Customer Reviews

Fiend

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

 

 

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.

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.



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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.

"Fiend" is the tale of Orfeo Ricari, an Italian lad who falls into a world of confused lust, perversion, vampirism and, oh yeah, religion. You see Ricari is a devout Catholic, so devout, that he feels extreme guilt every time his tutor sodomizes him. As he gets older, he escapes with his older lover, Lorenzo, to find Lord Byron. What he ends up getting is being dumped in Paris. Luckily, he runs into two ladies, Maria and Georgina, who take him in as a servant. He serves them in many ways, and they eventually give him the gift of immortality as a vampire.

The rest of this story is a sick, vampiric coming-of-age tale where Ricari falls into the trappings of love with another vampire. We are given a taste of the French Revolution and Nazi Germany. Jemiah Jefferson explains all of these things with vivid flare. It's almost as if we are there the entire time. The story moves along at a very swift pace and we run into the horrid beast that is Daniel Blum. He is truly one of the most dispicable and hateful perversions ever dreamed up. His character alone makes this book worth reading. Love him or hate him, you'll have to admit that he is the key to this book.

Ricari is a likeable, if pitiful, character, who seems to have been stunted in his maturation by events that happen early in the book. For someone so old, he acts and reacts with the innocence of a child. He has a twisted vision of Catholicism, and continues to practice it after he is turned.

Overall, a very interesting book to read. I should warn you that there are tons of homosexual acts in this book, so if that isn't your bag, stay away. Also, sacrilege, perversion, deceit, etc. are dealt with in volume, so keep that in mind before buying this book. If you can stomach all of this, you will definitely like this read.

Highly recommended. The first book I've read by Jefferson, and probably not my last.

The back of the book lists a review snippet. For the sake of my review, I'd like to quote it here:

Comparisons to Anne Rice are inevitable, but Jefferson's writing is simultaneously tougher and more elegant. - Willamette Week

Well, folks, that about sums it up a lot of right there. Jefferson creates a world that's all too familiar. Finding similarities with Rice work? You aren't kidding! Even the writing style is a bit reminiscent of Lestat Land; everything from the birth of a vampire, to the angst of one, to the streets of Paris and changes of modern age.

However, I don't dismiss a book simply because its been done before. After all, sometimes when its done again by someone else, its done better! Is that the case here? Not even touching that one. Haven't read enough of Rice to compare, and wouldn't be fair to. Lets just say that if you enjoy those types of vampires, you probably wouldn't be disappointed looking here.

Like many life stories, this one goes through the motions of telling a back life. Some of it is interesting and some of it had me wanting to speed through it. That's one of the risks of these types. As a result of this tale the pace lagged a bit at times, making up for it at other moments. I enjoyed some of the moments but not much action took place. Here and there something occurred but nothing HUGE. For future reference, I like, want, love HUGE action somewhere in there. A big surprise maybe?? Perhaps a gigantic tragedy? The nearest this came was the death of a main character it was strongly dramatic more of that would have earned this book a higher rating, I think.

The characters were interesting and not poorly written, but some lacked substance. I'm used to more conscientious, morally righteous characters than Orfeo. Strangely enough, one minute he preached on treating others well and not killing, while on the other hand he didn't blink an eye to doing the deed, hearing of someone else doing it (or planning to), or react to tragedy. It seems like the act of killing someone who loved and trusted him was dismissed in his mind because he was doing it to gain someone he wanted? Odd logic there.

How the character of Daniel would turn out was predictable. Frankly his character was downright nasty and not enjoyable I would have enjoyed seeing him get the wrong end of the stick. I certainly couldn't see the main characters attraction to him, that's for sure. And of course there was also the strange subplot with his sister at the beginning?

This isn't the case with all the characters, thankfully. I actually loved Gabriel and Chicot. If they had been around more and stayed, this book may have left me in more pleasant spirits. But even with them there are flaws to be found. Their personalities clicked with me, but they were oh-so-familiar! As a clear summary, the beginning started off a little slow with a strange tutor relationship, the middle picked up and kept me more enthused, the ending was starting to irritate me with one of the characters, and the very last pages were too abrupt. Why the sudden change? Seemed like there should have been more of a lead up there. As a final slap in the face, the last paragraph left me a bit confused on who the author was referring to.

A saving grace is Jefferson's writing style. Her words flow beautifully across the pages; she has the knack of the written word and picks the right ones to express the right emotions. When things are supposed to be delightful, they are. Dark? They are. Gross? They are. Depressing? They are. The atmosphere in one scene with Maria being at her most depressed stages was haunting and carried forth through the rest of the story.

Overall, this book is readable. I didn't want to set it down once I got into it, but it took me a few tries to stay tuned. The writing style is complimentary to this type of tale, but this stories already been told before. The ending held a minor let down, let justice hadn't been done, but there were some saving scenes that held the books head above water. Its filled with sex but many of the scenes could have been made more erotic.

My advice? Read it if you're in the mood for some new vampire blood, but don't put too much stake in it capturing your heart.

Fiend tells the story of Orfeo Ricari. A young man whose tutor teaches him poetry and literature during the day & sensual pleasure during the night. Yet, a journey to Paris teaches Orfeo something he's never known before...what it is like to be a vampire. Told in his own words, Orfeo tells you his story of life, death, and rebirth. He tells you what it is truly like to be a vampire, the realization of what it means to grasp immortality and what it is like to be a fiend. It's a coming-of age tale like no other and one I really enjoyed reading.

I'll admit, I'm a big Anne Rice fan and, while there are definitely comparisons to Anne's "Interview with the Vampire" here, Jemiah takes the idea and runs with it. As it says in Fangoria's review of this book, "The author follows through on everything Anne Rice tempts us with, but never delivers" . That much is true but all writers have their own style of writing. Thankfully, I can be fans of both writers.

While this is the third book in her series of vampire books, it is my very first novel of hers. At some point, I'll revisit her first two books, to be sure. Anyhow, Fiend is an excellent vampire novel. One that is reminiscent yet groundbreaking in its' own way. I really enjoyed the book myself and have to give Jemiah credit that she ranks up there with Anne Rice, John Saul, Dean Koontz and Stephen King. It won't be long til she's well known in homes across America.

Fiend is the 3rd installment in JJ's vamp series. I have to say out of them all, VOTB was my fave, but Fiend, IMHO, was waaay better then Wounds. Fiend focused on Orfeo...his human life, his creation and life as a vampire, and his relationship with Daniel. The book held my interest, but I have to say that some of it put me off a little...it was at times just too graphic for me. Still, Fiend was a good read and I will definitely keep a look out for more of this authors work.

This is the first book by Jefferson I have read. It was handed off to me by an aquantance I share book author's with. I found it graffic in every sense of the word. The weird part was that I was more offended by the blashamy than about the homosexual acts. The main character is pitiful and the real fiend of the book, his lover--David, is deplorable.

So why four stars? The writing itself was excellent. You don't have to have a happy, happy book with nice characters to have a good book. I just couldn't stop reading. I wondered throughout what could they possibly do next. I'll definately try another by this author.