Manitou Blood [Mass Market Paperback]

Graham Masterton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2005

In one of the hottest summers for decades, New York City is being swept by a strange and terrible epidemic. Doctors are helpless as victims fall prey to a bizarre blood disorder. They can no longer eat solid food, they become hypersensitive to sunlight ? and they have an irresistible need to drink human blood. As panic grips the city, and mobs of bloodthirsty people roam the streets, self-taught psychic Harry Erskine has to enter the shadowy realms between the living and the dead, and call on America's native spirits to help him in a struggle for human survival in which death is only the beginning . . .

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Graham Masterton's first novel, T"he Manitou," was a bestseller and an instant classic and was made into a feature film. Masterton has won an Edgar Award and France's prestigious Prix Julia Verglanger. Several of his stories have been adapted for television.
Masterton's more than one hundred novels include "Charnel House, The Chosen Child," and "Maiden Voyage" (a" New York Times" bestseller). He has written for adults, young adults, and children and edited several anthologies. Earlier in his career, Masterton edited men's magazines, including "Penthouse," He has written a number nonfiction books on sex, including "How to Drive Your Man Wild in Bed," which has sold more than three million copies.
Masterton and his wife, Wiescka, live in Ireland.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 367 pages
• Publisher: Leisure Books (September 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0843954256
• ISBN-13: 978-0843954258
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,829,757 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply the best, December 20, 2005

By 

G. DeJulio "horror reader" (Wynantskill, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Manitou Blood (Mass Market Paperback)

Graham Masterton has become the greatest writer of modern horror in the past twenty five years. He is simply that good. His dialogue may be campy at times and his climactic scenes occasionally clunky or over the top, but I challenge any true horror fan to make the claim that they have felt cheated or let down after reading a Masterton novel. Masterton is the only horror novelist who consistently delivers outstanding books.

Manitou Blood is a first rate thriller that captivates from the beginning until the end. Harry Erskine, the hapless anti hero of the Manitou Series (and of the unrelated novel "The Djinn") is brought in against his will to combat a deadly new plague affecting NYC residents who are now on a murderous blood drinking rampage.

Aided by the spirit of Indian Medicine Man John Singing Rock, his former girlfriend, the psychic Amelia Sachs, a Romanian scholar/vampire expert and a hardy Doctor who is gradually succumbing to the plague's effects, Harry discovers that he is dealing once again with the wonder worker Misquamacas who is wreaking havoc through the unwilling spirit of Vasile Lup, an infamous vampire gatherer. As an experienced Masterton reader then can guess, all hell breaks loose.

That's all for now. To paraphrase a very bad Tina Turner song, Masterton is "simply the best". Read this book, then read the rest of the Manitou series, then read everything you can get your hands on by Masterton. If you are squeamish, then DON'T READ GRAHAM MASTERTON! If you are a hardy soul ready for a rollercoaster ride to perdition and back, then Masterton will help you gear up for the ride.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great Start, Kinda Disappointing Finish, July 23, 2006

By 

Aguagon "aguagon" (Tucson, Arizona) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Manitou Blood (Mass Market Paperback)

First of all, I need to note that this was my first Graham Masterton novel (and, of course, my first Harry Erksine novel). I realize I sort of jumped in in the middle, but the story was clearly designed to stand on its own, so that's the ground I'll be reviewing it on.

The beginning of the story is a captivating look at what a vampire epidemic would look like from a medical perspective in 21st century America. As Dr. Frank Winter desperately tries to figure out what strange new disease could be making people vomit up gallons of blood that happens to be a mix of many blood types, vampires overrun New York City and, in true apocalyptic horror story fashion, kill off everyone but a select few charismatic protagonists. So far, so good.

Then comes the part where one of those protagonists, Harry Erksine, get help from his otherwordly Native American spirit guide, Singing Rock. I was a little put off at first, but I figured I'd roll with it.

And therein lies my biggest complaint with this otherwise riveting story: you have to roll with a lot. By the end of the story, Erksine is contacting mystical otherwordly forces to help him fight the vampires through rituals that are only vaguely and mystically explained. I understand that this is a story about the supernatural (heck, I'd want a refund if there wasn't at least a little otherworldly stuff going on), but even supernatural stories need boundaries and a sense of what's fair play and what isn't. So far as I could tell, at any point in the story Harry could have summoned meteorites from the sky to pummel his enemies with. I mean, why not?

Masterton also doesn't quite seem able to understand what style of writing he wants to do this thing in. In the beginning of the story, it's frightening realism, a fresh look at what might happen if vampires invaded your neighborhood tomorrow. By the end, it's almost pure fantasy, and a good deal harder to relate to.

For all that, the story was fast-paced and exciting, the characters were quirky and interesting, and the plot was involving all the way through. I was very entertained while I was reading it, and it was only after I took a two-day breather near the end of the book that I realized the book could easily end with Zeus making an appearance and smiting the vampires the way things were going. Basically, as long as you don't think too much, you'll have a good time with "Manitou Blood."

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Manitou Goes for the Throat, November 16, 2005

By 

Maggie May (Akron, OH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Manitou Blood (Mass Market Paperback)

Fourth in Masterton's MANITOU series (fifth novel to feature protagonist Harry Erskine), MANITOU BLOOD is a great follow-up to BURIAL. Nobody wreaks havoc with famines and plagues like Masterton does! This time out, Harry is forced to solve the puzzle of a a kind of blood-virus that seems to be possessing New Yorkers and turning them into vampire-like beings. Also on hand to help out is the doctor who first discovers the virus, as they and a small band of others join forces to track down the origins of the mysterious supernatural plague and put a stop to it once and for all. Erskine is one of the grat protagonists of horror literature--funny, frightened, a bit of wimp, but with the courage to overcome. Highly recommended.