Crimson Kiss (Pinnacle Horror) [Paperback]

Trisha Baker (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Pinnacle (November 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786014164
• ISBN-13: 978-0786014163
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,021,217 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Biography

The best word to describe Trisha Baker is....Gypsy. I've flirted with every occupation from Special Education teacher to exotic dancer. My itchy feet have taken me to Las Vegas, Boston, Savannah, Amsterdam, Prague, and Budapest. I even lived in Sighiosora, Transylvania for a month when my backpacker funds ran low; earning my way by making beds in a hostel and serving boatloads of beer to to thirsty Romanians in a small, mountainside pub. An expatriate New Yorker, I currently make my home in the most beautiful city in the world, New Orleans. However, my itchy feet are urging me to see what new adventures await me on the road. In the meanwhile, I satisfy my tinker blood by reading fortunes in Jackson Square.
Now for the born and bred, blah blah blah portion of the bio. I grew up in Woodside, Queens; a pretty, working class neighborhood. Crimson fans will recognize this as the neighborhood Meghann O'Neill grew up in. Her father's house is based on my foster mother's home. Calvary Cemetery (the graveyard where Meghann gives Simon the boot) is an actual place and has a lovely view of the Manhattan skyline.
Being Irish Catholic, I was forced to endure parochial education. Much to my relief (and perhaps the Vatican's) I was allowed to attend public high school and abandon my vile green uniform for the four foot high hair (thank you, Stiff Stuff!) black lace tights, and catsuits that defined the late eighties.
In 1998, I graduated from Queens College with an utterly useless degree in Political Science. (Hence the need for exotic dancing and tarot reading to support my writing.) One of the happiest days of my life was November 1, 2001. Crimson Kiss hit the bookshelves, gathering rave reviews. Crimson Night followed in April 2002, and Crimson Shadows was published in February 2003. Crimson Resurrection should be published within the next year.
On the personal side, most of my family still lives in New York but understand my devotion to the liquor soaked swamp I've made my home. No children yet, but I look forward to spawning some demon seeds one day.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Anne Rice should watch her back with this newcomer!, May 3, 2002

By 

Rodney Powell "fairmont66" (Macon,Georgia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Crimson Kiss (Pinnacle Horror) (Paperback)

I was very impressed by the story-telling abilities of Trisha Baker. Meghann O'neill, a young woman living in 1940s' is seduced and transformed into a vampire by the evil Simon Baldevar. After being manipulated and controlled by him for 13 years she kills him and escapes but only to find years later he
didn't die and now wants her back! Simon starts to target Meghann's friends like would be vampire-killer Jimmy Delacroix, meghann's human lover, and her vampire friends:gay vampire charles and priest vampire Alcuin. Thus begins a cat and mouse game of seduction, hate and love that spans decades.Baker's debut novel has all of the ingredients you would want in a vampire horror novel: gruesome scenes of bloodletting, torture and murder, magic and black magic, erotic and sensuality also play in the part this story. Meghann, called maggie by her friends is very resourceful heroine who seeks to help the mortals she was trained to feed on and kill.Simon Baldevar is one of the most sadist and vicious villians to ever grace print page who's obessive love for Meghann is quite chilling in it's intensity.Another thing I love about the novel is Baker's willingness to change some of the myths about vampire such as their vunerability to crosses and religious objects and vampire can also eat the foods of humans. The scenes of maggie using magic also were gripping and also the ability of vampires to travel astral plane. Maggie also has a love/hate relatinship with Simon which she tries to control as he seeks to humble her and take her back. this stunning vampire novel ends with a suprising conclusion that bodes well for future installments.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Repulsive, yet Fascinating?, December 31, 2001

By 

paula_k_98 "paula_k_98" (Muskogee, OK USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Crimson Kiss (Pinnacle Horror) (Paperback)

How do you go about reviewing a book that repulses yet fascinates you to the point you going back to it? I'm still not sure how I feel about Crimson Kiss, but I can say it was different and interesting up to a point. At times it seems poorly written, and at other times it can rival any well-written horror book and hold its own with the blood and gore.

Meghann "Maggie" O'Neill was once like any other eighteen year old in 1944. She was attending college with her friends, supporting the war effort, and getting ready to be married. Then she meets the man who changes her life. Lord Simon Baldevar is a man of the world. He's cool, suave, and sophisticated. He is fascinated with Maggie. So fascinated that he takes her innocence and transforms her into his consort. Now it's nothing new about an older man taking a younger woman as his mistress, what's unusual about this is Simon is a vampire and he makes Maggie into one of his own. Simon is powerful. He can be tender when he wants or he can be unbelievably cruel. Nothing is too sadistic for him. He can be pleased with Maggie one minute and torturing her the next. He wants one thing from Meghann as he calls her, complete devotion and obedience. Eventually Maggie has enough of his degrading games and with a bit of luck manages to stake him to the roof of their home and flees leaving him to face the dawn of a new day, which we all know will end the existence of a vampire. Or will it?

Maggie sets out to straighten out her life. She makes friends with another vampire called Charles who introduces her to his master Alcuin. Alcuin is a hideous deformed vampire who just happens to also be a man of the cloth. He takes Maggie under his wing and teaches her not all vampires are bad, that some try to give back to the world what others have taken. Maggie learns to make herself strong with his guidance and returns to her old life as best she can. She attends college and eventually becomes a psychologist who specializes in treating victims of abusive relationships, something she endured with Simon. During this time she meets a human, Jimmy, and eventually is able to resume a relationship.

The story ends happily ever after? Wrong. It seems good old Simon didn't perish. He's been resting up, gaining even more strength, and is now ready to reclaim Maggie. What follows is a sadistic game of torture and horror as Maggie battles the one person who can destroy everything and everyone she holds dear.

As I said, this book is full of contradictions. It starts out in the present and flashes back to Maggie's transformation and her years with Simon, to her escape, and then back to her present life. Nothing complicated there. What I didn't like when the book flashed back to the beginning was how stilted and over dramatized the dialogue sounded. The dialogue sounded gushy, it was too much. But before you let that turn you off, I have to say when this author writes an action scene, she does it well. I had no problem whatsoever visualizing what she was describing. I kept wondering what she was going to come up with next to shock me and believe me; she did manage to shock me.

Crimson Kiss by Trisha Baker has the promise of potential to come from this author. I will probably buy the next book due out in April to see what happens. If this author can improve the dialogue and maintain the horror and suspense of her books, she will be someone to watch for in the future.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another excellent Vampire Book, June 20, 2002

By 

"redtraveler" (San Jose, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Crimson Kiss (Pinnacle Horror) (Paperback)

I just recently discovered Trisha Baker's books. I have been a pretty avid Laurell Hamilton follower and now that I've read all of her books, I was looking for something else. Here's a great follow on!

In Crimson Kiss Trisha introduces Meghann "Maggie" O'Neill who was changed into a vampire by evil Simon Baldevar (who has been around forever!). Simon falls in love with Meghann but because of all the really BAD things he does to people, she wants to get away. Thinking she has killed him, Maggie spends 40 years on her own with a new mentor (Alcuin) that teaches her the good things about being Vampire. Maggie falls in love with a mortal and tries to live a "normal" live as a psychologist until Alcuin shows up and informs her that Simon is not dead is as they speak looking to reclaim his "Consort". The book goes through how Maggie became a vampire, her history and what she was trying to do before Simon shows up again. I think that Trisha does an excellent job of outlining the characters and develops a plot that is fairly easy to follow. Nice touch of romance and some steamy love scenes make this a very rounded read!

She has definitely designed a format for a series, so On to reading "Crimson nights"! Enjoy!