Customer Reviews

Bite Marks: A Vampire Testament

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am not a vampire fan. I do not seek out vampire books or films. However, back when I was in college, I came across the newly released paperback copy of `Salems Lot' by Stephen King (1976 or so). I stayed up all night reading it and thought it was great, and, like so many others, became a King fan.

Fast forward several decades, and a new Kindle owner to boot. Based on reviews I bought the first book in the Twilight series. My thoughts: boring. A pretty good idea, but not executed well. I remember thinking "Ah, if only King had written this!" I did not buy the second book (or the third, or see the movie) in this series.

Fast forward another year to Bite Marks. Again, purchased on a lazy evening on my Kindle. I got the `sample', liked it, and bought the book. I am glad I did.

This apparently is the first novel by Terrance Taylor. I think he is going to be an excellent writer. True, Bite Marks is not quite as good as `Salems Lot, but close enough. I did not read it in one night, but that may well be due to simple age, and not desire (believe me, as you age, you value sleep). Other reviewers have mentioned `holes' in the plot. Perhaps. However, I think it clear from the way the book ends that a second book will be forthcoming.

The vampires in Bite Marks are believable. They stay true to much of the old `vampire' beliefs and folklore (can't go out in daylight; stakes through heart, etc), although with the twist of being set in the 1980s in New York City. True, the book starts out focusing on several characters that are simply `dropped' one-fifth of a way into the book. However, without giving anything away, I feel that they will appear in a second book (I actually bet there will be a third book, since so many authors write trilogies now).

I will not write more about the book. I purchased based on a review that gave little away, and I wish to continue that. My main point: this book is `almost' as good as what King would have written. It is well worth the money. Try, on Kindle, the `sample', at the very least.

Wow. What a page turner. Unlike Terence's short stories that were paced at a more languid, jazz flow, Bite Marks is in 4/4 time. The story sweeps you through an edgy New York that in no way resembles the corporate Disneyland of today. His well-drawn characters continue to surprise with multi-dimensions, hidden histories, and complex motivations. And the malicious satisfaction of the villains! Terence clearly has a background in visual media because he paints such a vivid picture of the times, places and circumstances his vampires transverse. Except, his professional experience is in kid's TV and Bite Marks is no place for children! Terence asks, "Do you believe in Vampires?" After reading Bite Marks, I do know that I believe Terence is the hottest, new horror writer on the scene!

As a member of the Generation X crowd I have not read novels for a long time. However, this novel has recently reignited my love of the written word. From start to finish I was enthralled by "Bite Marks". As a person constantly on the go I found the short chapters to be a blessing, while not feeling short changed by the characterizations.

For anyone wondering, there are characters that are introduced that make short appearances, but they will be introduced back into the story throughout the second and third book.

Recommended!

I enjoyed this book even though it's got a different style then many I tend to gravitate towards. There's no real one main character; it's more an ensemble cast that all play off each other in different ways to tell the complete tale. And it's set in 1986 which adds to the different "feel" of the storytelling.

There's definitely a bit of a statement made about AIDS and blood and promiscuity as a metaphor for vampirism. Sometimes it's not even a metaphor but flat-out a part of the plot. And in that respect, it can feel a little bit "Judgment" for sins sort of condemnation.

Still though, the book was enjoyable. It felt a little long in places mainly because of the large cast which required the focus shift very frequently to the different plots and actions, but it's a different take on the same-old, same-old vampire story that fills the shelves these days.

Bite Marks: A Vampire Testament


Bite Marks: A Vampire Testament
by Terence Taylor
St. Martin's Press
Oct 2009
ISBN: 978-0-312-38525-5
394 pages
Trade Paperback
Horror/Supernatural


Christmas time, New York City in 1986 has very little to do with God. An insane vampire has carelessly begun a sequence of events that could reveal the existence of a large society of the undead to humans. He'll stop at nothing to hide his latest debacle from the overseers of his kind, just as they'll do whatever it takes to put an end to his troublesome ways--if he fails.

Meet Adam Caine, a relatively young vampire who has made the elaborate torture and eradication of entire family lines a form of art. His current crime? Because Caine likes to play with his food, the young woman he's torturing manages to save her baby from certain death by turning him into a vampire. Now the creature is loose and is creating a nest of protectors and hunters. When the population of an entire neighbourhood disappears and zombies, spewing a terrifying mutation of the AIDS virus, begin roaming the streets of New York, someone's going to notice.

What and who will stand in the way of the impending clash between humans and vampires? Not the ancient vampire, Rahman, who wants to use the newly turned baby to help him achieve true immortality. Not the brother of Caine's latest victim, Nina. Sure, Jim Miller wants Caine dead, and he knows the abomination that was his sister's baby must meet the same fate. But he's so messed up, nothing else about these terrifying events matters to him. Ex-lovers Steve Johnson and Lori Martin, who are working on a book about vampires, are also pulled into the vortex of the growing storm (by the diary of the dead woman, Nina). But how can they help when they can't even make their own lives work? The one real hope for humans and vampires alike appears to be Perenelle de Marivelle, one-time lover of Rahman and the creator/vampire mother of Caine. She brought peace and order to the vampires of New York once. Maybe she can do it again. Maybe... if her own secrets don't destroy her first.

Bite Marks may be Terence Taylor's first novel but his many years as a writer in the television industry shine through. He builds scenes and characters effortlessly. His writing is technically flawless. And once Taylor has your attention, he doesn't let it go until the last page has been turned.

I give Bite Marks a solid recommendation, not just for vampire lovers, but for horror fans in general. Yet, I do have a few criticisms to offer. They come from the story itself and what Taylor was trying to accomplish with this book. In Bite Marks, Taylor gives us a fresh and scary look at vampires--he wanted to, and has, put the bite back into this kind of fiction. The novel portrays vampires as amoral demi-gods who use New York as both hunting and play ground. The history and motivations of these fiends are fleshed out in great detail as flashbacks (which also serve as breaks from the violence and gore). And here's my first criticism: even though Bite Marks is about vampires, the central story is the unresolved break-up of Steven and Lori, and I believe Taylor should have spent more time building up these and his other human characters. You see, next to his vampires, Taylor's humans appear as weak and ineffectual bystanders. Yes, this makes his monsters even more scary, but it's my opinion that the choice weakens the reader's connection to the story and will probably leave many people feeling like something was missing. Next? Taylor's world construction was fabulous. In particular, I enjoyed his use of actual weather conditions from the winter of 1986 to finish off the metaphor of the storm. However, the way the baby vampire was dealt with at the end of the book didn't quite fit in with the world portrayed in the rest of the story. Not only that--which brings us to my second criticism, the choice just mentioned also rendered the human participants useless.

I wanted to be impressed by Bite Marks, and, on many levels, I was. But no author should forget his readers. We want fulfilling human relationships and human heroes. In my opinion, Bite Marks just doesn't provide enough of this.

Copyright © Clayton Clifford Bye

Adam Caine, a vampire less than a hundred years old, enjoys his sadistic streak when it comes to victims, especially building up hopes and dreams then tearing them to shreds and savoring the aftermath. Take Nina, for instance. He forces her into prostitution, gets her addicted to heroin, and then turns her into a vampire to watch her destroy her own five-month-old child. Things, however, do not go as he planned; once transformed to a vampire, she does feed on her child, but brings him back before Adam can destroy her. Now, an infant vampire crawls loose somewhere in New York City, and Adam must seek help from the woman who changed him into a vampire before the Triumvirate finds out and the secret world of vampires becomes known to the humans.

Meanwhile, estranged lovers Steve Johnson and Lori Martin try to piece together their latest book focusing on vampires. The ad they placed in the Village Voice brings in only one serious response, but they haven't heard from her -- a young woman named Nina who claims to have firsthand knowledge -- and are about to give up on her, until her brother Jim shows up on Steve's doorstep. When they learn of her violent death, Jim convinces them to help him find her killer, not realizing until too late the monsters they must battle to avenge Nina are real.

With his first novel, Terence Taylor offers a great addition to the vampire genre. He keeps with the traditional mythos, coming out only at night, feeding on human blood, controlling human minds, but also draws from other vampire tales. His Autochthones -- a race of vampires living in the tunnels beneath New York's subway system -- worship a creature similar to Bram Stoker's White Worm. He adds new twists to vampire history, as well, turning such events as the crash of the Hindenburg into a cover up for vampires trying to cross from Europe to the States, and creating a system of government to maintain order between their world and the human world.

Taylor tackles something I've always wondered: what would happen if a vampire becomes infected with HIV. The HIV begins to slowly destroy an infected vampire, which is what happens to the nest created by Baby, but Taylor's creativity comes into play when describing what happens when an infected vampire bites a victim. They die, only to rise sometime later as a vampire zombie, of sorts, with the infected blood itself using the new body as a vessel to infect more people and other vampires. The scenes in which the blood passes are quite astonishing and imaginative, complete with exploding eyeballs and other goriness.

"Bite Marks" contains well-developed characters, too. Adam Caine (born Frederic Hartwell) is evil personified: cruel, merciless, willing to do anything to get what he wants no matter who it harms -- as long as he remains untouched. HIs vampire mother, Perenelle de Marivaux, struggles to maintain a balance between her human identity and her vampire one, at times acting as peacemaker for Adam while secretly wishing him dead but switching at the drop of a hat to remorseless thoughts of death when Steve and Lori possibly threaten to reveal the vampires' existence. Steve and Lori act as I would expect any normal couple with relationship issues, trying to understand what happened between them while being thrust into something way over their heads and seemingly impossible.

My only detraction is the character of Claire St. Claire, a young female vampire, who was an accomplice to such a heinous crime -- even by vampiric standards -- that she was entombed for 50 years without food or contact. A great deal is made of her release from imprisonment early on in the story, but she disappears after that. As I made my way further and further into the story, I wondered when she would pop up, but she never did. Perhaps she'll appear in another story....

"Bite Marks" tells a fast-paced, fantastic tale, creating a new history for vampires in New York City while keeping the gore and horror many readers have come to expect from a vampire story. Fans of horror and of vampires will definitely enjoy this book as much as I did.

I'm a vampire newbie, but this book draws you in where you just can't wait to find out how they cope in their world next. In this book, I had expectations of how I wanted love interests to work, how I wanted someone to seek revenge, and how the world might be "conquered!" But, nooooo, he always surprised me which is a beautiful thing when reading a book. Can't wait to read the sequel! Kudos Mr. Taylor, you have a beautiful mind!

. . . but I have a lot of friends who write terrible books, so I just don't review them. I am delighted to say I LOVED Terry's new book! I am not even a real vampire fan, but BITE MARKS kept me avidly reading with a great plot (never confusing, always zooming along), characters (well defined, well-rounded and some of them really endearing and nasty), and some real ghastly horror moments. He even made me cry, damn him, at one point toward the end of the book!

Grab this one--I read it through in a weekend and even skipped some good TV shows because I wanted to find out what happened next. Can't wait for vol. II.

I know I am going to catch flack about this, but when I found out that this story was written by an African American author, I was hoping that finally a vampire novel would be written with African American or African characters. I was sadly disappointed and after the first few chapters, I deleted the book, a wasted 9.99.

I am finding that the stories written are so cliche with only white characters. Thats why I loved L.A. Banks novels so much (RIP, Ms. Banks, YOU ARE MISSED!) at least she included all races and ethnic backgrounds. Sorry, but I will not purchase another book by Mr. Taylor.

I was stunned by Mr. Taylor's novella, "Wet Pain", in Whispers in the Night: Dark Dreams III. By far it was the best story in the anthology. Reading in the bio section that Mr. Taylor had sold his first novel, I went searching for Bite Marks, only to learn it was out of print. Later, I located a secondary seller on Amazon and quickly ordered the book.

Sadly, Bite Marks did not have the magical prose exhibited in "Wet Pain". Bite Marks was unfocused, lacked a central character (or any likeable characters, for that matter), seemed to have no discernible plot, and did not hold my attention.

If you enjoy reading horror, I cannot recommend this book.