Memories of Envy
Barn Hendee
Roc, Oct 5 2010, $15.00
ISBN: 9780451463531
There are very few vampires in existence today because they failed to abide by the laws of the elders such as not killing humans. Instead they should use their powers to insure the mortal they drank blood from forgets the incident. Eleisha Clevon lives by that rule and the other laws. She has gathered two vampires Rose and her protector Philip to the Portland underground, an abandoned church set up as vampire headquarters. Wade Shelfield is the investigator who has located vampires so that Eleisha can reason with them to diligently stick to the old laws and offer them sanctuary in her Oregon home.
Standing in their way is Julian who has notelepathy, but he likes power and ignores the ancient laws. He has killed vampires before and uses, without their knowledge, Eleisha and her group to take him into the hiding place of other vampires so he can kill them too. Eleisha learns about the dead vampire Maggie’s progeny Simone Stratford and is determined to bring this Roaring Twenties ingénue to her home. She fails to realize that cute innocent looking Simone enjoys the hunt and plans a deadly game with her wannabe savior and Philip who she is attracted to.
Urban fantasy vampire readers will thoroughly enjoy the latest Vampire Memories thriller (see Hunting Memories). Eleisha is a good individual who lives by the moral code of the elders. Her vulnerability is being a Good Samaritan trying to help her peers see the light as she hopes to forge a law-abiding community. She is naive as her faith in her species is strong with her only picturing Julian as evil. Her protector was a predator for years, but now is there for her by trying to abide by her rules. However, it is Simone who makes the tale entertaining as she teaches Eleisha a lesson not to judge a book by its cover. Harriet Klausner
Haunted Legends
Ellen Datlow and Nick Mamaras
Tor, Sep 14 2010, $27.99
ISBN: 9780765323002
These twenty regional ghost stories based on local legends around the world make up a spirited fun anthology that will have readers keeping the lights on for two or three weeks.
All the entries are fabulous with perhaps the best of the lot being the final contribution by Joe Lansdale, “The Folding Man" and the haunting (starring Stalin’s ruthless henchman Beria) "Tin Cans" by Ekaterina Sedia. Also excellent are Fiji based “That Girl” by Kaaron Warren, the Japanese located "15 Panels Depicting the Sadness of the Baku and the Jotai" by Catherynne M. Valente, and "Return to Mariabronn" by Gary A. Braunbeck.
Whether it be “Akbar” by Kit Reed in India, a “Knickerbocker Holiday” by Richard Bowes in Hudson Valley New York or vampires in Rhode Island in "As Red as Red” by Caitlin R. Kiernan, this is a super diverse collection. Harriet Klausner
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