Fiend [Mass Market Paperback]

Jemiah Jefferson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2005

In nineteenth-century Italy, young Orfeo Ricari teeters on the brink of adulthood. His new tutor instructs him in literature and poetry during the day and guides him in the world of sensual pleasure at night. But a journey to Paris will teach young Orfeo much more. For in Paris he will become a vampire.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 326 pages
• Publisher: Leisure Books (April 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0843953640
• ISBN-13: 978-0843953640
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,795,444 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born in Denver, Colorado, Jemiah Jefferson started writing fiction at the age of twelve, always with the goal of writing the material she wants to see but that doesn't yet exist. She has also written fiction, essays, and criticism for the local weekly newspapers Willamette Week and Just Out, the magazines PLAZM and 2Grlz Quarterly, and the culture blog Popshifter. She lives in Portland, Oregon.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jem does it again with her amazing vampire series..., April 17, 2005

By 

Amanda Rebholz (Waco, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fiend (Mass Market Paperback)

New from Leisure, Fiend is an amazing book if you like vampire novels. Jemiah has written two novels before this one, Voice of the Blood and Wounds, and all three of these books follow the same characters, but they can easily be read as stand-alone novels. She has been called the middle ground between Poppy Z Brite and Anne Rice, and while it doesn't do her justice, it's the only description I've read that comes close.

The novel is centered around Orfeo Guiseppe Vittorio Ricari, a whimsical, head-in-the-clouds Italian boy who runs away with his handsome young tutor and becomes lost in the seedy enticements of back alleyways. He acts as a male hustler for awhile until meeting Maria and Georgina, two beautiful lesbian vampires who take him under their wing and keep him as their personal pet. He works as a translator for Maria and acts as Georgina's lover until the vampires decide to turn him into one of their kind. Ricari is then swept into the world of French revolution, androgyny, sex, blood, and love. His exciting and heartbreaking life story leads him to Berlin in the 1930s, where he meets the charismatic and insane artist Daniel Blum. Daniel and Ricari fall in love and their torrid affair leads to Ricari transforming Daniel into a vampire. But can their turbulent, obsessive passion for one another survive an eternity, and can Ricari win the moral battle he's been waging within himself for over a century?

An incredibly-written novel, it will suck you in from the first page. Jemiah has an extremely unique voice for each character she writes about, and Ricari is comparable to Louis of the Vampire Chronicles series by Anne Rice; tragic, beautiful, archaic, and longing for morality and release from his immortal existence. The plot moves much more quickly than an Anne Rice novel, however, and the characters are described with such vividness that you feel that you know them by the end of the book. Her sex scenes are incredibly erotic and sensual, well-told without being smutty, and the way she captures various time periods--- 1800s Italy, Paris, Berlin in the midst of the Nazi uprising--- is incredible. You'd think she was there from the detail and accuracy she uses to describe each of these settings.

I highly recommend this book. I read it over the course of two nights, and am currently re-reading it for the third time since I purchased it about nine days ago. It is one of the best contemporary vampire books I've ever read, and the author is an extremely wonderful young woman who is certainly a name any true horror or vampire/erotica fan should know.

Warning: The book contains a lot of homoeroticism, gay sex scenes, profanity, sacrilegious scenes (particularly on behalf of Daniel, who scorns all things religious), and gory descriptions. Not for the faint of heart, although Jemiah's poetic writing somehow seems to throw glitter over the grittier scenes in her prose.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another great vamp book by Jemiah, April 15, 2005

By 

H. J. Spivack (Yardley, PA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fiend (Mass Market Paperback)

I went through a phase a few years ago when I found myself digging vampire fiction. Its not like I'm a goth wannabe. In fact, I'm 40 and wear a suit everyday. Its just that sometimes, I suddenly notice I've been reading a lot of the same stuff. Its just what for whatever reason, I'm digging on at that point.

I got lucky. I found Voice of the Blood, Jemiah's first novel. It stood out from the pack like nobody's business. In it, we are introduced to vampires Ariane, Orfeo and Daniel. Its really Ariane's story but its a great introduction to the universe contained in her fiction.

The sequel, Wounds, explored Daniel's world. It extended brilliantly and Daniel (was he named for Daniel Ash? Can't tell why but the character reminds me of the Bauhaus/Love and Bullets fronter)was compelling. In Wounds, he takes front stage and the book is amazing. I've read it a dozen times. The only thing I wasn' clear on was the ending...what happened to my compelling character??? Darned if I know.

Now in Fiend, we get Orfeo's history. Where there were flashbacks in the first two books, this one is all a flashback. Whatever story there remains for Jemiah to relate about her vampires (I hope there's a lot more) Fiend does nothing to extend the story. We don't get to find out what happens next in their history, instead, fiend paints a remarkable picture of the background to the first two novels. It paints it brilliantly in lovely, sensual colors and the scenes it depicts make you want to go there and see for yourself.

I find myself comparing Jemiah to Anne Rice. It is not just the subject of vampires. It is not just the populating of those vampires with a sensuous love life. Jemiah's vampire remind me of Lestat and their ilk in her regard for rich back histories and deep inner lives. There is also a shared theme of gay love in both series which is not an interest of mine but Jemiah's sex scenes are awfully well written.

I've read all of Rice. I've read all of Jemiah's books. I'll trade any four of Rice's (especially the New Vampire series) books for any one of Jemiah's any day of the week.

Keep up the great work, Jemiah if you're reading this. You've a fan in me.

_

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fiend, April 30, 2005

By 

mollie1913 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fiend (Mass Market Paperback)

Jemiah Jefferson should consider this book her finest. After the intruiging "Voice of the Blood" and the somewhat confusing "Wounds", "Fiend" is definitely a glowing example of how much Ms. Jefferson is growing as a writer.

Here she uses the character of Orfeo Ricari, the soulful, sad vampire from "Voice of Blood", to wonderful effect. This book has a completely different tone to the others. Orfeo's voice is a authentic from what we have learned of him in the past and is perhaps the most fleshed out of Jemiah Jefferson creations.

His story begins with his childhood in Italy and progresses at a lively, quick pace to his transformation to a vampire at the hands of two female characters. Even though the middle section of the book seemed a little slow it didnt hamper the story at all. Orfeo remains interesting and engaging.

Daniel is still the man we have seen in earlier books. A complex creation that Ms. Jefferson clearly has a strong affection for. He remains unsympathetic even in his early, human years, challenging Orfeo and giving us a glimpse of what we know will happen in the future.

I hope very much that Ms. Jefferson continues with Orfeo's story sometime soon. He is without a doubt a wonderful character, full of an emotion that has been somewhat absent in her earlier works.

Well done Ms Jefferson. You should be proud.