The Book of Common Dread/a Novel of the Infernal [Hardcover]

Brent Monahan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1993

Modern vampire Vincent DeVilbiss travels to Princeton University to destroy an ancient cuneiform scroll being translated before the scroll's powers can be turned against the inhabitants of the underworld.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A 500-year-old vampire named Vincent DeVilbiss descends on Princeton, N.J., in this unengaging supernatural thriller. Masquerading as a psychic, the bloodsucker has an ulterior motive--to destroy a pair of ancient scrolls housed in the Princeton Library which, when translated, will reveal the secrets and make possible the defeat of the Dark Forces that control him. Meanwhile, Simon Penn, the Casper Milquetoast librarian who works with the heavily guarded scrolls, becomes enamoured of Frederika Vanderveen, a beautiful, troubled fellow librarian, who hopes rituals described in the scrolls might help her contact her dead father. When this approach fails, Frederika seeks psychic help from the Svengali-like Vincent, who manipulates her to get at the scrolls. Simon, sensing danger, must race against time to discover the nature of Vincent's evil aura and of Frederika's potentially fatal obsession. Though well-plotted, the novel has the feel of an outline, properly proportioned, but not fleshed out. Monahan, coauthor of DeathBite , maintains a primly detached tone ill-suited to a genre that is meant to thrill. In the end, this workmanlike vampire story possesses as little real life as its main character.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

A vampire at Princeton! Do you long for a horror novel full of bookish but lively, intelligent people (no thuggish middlebrows!), and a piano-playing, 500-year-old vampire whose great earthly love is for Bach and a classically beautiful (let's say ideally erotic) woman--a vampire who is himself only semimortal (a once-a-week bloodsucker who nonetheless fearlessly wolfs down richly marbled cheeseburgers with deep-fat fried potatoes drowned in ketchup while pitying the early death of others seated about him in an arterially disastrous restaurant), yes, a gent with a gusto for dead languages whose great herbal remedies knock out flu viruses and open your nasal passages so you can float into a good night's sleep and who doesn't believe in talking with the dead, though he fakes it expertly for a living, and so on? Well, after a slippery, slightly banal opening, Monahan (DeathBite, 1979--not reviewed) finds his footing and goes the distance like a seasoned aerialist. Under orders from Below, Vincent DeVilbiss's mission is to take out peacemakers and folks who might lessen the hell of earthly life. What better place than the Princeton think-tank? He sets himself up there as a psychic in residence, since even a superstrong vampire who can bound like a leopard has to earn his bread. When Frederika Vanderveen, a beautiful man-eater who lives alone in her late father's big house, comes to DeVilbiss for help in making peace with dad, DeVilbiss pretends that it can be done but that she'll have to pay him by getting him access to an ancient leather manuscript in the highly protected Rare Manuscripts room. The manuscript has dangerous necromancy written on it that the Bad Guy wants burnt. Luckily, Frederika has just taken in young Simon Penn, a rare-books curator, and goes to work on him. But Simon has a brain of his own and seeks her release from psychic disorder while Vincent prepares her for...hmm, long life. Enrapting! -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 328 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr; 1st edition (June 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312093497
• ISBN-13: 978-0312093495
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,096,296 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

see www.brentmonahan.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A pleasing departure from the common mythos, February 8, 2001

By 

"gordonis" (Buffalo, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Book of Common Dread (Paperback)

I have to disagree with some of the other reviewrs of this book who may have found it less than pleasing. Monahan gives us a fresh view on the common vampiric myth and brings it up to a modern level. I found it to be more light-hearted than the Anne Rice series with less voluminous expounding on virtue, feelings and setting. Monahan has delivered a work that tantilizes with just enough background to make it interesting and believable yet leave the reader wanting more (which can be found in the sequel).

This book is not for those seeking the lengthy ramblings of Anne Rice whom I found boring at many times. It is more action oriented and focuses on mystery.

The plot has to do with demonic forces wishing to destroy a certain set of ancient scrolls which could be their undoing. The vehicle of these forces is a vampire. The main character (Simon) is set to stop the destruction of the scrolls and kill the vampire, until....

You'll just have to read it yourself to find out what goes on!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Book of Common Dread by Brent Monahan, November 15, 2002

By 

Minh D. (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Book of Common Dread (Paperback)

I absolutely recommend the book THE BOOK OF COMMON DREAD by Brent Monahan. This book was very exciting and it kept me engrossed in the plot up until the very last page. The book was well written and the concepts were amazing. Overall, the book was very enjoyable. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate this book a 9. The author, Brent Monahan, thought of things that most people would never think of. The concept of the book is not new, but he gives the authors of the vampire genre something to strive for. Brent Monahan has "raised the bar" on the vampire novel. The characters were both appealing and intriguing, and the plot really sucks you in. For example, in the prologue alone, a number of people suffer extremely violent deaths. Before the end of the book several more people are violently murdered. For the history buffs out there, there is also a bit of history intertwined into the story line. For example, the main character, Vincent DeVilbiss, was born in 1464 in Europe. If you like mysteries and new twists every couple of chapters you will enjoy reading THE BOOK OF COMMON DREAD by Brent Monahan.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hey, I liked it., August 12, 2000

By 

Gray (midwest) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Book of Common Dread (Paperback)

I had not planned to write a review of this book, but I noticed that the posted reviews from other readers were very negative. What can I say? I liked it. I don't mind vampires who can take sunlight. I don't mind sexual content. I don't mind vampires who don't fit the traditional mold. I found this book enjoyable.