The Vampire De Sade

Rating:
Summary: Let's get ready to rumble!
Review: I want my vicious killers back and I want them now! Yes the new breed was cool ... for about five minutes. That time has come and passed, now bring back the revolting murderers! No more do I want to see our bloodsuckers sexy and self-loathing. I'm tired of reading whine-after-whine about the pain. So please for all that is pretty and yellow in the world, end the madness. I'm warning you, don't make me get a pitchfork and some stakes.

Warning* you need to read the first four books in this series in order to have a clue as to what's going on. Also the back cover blurb is very misleading. If for some reason you thought it would be a battle of great evil forces, you were wrong. Oh Dear God where you were wrong.

Now here is where I tell you about the plot, but the thing is, there wasn't one. The story wanders aimlessly, drifting with the hope that the pretty vampires will distract the readers long enough so as not to notice. Sorry didn't work, I noticed. The layout is patent, the events predictable and the outcome is anticlimactic. The ending is a tangled mess that not even Houdini could figure out. Do not delude yourself into thinking that it has to get better, it doesn't.

The pace starts out slow, accelerating sporadically and with little grace. Think of accompanying a first time driver in a car that requires you know how to maneuver the stick shift, and then maybe you'll understand my meaning. Mitchell's style of writing is overworked and accommodating. Basically people, she's trying too hard. Instead of writing from the heart, her book comes off as distanced and restrained. Were she to find her own voice, the connection between her readers and her writing would alter dramatically. For the better!

The atmosphere aims to create a sense of revulsion, but only manages to pull off a quiet irritation - towards the book. The taste of the story wreaks havoc on your senses, never deciding if it wants to set a romantic tone or a horrifying one. Neither worked. The characters are a mass of self-indulgent, pathetic creatures with no redeeming qualities to speak of. Their interactions are weak and their dialogue clichéd. Instead of using De Sade's history as an advantage, Mitchell whips it out whenever he's in his "woe is me" phase. That is just wrong.

Don't buy it, don't borrow it, just Burn This Book!

Rating:
Summary: Vampire De Sade
Review: Vampire De sade series is a classic in the making, it turns the tables on the villain the Marquis de sade who is known throughout history as a most evil man, into a helpless victim. Tortured to relive his past by some unknown assailant. For the Marquis de sade had many enemies and as the Vampire De sade many more. Mary Ann Mitchell takes us on a journey into the heart of New Orleans, shrouded in its own history of Voodoo, to face the truth and the Vampire De Sades confrontation with his tormentor.

I thoroughly enjoyed this Novel and highly recommend it to those interested in Vampiric mythology and look forward to reading more in the series.