They Thirst

by Robert McCammon
616 pgs

They Thirst is the third vampire book I've read in the last month, which wasn't a coincidence. I had been saving all three to read around Halloween, because I figured, if any of them were terrible, I could rationalize wasting time reading them because they're the types of books that should be read at this time of year. Fortunately, Robert McCammon delivers, once again.

Andy Palatazin grew up in Hungary, where, as a boy, he learned first hand that vampires exist. His father, who had gone out with a group of men during a winter storm to hunt down a vampire who had been hunting in their village, returned in the middle of the night, having been "turned." Andy and his mother fled and eventually ended up in California, but he never forgot the terror and violence he witnessed that night. Now, decades later, Andy is a cop in L.A.. trying to protect its citizens from more mundane threats.

But a powerful vampire, Prince Vulkan, has decided to make L.A. his home as well, with plans to turn the whole city into an army of vampires before spreading to the rest of the country, and eventually, the world. It's Andy who is first to recognize the work of Prince Vulkan for what it is, and with the eventual help of a small group of people, sets out to find and stop him.

They Thirst is one of McCammon's earlier books (1981), and it reads like a book from that period. It's a little cheesy at times, but it shows the progression he was making as a writer and storyteller. I found myself both smiling as I read it and not wanting to put it down.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Blood Communion

by Anne Rice
256 pgs  (Vampire Chronicles series #15)

Fifteen books into Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles series and I think I've gone back and forth from "loving it," to "I'm done" four or five times so far. Even while reading this latest book, I found myself alternating between extremes multiple times. My dilemma is deciding whether the good parts are worth suffering through the bad, and whether Rice is her on worst enemy when it comes to crafting a story that feels like it's leading somewhere.

In this latest installment, Lestat learns that the ancient vampire Rhoshamandes, who killed Maharet, the ancient matriarch of the vampiric family, has resurfaced and is once again picking off members of the hierarchy of vampires. The confrontation between the two of them, which was one of those moments of greatness in the series, should have been the climax and ending of the the book. But instead, Rice places it at about the midway point, and then drags the second half of the book out without an equally rewarding conclusion.

A couple of years ago, when I read Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis, I said I wasn't a fan of the direction the series was going, but that I'd withhold judgment until I'd read the next one. Well, this was the next one, and the jury's still out. I'm not any clearer on where the series is going. I'm hopeful Rice has an idea and plans to get there sooner, rather than later. But I'm afraid she's just wandering around aimlessly with the cast of characters she's spent 15 books, and 40 years, assembling and telling their stories.

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

The Redeemer

by Jo Nesbø
397 pgs (Harry Hole series #6)

In The Redeemer, the sixth book in Jo Nesbø's Harry Hole series, Hole is up against a professional assassin named Stankic, a former Croat soldier, who gained the nickname "Little Redeemer" during the war that broke up Yugoslavia.

The story begins back in 1991 with the rape of a 14-year-old girl at a youth camp run by the Norwegian Salvation Army. The girl's attacker was never found. The story then jumps ahead twenty-two years to the killing of a Salvation Army officer during an outdoor Christmas concert in Oslo. When the brother of the officer killed is later the target of a murder attempt, the Norwegian police believe the brothers' entire family is being targeted and Harry is assigned to the case.

Harry's investigations tie the two brothers back to the same youth camp where the young girl was raped, and eventually lead him to Croatia and onto the trail of Stankic, who has one more killing to complete before he plans to retire. As Harry closes in, Stankic becomes desperate and even more dangerous, until it's Harry's life that's on the line.

The Redeemer is a slight departure from the previous books in the series in both style and feel. I thought Nesbø held a lot of key aspects of the story back for most of the book, which ultimately led to a very satisfying conclusion, and I found my impressions of Harry changed more in this book than in any of the others so far. He's still a broken and conflicted protagonist, but I found him much more sympathetic in this one.

If you've never read any of the books in the series, this probably isn't the one to start with. It's good, but I think it's much better if you're familiar with the events that have led up to this one.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Cardinal Black

by Robert McCammon
462 pgs  (Matthew Corbett series #7)

Cardinal Black is the seventh book in Robert McCammon's fantastic series featuring Matthew Corbett. I've heard McCammon is only planning to have a couple more books in the series, which makes me both excited and disappointed at the same time. I can't wait to see how the story ultimately ends and how things end up for Corbett and the rest of the characters McCammon began introducing in Speaks the Nightbird. But at the same time, I don't want the story to end.

Events pick up in 1703, right where Freedom of the Mask left off. Matthew has found himself with no alternative but to assist the very man he's been trying to stop for months: Professor Fell. Fell has given Berry Grigsby, the girl Matthew has fallen in love with, an elixir that is causing her to rapidly deteriorate mentally to that of a child. She no longer recognizes Matthew, nor does she even know who she is anymore. Matthew has been forced to track down and retrieve a book of chemical potions, which was stolen from Fell, in order to find a possible cure for Berry.

He is joined on his search for the book by Julian Devane, one of Fell's assassins, and it doesn't take long for both of them to find themselves involved in a deadly game in London's underworld that will test both of their skill sets to their limits.

Each of the books in the series has been great, but Cardinal Black is one of my favorites so far. I found myself picking the book up every chance I could get, even if I only had a few minutes to read, and that's not something a book gets me to do very often. Once again, McCammon brings one installment of his overall story to a satisfying conclusion, only to jarringly set the stage for the next one. But that's a big reason why I enjoy his books so much.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

The Ships of Earth

by Orson Scott Card
382 pgs  (Homecoming series #3)

The Ships of Earth is the third volume in Orson Scott Card's Homecoming series. Nafai, his wife, and the rest of the group the Oversoul led out of Basilica, are traveling through the desert to where the ancient starships were left 40 million years ago. If they can get to them without killing each other first, they can take the ships back to earth.

The story Card is telling is interesting, but mostly because I'm familiar with the source material he pulled from. I'm enjoying seeing how he's taken that original religious story and converted it into an epic science fiction tale. I'd enjoy discussing the book with someone who had no idea it wasn't 100% Card's and see what they thought of it.

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆