Jack was a cop in life – a dirty cop up to his eyes in
corruption and booze. Until he became a vampire and started to fight a new
addiction.
He’s back in LA, his hometown, no working as a detective and
a damn good one with his enhanced sense of smell. But even that almost fails
him when trying to find the killer of a popular Councilman and a prostitute.
Driven by a promise from the poor girl’s parents, Jack
investigates – and uncovers a drug plot full of betrayal, death, fae and
werewolves… and an ancient order of vampires who are interested in him
This books is a supernatural detective story set in LA
and it’s positively dripping in Film Noir feel. Film Noir – the hard boiled detective,
the glorious monologues, the gritty, dark city – is usually something I adore
completely or hate beyond reason. It all depends on whether the author can pull
it off
And I didn’t hate this one.
It works. It really works. It works even more with the
vampire – world weary detective who has seen it all, been there and has very
little to hope for while drinking too much and trying to conceal the last shred
of hope within his cynical, harsh mask? It’s done perfectly with extra impact
of this detective being a vampire who has seen it all for decades – and not always
been on the side of right and good. His cynicism is mixed with a lot of guilt
and a lot of regret all delivered in those excellent Film Noir monologues which
should be long winded but manage not to be.
Or maybe I just have a sneaking love of Film Noir.
The character doesn’t just fit the setting, but Jack is
an excellent character all round. He has history, he has depth, he has
development, he has weaknesses and problems all of which are written into the
story. He has strength but isn’t massively overpowered and plays a difficult
game often with forces that are greater than him – but he’s still a vampire and
has the power that comes with that.
The book also looks unflinchingly at a lot of things –
like police and government corruption – and notes that the victims of that
corruption are so often POC; there’s a few references to how racial dynamic
shapes the city and interactions. As well as some excellent, sharp, lampooning
of faux liberals and gesture politics. We have an entire family of Latino fae
(they’re also involved in crime – but so is everyone in this. It’s Film Noir,
Gritty with capital GRIT) in high office which is very unusual. The ME who is
more than what she seems and definitely smart enough to put together the clues
and discover the supernatural bodies on her slab is a Black woman.
Unfortunately, while there are some excellent female
characters who are strong, smart, savvy and up to their necks in the action
(and just a little corrupt – did I mention Gritty Film Noir?) there’s also that
old thread of female victimhood that permeates the book. I don’t think anyone
who resembles a major female character has a good ending in this book. There
are also no LGBT people, but there are some anti-gay slurs; I’ve said it before
– if you’re going to erase GBLT people at least have the decency to remove the
homophobia as well.
This book has a very complex take on addiction. Parts of
which are very well done and parts of which are deeply problematic.
Vampires need blood to survive, but they’re also driven
to take far more than they need. A vampire who drinks too much blood or who
kills when he feeds does not just kill a person, but they risk losing
themselves, blacking out, becoming a feral monster who quickly needs to be put
down. Addiction is shown as destructive for its victims (which is good) but
also portrays addicts as monstrous and murderous, which is less so. There’s
also some really extreme appropriation of Alcoholics Anonymous going on, which I
can’t approve of. But there’s also some really excellent depictions of the
struggle with addiction, how it affects someone, how the craving feels, having
to fight that fight every day. The depiction of how they fight that addiction,
of their support networks and the troubles they have are all excellently
depicted as is making the addiction and the struggle an integral part of the
character – something that informs and influences everything he does.
So it has some elements I don’t like, but it has excellent elements threading through there as well.
The world setting is huge and complex and dynamic – the gritty
world, the vampires, werewolves and fae and no doubt more. The way they work,
without any of the glamourisation or tweeness that is always tempting, even the
lack of any kind of urge to make them all beautiful makes for a powerful,
engaging world. I think some of the information used here was rather
unnecessary and a little dumped in – but I suspect it will become relevant in
later books.
In all, this book works for me. It has some problems but
I love the style of the book, I love the richness of the world and the
atmosphere that is conveyed with every page. I love the darkness of it, the
corruption skewered by it, the self-depreciating awareness of it. And it helps
to have an exciting, compelling story and some truly excellent characters whose
story I really want to explore. This was a good one, bring on book 2!
