Thursday, May 27, 2010

The Girls with Games of Blood-Alex Bledsoe

The Girls with Games of Blood
Alex Bledsoe
Tor, Jul 6 2010, $14.99
ISBN 9780765323842

He had survived for ages until 1915 when Baron Rudolfo Vladimir Zginski was staked through the heart. In 1975 pathologist Patricia Johnson withdraws the cross from the mummified corpse, which revives the dormant dead Continental vampire. In Memphis, when he meets some moronic young hippie vamps, he reluctantly takes the kids under his wings (see Blood Groove).

Mentoring vamps is not easy for a vowed misogynist; especially the push for gender and racial equality when he knows he is the superior breed due to his aristocratic heritage, sex and race, yet his sidekick is black Leonardo Jones. However, he has a new passion with the modern age and buys a 1973 Mustang from Zeb Crabtree while Jones wants to bite Zeb’s daughter, Clora. At the Ringside Club Rudolfo owns, his waitress Fauvette meets undead singer Patience Bolade who like her estranged sister Prudence thrives without drinking blood. Zeb wants to bring the battling sisters past their civil war fight to the modern age as he wants to taste both Bolade babes; unaware how nasty a baseball bat can be when it strikes the head of even a vampire when the hitter swings for the fences.

Not for everyone as the Baron may be sophisticate and suave, but he also is a malicious racist, nasty sexist and arrogant elitist. Starting with the opening profound one word profanity at the bar the story line is filled with gore, action, and gore as the Baron goes after sisters of the blood in an entertaining but over the top of the Smokey Mountains historical vampire tale.

Harriet Klausner

No comments: