Shadows Bite

Rating:
Summary: Rather boring for a vampire murder mystery
Review: Based on the plot description, you'd think this would be at least an interesting read. Instead, the plot meanders around without any sense of authorial control, and the characters are cardboard. There are several subplots, one involving the daughter of a murdered executive seeking revenge, one involving something called the focus, which gives its recipients supernatural powers, and one involving the turning of vampires and a strange little cult. Not one of these is handled well, and about halfway through I simply lost interest and put the book down. Not recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Fast action, interesting vampire details
Review: Charlie Takumo is trying to get his life together, practicing his martial arts and becoming a modern ninja. Complications, like a criminal family trying to get access to his friend Mage through Takumo are merely part of the challenge. But when their mutual friend Kelly is assigned a case where the evidence points to a vampire, things get very serious indeed. Despite Mage's limited control over the 'focus,' a growing army of undead vampires isn't fun for anyone. Especially when they are aided by a satanic black wizzard and when that criminal family ups the ante and turns to the top bounty hunter in the country.

Julia Petrosyan is a goth, writes morbid bad poetry, and wants nothing more than to take the final step toward becoming a vampire. When she gets there, along with a little help from the black wizzard, she lacks the self control to keep from turning person after person into the undead. And author Stephen Dedman's vampires are a lot harder to kill than the Hollywood version. Stakes through the heart barely phase them, upheld crosses are a slight inconvenience, and exposure to sunlight is painful but far from instantly fatal. Tackling a single vampire is a challenge, even for a martial artist like Takumo. Taking on the growing army seems beyond the talents of even our heros.

Dedman escalates the intensity throughout the story, adding greater challenges as Kelly, Takumo, and Mage overcome each obstacle. I would have liked to see the romantic entanglements between Kelly, Takumo, and Mage more fully developed, and homocide detective Woodcott seemed intended to play a more significant role than he actually fulfilled, but these are small quibbles. SHADOWS BITE is a fast-moving and exciting read.

Rating:
Summary: The Mage. the Stunt Man, and the Boy Without a Head
Review: Several years ago, I read a book with the auspicious title of 'The Art of Arrow Cutting' by Stephen Dedman. It was the enjoyable and interesting tale of Michelangelo Magistrale, a photographer, and Charlie Takumo, a stuntman. Together they face monsters, the yakuza, and black magic. When they are done Michelangelo is well on the way to earning his nickname, 'Mage.'

Now, several years later, we find that the story was not yet over. Mage's life is sought by Haruko Higuchi, the new head of the Tamenaga clan, whose previous leader the magician killed. Unable to find Mage, the Tamenaga make repeated attacks on Takumo and anyone else who might reveal his whereabouts. To no avail. Magistrale's location is well hidden, but the situation is a strain on his friends.

Charlie, in the meantime becomes involved a mysterious body theft. The body in question gets up from its autopsy, climbs up to look into the window of his nurse, Gaye Lind, and finally turns up separated from his head with a mouth full of garlic. Gradually, Takumo realizes that there are all too many cases of WWD (walking while dead), even for a city like Los Angeles. The trail leads to a cult headed by Solomon Tudor, who is running a boarding house for the terminally Goth.

Tudor is a black magician in his own right, and is drawn into the vampire problem when his son is converted by the dead boy's sister. Had that not happened Solomon would have been only a moderately bad guy. However, once Mage shows up to help Takuma things turn into a massive free-for-all with our heroes the focus of the Yakuza, the Satanists and enough vampires to keep everything jumping.

This is fun reading. The book has few pretensions, but is far more than just a supernatural fight fest. Most of the characters are well developed and interesting. The narrative is strong, with no hint of oversimplification. The only exception is Mage. He is a little too shallow. I think that too much magical power has a deleterious effect on character development. Somehow, a player who can wiggle his fingers and make everything come out right tends to become more of a plot device than a person. This is hardly a fatal flaw in a book that is otherwise a delight to read.

Rating:
Summary: The Mage. the Stunt Man, and the Boy Without a Head
Review: Several years ago, I read a book with the auspicious title of 'The Art of Arrow Cutting' by Stephen Dedman. It was the enjoyable and interesting tale of Michelangelo Magistrale, a photographer, and Charlie Takumo, a stuntman. Together they face monsters, the yakuza, and black magic. When they are done Michelangelo is well on the way to earning his nickname, 'Mage.'

Now, several years later, we find that the story was not yet over. Mage's life is sought by Haruko Higuchi, the new head of the Tamenaga clan, whose previous leader the magician killed. Unable to find Mage, the Tamenaga make repeated attacks on Takumo and anyone else who might reveal his whereabouts. To no avail. Magistrale's location is well hidden, but the situation is a strain on his friends.

Charlie, in the meantime becomes involved a mysterious body theft. The body in question gets up from its autopsy, climbs up to look into the window of his nurse, Gaye Lind, and finally turns up separated from his head with a mouth full of garlic. Gradually, Takumo realizes that there are all too many cases of WWD (walking while dead), even for a city like Los Angeles. The trail leads to a cult headed by Solomon Tudor, who is running a boarding house for the terminally Goth.

Tudor is a black magician in his own right, and is drawn into the vampire problem when his son is converted by the dead boy's sister. Had that not happened Solomon would have been only a moderately bad guy. However, once Mage shows up to help Takuma things turn into a massive free-for-all with our heroes the focus of the Yakuza, the Satanists and enough vampires to keep everything jumping.

This is fun reading. The book has few pretensions, but is far more than just a supernatural fight fest. Most of the characters are well developed and interesting. The narrative is strong, with no hint of oversimplification. The only exception is Mage. He is a little too shallow. I think that too much magical power has a deleterious effect on character development. Somehow, a player who can wiggle his fingers and make everything come out right tends to become more of a plot device than a person. This is hardly a fatal flaw in a book that is otherwise a delight to read.

Rating:
Summary: Shadows Bite
Review: Sometimes, in a novel, I tend to like things flying at me from all directions. This fantasy novel fits the bill; not content with being a vampire novel, this "Magic Noir Thriller" attempts to credibly squeeze in sorcery, martial arts action, demons and elementals, a wiccan, a Yakuza crimelord, satanism of a sort, and even teleportation to the Moon (or, in a pinch, low Earth orbit).

The Yakuza/revenge angle is actually a thin carryover from the earlier Dedman novel, The Art Of Arrow Cutting, and it comes to nothing, merely serving as an excuse to introduce an impressive female assassin named Krieg, who only gets swept up in the whole vampire scene anyway. It is the bloodsuckers who come to dominate the novel, battling our heroes--Takumo (a Ninja), Mage (a sorcerer trying to master a powerful focus), and a brave lawyer named Kelly who proves to be quite handy with a shotgun, though it is of limited use against the undead. Another villain, an aged satanist named Tudor, appears to have some connection to the vampires, and when Takumo and friends start investigating his enclave--a sort of halfway house for human strays, mainly attractive needy young women--he reveals his own awesome magical abilities, which come from consorting with demons, and from a valuable old grimoire.

The book is a bit unwieldy as a whole. It starts out as a rather transparent LA mystery, competing bumpily with the revenge plot kicking around from the earlier Takumo/Mage/ Kelly adventure. Bodies are disappearing from morgues, people are in hospital suffering strange, lethal draining of their energy. As vampirism, on the rise in LA, is detected, the plot shifts to action and suspense, with many sudden skirmishes--what's your pleasure: unarmed combat? exotic weaponry? pistols and shotguns blazing? or magical contests? It's all here--with the heroes alternately fleeing or pursuing the undead, depending on how a battle has gone. The pace is splendid, once the book decides it is not a mystery. Characters are solid enough to matter, and shocking developments proliferate. A good time, all in all...But: don't look for substance or meaning, except for some message about sticking up for your friends when it counts. Also, the author is a bit loosy-goosy when it comes to the rules regarding his brand of vampire. He seems to want to include references to every conflicting vampire concept ever previously invented, and I had to learn to ignore all the detailed discussion about what these particular vampires could and could not do, and just watch them in action. Then I had to allow for a special type of Malaysian vampire suddenly appearing, as the author decides that any or all of the ethnic legends could be true. It's a bit broad and all-encompassing, and feels especially such in the face of all the other miscellaneous fantasy and horror elements--many thrown in without detailed explanation--whirling around, competing for time.

But I liked this. All this stuff crammed into one book makes it feel like nothing is impossible, several unrelated bits of the unknown converging for several exciting confrontations. A shame that the story lacked some kind of higher meaning, or reason for being.

Rating:
Summary: The art of vampire extermination (not easy)
Review: This is the sequel to THE ART OF ARROW CUTTING. 2 years after we first meet Mage, Charlie and Kelly they are back again to fight a new magical enemy. This time its not the creatures of Japanese myth instead it is a western wizard and the vampires he has created that threaten one of Kelly's clients. Also thrown into the mix are the ongoing attempts of Haruko Tamenaga to avenge her father's death by killing Mage.

Read as a stand alone vampire novel I suspect that this book would be somewhat a disappointment. As a sequel however it works very well. It mixes world wide vampire myth with modern thriller setting. The author has bought us back to interesting characters that continue to evolve and also mixed in some new ones that will be welcome if there is ever a third book in this series.

This book should be part of any collection of books for people who enjoy vampire novels, but it will be probably enjoyed most by those who liked the first book explaining how all the main characters in this novel met and how Mage acquired his magic powers.

Rating:
Summary: The art of vampire extermination (not easy)
Review: This is the sequel to THE ART OF ARROW CUTTING. 2 years after we first meet Mage, Charlie and Kelly they are back again to fight a new magical enemy. This time its not the creatures of Japanese myth instead it is a western wizard and the vampires he has created that threaten one of Kelly's clients. Also thrown into the mix are the ongoing attempts of Haruko Tamenaga to avenge her father's death by killing Mage.

Read as a stand alone vampire novel I suspect that this book would be somewhat a disappointment. As a sequel however it works very well. It mixes world wide vampire myth with modern thriller setting. The author has bought us back to interesting characters that continue to evolve and also mixed in some new ones that will be welcome if there is ever a third book in this series.

This book should be part of any collection of books for people who enjoy vampire novels, but it will be probably enjoyed most by those who liked the first book explaining how all the main characters in this novel met and how Mage acquired his magic powers.