Customer Reviews

Voice of the Blood

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

The blurb on the back of this book was clearly written by someone who wished to entice the reader, but who lacked time to actually read the book. As a result a very interesting and unusual approach to vampire fiction is hidden underneath some very vapid commentary. So if you have looked at the marketing for this little volume and decided it is yet another piece of dumb vampire fiction take my advice and go back and look again.

Graduate student Ariane Dempsey and her boyfriend John Thurbis are living a typical academic intellectual life. The only cloud on the horizon is that John is about to leave for England as a guest lecturer at Cambridge. They are having the usual difficulties of a couple facing a long separation when suddenly Ariane is catapulted into an unexpected nightmare. On returning to her lab one night she surprises a 'creature' in the middle of devouring her lab rats. In a flash it turns on her, and, in the most unusual fashion possible, fulfills its needs with her blood.

Ariane awakens in the hospital, recovers, and life goes on. As John readies to leave Ariane receives a letter of apology and an invitation to visit her intruder. When John flies to England Ariane has her first meeting with Ricari, the most ethereal of vampires. Hei is a complete ascetic, drinking only enough blood to survive, celibate, a devout catholic, and, currently, deeply desiring to end his two hundred years of life. Ariane agrees to help him if only he will share his story with her. But Ricari's end winds up being infinitely postponed as Ariane and he gradually come to love each other. But it is a doomed relationship. Ricari refuses to turn Ariane and continues to be driven by his own death wish. Finally, in a fit of anger, he injures her so badly that he sends to another vampire, Daniel, to get her out of his life.

Daniel repairs Ariane's injuries and introduces her to a lifestyle that is bizarre, even for Los Angeles. Living in earthquake damaged buildings; Daniel and a crowd of ragamuffin humans who are his followers carry out a lifestyle that is as erotically charged as Ricari's life was ascetic. There, Ariane meets Lovely, Chloe, Mimsy, and many other eccentric characters that have fled their own lives to pursue existence with a vampire. Ariane and Daniel become lovers caught in a dance that will inevitable lead through cycles of lust, death, and rebirth.

The novel has several levels, the vampire tale, the quest for transformation, and moments that are poetic in a post-modern sense. But the strongest theme is that of a sexuality which is both raw and rude. This is a modern gothic romance, and the players refer to their parts by name and function, and do some very unusual things with them. If you are easily shocked this may put you off of the story, so be warned. There is still a remarkable femininity to the sexuality, which should come as no surprise, since the story is written and told by a woman. For the most part I found the approach refreshing and imaginative. A far cry, however, from the lush sensuality of Anne Rice and Laurell Hamilton.

The book has much to recommend it, apart from the note that it is not for children. I do not know if Jemiah Jefferson will continue to experiment with the horror genre or if she will head off to more experiment zones. But I can recommend this book, and suggest you keep your eye out for her further efforts.

The cover looked good. Really. And the first chapter was promising. The initial horrific scene was also nice. It was all downhill from there.

The inital premise seemed refreshing - a vampire who was religious, and who was unhappy with himself and his existance. However, the protagonist was so inconsistently written that it made me want to scream. She was a brilliant scientist and researcher....who used drugs on a regular basis? She was strong enough to make a mark for herself in the world of science, enough of her own woman to refuse to leave her university and travel with her fiancee to support his fellowship, but she rolls over and submits to not one, but two total strangers?

Add to this the fact that there is not a single likeable character in the bunch (even Ricari, who at first seems concerned about the deaths he has caused is, in fact, only concerned with the disposition of his own soul.

Technically, the writing is good. I did, in fact, finish the novel, though the characters left me with a bad taste in my mouth. All in all, a flawed work.

I have always been a fan of anything to do with vampires. One day I was just looking around and stumbled upon this book. I bought it, then began reading it the next day. After the 1st chapter I was a little skeptical about continuing the book because something happened that I just wasn't expecting. But I'm glad I did continue reading. It turned out to be a book that I couldn't put down... it was absolutely amazing!!! The characters are totally wonderful. The vampire Daniel was my favorite. You kind of wish he were a REAL person. I thought that this book was written extremely well, and the details were so vivid. You got pulled into this world of love, lust, violence, sex, drugs, and friendship. I hope Jemiah Jefferson continues writing books like this. I think there needs to be a sequal to "Voice of the Blood" *hint hint Jemiah*!!! If you get the chance, pick this book up... because I guarantee you will not be able to put it down. And once it's over, you'll wish you would've read it slowly!

I don't really have much to say about this one, the story of a young woman initiated into what the back cover somewhat melodramatically refers to as "the world of the undead, the vampire, a world far beyond the myths and legends that the living think they know. A world even more horrifying than the living could suspect." Apart from minor missteps, the writing is solid, but the story doesn't break new ground, featuring as it does a vampire initiate, an older, self-pitying vampire who cherishes the past, and his long time companion, a younger, more aggressive creature of the night who revels in everything the modern world has to offer. We've seen this kind of thing before, from Dark Shadows' Barnabas Collins, to Anne Rice's increasingly banal vampire books, to Nancy Collins' Sonja Blue series. Jefferson does a credible job, but Voice is little more than a rehash of plot elements from other sources. The book's final chapters are somewhat more intriguing than those which preceded them, as Jefferson demonstrates a little individuality, describing in vivid detail the main character's metamorphosis from human to vampire, a desperate journey to save her sire's life, and two uneasy reconciliations between former lovers. Still, it isn't enough to overcome the comparative tediousness of the first two hundred sixteen pages. In the end, it's merely competent, a good, quick read, a decent travel companion, but no more than that. Readers who like this kind of thing might better spend their time with books like Rice's The Vampire Lestat, S. P. Somtow's Vampire Junction, Suzy Mckee Charnas' The Vampire Tapestry, or Michael Talbot's The Delicate Dependency.

Unfortunately I have a dissenting opinion. I did not find the characters at all interesting. I thought they were whiney, immature, and one dimensional. I have read a lot of the best in this genre, Laurell K. Hamilton, Tanya Huff, etc., and was VERY disappointed in this book. I do think this author has talent, but wish she had spent more time on characterization.

I bought this book, expecting to be disappointed. Everytime I read amazon reviews that glow, I buy the book, read it and then remember that only people who care about the book bother to write the reviews.

Boy, was I wrong. Damn good book. Several people mentioned Anne Rice in their reviews and I wish Rice got back to writing this coherently again, telling stories about vampires that you like. (Did anyone actually LIKE Vittorio, Pandora, etc. Maybe the ideas turned you on, but jesus, Lestat was the only vampire I actually wanted to BE). Jemiah delivers the goods and I only can express my thanks to her for it.

By the way, Jemiah, if you're reading this....get a better cover. Whoever did your marketing and design did you an injustice.

Geo

The plot of this one may seem like an everyday vampire novel from first glance but thankfully it's a lot different once you bite in. There is one thing about this book that is slightly out of the norm: it definitely focuses on the sexual side of both humanity and vampires. While this isn't really different from any other vampire tale, what makes it stand out is that it's loaded with it. There are explicit details, naughty dialogue, and a high number of sexual encounters, from the first chapter to basically the last one. Not to mention not all of the sex is even straight; I wouldn't call this one PG-13. But it is erotic.

The style of the writing was fast-paced and to the point. The transition between chapters was done well, and the overlying mood was dark but also fun and light. It's no easy feat to blend all those in one novel, but Jefferson manages to make it his craft.

It dropped two stars simply because there wasn't enough substance for my taste. It offered what it offered and that's that. There were no hidden meanings, surprising twists, mysteries to solve, crimes to stop, dreams to plunge or lives to destroy - it was a pretty basic story filled with sex and minor emotional dilemma, nothing much else.

ARIANE IS A GRAD. STUDANT, AND JOHN (ARIANE'S FIANCEE) IS A PROFESSOR; AGE 29, IN PHYSICS. JOHN GOT AN INVITE TO STAY AT CAMBRADGE FOR A FEW MONTHS. THEY FOUGHT AND ENDED THE RELATIONSHIP. ARIANE MEETS (WELL FELL PREY TO) RICARI, A VERY OLD ECCENTRIC VAMPIRE. SHE FALLS IN LOVE WITH HIM. HE SENDS HER TO HIS OLD BOYFRIEND DANIEL WHOM HE MADE A VAMPIRE; HE LIVES IN HOLLYWOOD.
DANIEL FALLS IN LOVE WITH HER, BUT HE IS VERY SLUTTY. AND HE HAS A POSSE, OF NON-VAMPIRES THAT FOLLOW HIM.
ARIANE MEETS LOVELY (A GAY 18 Y. OLD KID) HER NEW BESTFRIEND.
DANIEL WANTS HER TO BECOME A VAMPIRE ALSO, BUT SOMETHING GOES WRONG. SO THEY ARE ON THEIR WAY BACK TO SEE RICARI, TO HELP THEM.
THIS BOOK WAS GREAT READING, FABULOUS CHARTERERS, AND A WELL WRITTEN STORY. BUT I STILL DON'T KNOW WHY RICARI, AND THEN LATER DANIEL TRIED TO KILL HER. (THIS KNOWLEDGE WILL NOT INTERFER WITH THE READING OF THE BOOK). THE BOOK NEVER SAID. THAT WAS WHY I GAVE IT 4 STARS.

The strength of this vampire novel, and the weakness of others, is that Jefferson has actual characters. You know, fictional beings with problems and hang-ups, hopes and desires. You care about the people living in _Voice of the Blood_. So many authors just use their characters as tools to get from plot point A to plot point B. It was so great to read a horror novel where I actually cared what happened, where I got lost in the book. She had lots of sex and perversity, but again it made sense and seemed to fit with the story. Kudos to the author and here's hoping for more.

This is quite a debut effort from a new writer who's bound to make herself known within horror circles. She writes like a real pro, her knowledge of gothic lifestyle quite certain. The vampires here are very real, the first-person protag easily identifiable. I recommend this book highly, as I was quite pleased and surprised with its contents. Great job, Ms Jefferson. I'll look for more from you.