Customer Reviews

Madonna of the Dark

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

 

 

Fans of Elaine Bergstrom's vampire series shouldn't miss _Madonna of the Dark_. This well-crafted first novel offers a complex and believable undead heroine, dark Gothic romance with psychic overtones, and three hundred years of you-are-there history at breathtaking speed. Those who prefer vampire sagas with a _Wuthering Heights_ flavor won't be disappointed.

An engaging story, filled with wonderful period details of life in 17th century France, 18th century Spain, 19th century South Africa, and Gold Rush era San Francisco, Madonna of the Dark is a strong first novel. Victoria's journey to find her place among humanity is compelling drama, casting light into the dark soul of a vampiress searching for redemption. Victoria will never let the reader forget her.

Set against the richness of the Irish Highlands, Victoria learns that sometimes love is too great a price. This glorious Vampire story combines the ancient lore of the Vampire, with an emotional struggle to find peace. The beautiful use of words is so dramatic that Victoria's need to feed and create one of her own kind finds the reader forgetting the fact that the man lost his true life in a sensuous love scene, so that he could live forever with Victoria. Madonna of the Dark brings a freshness to the genre of Vampire stories that has not been read since Dracula circled the earth.

Moore is a gifted writer of vivid descriptions and well-developed characters. I read few vampire novels, but I was drawn into the eerie world of the sympathetic and virtuous lady in this one.

There was no real detailed description of anybody or anything. I prefer more explicitness, making it easier to envision the characters and their surroundings that the author had in mind. Some might refer to that type of prose as wordy and cumbersome, but I prefer to think of it as painting a picture or portrait for me, the reader. Other reviewers have commented that the story moves swiftly; and it does because many of the sentences are not very long, the writing style reminding me of my 9 year old daughter's. Many of the dialogue scenes sounded as melodramatic as a poorly written soap opera. I waivered between giving it 3 stars or 2; I give a book 3 stars if I think it's an average good read. This story is basically good, and I really liked the ending epilogue; but I decided on 2 stars because the vampire Victoria becoming a Mother Theresa-like goody two shoes building an orphange for abandoned kiddies, complete with a chapel and an organ, bugged me.

Shroud yourself in the power of "Madonna". Elaine Moore will feed your taste for a tale of the undying!!!