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Red - The Unquiet Grave
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18th
September 04 |
 Durham
Red - The Unquiet Grave
Peter J
Evans
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this book from Amazon.co.uk
What to Expect:
Saucy sucking shenanigans. Violent vampire vitriol. Much Messianic mutant
mayhem.
Review by Richmond
Clements
This book was going to have an uphill battle with me from the
very beginning: I’m not a huge fan of Durham Red. Yes, I have read every
episode of the ‘re-imagined’ character, but just don’t ask me
to explain what the hell was going on most of the time. The other thing is that
I am not a big fan of vampire books. Anne Rice books are, frankly, rubbish, and
while the likes of Storm Constantine may be good writers, the subject matter is
not interesting to me.
Evans does well here though, as he manages to hold my interest
throughout the book. Though a better knowledge of the Harrison/Abnett cycle of
tales would no doubt have been useful, the author gives the reader what information
they need to understand what is going on. But then again, I’m still reading
with a vague understanding of the comic stories, so whether the book would be
digestible to a complete Red novice is harder to say. I suspect that it would
not.
As for the vampire side of the story, to tell the truth, it’s not much in
evidence although Evans uses it as a sounding board to expand on Red’s mutant
abilities. Here, she can see in the dark and has superhuman strength.
There is something you’ll notice right from the beginning
of this book. Well, two things actually. Blood and sex. Before you get all excited
though, the sex is not of the James Herbert/ Hustler letters page type escapade,
but there is sex happening. The blood and gore on the other hand, is everywhere.
Evans, I think, is pushing what is acceptable in a comic strip character story,
and I don’t mean that in a bad way, I think he really is trying to push
the envelope here, and most of the time it works. The gore is gory (well, obviously)
but never gratuitous. Indeed, one scene which I though was gore for it’s
own sake was proved later to be part of the plot.
As for the plot... if you’ve read these reviews before,
then you’ll know I don’t like spoilers, so talking about the plot
of this book is kind of difficult. I will tell you that there is an interesting
twist during the tale and a final paragraph that does its job in making you want
to read the next book.
Character-wise, Durham is good, although let’s be honest, there isn’t
really a lot to go with, in the first place. The best realised character here
is Godolkin, who, to me at least, shines through as an interesting character,
or maybe I just think that calling someone ‘Blasphemy’ is cool...
So would I recommend this one?
Well, if you’re a fan of Durham Red, then I’d say
it’s more or less a sure thing you’ll love this. For the more casual
reader, I’d say it’s a more difficult call to make. So let’s
put it this way, I, against my expectations, liked it, and I am looking forward
to the next one. Therefore, if you’ve read and agreed with what I’ve
said about the other books in this series, then trust me here too.
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this book from Amazon.co.uk
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