Customer Reviews

Lady Crymsyn (Vampire Files, No. 9)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In spite of Franklin Roosevelt's efforts in his first term of office, the Depression still grips the nation in 1937. Prohibition has been repealed leaving the Chicago mob quiet as they seek new sources of revenue. In that backdrop, vampire Jack Fleming, who attains his sustenance by drinking the blood of cows in the nearby stockyards, plans to make something of himself. He is building a classy nightclub, LADY CRYMSON, catering to the tastes of the elite for fine wine, food, and entertainment.

His efforts hit a snag when the construction crew finds a body hidden in the basement behind a wall. The remains is at least five years old with a horrified Jack wondering who could have so cruelly walled the victim inside that death prison? Jack, a reporter in his previous life and currently a partner with a detective, begins to investigate. With the help of his mortal girl friend, he starts with the dress leading to its designer, which in turn sends the duo to Jack's landlord, a powerful mob boss. However, Jack seems no closer as the road continues to twist and wind.

The latest vampire Tales, LADY CRYMSON, is a delightful mix of mystery and horror with characters speaking the vernacular of a 1930s gangster in a way that would make Cagney proud. The select people who know what species Jack is treat him with respect and friendship that allows the audience to forget he is a vampire. That augments the feel of an authentic environment and adds to Jack's appeal. P.N. Elrod has written another great novel containing a well designed who-done-it with a pinch of horror elements to spice up the plot.

Harriet Klausner

This book was simply amazing. It took the very best of all the books in the series and used it in this one story with wonderful results. Elrod has a wonderful flow of dialogue (as always) and a stunning wit (as always) that can send me into fits of laughter just reading it. But she out did herself here, (just barely edging out 'E-I-E-I-O' as being my favorite quote from Jack) in so many ways... The mystery aspect was simply astounding. It kept me guessing all the way to the VERY end. The relationship stuff was great, with Bobbi and Jack being THE cutest supernatural couple ever. The supernatural aspect was great. Jack was in great form, back to his beginnings as the totally tough guy he can be. The introspective stuff was great.

IN SHORT...IT ROCKED! Keep going, Elrod!

I've been reading this series for a very long time, and have enjoyed each one. Jack Fleming is a somewhat traditional vampire who is also one of the good guys. Don't expect to encounter all the anguish and soul searching that Angel goes thru. Jack is hardly supernatural, instead, he is simply an all American boy with a 'condition.'

I enjoyed Jack's adventures in night club ownership so much that I went back and reread most of the series. This was a mixed blessing. I realised that there was a long period where the plots were very much the same. It's post-prohibition Chicago, guys-gals-gansters, and one gregarious and somewhat inept vampire. Considering the Jack can vanish, walk thru walls, see in the dark and tear people in half, it is amazing how many times he overestimates his abilities and gets beaten to near death with a stick (or an end table, etc.)

Jack seems to have acquires some intelligence in Lady Crymsyn, and that adds some depth to him and his story which make this one of the most pleasant volumes in the series.

It's been interesting watching P.N. Elrod grow as a writer. The first six books of her Vampire Files were decent, but quickly fell into formulaic and uninspired writing. With A DARK SLEEP, and now LADY CRYMSYN, she has produced two first rate mysteries, with familiar, comfortable, and interesting characters that follower's of the series will relish.

In LADY CRYMSYN we find Jack Fleming - vampire, nightclub owner thrown into a mystery when he finds the remains of a woman who has been walled up in the basement of his nightclub. There are plenty of twists, turns, and surprises along the way. Thumbs up.

"lady crymsyn" is just another one in a series of absolute perfection! The whole Vampire files is collectively addictive! The characters are alive and vivid, and As I have just finished reading this book, I am sad.....I want MORE! In this story Jack gets his UNlife long wish, and then some! He gets an ugly , terrible mystery, and it will take all his skills to solve the problems he faces, but no fear Jack is on the job.............I couldnt put it down! I hate to sound like a cliche-machine, but this has more twists and turns, than any roller-coaster ride..........I hope I have enough tickets to get back on again, because I want to ride it again! I shouldnt have to tell you this.........read this book!

First off, i liked this book. A lot. One of the dangers of a longrunning series such as the Vampire files is a continuous decline in quality as the author runs out of ideas and/or interest in his/her protagonist. This was also the case with the first set of Jack Fleming books, the first few being excelent, but later volumes while not really bad definitely tapering of into somewhat lackluster. When Mrs.Elrod returned to her old hero (in hardback to boot) after an extended hiatus of writing two other (vampire-)series i was both curious and excited to find out, whether her leave of absence had recharged her creative batteries. I must say the first two novels of the new set (volumes 7 and 8 respectively) were,at least to me, somewhat disapointing. For one thing, it seemed that the author had lost faith in her own ingenuity, and come to believe that she had written herself in a corner, by making her hero, especially his powers of mental domination, way to powerful for her to handle without being forced to resort to throwing equaly powerful supernatural oponents at him to provide a believable threat. As a result she went somewhat overboard in her effort to regain control of her creation, by completely ignoring his supposedly enhanced physical abilities while slapping evermore limiters and qualifiers on his metaphysical powers. Jack Fleming, amateur hackwriter and part time A.P.A. (Assistant Private Agent) became a Marlowe shaped punchingbag with a dietary restriction and allergy problems. Not a pretty picture. Stop with the lecturing about the previous books and get to the point already, what did you think about _this_ one, i hear you say. Uhmm right, sorry about that. Okay, after the last two novels i was somewhat reluctant about getting the new one in hardback, but with christmas around the corner i thought, what the heck, and bought it anyway. What can i say, P.N.Elrod is back and with her Jack Fleming. This is one of the best novels in the entire series. With regained selfconfidence she allows him to make full use of his vampiric powers, while using his vulnerabilities and basic human fallibility to deftly balance out his supernatural advantages, and let his mere mortal oponents outmanoeuver our hero, getting (often quite unwittingly) the drop on him on more than one occasion. The new Jack Fleming is more active (starting his own nightclub, trying to solve the mystery of the woman found walled up Poe style in his cellar, without help from his partner,...), but also somewhat darker than we have previously known him. Still compassionate to the people he considers innocent and loyal to his friends he has developed a new eye for an eye attitude, that seems to have rubbed off on him from his mob aquaintances. While not exactly callous, or cruel, he is definitely more casual about and willing to use violence and intimidation to get what he wants, or exact revenge. If i have one quibble with the book, it's the way how the mystery of the walled up corpse is finally solved in a way that smacks to much of deus ex machina for my taste. The reader has virtually no chance to figure out the killer for himself(safe by process of elimination, and even then he lacks _any_ proof) because the information necessary to do so is only provided in said deus ex machina fashion literally on the last pages. Aside from this literary faux pas it's still a very entertaining read. I give it four stars

Vampire investigator Jack Fleming seems on his way to being a nightclub owner when the remains of a woman's body are discovered walled up in the basement. It's up to Jack to began a probe of her death using his special vampire powers - which may not be enough to help him.

This is the 9th book in this series now, and they are still an enjoyable read, which is a real accomplishment by the author, because they could be quite stale by now in another author's hands. With each book you learn more about the characters in this 1930's Chicago setting. The characters also evolve and learn from previous experience. However, having said this, each book is a story to itself, and not a never-ending cliff-hanger. They also have a great mix of suspense, mystery and humor.

In this novel Jack has finally decided to stop reacting and start acting to make his 'new' life on his terms. To this end, he has leased an old run-down building (with money liberated from the mob in previous novels) and renovated it into his soon-to-be-opened club "Lady Crymsyn". Just when the workmen were getting to the last stages of the renovation, in the basement, Jack gets a phone call telling him of a horrible discovery.

Behind a false wall in the basement the remains of a woman who had been walled up alive and left to die are found. With the memory of his own lingering death, Jack decides to investigate to give the dead woman justice. Jack starts stepping on some toes (including his landloard's) and things become very interesting.

One of the things I love about this series, is that despite being a vampire, Jack (the narrator of this series) comes across as very human. In fact more human in someways than the mob elements he deals with on a regular basis.

Looking forward to the 10th book. If you like supernatural/vampire/detective fiction this series is really worth a look at.

Like the rest of the books in this series, "Lady Crymsyn" was written in a unique style of writing that evokes a person from the 1920s speaking directly to the reader. As usual, the main character Jack- a former reporter turned vampire and private detective- has to solve a mystery, in this case who killed the woman found walled up in the basement of his new nightclub.

However, this book is different from previous books in some key ways. The main character, Jack, is changing. He does a few things in this story that he would never have done a few books back, and at times I wanted to whack him for being stupid and immoral at the same time. The changes are subtle, though, and Jack is still usually a good person. Although I enjoyed the book less because of the changes in Jack, I can not rate it poorly because it is clear that this is simply the author's decision, and the writing is nonetheless excellent.

Personally, I was not very interested in the plot of this book. The complex, twisting plot did not hold my attention as much as it could have. Also, the story was darker than previous tales, and I found the ending rather depressing.

I was pleased that mob boss Gordy was featured in this book, althought unfortunately Shoe Coldfield made only a few brief appearances.

All in all, it was an entertaining book, worth the [money]. Despite the darker aspects of the book, it had many humorous moments as well. And it is a sign of a healthy book series when the characters change, rather than becoming fossilized in recycled plots. I recommend this book highly, and only gave it 4 stars because at times the plot seemed a little convoluted and in one scene I thought that the author was trying a little too hard to make Jack seem like a good person.

This is the eighth in Elrod's Vampire Files series. Like all the others, it is a very good and very quick read. The hero is a mild-mannered reporter turned private investigator in post-Prohibition Chicago. And, oh by the way, he's a vampire.

I really enjoy this series. The characters are believable, the plot is engaging and the style is right out of the old gumshoe pulps. To me, the best part of the series is that the hero's vampirism is almost an afterthought. He has real ambitions and real concerns. And some supernatural abilities (and limitations) that both help and hinder him. If you like the old detective magazines, you'll love this twist.