Customer Reviews

Art in the Blood (Vampire Files, No. 4)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Well my friends, it was good checking in to see what our famous vamprie is up to. I really enjoyed this book. Jack is up to his old tricks, but this time, he has entered the world of art. I highly suggest the book. It was a real page turner. If you start it, you won't put it down, and you won't be sorry. :O)=

In this book our favorite vampire, Jake Fleming, is back and as funny as ever! This is not supposed to be a comedy, but Jack is such a great character, he really makes you laugh. I thought that this book was very entertaining, and well written. It was different from the other books, but that only makes it better. The first in the series is actually my favorite, but this one comes in second.

Strangely enough, I wasn't as thrilled with Art in the Blood as I was with the first three Vampire Files novels, which blew me away. It seemed to lack the audacious dialogue and gut-gripping suspense of the other Jack Flemming mysteries. The plot was also just a tad predictable, and didn't have the sudden twists, turns and cliff-hangers of the others.

But Jack is still Jack, the lovable and utterly sexy vampire that he is, and he and Escott still have their wonderful masculine chemistry.

Worth adding to your collection.

I have found all of the books in this series a good quick read and fun. Admittedly, I love vampire stories and this series is no exception.

The characters are fun without being too deep, the 'cases' are not bad, and taken altogether an enjoyable read.

"Art in the Blood," the fourth volume in "The Vampire Files" by P. N. Elrod, smacks much more of Raymond Chandler than Bram Stoker, which constitutes a bit of a shift in the series. Jack Fleming enters into the world of art where temperamental souls slap paint on canvas and some pieces of art might we worth killing over. Although there are some slightly significant occurrences between Jack and Bobbi having to do with blood drinking, our hero being a vampire is pretty much reduced to be an investigative tool to help solve the mystery murder at hand. After solving the fate of Maureen and meeting his sire's sire in the previous departure, "Art in the Blood" is really a radical change. Instead of high drama in which Jack is intimately involved, we have a rather traditional detective story, albeit one involving a vampire. Hopefully Elrod is just looking for a change of pace at this point in the series, which makes sense after reaching something of an initial high point in "Bloodcircle," but I am not sure I really want to read a whole bunch of books in the same vein as this one.

Book Review by C. Douglas Baker

SPOILER FOR BLOODCIRCLE, BOOK THREE OF THE VAMPIRE FIILES.

After BLOODCIRCLE, Book Three of the Vampire Files, I wondered where the story would lead since the mystery of Maureen's disappearance had been solved. In ART IN THE BLOOD, Book Four of the Vampire Files, Jack Fleming, our moralist vampire, befriends a group of artists and eventually finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation. Notice I said "eventually". ART IN THE BLOOD is meandering and irritating because half of the book could have been removed with little effect on the plot and storyline. The first third of the book is interesting but nothing much happens. The novel mucks around for awhile after the murder occurs. Finally, Jack has an insight as to who the murderer is and uses his hypnotic powers of persuasion to get at the truth. All in all, not much of story.

ART IN THE BLOOD is a disappointment after three fairly entertaining jaunts. Having read the series in order the familiarity of the characters kept me minimally interested. Unless you just must complete a series once you start it like me, I would recommend skipping ART IN THE BLOOD.

This book, along with all the other Jack Fleming books I've read so far, is an entertaining supernatural story which leavens the 'vampire' moments with the humanity of our bloodsucking protagonist, Jack. He's a great hero because he's fallible, seems to get shot and knocked out rather regularly, cares for his girlfriend Bobbi and his friend Charles Escott and tends to blunder around not being quite sure what he's doing a lot of the time. Perhaps his blundering and being shot may pall over time but at the moment it makes for a very different, and very likeable, hero.

"Art in the Blood" sees Jack coming to the rescue of a man at a party and then being sucked into problems within the art world. Alex Adrian was a famous artist but hasn't done anything since his wife committed suicide; Evan Robley and his sister Sandra are also artists and when more suspicious events start taking place, including a death for which Alex Adrian might be responsible, Jack and Escott have to unravel the plot and work out what's really going on. The Chicago underworld plays its part as usual with more dodgy characters who have it in for Jack and Escott.

This story gives us more of an insight into the relationship between Jack and Bobbi as well as Jack needing to use his powers of vampire hypnosis more and more, leading to more people finding out what he truly is. It's another great read with a lighthearted feel and yet sometimes a darker undertone.