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Gideon Redoak

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Gideon Redoak
by Anne Fraser
By Light Unseen Media, August 15, 2009

Raised by a stern, puritanical father Gideon Redoak considered himself a worthless sinner. Life eased for him somewhat with his father's death. Gideon was now Baron Redoak. He grew closer to his sister and his mother and helped them in ways impossible while his father lived.


"I was very young and didn't know that evil could walk abroad in the guise of a handsome man" [Gideon looking back at his first meeting with Etienne.]


Evil encroached on his happiness. The seductive vampire Etienne Corbeau insinuated himself, telling Gideon how very much he was loved, but Etienne lied. He betrayed Gideon. Turned him into a vampire slave. Tortured and abused him without pity until one day, with the help of Evan Jones and Genevieve de Monet, he is rescued. They gave sanctuary to Gideon, a safe place to heal mentally and physically.


"I see a young man who was cruelly betrayed. I see a fledgling vampire who has learned the darkest possible ways of our kind, who knows only the blood and the killing, but who has not surrendered to them. I see someone who is stronger than he believes, who has survived the unthinkable. I see a wound that needs healing, but a wounded one who is not beyond hope." [Genevieve on first meeting Gideon.]


To Genevieve vampires need not be predators. They can tame their urge and sustain themselves in other ways. She also teaches him how to use his powers and what their limitations are.

Evan introduces Gideon to Le Societe des Gardiens, a movement created to rid the world of monsters like Etienne, and teach vampires that killing is not necessary for survival.

For all the pain Gideon had to endure he never lost his basic decency. He joins the Societe's crusade, eventually journeying to the new world to band with other paranormal inhabitants. Ones that have his ideals.

There were times I forgot I was reading fiction. Fraser constructs characters so real, so believable that I felt like I was right there with them. Her writing has a beautiful poetic rhythm. I've tried to convey that in the quotes above. Of course you have to read everything in context to completely understand.

I would sum things up this way - Gideon Redoak's story of a vampire's perilous existence is a gripping tale told through the poetic writing of Ann Fraser.

Fraser had both a way with words and a way with character development. Gideon is a sympathetic and believable character in his human life at the beginning of the book and as a vampire later on. Through his eyes we experience fear, torture, kindness, love, joy, heartbreak, and a valiant struggle with the nature of good and evil. It's a excellent story, yes, with a satisfying amount of action and occasional plot twists, but it carries deeper meanings about the things we believe about ourselves and how the companions we choose in life can have an impact on those beliefs.

I recommend it highly.

"AWAKE THE TRUMPET'S LOFTY SOUND"! (apologies to Handel) : A PARANORMAL BOOK THAT FASCINATES, TITILLATES AND ENGAGES THE READER INSTANTLY AND UNCEASINGLY!

Born on Friday the 13th, Anne Fraser was a prolific and highly original writer of vampire and paranormal fiction. Her spare writing style and unusual characters have won her an enthusiastic following. This is her first novel to be published in print form.

Unfortunately Anne Fraser did not live to see the publication of her impressive dark fantasy debut, which introduces an exciting Classic vampire. Baron Gideon Redoak is the gay son of a Puritan living in 1641 Shrewsbury, England. At age 19, he's seduced, "turned" and abused by Etienne Corbeau, a sadistic vampire, who after many years of torture eventually buries him (Gideon) alive or (undead). Evan Jones, a Welshman with superhuman abilities, digs Gideon up at the request of Le Societe des Gardiens, who are vampires who don't believe in killing.

Over the next several centuries we follow Gideon as he learns much of love and grief as he and Evan join a group of druids battling the evil vampires. Fraser keeps the pages turning for me (as my roast chicken burns to a crisp) with brisk pacing and a thoughtful, sometimes prolonged portrayal of Gideon's struggles with Corbeau and his inner puritanical demons, that at times seem worse than Corbeau's tortures!

QUOTATION BY ELIZABETH MILLER, AUTHOR OF DRACULA:SENSE AND NONSENSE: "Written in a direct and uncluttered style, 'Gideon Redoak' offers a plot developed with craftsmanship and a protagonist drawn with sensitivity...a story about the very human search for meaning and independence".

My joy at finding a book that I actually read all the way through knows no bounds!!!!

It's very difficult to find well-written gay vampire novels but this one, though written in a somewhat sparse style (which actually works for this author), is excellent!

I'm halfway through right now and it's a beautiful tapestry of a classic vampire story with several unique twists. There is high drama, action, love, solace, humor and horror all in one book!

Gideon, the main character, has intense human emotions in a world where some vampires enslave other vampires and are truly inhuman. He struggles with his emotions and his sexuality convincingly while moving among humans, other vampires, and non-humans.

The author keeps things real, anchored in the actual, while adding a whole level of other-ness that keeps the reader spellbound.

If you love vampires and m/m love, pick this book up now! You won't regret it.

From the day he was born in 1622, Gideon Redoak was raised in a very strict Puritan family. His father the baron demanded respect as he dominated every aspect of life for his family. Gideon was not allowed to speak to single women, nor read anything except the Bible. His sister Prudence likewise was under the strict thumb of their father.

When Gideon is nineteen, his father is murdered most likely by highwaymen. Gideon becomes his sister's guardian and takes care of his mother while running the estate he inherited. When Simon Paxson, who is of an age of his late father, arrives insisting he has a spoken deal to marry Prudence, Gideon says he has no proof and already arranged for his sister to wed James Carter, the estate steward she loves. After his sibling and James marry in 1642, Gideon hires a new steward Etienne Corbeau to run the estate at a time when three strange murders occur. He also realizes his father's chosen bride for him, although of proper breeding and wealth, Piety fails to move him while his new employee does. Etienne seduces Gideon and turns him into a vampire. Over the years Gideon adapts even finding love, but fears his maker is not finished with him.

This is an entertaining life in a vampire saga over the centuries. Seventeenth century Gideon expected eternal punishment, as part of his Puritan upbringing, for lying about knowing Paxson's deal and the betrothal between his sister and his steward; so there is plenty of irony as the protagonist adjusts emotionally, sexually and religiously to the change. Not for all vampire aficionados as the action is for most part off page and muted, fans of a profound character study will want to read the late Anne Fraser's fabulous fable of the life and death and un-death of a young man.

Harriet Klausner