Book: "Vampire Files" by PN Elrod
Aug. 6th, 2006 10:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
katikatI've finished reading, translating and partially editing the Czech version of the "Vampire Files" by PN Elrod. This book combines the first three stories in Elrod's series: "Bloodlist", "Lifeblood" and "Bloodcircle".
This one is a strange book, really. Except for the small detail that the main hero Jack Fleming is a vampire, this could be your usual gangster book set in Chicago in the 1930s. There is the mob and there are murders and gangsters and the strange atmosphere that fairly breaths from the book.
At the beginning of the book, Jack Fleming is killed - tortured and then shot to death... and wakes up as a vampire. Sure, he knew that something like that could happen since he exchanged blood with the love of his life, the vampire Maureen, but he never actually believed that he would turn into a vampire when so many other people didn't. In this book, the vampirism is described more like a rare disease that only some people can catch. A vampire can exchange blood with hundreds of people but only one, maybe two will actually turn into one. And they don't find out until they die. I think that's a rather interesting idea. But back to Jack...
So, Jack wakes up on the bank of Lake Michigan and though he is rather unnerved by the whole vampire thing, he pulls himself together, finds a trunk in which he could sleep and returns home for the earth from the family graveyard. And since he doesn't remember what actually happened and how he has died, he decides to solve the case of his own murder.
Naturally, he doesn't have to face the peril alone. In a rather odd way he becomes friends with Charles Escott, a private investigator, whom the author describes as an odd duck XD And he really is a bit weird. In the past, he worked in a hospital, was an actor, a carpenter, a stagehand etc. etc. There is nothing he doesn't know or know how to do it. He is the master of disguise who suffers from insomnia and a sharp wit. He finds Jack's vampiric condition utterly fascinating and goes to great length to help him even though he usually ends up needing medical care.
And then there is the new love interest for Jack, Bobbi Smythe, a beautiful singer who is no poor little thing but can shoot a bad guy right in the face when she gets angry. Though she is a bit unnerved by Jack's condition at first, she gets used to it. As she says, human beings can get used to many things.
Then there are some supporting characters like Shoe Coldfield, the black gangster boss and Escott's best buddy from the theater times or Gordy, the giant right hand of the mob who at first wants to make a meat loaf of Jack but then turns into a reluctant friend and a powerful ally. And one mustn't forget the harpy Marza or Jack's overly concerned parents who we get to know only through the phone.
The three stories take place mostly in Chicago, though in the last one Jack and Charles travel to Long Island. They are set in the time period of approximately one month and they are connected through Jack's search for Maureen who disappeared five years ago and Jack hasn't heard from her ever since. I can assure you, that his search comes to an end and the readers get to know what actually happened to Maureen.
If you are looking for an action filled book or a horror, this one is definitely not for you. The pace is rather sedate and the story reads like a mystery or a detective story. What I loved best though, was the relationship between Jack and Escott. Their humor is very intelligent and the way they speak - Jack is an American, Escott an Englishman - is rather amusing. But they would definitely die for each other, their friendship runs that deep. And what's great too is the fact that the h/c stuff is split equally so you get your fill whoever of these two becomes your favorite.
I would give this book four stars out of five. Why not five? Because I like my stories a bit more action packed. But the characters definitely compensate for that here :)
This one is a strange book, really. Except for the small detail that the main hero Jack Fleming is a vampire, this could be your usual gangster book set in Chicago in the 1930s. There is the mob and there are murders and gangsters and the strange atmosphere that fairly breaths from the book.
At the beginning of the book, Jack Fleming is killed - tortured and then shot to death... and wakes up as a vampire. Sure, he knew that something like that could happen since he exchanged blood with the love of his life, the vampire Maureen, but he never actually believed that he would turn into a vampire when so many other people didn't. In this book, the vampirism is described more like a rare disease that only some people can catch. A vampire can exchange blood with hundreds of people but only one, maybe two will actually turn into one. And they don't find out until they die. I think that's a rather interesting idea. But back to Jack...
So, Jack wakes up on the bank of Lake Michigan and though he is rather unnerved by the whole vampire thing, he pulls himself together, finds a trunk in which he could sleep and returns home for the earth from the family graveyard. And since he doesn't remember what actually happened and how he has died, he decides to solve the case of his own murder.
Naturally, he doesn't have to face the peril alone. In a rather odd way he becomes friends with Charles Escott, a private investigator, whom the author describes as an odd duck XD And he really is a bit weird. In the past, he worked in a hospital, was an actor, a carpenter, a stagehand etc. etc. There is nothing he doesn't know or know how to do it. He is the master of disguise who suffers from insomnia and a sharp wit. He finds Jack's vampiric condition utterly fascinating and goes to great length to help him even though he usually ends up needing medical care.
And then there is the new love interest for Jack, Bobbi Smythe, a beautiful singer who is no poor little thing but can shoot a bad guy right in the face when she gets angry. Though she is a bit unnerved by Jack's condition at first, she gets used to it. As she says, human beings can get used to many things.
Then there are some supporting characters like Shoe Coldfield, the black gangster boss and Escott's best buddy from the theater times or Gordy, the giant right hand of the mob who at first wants to make a meat loaf of Jack but then turns into a reluctant friend and a powerful ally. And one mustn't forget the harpy Marza or Jack's overly concerned parents who we get to know only through the phone.
The three stories take place mostly in Chicago, though in the last one Jack and Charles travel to Long Island. They are set in the time period of approximately one month and they are connected through Jack's search for Maureen who disappeared five years ago and Jack hasn't heard from her ever since. I can assure you, that his search comes to an end and the readers get to know what actually happened to Maureen.
If you are looking for an action filled book or a horror, this one is definitely not for you. The pace is rather sedate and the story reads like a mystery or a detective story. What I loved best though, was the relationship between Jack and Escott. Their humor is very intelligent and the way they speak - Jack is an American, Escott an Englishman - is rather amusing. But they would definitely die for each other, their friendship runs that deep. And what's great too is the fact that the h/c stuff is split equally so you get your fill whoever of these two becomes your favorite.
I would give this book four stars out of five. Why not five? Because I like my stories a bit more action packed. But the characters definitely compensate for that here :)
