Customer Reviews

Dark Moods

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This is not really a vampire novel. I wanted to get this out right away because it being labelled as such by the publisher kept me away for a while, even though I consider myself a huge fan of Charlee Jacob. Vampires are just not my kind of monster. But like I said, this is not a vampire novel or if it is it's quite a stretch to put in that genre.

DARK MOODS is set in a few thousand years before our time. From the vague hints we are given my best guess would be around the time of the Sumerians and somewhere in the Middle East.

As with many of Charlee's longer fiction, DARK MOODS features a number of narrative threads that come together at the end. One is about the mystery surrounding a race of shapeshifters who are currently being held as slaves and used as prostitutes thanks to their ability to give life to any fantasy or nightmare a client may desire. Another is about a sin-drinker (this is where the sort-of-vampirism comes into play) and yet another is about a soldier and how an encounter with a fire demon changes him forever. Speaking of which, nobody describes the stuff heat and fire can do to the human physique quite as disturbingly as Mrs. Jacob and there are a few pages in here where she's in particularily fine form in that regard.

Despite all the supernatural and fantastical elements I can't in good conscience recommend this book to the casual fantasy fan. There is just too much outlandish sexual perversion and stomach-turning brutality on display. On the other hand, if your tastes (like mine) are along those lines or if you are a little bored with how safe and sane mainstream fantasy is then there really is no reason to leave this great book unread.