It is a new era of lascivious excess and the unending pursuit of pleasure. The year is 1959, and La Dolce Vita cannot hold a candle to La Dolce Morte. The jet setters, the intelligentsia, the artists and luminaries, the powerful and the merely curious from all over the world are descending upon "the Eternal City." The paparazzi have gathered en masse to chronicle the raucous wake of a remarkable decade -- and to shoot the beautiful ones who have arrived to be seen. Rome is in her glory, for the dark prince himself has selected this ancient metropolis of fountains and lovers and history as the site of his latest nuptials -- and everyone who is anyone, vampire and mortal alike, is planning to attend. The mad celebration has begun in earnest; the "Dracula Cha Cha Cha" is all the rage. But come the blood-red dawn, there will be a terrible price to pay. For no party truly lasts forever... and even the undead must die.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
July 1959: The occasion is the marriage of Vlad Tepes, Count Dracula. The world's vampire elite have gathered in Rome for the union. Vlad's past wives have included Hungarian princesses, baronesses from California, and even Queen Victoria; all marriages were arranged for strategic gain rather than love or passion. Reporter Katherine Reed is in Rome to write about the wedding. At just under a century old, she is considered young among the immortal vampires. Now, someone is killing the elders, some of whom have bloodlines stretching back to the Middle Ages.
In this alternative history, to "be turned" means persecution. From the beginning of the century--when the vampires first emerged from legend into the public eye--through World War II (when Hitler began targeting the immortals) the vampires continued to be a source of fear and fascination. But vampirism still has its joys. To accept immortality means an extraordinary heightening of all the senses, and blood is both sustenance and narcotic, sexually pleasing and simultaneously nourishing.
Judgement of Tears blends horror and humor remarkably well. Semigraphic scenes of bloodsucking and neck biting are interspersed with humorous name-dropping. Among the guests at Vlad's wedding are a black-clad, gloomy couple named Addams, a British spy named Bond, and Orson Wells. Edgar Allan Poe is living as a scriptwriter; since being turned, he hasn't had an original idea. In the end, Judgement of Tears is as much a tale of intrigue as it is a horror novel. The backdrop is an old story of petty politics, set in a world that vampires, zombies, and even Frankenstein-like monsters share with the living. The flashes of wit serve to anchor the story to the real world and provide a connection to 20th-century popular culture. The ending reminds readers that politics prevail--whether for mortals or immortals. --Andy Bookwalter --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
Newman's latest monster mash is the third in a series of fiendishly clever novels (after Anno Dracula and The Bloody Red Baron) set in a world where Dracula lives and the glitterati of history, fiction and film are all his vampire progeny. It's 1959, and the jet set in Rome is aflutter over the impending nuptials of the aging Count, who hopes to consolidate his crumbling kingdom through marriage to the Moldavian princess Asa Vajda. Vampire journalist (and series heroine) Kate Reed is on the scene when a serial killer, the Crimson Executioner, commits the first in a string of brutal vampire slayings that will lead inevitably to Dracula himself. Kate's relentless pursuit of the mysterious murderer acquaints her with Mater Lachrymarum, the city's legendary "Mother of Tears," and a social register of mortal and vampire celebrities, any one of whom could be the assassin. Newman's tale of the decline of the vampire empire exudes the party's-over feel of the Italian postwar cinema to which it repeatedly refers, and Kate's sentimental reunion with characters from the previous novels offers ground for many moving reflections on the vampire/human condition. But as in the earlier novels, the most entertaining moments are those improbable get-togethers that vampire immortality makes possible between real and imaginary personalities, including Orson Welles, Edgar Allan Poe, Elisabeth Bathory, Count Cagliostro and characters who looks suspiciously like James Bond and Marcello Mastroianni. Like the blood gelatto lapped by the undead demimonde, this novel is a rich and fulfilling confection.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
It'll grow on you.....,
This review is from: Judgment of Tears:: Anno Dracula 1959 (Paperback)
I'll admit it. I was drawn to this book by its cover, which, after dragging thru the first few pages, I sorely regretted. Being somewhat of a vampire purist, I couldn't reconcile Newman's <at times> irreverent handling of one of my favorite subject matters. So, slightly disgusted, I put the book aside. Several weeks later however, I caught the thing winking laconically at me, as it waited, patiently, comfortably nestled between Rice and Yarbro. So I gave it another go and, to my pleasant surprise, found myself acquiring a taste for Mr. Newman's rather unorthodox style. The complex dynamics between the three main female characters, old grudges which forced them apart, and even older obligations which drew them together, were, for me, the cornerstone of the book's appeal. And, being a James Bond fan from way back, his appearance was an interesting and cleverly wrought addition to the story line. The major flaw of this otherwise enjoyable read was its hastily concocted ending. I felt as if I were watching a cleverly directed big budget film, which falls a little flat at the ending, its financing cut short by a disgruntled investor. Don't let this little glitch deter you however. Mr. Newman spins a pretty good yarn.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Federico Fellini buffs take note!,
By
This review is from: Judgment of Tears:: Anno Dracula 1959 (Paperback)
Ciao Bella! Ye Gods! Newman is a fiendishly clever polymathic (sic?) confabulatory yarn spinner. Do ya like Alternate History? Do Ya like Vampires? Do Ya like Fellini, Il Maestro? If the answer is yes or even 'well maybe' to any of the above questions, then check out Newman's Anno Dracula stuff. Prior installments not neccassary, but recommended. Never have Vespa Scooters, sunglasses and blood drinking been so amusing, sexy, fun and witty. If you love playing 'spot the reference', you'll have a ball (Clark from Kansas and Gomez Addams, anyone?) Also features an exteneded cameo, nay a supporting role even, by a character stand in for the late great MARCELLO MASTROIANI, for my money to coolest thespian even to commit his immortal soul to celluliod, although I'm not sure I've spelled his name correctly (!). Also, Velvet Undergrounf fans are in for a small treat too...
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Blood Gelato? You Gotta Love It!,
By
This review is from: Judgment of Tears:: Anno Dracula 1959 (Paperback)
Newman's third book in the ANNO DRACULA series is arefreshingly light look at post-WWII Italy in his alternate universewhere Dracula (after having ruled England as Queen Victoria's PrinceConsort from 1885-88, then acted as Kaiser Wilhelm's chief militarystrategist during WWI) has retired in semi-exile to a large castlejust outside of Rome. Having recently announced his engagement to thevampiress Princess Asa Vajda of Moldavia, vampire elders aredescending upon Rome. This has upset the natural order of things, andvampire elders are being slaughtered by a mortal known as the CrimsonExecutioner. Also in Rome are the dying Charles Beauregard and hislover, 500+ year-old vampire Genevieve Dieudonne. Charles is beingquestioned by England's top spy, a vampire with a license to kill,about Dracula's possible motives for this wedding. Things soon take anasty turn, and vampire journalist Kate is soon in the thick of thehunt for the Crimson Executioner, too. The story takes great delightin lifting elements from Felini, Italian giallo horror movies, andeven THE EXORCIST! A great, fun read, not terribly scary but stillquite exciting as a vampire story where the bloodsuckers are bothheroes and villains. Can't wait for Newman's next, JOHNNY ALUCARD.
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