Customer Reviews

A Drop of Scarlet

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

 

 

If you are a fan of vampire novels, horror novels in general, or just gritty well-written prose about humanity and inhumanity, then this book will not displease.

Jemiah has written several other books chronicling the lives of her characters, and at first they appear to be given pre-emptory glances and then dismissed at face value by the readers. Jemiah, however, does not make this mistake. Too many other writers have supporting characters that are completely two-dimensional; not so with the ones in this book series. Each book focuses almost entirely on one specific character, giving only peeks at the others' lives and psyches; this latest, A DROP OF SCARLET, brings together all of her aforementioned characters and gives them all a chance to shine as individuals.

The novel follows biologist-turned-vampire Ariane Dempsey, and the story begins with the death of her sire. Ariane's lover John Thurbis is a former mathematical genius, a professor of physics at a university before a botched attempt to transform him into a vampire turned him into an insane, schizophrenic monstrosity. Ariane and John have been living for a decade in Portland, Oregon while Ariane uses all of her knowledge to try and find a cure for her damaged lover. The way that Jemiah describes John's bouts of madness are nothing short of brilliant; she captures his frantic, terrified anger at his predicament perfectly, and you will find yourself reading it with a frenzied voice in your head, picturing John's outrage at having his intelligence and wits stripped from him in a very FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON sense. Ariane cries out for help to her only other vampire friend, Orfeo Ricari, a reserved Italian vampire whose adventures were explored in the novel FIEND. Ricari is unable to help Ariane, so he stays away despite her telepathic pleas. However, every vampire in the world is privvy to Ariane's anguish, and her cries are heard by many who feel that putting Ariane and John out of their misery would be the most humane course of action. Ariane manages to concoct an antipsychotic drug for John that will work with their unique vampire metabolism, but upon testing it on herself, she finds that it brings a vampire what they want most in the world; a sense of peace and detachment from the torment of their existence. The drug works as anticipated, helping John regain his senses and calming the disorientation in his head, but at the same time the other vampires can sense the ecstacy of John and Ariane when the drug is ingested and they want a piece of the action, too. The vampires begin flocking to Oregon to sample this drug for themselves, and they'll pay any price for it.

The novel is well-written, as all of Jemiah's are, but this one has a brisk pace that makes it hard to put it down. The chapters are divided by points of view, giving each character a very specific and unique voice that is thoroughly explored throughout the action. By two-thirds of the way through the novel turns into a drug metaphor from hell, a portrait of undead junkies fiending for a fix and not caring who they may hurt in the process. Jemiah explores this with a gritty unflinching eye, revealing the horror that befalls anyone unlucky enough to encounter these vampires. The erotic scenes are fantastic and understated; in previous novels she has gone to deliciously-raunchy lengths with the sex scenes, but in this one they are fairly muted rather than going into detail each time a character consumates. Jemiah has created something wonderful here; she has been compared to Anne Rice and Poppy Z Brite but truly, she is neither. Poppy has only written one vampire novel and it was self-contained; Anne Rice's self-indulgent writing was often overbearing and entirely too long-winded for my tastes. Jemiah stands alone; she has created a fully-functioning set of characters based in the real world with very few liberties taken. Her characters are in turns compassionate and ruthless, beautiful and terrible, sentimental and detached. They do not conform to human rules but do not have a 'vampire code' either; they do as they please with no one to answer to but themselves in the end.

This novel is sure to please, but I would definitely recommend reading the others first. At the very least, one should read VOICE OF THE BLOOD, the premiere novel, to become acquainted with the events leading up to this book; otherwise you may find yourself a little lost when it comes to the characters and their past relationships together.

Either way, very highly recommended from someone who considers themselves a well-seasoned traveler of the horror genre.

Great book although you can't let it get the best of you with confusion. I would have to say I loved Voice of Blood, Wounds, and Fiend better but hey if she wrote every book the same nobody would get around to reading them. Jemiah Jefferson is a great writer and the details she puts in her book are so amazing. I personally think she could be the next Anne Rice, only with a lot more edge:)

I read her novels and her blog and although we've never met, I'm guessing we'd be friends if we ever did.

I first read Voice of the Blood when I was going through a wierd period in which I found myself reading a lot of vampire fiction. I've always liked horror and I found VOTB a terrific read. Fast, easy with plenty of spice to its flavor. I like Ariane and missed her as the central character in the sequels. She was always there, but in Wound and Fiend, she was relegated to a supporting role in favor of Daniel Blum and then Orfeo Ricari.

In A Drop of Scarlet (henceforth referred to as ADOS), we shift to a multicharacter focus. Ariane's research into her vampiric condition is beginning to bear fruit. Her research is about finding something to help her only-half-sane-yet-still-likable husband John who was improperly made into a vampire at the end of VOTB.

And then we see some of the supporting characters to the rest of the sequels coming together.

I won't say more about plot but instead focus on the writing. Ms. Jefferson's writing has matured, grown more capable of telling a complex story efficiently. I complained some time ago that I still had no idea what happened to Daniel (still reminds me for no good reason of Daniel Ash of Love and Rockets fame) at the end of one of the books (name withheld). His relationship with the sybaritic and destructive Sybil seemed destined to be the end of him...but at the conclusion of the story, I wasn't sure.

Then with Fiend, Orfeo became the central focus and a character that I didn't even like all that much became my favorite.

This book is very very good. All along, Ms. Jefferson's writing has been compared to that of Anne Rice except I stopped reading Ms. Rice's writing when it was clear that she'd forgotten how to tell a story anyone cared about. By the last series, could anyone actually tell the difference between any of Ms. Rice's vampires other than Lestat?

But now with ADOS, we have multiple vampires. Unlike Rice, they have very distinctive voices and they're fun to read. I like the stories and have reread them multiple times. I'll reread ADOS again, probably soon...and I am very much looking forward to the next one!

I would have given this a 3 were it the first of the series of which I read. I loved both "Wounds" and "Fiend", and "Voice of the Blood" was a good starting story, with this making for an alright ending.

You could tell Jefferson was a little tired of writing on this storyline, if she knew it or not. Not to say it doesn't pull you in to the storyline, but i think that she should have probably shelved it for about 6 months to a year, and come back to edit and rewrite a bit. (Sorry Jemiah)

I'll admit, by the end I either want to give Ariane a hug, or punch her in the head, and a few more words would have moved it either way. Orfeo was as interesting and engaging as his own book, with a slightly older personality. John while crazy would have been a great place to spend more time, but, could have done well to channel more of Faulkner, Burroughs, and maybe a dash of Ginsberg. After his comeback to reality, the following lovers drama just didn't do Ariane's character any favors. Others were here and there, and interesting enough to discuss other ideas and questions.

A good, somewhat more scientific and definitely distinct style of vampire novel, and the only writer in this field I follow. I hope she writes more, and i'd like to see her stray into a different genre for a try.

This is the first and last book of Jefferson's I will read. Switching the narrator of the book every single chapter was a horrible. Way too confusing. I found it to be dull and uneventful. Every time I thought it was picking up and starting to get interesting, I was disappointed when it just fizzled out and switched to a new narrator. It didn't allow me a chance to get involved or sympathize with any of the characters.