire Files, No. 5)

Blood on the Water (Vampire Files, No. 6)

A Chill in the Blood (Vampire Files, No. 7)

The Dark Sleep (Vampire Files, No. 8)

Lady Crymsyn (Vampire Files, No. 9)

Cold Streets (Vampire Files, No. 10)

Song in the Dark (Vampire Files, No. 11)

Dark Road Rising (Vampire Files, No. 12)

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi :)
Thank you for your review.
I didn't know that the latest Jack Flemming book was out.
I have the whole series!
(except this one obviously)
Thanks again,
twitter: @RKCharron
xoxo

Vickie said...

Thanks for posting the series in order. I haven't yet read this author, but going to remedy that soon.

Patricia Altner said...

Hi RK

I was lucky to get an ARC from Library Journal, otherwise I might have missed it as well.

I'm sure you'll enjoy it!

Patricia Altner said...

Hi Vickie

With so many books in the series I thought it might be useful to post them in order.

Glad you found it helpful!