read: The Flesh, The Blood and The Fire
This is the second of two novels under one cover by Steven Swiniarski (S.A. Swiniarski, to be precise), whose real name is S. Andrew Swann. The title of the book itself is Blood and Rust. I heard about The Flesh, the Blood... first (through Amazon.com's suggestions, believe it or not!), and so read it first. Both novels are vampire tales set in Cleveland.
The interesting thing about this novel is it's based on a true historical crime spree in Cleveland in the 1930s. These were serial murders with beheaded, sometimes otherwise mutilated corpses. Many of the victims were never identified, and no one ever was definitively charged. The other interesting thing is that Elliot Ness (of Al Capone-busting fame) was apparently the head cop in Cleveland at the time. The author elaborates these basic facts into a vampire novel.
Basically, the story has to do with vampire society, in Cleveland, but perhaps in general. There is a Covenant, thralls, masters, and an intricate politics amongst them. The murders are investigated by two cops, who eventually come to grasp the true horror behind them. The novel does have a surprising twist, and ends with another historically accurate event that I will not mention as it would be a spoiler.
It seems to me this "vampire society" stuff is taken from, or at least greatly influenced by, the role-playing game Vampire: The Masquerade, which was first published in 1991. The Flesh, the Blood and the Fire was published in 1998. It's certainly not from Dracula; I wouldn't say that it comes from Anne Rice's vampire stories either. In any case, it somehow seems kind of quaint and silly to me.
I didn't think this book was all that good, but it took me awhile to realize why. It is sooooo overwritten! It reads like Lovecraft's climactic moments... except without the slow atmospheric buildup! Lovecraft at full throttle! Also, there often just seemed to be many holes in the logic. Not particularly a book I'd recommend.
The interesting thing about this novel is it's based on a true historical crime spree in Cleveland in the 1930s. These were serial murders with beheaded, sometimes otherwise mutilated corpses. Many of the victims were never identified, and no one ever was definitively charged. The other interesting thing is that Elliot Ness (of Al Capone-busting fame) was apparently the head cop in Cleveland at the time. The author elaborates these basic facts into a vampire novel.
Basically, the story has to do with vampire society, in Cleveland, but perhaps in general. There is a Covenant, thralls, masters, and an intricate politics amongst them. The murders are investigated by two cops, who eventually come to grasp the true horror behind them. The novel does have a surprising twist, and ends with another historically accurate event that I will not mention as it would be a spoiler.
It seems to me this "vampire society" stuff is taken from, or at least greatly influenced by, the role-playing game Vampire: The Masquerade, which was first published in 1991. The Flesh, the Blood and the Fire was published in 1998. It's certainly not from Dracula; I wouldn't say that it comes from Anne Rice's vampire stories either. In any case, it somehow seems kind of quaint and silly to me.
I didn't think this book was all that good, but it took me awhile to realize why. It is sooooo overwritten! It reads like Lovecraft's climactic moments... except without the slow atmospheric buildup! Lovecraft at full throttle! Also, there often just seemed to be many holes in the logic. Not particularly a book I'd recommend.
posted by Your_pops at 1:17 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home