Applewood - Vampire Book Review

Applewood   
by Brendan P. Myers
By Light Unseen Media, May 2011


[a review by Sandy Rainey]

The smart vampire thriller Applewood, by relative newcomer Brendan P. Myers, has a lot of appeal built into its DNA. At times it will remind the reader of  'Salem's Lot, The Lost Boys, and even the brand-new movie Super 8, which could not possibly have been an influence considering its release date relative to the novel's. I mention these narrative kinfolk not to imply that Applewood is some sort of ho-hum derivative, but to entice more readers into giving this strong effort a chance. In the words of the old Alka-Seltzer commercial: Try it, you'll like it!

The novel is off to a quick start with the discovery of a horribly mutilated corpse in the Massachusetts town of Grantham. The local authorities presume that the damage to the body was done by wild animals—except for Sergeant "Moon" Lombard, who knows a vampire mauling when he sees one. Moon gives the signal, and a tight-knit group of friends from junior high days, long since scattered to the winds, reassembles to confront the danger that bitter experience has equipped them to recognize. One of the friends who answers the call is Scott Dugan, the novel's principal viewpoint character. He returns to his old suburban neighborhood, Applewood, now a rotting and utterly deserted ruin. And his thoughts spool back to that distant junior high time when a plague of nightmare creatures wiped Applewood right off the map.

The bulk of the novel is an extended flashback to those long-ago years, and the late-70s vibe is so tangible you could swear you were there again. (It is the age of the protagonists, their relationships with one another, and the historical and pop culture references that invite comparisons with Super 8, and Myers' handling of the period details compares nicely with that of Abrams and Spielberg.) You need not, however, be a child of the 70s to relate to the experiences of Dugan and his friends: dealing with the loss of a parent, the heartache of first love, the menace of a gang of bullies, the terror of not fitting in—these are the universal rites of passage so faithfully recreated here. The dialog is right on pitch, and Myers' young protagonists react to situations with adolescent authenticity. As we get to know Dugan and his pals, we come to care very much about them. This is Myers' secret weapon, one reason we keep turning the pages as fast as we can.

The other reason? Myers has constructed a tight plot that dashes along at top speed. When three of the boys' classmates turn up missing and the town cemetery is desecrated, strange things start to happen. One by one, the town's citizens begin to disappear. Pooling their knowledge, Dugan and his friends begin to piece together what has happened. A local history project proves invaluable in zeroing in on the threat (Kids: do your history homework!). It turns out that Grantham's Civil War hero, Colonel Alexander Pope, came back from the war a changed man, and brought home a lot more than old war stories. Somehow that old danger was laid to rest; somehow it has come back to life. Knowing that no one will believe their story (if there is even anyone left to lend a hand!), the boys strike out alone to combat a powerful and rapidly expanding evil that threatens to swallow their town and everyone in it.

There are three distinct time frames in the novel, and the reader might wish Myers had spent more time fleshing out the Civil War-era scenes, as well as wrapping up the present-day face-off of the old gang against their long-time nemesis. (To be fair, Myers may be planning a sequel.) But these are minor quibbles. Myers has crafted a suspenseful story alive with period detail and populated with authentic, relatable characters. His is a talented  voice with a lot to offer a genre that can always use an infusion of new blood. 

Sandy Rainey, July 2011

Vintage Soul - Paranormal Book Review (with Vampires)

Vintage Soul
by David Nail Wilson
Gale, December 2009



From the publisher: When a gorgeous, three hundred year old vampire is kidnapped from her lover’s top floor, high-security suite, the city’s underground community is shaken.

The abduction seems impossible, and when things seem impossible, there is only one man in the dark, underground society of San Valencez, California who can be trusted to unravel them. Donovan DeChance is a collector of ancient manuscripts and books, a practicing mage, and a private investigator.

Called in to investigate, he soon finds that there is much more to the case than a simple abduction. There will be no ransom, and if he doesn’t prevent an ancient, forbidden ritual from reaching its culmination, far more than a single vampire’s undead life will be at stake.

Donovan, his fiery, sometimes lover Amethyst, and a troop of supporting characters follow the ghostly trail of the kidnapper through a winding maze of intrigue, always a step behind, through magical battles, murders, and confrontations with a rogue band of young vampires intent on beating Donovan at his own game.

Vintage Soul is a dark, urban, supernatural mystery. Set in a fictional underground society, a city within a city, it opens portals to the unknown darkness that surrounds us. Fast-paced, strewn with clues, investigation, and magic, this is a book sure to slake the appetites of fans of mystery and the supernatural. Welcome to the darkness; welcome to the world of Donovan DeChance. Vintage Soul is Book I of the DeChance Chronicles.



PVN:  I read the back-of-the-book blurb for Vintage Soul and wondered how I could improve upon something that so well summarizes the plot,  and the description of the main character, Donavon DeChance, bibliophile, and  practicing detective with wizardly powers. Unlike so many book blurbs this one does an excellent job. Still I'll press on with my own observations.

Donovan will no doubt be compared to Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden, Chicago's only wizard cum private eye. Harry's a nice guy, somewhat clumsy, and never seems to get the girl. Donavon, on the other hand, at 6'3" with an athletic build, is more urbane and confident, and has a gorgeous girlfriend.

He also knows how to handle innumerable spells and charms making him one of the top investigators  of San Valencez, CA's underworld.  It's for this reason that the vampire council chooses him to find find the beautiful vampiress Vanessa before her kidnapper  has a chance to use her in as the sacrifice in an ancient, and dangerous ritual. Dominic does much of the sleuthing on his own but is aided by the lovely Amethyst who knows more about the powers of crystals, stones, and talismans than anyone else. Then there is his familiar a very clever cat named Cleo plus the recent addition of Asmodeus, a shabby but knowledgeable crow (his former human suffered a nasty demise) whom Cleo despises. Mages, demons, and other preternatural creatures prove worthy adversaries as well as friends for Donovan.

This clever urban fantasy is packed with solid writing and filled with crisp details. Wilson is a whiz at painting with words. Below is a description of a ritual gone very wrong when an inept practitioner fails to control the demon he has raised.

    "The circle had become  white pillar stretching from floor to ceiling. It was impossible to see into the interior, and no sound escaped from within, but the air hummed with energy and then, with a shudder, the remnant of the circle blew asunder. Air and sound raced outward,  pounding the windows from the old cathedral outward and sending a shower of broken wood frame glass shards in a long arc, pummeling the street and homes beyond."
    
Vintage Soul is Book One of The DeChance Chronicles.

Read the interview with David



[Dear FTC, I received this book the author. Thank you, David]

Drood by Dan Simmons - Review

Drood: A Novel
by Dan Simmons
Little Brown, 2009

[reviewed by Sandy Rainey]

Warning: Dan Simmons' Drood is a heavy lift, in every sense of the term. It comes in at 771 pages, more than a hundred pages longer than Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian; it is definitely not the book to tote to the beach, unless you plan to do arm curls with it between chapters. By turns hard to put down and hard to pick up, it will teach you more about Victorian literary stars William Wilkie Collins and the incomparable Charles Dickens than you ever wanted to know. It will thrill you, disgust you, and toy with your loyalties more than you might like. It will challenge your powers of endurance and interpretation, and it will sometimes try your patience. Ultimately, though, Drood is a journey worth taking, and readers with a taste for the macabre who count Dickens among their interests should not miss it.

William Wilkie Collins narrates our odyssey through the last five years of Dickens' life. Actually, the book spans many more years than that; Collins first befriended Dickens in 1851 and collaborated with him frequently until Dickens' death in 1870, and our narrator moves dizzyingly backward and forward through time, mixing his present and his past to enrich (and complicate) his tale with much foreshadowing and backfill. More disconcerting still: Collins was an insatiable opium and laudanum addict; there is no knowing—ever—what in his account is reality and what is a product of his severely drug-addled brain. Yet another twist is added in that Collins is utterly consumed with jealousy of the enormously talented and much-beloved Dickens, whom he calls "the Inimitable"; he is the Salieri to Dickens' Mozart. He is one of the most contemptible and unreliable narrators you will ever encounter, a vain,weak, whiny, self-absorbed, delusional, defensive loser. Yet at times you may find yourself rooting for him or pitying him, only to be reminded a few pages later of why you have spent the rest of the book despising him. It gives nothing away to note that everything he says should be viewed with suspicion.

The book opens on June 9, 1865, when Dickens was involved in a horrific railway accident at Staplehurst. He had been riding in the only car whose passengers escaped harm. The accident affected him profoundly for the rest of his life. Always interested in mesmerism and spiritualism, he became more and more obsessed with cemeteries and London's Undertown, an appalling city-below-the-city where the poor huddled and the criminal element lurked, selling opiates and striking above-ground when possible. Drood is Simmons' fictionalized account of what happens to Dickens (and to Collins) after the derailment. Dickens tells Collins that he encountered a bizarre, hissing creature named Drood flitting among the maimed and dying after the crash, showing particular interest in the fatally injured. Drood had slyly hinted to Dickens, who was attempting to help the victims, that he could be found in Undertown, thus assuring that Dickens would seek him out—a reluctant Collins in tow—as soon as possible.

It's a wild ride from there. There are an Egyptian cult, a stomach-turning rite involving a scarab beetle, an omnipresent and malignant Collins doppelganger who writes better than our narrator and may or may not be visible to others, a monstrous woman with green skin and tusks, several brutal murders, a haunted back staircase, an obsessive retired policeman who has made the capture of Drood his only object, three mistresses (for Victorians, these guys could swing), and literary and theatrical projects galore. June 9 becomes a pivotal date, with some plot-twisting event occurring each year on that day. Simmons blends fiction and fact so skillfully that you will feel the urge to do some research on your own in order to determine where the line between reality and invention lies. No knowledge of the time period is necessary, but the more you know about Dickens, the more satisfying you will find Simmons' exhaustive attention to detail.

Channeling the Victorian fictional voice—the Collins fictional voice—with consummate skill, Simmons has crafted a fiendishly intricate and clever narrative that places great demands upon the reader. The ending appears to settle most questions in ways you may or may not have seen coming. Even so, upon further reflection, you will realize that Drood—like Dickens' unfinished final novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood—has left some issues open to eternal, delicious speculation.

[reviewed for Patricia's Vampire Notes by Sandy Rainey]

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)

A Flash of Hex - Review

A Flash of Hex
Jes Battis
Ace (May 26, 2009)
ISBN: 978-0-441-01723-2

[reviewed by Melissa Parker]

A Flash of Hex is the second book in a paranormal series by Jes Battis. I did not read the first book, but I want to now. I did not really feel as if I were missing important pieces of information; the second book stood well on its own. Tess is an agent with magical powers. She needs to find a serial-killing demon. Helping her is a rather motley group. There is Derrick, her gay partner and co-custodian of Mia, a 14-year-old girl who will turn into a vampire. There is Lucian, who can bring back the dead, and he and Tess are in a forbidden romance. Miles is another agent who can see invisible forces. Wolfie is a street kid who has control over fire. Patrick is a teenager who will become a lead vampire. With a group like this, what could go wrong? This book has a lot of action in it. There are good fight scenes between varieties of paranormal figures. There is also mystery and romance. A few sex scenes, but nothing too over the top. I hope Battis continues this series. I will continue to read it if he does. I would recommend it to fans of paranormal books.

Reviewed for Patricia's Vampire Notes by Melissa A. Palmer



Night Child (OSI, Book 1)
Ace (May 27, 2008).

Midnight Reign - Vampire Book Review

Green, Chris Marie. Midnight Reign: Vampire Babylon, Book Two. Ace, Feb. 5, 2008. ISBN: 978-0-441-01560-3.

[reviewed by Patricia]

Hollywood stunt-woman Dawn Morgan continues the search for her father, Frank, who went missing in Night Rising (Ace, 2007) the first book of Green's Vampire Babylon series. Along with her team members, the psychic Kiko and the tech-savvy Breisi, Dawn has learned that within a haven for the undead called the Underground lie many of the secrets that could point to Frank's whereabouts as well as solve the mysterious, vicious vampire-like murders of two young women. Working with them in this quest is the mysterious Jonah Limpet, a man Dawn has yet to see, who feeds them information and guides them toward their mutual goal. The novel's tone is dark, dramatic, and erotic. Green writes a complex story with well defined characters and more than enough paranormal mystery to keep readers enthralled from beginning to end.

Patricia Altner for Library Journal
Reprinted with permission of Reed Business Information.

All email subcribers will have a chance to win a copy of Midnight Reign this month.

Magic in the Blood - Review

Magic in the Blood (Allie Beckstrom)
by Devon Monk
Roc, 2009

[reviewed by Patricia]

Allie Beckstrom's wealthy father has been murdered. This much she knows for certain. She saw him only moments before his death, so how is it possible that on this particular morning she clearly sees him in her apartment, looking at her in anger. She backs away, but he follow and when close enough whispers in her ear, "Seek!". Then he disappears and Allie is left filled with fear. She has no understanding of what he wants from her. His ghostly visit leaves her paralyzed with terror.

This second installment of Devon Monk's Allison Beckstrom series is dark and frightening at times. Allie works in the city of Portland as a Hound. In a time when magical energy is easily accessible, Hounds are used to track down the source of those casting spells. She also uses magic as part of the job but in the short span of time since her last adventure something in the magical world has changed. Not all of it immediately obvious.

Unlike others Allie is able to hold magic within her body. For anyone else to even attempt such a feat would be suicidal. Neither she nor anyone else understands why she has this ability. Unfortunately her magic can be difficult to control. Walking down a familiar street she begins to hallucinate, seeing death glyphs appear and ghostly images of pastel colored people who suddenly notice her and begin their attack. They are fast and vicious, taking huge bites and swallowing great gobs of her magic. Allie barely escapes with her life. More complications arise: a Hounding job for the police goes badly wrong; a friend is hideously murdered, and a powerful practitioner of blood and death magics attempts to open a forbidden doorway

Monk has written a magic and mystery thriller even more enthralling than Magic to the Bone (Allie Beckstrom). Don't miss this one!

Charlaine Harris and True Blood

The following interview was first published on PVN December 2007, before True Blood aired on HBO. Charlaine Harris shares her thoughts about giving her Sookie stories over to someone else.

I'm republishing this post in honor of True Blood's start of Season 2 tonight June 14 at 9:00 PM.


This interview was conducted in June 2007 in preparation for the Library Journal column From Shelf to Screen (Oct. 15, 2007). In 2008 HBO will air the TV series True Blood (tentatively scheduled for March) based on the Southern Vampire Mysteries featuring the mind-reading Louisiana barmaid Sookie Stackhouse who finds herself intimately involved with the vampire subculture.

1. Although you are the author of the Southern Vampire Mysteries you have had to turn over creative control to Alan Ball (producer of Six Feet Under). You obviously have a lot of confidence in him, but how were you able to let go of your own creation?

It won't be my creation any more when it's on television. It'll be Alan's creation, and a completely different animal. I'm looking forward to seeing the books from a completely different point of view.

2. Producer Alan Ball is obviously a fan of the Southern Vampire Mysteries. What information have you shared with him on developing the characters, especially Sookie.

I think all the sharing I need to do is right there in the text. When I was trying to decide who to go with, of the offers in front of me, Alan was the one who convinced me he understood what I was doing with the books.

3. Have you made any suggestions for the True Blood stories? Will any of the novels be a basis for an episode?

The pilot episode is Chapter One of Book One, "Dead Until Dark." The plan now is to follow the books chronologically.

4. Has filming begun? Have you been on the set and if so what was it like for you?

Filming starts June 7, last I heard. I have been on the set while it was still being built, and I've met some of the production crew. Without exception, they struck me with their questions, their interest, and their knowledge of the books. It was a really pleasant shock to find out they cared about the books and hoped their vision enriched mine.

5. What do you think of the actors who have been cast? What do you think they will bring to their roles?

I am confident that Alan and his casting director have picked the right people for the right roles, because that's what they do for a living, and their track record says they're pretty good at it. I don't know squat about acting, and I'm really fascinated by the process. It may be I'll learn something about the characters from watching their interpretation!

6. Will there be any kind of publicity touring or interviewing that will include you in helping to launch the series?
I don't think touring . . . I just toured for ALL TOGETHER DEAD, the seventh Sookie. I'm doing quite a few interviews about the show, and I'm sure there'll be more right around the premier, if that's not too grand a name for it.

7. How firm is the Jan.'08 launch date?
I have no idea. After HBO executives view the pilot, that'll be firmed up.

8. Will there be a prescreening of the first episode? Will you be involved in this or will you watch it for the first time along with the rest of us?

Alan has mentioned that I should come to LA for the prescreening, and I'm thinking about it. Depends on what's going on with my family then.

9. Any other comments you wish to make would be welcome.

I've read the first two scripts, and I couldn't be more pleased and excited.

10. Do you have any comments that you would like to make to the library community? It's impact on you or your work?

Sure. My mom (until her retirement) was a librarian, and my sister in law (until her untimely death) was a librarian, and I think it's a super job. It's no coincidence that two of my best friends have been librarians. When I think of how much libraries do for people who need the dreams and the information books hold, it makes me regret I didn't get a degree . . . though I realize that sounds very suck-uppy, as my daughter would say.


Note from Patricia: I love the Southern Vampire Mysteries and was hooked after reading the first book Dead Until Dark (Ace, 2001). What better combination than mystery and vampires? Book number eight From Dead to Worse will be published by Ace in 2008. Like Harris's many fans I look forward to watching the HBO series. Unfortunately the debut date is very dependent on when the current writer's strike is settled. For more thoughts on Charlaine Harris and her vampire series look at Patricia's Vampire Notes for May 12, 2006.



The Sookie Stackhouse Books in order of publication:

Dead Until Dark: A Sookie Stackhouse Novel (Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood)

Living Dead in Dallas: A Sookie Stackhouse Novel (True Blood TV Tie-In Edition)

Club Dead (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 3)

Dead to the World (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 4)

Dead as a Doornail (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 5)

Definitely Dead (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 6)

All Together Dead (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 7)

From Dead to Worse (Southern Vampire Mysteries, No. 8)

Dead and Gone (Sookie Stackhouse, Book 9)

Beyond the Grave - Vampire Novel

Lina Gardiner. Beyond the Grave. ImaJinn (October 30), 2008.

For 50 years Jess Vandermire has been a vampire and vampire hunter. Miraculously she has been able to keep a large part of her humanity intact, and much of this is thanks to the prayerful intercession of her brother Regent, a Roman Catholic priest. He never gave up on her and never lost faith that she could keep her soul even while infected with evil. Unlike Jess, Regent as a mortal has aged. Her baby brother is now elderly, and he worries that when he dies she will not have a protector.

He hopes Jess will allow that position to fall to Britt, but she is reluctant. Britt is her mortal partner in the special operations unit that fights the vampire menace. He loves Jess to distraction, and, although she also loves him as well, she fears that her vampire side could overwhelm her and cause Britt's destruction. While these two wrestle with the agony of their mutual affection, a vampire serial killer is on the loose. Sampson Case, a coroner and vampirologist, carefully examines these cases. What he discovers is reason to worry. Jess's VNA (vampire DNA) is found on the victims. When Britt finds this out he assumes Jess is being set up. Sampson can only hope he is right.

Beyond the Grave is a terrific book to read. The action-packed plot moves quickly with enough twists to keep a reader's complete attention. And the characters are appealing, especially in the case of Regent the tender hearted priest whose strength of faith keeps his sister and those around her squarely in God's light. This is an unusual but compelling aspect to Gardiner's vampire story. As in book one of this series, Grave Illusions, Beyond the Grave has a cliff hanger ending which will leave readers begging for more.

Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. HarperCollins (September 30, 2008).

This is a children's book I was surprised to learn. I first read about it a week ago, I don't remember where, but it was online and there was a link to the Neil Gaiman page where videos of him reading from this book are available. As a rule I don't like having fiction read to me. I decided this after several long trips with a variety of novels on CD, and losing patience with everyone after 2 CDS, 3 at the most. But when I arrived at this particular site the video began without any prompting by me. Gaiman read from Chapter one. It took 45 minutes. I closed my eyes and hung on every word. It is now possible to hear all 8 chapters online, for free. Prepare yourself for an outstanding voyage.

BTW - I have ordered the audio CD for my next trip.

From the publisher: "Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy.

He would be completely normal if he didn't live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead. [Note: he's a vampire.]

There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy-an ancient Indigo Man beneath the hill, a gateway to a desert leading to an abandoned city of ghouls, the strange and terrible menace of the Sleer.

But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack—who has already killed Bod's family. . . .

Beloved master storyteller Neil Gaiman returns with a luminous new novel for the audience that embraced his New York Times bestselling modern classic Coraline. Magical, terrifying, and filled with breathtaking adventures, the graveyard book is sure to enthrall readers of all ages."