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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
exciting vampire crime thriller, August 26, 2005
After being tortured for over an hour and being skinned alive, vampire Jack Fleming, owner of the nightclub Lady Crymsyn, in Chicago of 1938 is recovered physically but is an emotional wreck. He can't hypnotize anyone without getting a vicious headache. He has uncontrollable muscle spasms and an unholy thirst for blood to drink. He is afraid if he is with his girlfriend Bobbie, he will be unable to control his bloodlust so he keeps his distance from her at a time he needs her most.
His friend, mob boss Gordy is sick and while he recovers, Jack takes his place. A New York Crime lord is in Chicago to hear why Jack killed the man who tortured him before bumping off Jack. The vampire risks the headache and hypnotizes him into becoming his friend. When the lead singer at and his ex wife are both murdered, Jack resolves to find the killer. When a mob war breaks out Jack has to watch his back from his enemies because in his present condition he could be killed and in a horrible twist, his greatest enemy uses Bobbie to bring him to his knees.
P.N. Elrod has written another exciting vampire crime thriller featuring an immortal but not invulnerable protagonist who suffers from panic attacks because of lingering psychological trauma. This vulnerability makes Jack even more of an endearing character in the tradition of Heathcliffe. The infighting in Chicago is very realistic in an Al Capone sort of way. Only Jack limits the violence as much as possible. This long running series just keeps getting better and better.
Harriet Klausner
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Solid Addition to the Vampire Files, October 11, 2005
**Spoiler Alert for Cold Streets**
A Song in the Dark is the 11th installment from P.N. Elrod in the Vampire Files. This novel picks up right where the last novel, Cold Streets, ends. Jack Fleming, our hero vampire, is trying to overcome the physical and psychological damage he endured after being skinned alive (or skinned dead in Jack's case) by a sadistic, diabolical mobster from New York. At the same time he's trying to fill in as mob boss for his pal Gordy, who is recovering from gunshot wounds incurred in the previous episode. At the same time, there's an internal mob conspiracy to unseat Gordy and the target at the moment is Jack. And he's not quite sure what to make of the New York mob boss, Whitey Kroun, who is trying to figure out what to do about Jack's killing of Hog Bristow - the nasty piece of work that did a little knife work on Jack. All this swirls around a murder mystery tied into all these subplots.
While A Song in the Dark is a solid addition to the Vampire Files, it is a bit of let down. While it ties up part of the loose ends from Cold Streets, it does little to advance the story of Jack Fleming, Charles Escott, and Bobbi Smythe. Instead of moving the characters forward they are stuck in a rut. We've seen Jack before grapple with his vampirism and frankly it is getting a little old. And Escott and Bobbi, except for a few interludes of drama, are basically role players here. This particular installment, for the most part, comes across as being a bit formulaic and drags out a little slowly.
There are some upsides to this novel though. There is some great foreshadowing and surprises along the way that are deftly handled. And the one character who does progress in the novel, in subtle ways, is Myrna, the resident ghost of Jack's nightclub, Lady Crymsyn. There are also enough surprises along the way to jolt the reader back into the story just as the action is lagging.
For fans of this series, this will be an enjoyable read, but probably a bit of let down from Cold Streets. And it is highly advisable to read Cold Streets prior to this novel, as a lot of what takes place is explained in the previous novel.
Finally, there is one big gaping hole left unfilled from Cold Streets. Where is Gilbert Dugan? In Cold Streets, Jack and Escott thwart another sadistic character who kidnapped a mentally disabled child. He subsequently finds out Jack is a vampire and blackmails him. After a confrontation with Jack he disappears. Jack currently has Gordy's gang looking for him. He is mentioned briefly early in A Song in the Dark - that he has not been found but that Jack has other things to worry about at the moment. No doubt, the resolution of this dilemma sets up another installment of The Vampire Files. Despite some of the drawbacks to A Song in the Dark, this reader looks forward to it.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
More Trouble for Jack!!, September 10, 2005
In the previous Jack Fleming book, Cold Streets, Jack was mercilessly and hideously tortured by the sadistic Hog Bristow. Due to his vampiric nature, he survived something that would have killed an ordinary man a dozen times over.
In P.N. Elrod's latest book, Song In The Dark, which takes place only a week after Cold Streets ended, Jack is trying desperately to come to terms with not only the pain he endured, but also the form his revenge took. His psyche is still that of an ordinary mortal, and though the physical scars are fading fast, he is having a near impossible time recovering from the psychological and emotional wounds he suffered. And to make matters worse, he's begun to have debilitating seizures, can no longer hypnotize anyone without having the most god-awful headaches imaginable, and has a nearly uncontrollable craving for blood.
However, life (or in Jack's case, Undeath) goes on, and there are plenty of other complications to keep Jack and company busy. Jack is still standing in for Gordy while he recovers from a gunshot wound. He's also got his nightclub, Lady Crymsyn, to run. Whitey Kroun, the mob boss who sent Hog Bristow to Chicago is in town himself, and wants to know who's responsible for Hog's death. With him is his deputy Mitchell, a man from Bobbi's past. Add to that two murders, lots of lowlife suspects, and dozens of twists and turns!
Throughout the entire book, Elrod lets us see how Jack's new disabilities affect his relationships with his partner Escott, as well as with Bobbi. And even though there are lots of hints of what's to come, the confrontation near the end between Jack and Escott is absolutely mesmerizing!
As always, reading a Jack Fleming book is a little like catching up with old friends (or in certain cases, old enemies!), and I'm certainly glad that Elrod's left Jack in somewhat better straits than he was in at the end of the last book!
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