Customer Reviews

The House of Caine

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

 

 

House of Caine ended up being a quick read even though it is five hundred pages long. It was the perfect read for a lazy bank holiday. While the sexual tension that goes hand in hand with the vampire genre was present in this book it was thankfully not as overt as some books which gave more room for an interesting and complex plot than the more erotic ones.

This book is about more than just vampires. It's about a time and a place; the confused, lost society of the 80's. The House of Caine is about people searching for meaning, order and identity in that era. What makes this book interesting is reading between the lines, looking for the metaphors planted there by the author. Ken Eulo is known for giving his tales multiple meanings, and this book does not disappoint.

In 1966 after a decade away, thirtyish Miami herald reporter Rob Martin, accompanied by his friend Larry Campbell, returns to his hometown Millhouse, Connecticut on a short visit while on the way to interview Robert Kennedy. However, he finds his hometown affirms Thomas Wolfe's belief You Can't Go Home as Millhouse seems different, edgier and more dangerous.

When Larry vanishes, Rob searches for him unaware of what is going on. The town's first family Norris and Julia Caine ruled Millhouse like benevolent despots when they were breathers; now vampires they rule the town like it is a large blood bank though they and their loyal human servants selected loser loners. However, some of their bites have turned into undead with no thought of stealth dining as people who will be missed are assaulted. Rob, trying to save his high school sweetheart Elizabeth Arbor, and his best childhood friend Tony Rizzo abetted by a few other humans begin a counterinsurgency.

The House of Caine is an entertaining metaphoric historical vampire thriller that will remind readers of Stephen King's Salem's Lot; whereas Ken Eulo's tale comes across as a historical while Mr. King's classic is a 1975 contemporary. The story line is filled with action, but at times bogs down with references to the chaotic times especially Vietnam though in fairness the chaos of social reform is the underlying message. While Rob seems inept as a journalist unable to grasp what is going on amidst the corpses, readers will enjoy visiting The House of Caine in Connecticut as Ken Eulo takes his audience on a tour biting tour of a schizoid year.

Harriet Klausner

Unless you love the punishment of futile disappointment in trash vampire fiction, you will not want to waste a moment with this book. If only it were campy, or slightly clever, or even just dumb instead of abysmal, it would be an ok read. But it is none of those. It almost seems as if Eulo was just hurrying thru the book to get it to market, or perhaps he had absolutely no editor at all. The story barely makes sense, and the characters, most especially Rob, the "hero", are missing huge chunks of their reasoning powers. For Rob to be so completely unaware of what impact his parents had upon the town and how they figure into the "mystery" in strange little Millford is, well, unbelievable and unforgivable. Then for it to take him until the very final pages of the book to even begin to figure it out is worse still. The book rips off "Salem's Lot" in every conceivable way, tho it renders the very similar plot absolutely unreadable. "Salem's Lot", by the way, is significantly superior to this overly-long, vacuous and nearly pointless drivel. There's nothing original here, except for the stupefying way in which these vampires are disposed of, which appears to take so much time and effort, I was shocked it was accomplished--especially by Eulo's insipid good-guy characters. Look for loads of continuity errors, complete plot weirdness which is hard to follow, and characterizations so shallow that they make the folks in "Twilight" seem like a group of rocket physicists. IF you must read the book, buy it used for a penny...it's not worth anything more.

I love reading vampire books. Just love to. When I saw the cover at a used bookstore, I had to buy it. I loved the cover. That's about all I loved about this book. "The House of Caine" would have made a better short story. This book is 501 pages, it's about 480 pages to long. This would have made a much better short story. Heck, the vampire isn't really mentioned until about page 400. And this is a vampire novel?? One problem that the reader will face is that most is the book isn't nessessary to read. So much space (and time the reader gives this book) is wasted.

Here's the "plot".Robert Martin comes back home, only to find out that he isn't welcome. His family has a secret that everyone knows about (but Robert) but never really mentions until the end of the book. Robert has to interview Robert Kennedy. He stops over in the town where he grew up, "just passing through." Here his friend who he's traveling with, is missing. Robert has to solve the mystery of his friend, and face the sins of his family. When he does this, it leads him to a vampire. Like I said, this would have been a wonderful short story.

The "plot" with RFK has nothing to do with the story. For that matter, most of the book has nothing to do with the plot. Eulo seems to make a lot of references to Vietman...but it has nothing to do do with the "plot". A lot of space is used for this book, and not a lot is being said.

Take my advise...don't read this book. It's not really worth it. I kept on saying to myself that "this has to get better", well, it doesen't. Normally I saw that when I read a book that I dont' really like, get it at a used bookstore, so you won't pay so much. In the case of "The House of Caine", dont' even look for it at a used bookstore. If I could, I'd given this 0 stars.