A Dark World of Intrigue: A Review of The Dark Enquiry by Deanna Raybourn

Title: The Dark Enquiry
Author: Deanna Raybourn
Edition: Paperback
Publisher: MIRA 2011
Pages: 387
Challenges: Read Your Own Books Challenge; GoodReads 2011 Reading Challenge
How I Came by This Book: This was actually one of the last books that I purchased from Borders before it closed. I had been anxiously awaiting it's release but was financially incapable of getting a copy until a few months after it came out.

About the Author: A sixth-generation native Texan, Deanna Raybourn graduated from the University of Texas at San Antonio with a double major in English and history and an emphasis on Shakespearean studies. She taught high school English for three years in San Antonio before leaving education to pursue a career as a novelist. Deanna makes her home in Virginia, where she lives with her husband and daughter, and is hard at work on the next installment in the award-winning Lady Julia Grey series.

Synopsis: Partners now in marriage and in trade, Lady Julia and Nicholas Brisbane have finally returned from abroad to set up housekeeping in London. But merging their respective collections of gadgets, pets and servants leaves little room for the harried newlyweds themselves, let alone Brisbane's private enquiry business.

Among the more unlikely clients: Julia's very proper brother, Lord Bellmont, who swears Brisbane to secrecy about his case. Not about to be left out of anything concerning her beloved--if eccentric--family, spirited Julia soon picks up the trail of the investigation.

It leads to the exclusive Ghost Club, where the alluring Madame Séraphine holds evening séances...and not a few powerful gentlemen in thrall. From this eerie enclave unfolds a lurid tangle of dark deeds, whose tendrils crush reputations and throttle trust.

Shocked to find their investigation spun into salacious newspaper headlines, bristling at the tension it causes between them, the Brisbanes find they must unite or fall. For Bellmont's sake--and more--they'll face myriad dangers born of dark secrets, the kind men kill to keep...

Review: I've gushed about Deanna Raybourn's novels several times on this blog (see especially my reviews of Dark Road to Darjeeling and The Dead Travel Fast), so I'll spare you yet another hagiography of the woman who has become my favorite contemporary female author. I'll just reiterate that she is an insanely talented writer whose novels transcend genres and transport the reader right into the heart of the worlds that she creates.

So it was again with The Dark Enquiry. This time, however, I felt that Raybourn's plot was a bit thin and her minor characters not as well fleshed out as they have been in the past. While I don't think any of her suspects could ever be as vivacious and detailed as they were in Dark Road to Darjeeling, the line-up of would-be murderers and the bit players in her recent murder mystery paled in comparison to any of the characters I'd seen before. They were, of course, unique and could have been fairly interesting had it not been that the nature of her story caused them to disappear soon after they were introduced. Instead of a complex tangle of competing motives that continued straight to the end, the murder suspects this time came and went almost as if this were a TV procedural.

There were some incredible new characters introduced this time around--most notably the mysterious Sir Morgan and Lady Julia's new footmen, Pigeon and Swan--and many of the returning characters, especially those in Lady Julia's own family, were welcome sights for those who have been following the series from the beginning. The Roma camp that plays an integral role in the novel featured some interesting characters from Brisbane's past as well. Still, after how deftly Raybourn juggled competing story lines in her last Lady Julia novel, The Dark Enquiry seemed a little flat, at least in the middle of the book.

The beginning and the end were both pure, unadulterated fun and were much more similar to the other novels. They featured the same witty banter, thrilling action, and gasp-worthy surprises that I've come to expect. Beginning with a literal explosion and ending with a figuratively explosive unveiling of secrets, this novel held my attention for most of the narrative. It was just some of the middle bits that I felt dragged. This time around I really had no idea who was behind the nefarious plot and when it was revealed I was more shocked than I ever have been by a Raybourn novel. Everything about the ending was satisfying (except for one or two things that I can't get into here) and I found myself coming to appreciate some of the things that had seemed superfluous in the rest of the book.

I guess what I'm really trying to say is that The Dark Enquiry is a bit of a quagmire. The somewhat-dragging middle contains a lot of things that are essential for the ending, which shows that Raybourn hasn't lost her touch. It's imperative that readers keep this in mind because otherwise they may find their attention flagging a little. While I won't say that on the whole this is her best novel, I will say that what happens in the latter part of the book makes it well worth reading.

I think if I could raise any real issue with the novel, it was that Lady Julia was more than a little aggravating at times. Her desire to be a part of Brisbane's life and work while not realizing how important she is to him made her say and do things that were, frankly, obnoxious. I found myself wishing I could hit her upside the head a few times, to be honest. She is such an amazing character and I would hate to see her devolve into one of those silly female characters who thinks of herself only in relation to the man to whom she is married. Brisbane remains one of the strongest male characters I've come across in years and I don't want Lady Julia to lose the strength that I've come to associate with her.

Another novel is hinted at on the last page of The Dark Enquiry and I'm yet again anxiously awaiting it, as well as any other book that Raybourn has kicking around in that brilliant head of hers. I'd like to reread this one again sometime, knowing what I know now about where it all ends up, just so that I can fully appreciate the intricacies of the text. I think this is one of those books where a second read is called for (much like Terry Pratchett's Hogfather, which I didn't like as much the first time as I did the second).

I'm giving The Dark Enquiry 4 out of 5 Gabriels. While there are better novels in the series, I still can't rate this one too low because, honestly, it's still one of the best mystery/historical fiction novels on the market today.

-Gabe

People Aren't Always What They Seem: A Review of Deanna Raybourn's Dark Road to Darjeeling

Title: Dark Road to Darjeeling
Author: Deanna Raybourn
Edition: Paperback
Publisher: MIRA Books (2010)
Pages: 388
How I Came By This Book: I've been following Deanna Raybourn's career ever since shortly after her first novel, Silent in the Grave, was published. I finally purchased this novel earlier this year at Borders and am only now getting around to it (despite the fact that her latest novel was just released and I'm dying to read it).
Challenges: Read Your Own Books Challenge; GoodReads 2011 Reading Challenge

 
Synopsis: After eight idyllic months in the Mediterranean, Lady Julia Grey and her detective husband are ready to put there investigative talents to work once more. At the urging of Julia's eccentric family, they hurry to India to aid an old friend, the newly widowed Jane Cavendish. Living on the Cavendish tea plantation with the remnants of her husband's family, Jane is consumed with the impending birth of her child--and with discovering the truth about her husband's death. Was he murdered for his estate? And if he was, could Jane and her unborn child be next?

Amid the lush foothills of the Himalayas, dark deeds are buried and malicious thoughts flourish. The Brisbanes uncover secrets and scandal, illicit affairs and twisted legacies. In this remote and exotic place, exploration is perilous and discovery, deadly. The danger is palpable and, if they are not careful, Julia and Nicholas will not live to celebrate their first anniversary.

Review: I first read a Deanna Raybourn novel, Silent in the Grave, back in 2007, shortly after it was first published. I'm not sure what caught my eye (perhaps the title?), but when I plucked it from my hometown library's shelves and perused the first page, I knew I had to read it. The first two sentences of her first novel embodied everything that I've come to love about her as a writer:

To say that I met Nicholas Brisbane over my husband's dead body is not entirely accurate. Edward, it should be noted, was still twitching upon the floor. (p. 13)

Since then I have devoured every one of her novels, including her first (and currently only) stand-alone, The Dead Travel Fast. 

Raybourn has managed to become, in a relatively short period of time, my favorite contemporary female writer. I will admit that I'm not a fan of historical fiction, mysteries, or romance novels, of which her novels contain an element of each. Yet, her skill as a writer, her unique voice, her twisting plots, and her endearing and unforgettable characters shatter every preconceived notion that I've ever held about these genres. Dark Road to Darjeeling stays well within the realm of mind-blowing fiction that I have come to expect from her.

I was actually reluctant to read it at first. It's why, I think, I took so long to purchase it and even longer to read it. It wasn't that I was worried that Raybourn would disappoint (I'm not sure she's capable of it), it was that at the end of Silent in the Moor, the third book in the Lady Julia Grey series, something happened that I was afraid would throw a wrench into the series: Lady Julia finally married Nicholas Brisbane. The sexual tension, snippy/snappy dialogue, and the frustration each of these characters caused in the other was one of the main reasons why they have become one of my favorite pairs in literature. Raybourn's ability to maintain this dynamic even after they had come together at last is due, I believe, to two factors. One, Raybourn knows these characters and has superbly shaped them into who they are through careful progress during the first three novels. Two, Julia and Brisbane's unconventional natures and their mild lack of disregard for social mores would make it almost impossible for them to be changed simply because they share a last name.

As with the rest of the series, Raybourn's characters, even her minor ones, are unimaginably complex, realistic, and memorable. Each one is given a voice, a history, a goal, a purpose. No one is extraneous and no one is thoroughly unlikable. Some of the standouts in Dark Road to Darjeeling are the mysterious White Rajah, the odd Cassandra Pennyfeather, and the inebriate Dr. Llewellyn. My favorite, however, is Cassandra's nature-loving son, Robin. Reminiscent of L'Engle's Charles Wallace (A Wrinkle in Time), the young Robin quickly endears himself to the reader because of his intelligence, his maturity, and his sweet nature.

Of course, some of Raybourn's usual characters show up, namely, Julia's sister Portia, her brother Plum, and Portia's ex-lover, Jane. These familiar faces are welcome in such a strange land with such a strange cast of characters and the plot line focusing on Jane's widowhood, impending motherhood, and reconnection with Portia is beautifully written. Having always been a fan of Portia and Jane's relationship, especially in such an uptight era as the Victorian age, I was devastated to learn that Jane had left and even more so to discover that she had married. Watching the two of them together again was comforting and the fact that I personally cared about Jane's well-being made the mystery of who had murdered her husband even more of a pressing issue than if it had been a new character or one that I didn't particularly like.

While we are on the subject, I will reiterate again what I think is one of Raybourn's biggest strengths: she always keeps you guessing. I stopped reading mystery novels when I started being able to tell, within the first half of the book, who had done it. After four Lady Julia novels, I have gotten better at discerning who the killer might be...but usually only about ten or twenty pages before it's revealed. Even still, I am never quite sure until it's finally confirmed. The end of Silent in the Grave had me literally gasping because I had never suspected the real killer for an instant. Dark Road to Darjeeling had me silently begging that my guess was wrong...which, sadly, it wasn't. In all of her novels, Raybourn deftly assembles a cast of characters, each with a possible motive, and then tangles their stories up in knots as Julia and Brisbane try to figure it all out, leaving the reader anxious to know because he or she seriously has no idea. It is telling of her skill that this is the case, especially in an age of cookie cutter murder mysteries and episodes of crime dramas where it's usually the first or second person that they interrogate. Anyone looking for a real mystery should definitely give these novels a try.

Everything about this novel is enjoyable: her sense of humor, her ability to juxtapose the lightness of life and the darkness of death, her vivid descriptions that create the locations her characters visit in your head as clearly as if you were standing beside them. You can smell the mountain air, taste the pungent tea, hear the roar of the tiger. Very few authors immerse you so fully into an environment without long, wordy descriptions; Raybourn is one of the most skillful at doing so.

The last thing I would like to note is how well she follows tragedy with comedy within this novel. It has a truly tragic ending, one that I didn't foresee and which touched me deeply. Yet, only about five pages later she has you laughing again, not forgetting what you have just read but allowing you a respite from the grief that the characters (and the reader) feel. It is the resolution of the catharsis that gives the reader a satisfying feeling even after such a crushing blow has been delivered.

I'm giving Dark Road to Darjeeling 5 out of 5 stars. This is one series which I believe anyone (regardless of age, race, gender, or reading preferences) can enjoy. If a sci-fi-loving guy like me can fall in love with these books, I'd bet that most people could, too.

-Gabe

PS: Here's a link to Deanna's website and blog. I'm also giving her her own tag because, let's face it, she's one of the only authors other than Neil Gaiman that I talk about on a regular basis.

A Secret Kleenex Marketing Scheme: A Review of The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Title: The Book Thief

Author: Markus Zusak

Edition: Hardcover

Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf (2005)

Pages: 552

How I Came By This Book: This book was recommended to me by Ellie and was chosen by my followers in a poll. The book itself came from, where else?, my library. 

Challenges: GoodReads 2011 Reading Challenge

Synopsis: "It's just a small story really, about, among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist fighter, and quite a lot of thievery...."

Narrated by Death, Markus Zusak's groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a young foster girl living outside of Munich in Nazi Germany. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she discovers something she can't resist--books. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever they are to be found. 

With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, Liesel learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids, as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement. 

Markus Zusak, award-winning author of I Am the Messenger, has crafted an unforgettable novel about the ability of books to feed the soul.

SPOILER WARNING: I am going to be incapable of talking about this book without discussing major plot points, including the ending. If you want this book to remain unspoiled, don't read this review. I'm giving it five out of five Gabriels and suggesting that you go get a copy and read it right now. For those of you who wish to continue, don't say I didn't warn you.

Review: I actually read this book last month and am just getting around to reviewing it. With any other book, the time between my reading it and my reviewing it might have hindered said review; with The Book Thief there's no chance of that. I don't think I'll ever forget this book...or the way it made me feel.

I had heard of this book ages ago and, as has been the case with a lot of the books I've read for this blog, I put off reading it for one reason or another. Sure, it was narrated by Death, which is usually all it takes to get me to read a book, but that wasn't enough for me. Even though I love history, the Holocaust isn't an event that interests me. Let me clarify this statement: I am in no way saying that I don't find it interesting. What I'm saying is that it's very difficult for me to read books or watch films pertaining to the Holocaust (and World War II in general). The horrors of what occurred in concentration camps, firebombed towns, and people's own homes is often too hard for me to experience even on a second-hand basis. Therefore, I tend to avoid reading books like this one. It was chosen by my readers, however, so I forced myself to sit down and read it...and I finished it less than 24 hours later.

What I discovered between the covers of this sizable book was compelling, touching, funny, terrifying, and uplifting all at once. The characters are fully-realized and they become almost like friends within only a few chapters of being introduced to them. You are instantly drawn into Liesel's story and are engaged with it right up to the end. Her triumphs are your triumphs; her failures affect you as much as they affect her. It's like you've been dumped into Nazi Germany and are an invisible, yet integral, part of her foster family. This, of course, makes the ending of this novel even more difficult to deal with. 

The characters that I found to be the most endearing and memorable are Rudy (Liesel's best friend), Hans Hubermann (her foster father), and Max Vandenburg (the Jewish fist fighter). The story itself takes place over several years so the reader really gets to know these people. Zusak is so skilled at character building that I could almost believe that he was simply telling a story about real people rather than characters he made up in his head. They each have hopes, dreams, fears; they all have back stories and unique voices; and they each play their role in the novel so perfectly. You want so much for these people to realize their full potential, to have futures, and to continue to influence the world around them. Some of the characters do but many of them do not (a point which will be discussed later). 

The narrative structure is unique and is one of the things that really drew me into the novel. Death is a perfect narrator for a story about World War II, a war in which millions upon millions died. He's also perfect for the job because he knows everything that has happened, is happening, and will happen. The story jumps from the past to the present to the future on several occasions and Death himself gives some spoilers away throughout the story. It's a brilliant way to engage the reader and to keep them reading until the end. Just enough is given away that it makes you fear for these people and what happens to them and you practically race to the end to discover what Death is talking about. Several times I made guesses about what was going to happen (some of them wrong, some of them right) but when I got there, even when I was right, I was still surprised by what I found. I was also surprised by how I felt. 

I never give away endings in my reviews, but I need to make an exception for this book. Once again I'm going to put up a SPOILER WARNING and tell anyone who doesn't want to know what happens to stop reading this review and go read the book. You really won't be disappointed. I promise.

For those of you still with me, this may be the only time that I ever break my rule about not giving a book away. Death spoils it for the reader before it happens, but that doesn't make it any less emotional of an ending and it doesn't mean that you won't be affected any less than you would have been originally. 

I'm talking, of course, about the firebombing of Liesel's neighborhood, the one which, at the end of the novel, literally destroys everything she's ever known. Death describes in detail what's going on as the characters in the novel are killed in their sleep by falling bombs. Rudy, Liesel's foster parents, the Hitler-loving Frau Diller, the unfortunate Tommy Müller--everyone Liesel knows dies in the same night. Liesel herself survives the bombing only by chance and is left to pick up the pieces of her shattered life. 

I'm not usually an emotional person, although I won't say that I don't ever get teary-eyed. The end of this novel made me completely break down. I started getting emotional around the time that Liesel's father attempted to feed starving Jews who were being marched to Dachau concentration camp and I didn't really stop feeling that way for the rest of the book. It was the end, however, that made me cry harder than anything else ever has in my entire life and I sincerely mean that. I don't remember ever having been so emotionally involved and attached to fictional characters nor do I remember ever mourning them as much as I did. Even now, a few weeks later, while writing this review I'm getting a little choked up. Zusak delves so deeply into these characters that they feel real and you mourn them as if they were real. 

This is the true joy that this book brings and its the reason why I felt compelled to discuss the ending. I couldn't fully explain how it had affected me without explaining why it had affected me. The plot and the dialogue in this novel are well-planned and well-written but it is the characters that Zusak introduces you to that will stick with you. I think this is why Death doesn't stop himself from giving away the ending. He knows that no matter how much you know about what's going to happen to these people, you will still use up an entire box of Kleenex in the last fifty pages. 

There is a lot in this book that is hard to read: parades of starving Jews, firebombings, book burnings, suicide, the horrors of war. None of it detracts in any way from the novel and, in fact, I couldn't see the book having the same emotional impact without them. To fully immerse yourself into a story about an historical event, you need to be confronted with the realities faced by people living during that time period. This is especially true of World War II, an event which saw the murder of 6 million Jews, the death of millions of Russian soldiers (not to mention thousands of American, Italian, British, German...the list goes on), the dropping of two atomic bombs, the storming of the beaches of Normandy, the internment of Japanese-Americans, and the horrific firebombing of Dresden (which killed more people and damaged more property than Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined). 

Zusak is able to weave the real-life horrors of war into the story with the same skill that he weaves the characters back stories into the story. It is some of the most chilling writing I've experienced this year and it's made even more so by the fact that it's Death himself who is doing the talking. That is not to say that there isn't humor in this novel. There's loads of that. There's as much humor and joy as there is tragedy and sadness. Zusak strikes just the right balance between the two--you laugh so hard your sides hurt and then you cry so hard that your eyes hurt. It's everything I've come to expect from a great novel...and more.

The Book Thief gets five out of five Gabriels from me and is my favorite out of all the books I've read so far for this blog. Read it, even if you didn't listen to my warnings and you went ahead and read the review anyway. There is so much to love about this novel, not the least of which is the fact that it's a great cathartic experience. 

 

-Gabe

In Which We Travel to Transylvania: A Review of Deanna Raybourn's The Dead Travel Fast

Despite the fact that I'm a huge fan of Deanna Raybourn's novels, I was a little skeptical about picking this one up. In today's world of vampiric over-saturation, I wasn't quite sure that I was going to like it. I'm getting really sick of anything that can turn into a bat and suck your blood and the idea that Raybourn had fallen prey to that sort of novel was, frankly, disturbing. I'm so glad that I was wrong. This novel was nothing like I expected it to be--it was far, far better.

Synopsis: A husband, a family, a comfortable life: Theodora Lestrange lives in terror of it all. With a modest inheritance and the three gowns that comprise her entire wardrobe, Theodora leaves Edinburgh--and a disappointed suitor--far behind. She is bound for Rumania, where tales of vampires are still whispered, to visit an old friend and write the book that will bring her true independence.

She arrives at a magnificent, decaying castle in the Carpathians, replete with eccentric inhabitants: the ailing dowager; the troubled steward; her own fearful friend, Cosmina. But all are outstripped in dark glamour by the castle's master, Count Andrei Dragulescu.

Bewildering and bewitching in equal measure, the brooding nobleman ignites Theodora's imagination and awakens passions in her that she can neither deny nor conceal. His allure is superlative, his dominion over the superstitious town, absolute--Theodora may simply be one more person under his sway.

Before her sojourn is ended--or her novel completed--Theodora will have encountered things as strange and terrible as they are seductive. For obsession can prove fatal...and she is in danger of falling prey to more than desire.

Review: Okay, so don't let the synopsis fool you. This book isn't some steamy romance novel with wooden characters that follows the same tired tropes. This is also not a vampire novel. I don't want to give anything away so I won't explain that sentence, just know that this is far from being a vampire novel. It is, in fact, a modern-day Gothic novel with just a hint of satire if you look hard enough for it. The Dead Travel Fast by Deanna Raybourn is her first novel to feature a heroine besides Lady Julia Gray. While I can't say I think much of Theodora's name, I came to really like her--and the Romania that Raybourn has created.

It's 1858. Theodora Lestrange is a writer, publishing her mystery stories under a male pen name but dreaming of the day when she can just write as herself. She has no desire for a husband or a family. In fact, she chafes at the very idea that her sister and brother-in-law would try to help set her up just because they think it will make her happy. To make matters worse, her publisher, Charles, is rather smitten with her and asks her to marry him. What's a girl to do? What any self-respecting heroine would do--she gets the hell out of Dodge.

Her friend, Cosmina, invites her to stay with her in Romania in preparation for her marriage to Count Andrei Dragulescu. When Theodora arrives at the castle, however, she finds that Andrei has scorned her friend, who tells Theodora that she is relieved because she didn't really want to marry him in the first place. Cosmina may not be attracted to him, but Theodora sure is. This guy exudes sexy. He's dark and mysterious and a Count. I mean, let's be honest here, who could say no to that? But Theodora does. She can tell that he's interested in her, but she doesn't want anything to do with him...at first.

Over time, she and Andrei strike up a friendship. He is an amateur astronomer, taking after his late grandfather, and he and Theodora spend quite a bit of time together talking about the stars and putting his grandfather's workroom back to rights. Where Theodora is from, this behavior is the height of impropriety; in Romania, it's perfectly okay for a man and a woman to talk together without a chaperon. Theodora finds Andrei, the castle, and the country intoxicating and freeing. She starts to plan on publishing the novel she begins working on in Romania under her own name and standing on her own two feet.

But things take a turn for the sinister when a maid in the castle turns up dead. The local doctor, a man by the name of Frankopan, tells Theodora the legends of vampires (strigoi) and werewolves. Being a logical woman, Theodora scoffs at the idea that the maid was killed by a vampire, but she soon finds herself believing quite a lot of things after a series of strange events in the castle. As the book progresses, Theodora goes from being a rational woman from Scotland to being a believer in the stories that she keeps hearing from the people around her. When Charles, her wannabe suitor shows up to collect her, he's shocked to find out that she's not the woman he knew only a short while ago. What's even more shocking, however, is what happens next.

I don't want to give anything else away (and, to be honest, I'm leaving a whole bunch of stuff out) so go and pick up a copy of this novel. While Theodora is no Lady Julia, she is a wonderful heroine in her own right. She's independent and stubborn and she knows that she doesn't need the love of a man to be someone. She wants to succeed because of what she does, not because of who she's married to. An almost unheard of notion at this time in history, Theodora is almost anachronistic and yet she's entirely believable. Because this is Transylvania, things are less strict and she's able to be more of who she wants to be. She changes throughout the course of the novel into the kind of woman that I could be attracted to if she were real--sensual, strong, brave.

Andrei Dragulescu is another matter entirely. I liked him and then again I didn't like him. He was a very well-created character, deep and with plenty of personality and history to keep my interest, but there were parts of him that I found to be rather obnoxious. I don't want to get into them too much because it would ruin some of the better parts of the book but I will say that I'm not quite sure that I found his change in attitude at the end of the novel to be entirely realistic. He is, of course, a swoon-worthy character and I'm sure that many females reading this book will find themselves drooling over him (I won't judge you for that). He's also quite fascinating but that cocky playboy attitude did get sort of taxing at times.

Also of note character-wise are Dr. Frankopan, the Countess (Andrei's mother), and Florian, the musically-gifted steward whose life circumstances made it impossible for him to follow his dreams. I could have used a bit more Florian to be honest, but the other characters in the book are just as great. Raybourn has a particular talent for creating unique characters that have not only their own voice but their own presence. She's also gifted at dialogue, description, plot, first person narration, and pretty much anything that a writer could possibly be good at.

I will admit that at times the book moved a little slowly, but for the most part it was well-paced. Some of the descriptions were so beautiful and detailed that I found myself rereading them, so maybe that accounted for part of the reason why it took me a few days to get through this book. I was utterly transported to Transylvania through Raybourn's words. I saw the castle, the surrounding countryside, the people, the village. Everything was clear in my head and I know that if I were to read this book fifteen years down the road, I'd still revisit those same images because they were so vivid and memorable.

As always, Raybourn's romance is subtle, restrained, and entirely romantic. There's no long detailed sex scenes, no ridiculous over-usage of words like "bosom," "heaving," "member," or any number of other words associated with books of a certain nature. That's because Raybourn's novels are never like those books. It's part of the reason why I shudder to even talk about these in terms of their romantic undertones. Raybourn is respectful of her audience and writes them so that even those of us (guys especially) who hate romance can enjoy them. They're smart and they're fun to read and they in no way deserve such ridiculous covers. If Silent in the Grave had originally had a cover like this book, I never would have picked it up and I would have missed out on a delightful author.

I'd say if you've never read one of her books before, start with her Lady Julia novels. I like the heroine a lot more and Nicholas Brisbane is, in my mind, ten times the man that Andrei Dragulescu will ever be. But if you get though those books and you're looking for a Raybourn fix, this is a good book to pick up while you wait for the next one to come out (The Dark Enquiry comes out in June for anyone who's curious).

I'm giving The Dead Travel Fast 4 out of 5 stars. It was a good book, but not one of her best, and parts of the end felt a little rushed. I was, however, very surprised by the "whodunit" reveal. Raybourn is one of the only mystery novelists who tends to keep me guessing until the end.

-Gabe

Some People Are Too Interesting to Kill: A Review of Seth Grahame-Smith's Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Synopsis: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is, well, about Abraham Lincoln hunting vampires. It's the brainchild of Seth Grahame-Smith, the man who brought the world Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. It follows the life of Abraham Lincoln from his birth to his assassination, except that there are vampires involved. Lots of them.

Review: I really didn't expect to like this novel. In addition to my silly personal beef with Abe Lincoln, I really don't like historical fiction, whether it be books or films. As someone with a BA in History, I tend to look down on the genre as a whole because I see blatant historical inaccuracies, misuse of primary sources (if they aren't ignored altogether), and wooden characters set in front of a historical backdrop that is, at best, a parody of what actually occurred. So, even though I was looking forward to reading this book, I wasn't expecting anything great.

I loved it. After a somewhat slow beginning, the book picked up and ran, taking me on a wonderful--but highly re-imagined--romp through the 1800s. Grahame-Smith manages to make both Abraham Lincoln and vampires ridiculously awesome and he brings a fun new twist to the Civil War--and American history in general.

After the death of Lincoln's beloved mother at the hands of a vampire, young Abe vows to hunt and kill every vampire in America. This is a pretty tall order for someone so young and untrained in the art of war, but Lincoln reads and studies on his own in order to prepare himself to kill the vampire that killed his mother and any other creature of the night that crosses his path. His first kill goes well but his next one? Let's just say that it could have been better.

Enter Henry, a mysterious figure who saves Lincoln's life. It is soon revealed that Henry is himself a vampire but as he nurses Abe back to health, the two form a tentative friendship. Henry tells him everything he needs to know about hunting and killing vampires. He also tells Lincoln something else: that he has a special destiny. From there the book follows Lincoln as he kills vampires, falls in love, enters politics, and, eventually, wins the presidency.

I was surprised at how well the book really did follow his life. I don't consider myself an expert on Lincoln, but being forced to read four books about him at least gave me enough background knowledge to know that much of what happened in the book is based off of real events--minus the vampires, of course. Most of the characters in this book were real people; it is only the details of the situations they were in that has been changed.

For example, Edgar Allan Poe makes an appearance in the book. He was a contemporary of Abraham Lincoln and Lincoln was an admirer of his literature. The two, however, probably never met and they certainly did not have a close friendship like they do in the book. Ann Rutledge, who has often been rumored to have been Lincoln's first love, although it has never been definitively proved, plays a major role towards the middle of the book but the vampire-y details of her story are obviously not real. Similarly, William Seward, Lincoln's Secretary of State, is a major character in the narrative of both this book and of Lincoln's life. (In fact, he's always been my favorite member of Lincoln's cabinet, although I really can't explain why.) He definitely was not, however, a vampire hunter, although this bit of characterization in the book made me appreciate him even more than I already did.

William H. Seward was a B.A.M.F.

Vampires are weaved into the story entirely. They are, in fact, the real reason behind and the true enemy during the Civil War. Without giving the reasons why away, I will say that Grahame-Smith does a pretty good job of folding the vampire mythos into the events of the Civil War and of Lincoln's life. While I'm not really a fan of vampires, I felt that the way they were portrayed in this novel was brilliant. They are not all attractive, they are not all evil, and they definitely do not sparkle. They are also violent psychopaths, leading to some gruesome and graphic, but really amazing, scenes. There are parts of this book that are not for the faint of heart or the weak of stomach.

The character who I think rises above the rest in this novel is the vampire Henry. From the moment he first entered the story, I was immediately drawn to him as a character. I wanted to know more about him. Why did he save Lincoln? Why is he trying to help him kill vampires? And why is he so damn awesome? One of the coolest things about Henry's story is the use Grahame-Smith makes of the Roanoke Colony mystery. His relationship with Lincoln is intriguing as well. It's really his personality and the way he speaks, however, that made him my favorite character.

One of the things I loved most about this book was the way it resembled an actual biography of Lincoln. The idea behind the novel is that the author was given Lincoln's secret vampire-hunting journals and was asked to tell the world the truth about him. Much of the novel is told through quotes from this journal, giving it the feel of a work of non-fiction that is relying heavily on primary source material. Grahame-Smith also uses quotes from some of Lincoln's speeches (such as the Gettysburg address and his second inaugural address), as well as things that the president is purported to have said (such as the Lincoln family legend that when Abe first met his future wife, Mary Todd, he told her that he wanted to "dance with [her] in the worst way").

There are also real photos of Lincoln in the book, all of them Photoshopped in order to fit in with the story. I think my favorite is the doctored version of the famous photo of Lincoln and McClellan that was taken shortly before Lincoln fired him, giving command of the Union army to Grant. The only change made to the photo (at least that I can tell) is the addition of an ax, which, the author explains, Lincoln brought along with him just in case the inept McClellan turned out to be a vampire instead of just a piss-poor general.

In another show of Grahame-Smith's genius, shortly after I began reading the novel I got the feeling that I had seen it somewhere before. It wasn't until about the fourth chapter that I realized why that was:

This is a page from Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

This is a page from Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals.

Grahame-Smith adopted a similar format for his book as Doris Kearns Goodwin had in her book on the political genius of Abraham Lincoln, Team of Rivals. It was one of the four books that I had to read for my senior seminar class and it was actually amazing to me that I even picked up on that small detail.

The book does have some faults, of course. There are a few instances of wrong information (e.g., at one point Grahame-Smith inexplicably states that Lincoln's birthday was February 9th even though he had earlier mentioned the correct date of February 12th) and I felt that sometimes the quotes from Lincoln's supposed journal were too liberally applied, but things like that can be overlooked when a story is this good.

And it really is good. Frequently funny, as well. One of Lincoln's journal entries about his time serving in the Illinois militiamen during a conflict with some Native American's reads:

My men have suffered greatly (from boredom), much blood has been shed (by mosquitoes), and I have swung my ax mightily (chopping firewood). Surely we have earned our place in the annals of history--for never has there been so little war in a war (p. 145).

Lincoln's friendship with Jack Armstrong provides some very funny moments (especially the scene where they are hunting a vampire while Abe is suffering from love sickness) and many of the scenes with Lincoln's children are poignantly funny. All in all, Grahame-Smith does an excellent job of bringing to life this fictional version of Abraham Lincoln. He makes him not only likable, but also pretty freaking hardcore as well.

A quick note about the ending: Without giving away the very last chapter of the book, I wanted to say that there are probably some people who won't like it, but I actually really did. I felt that one of the great things about it was that it had been hinted at throughout the book so it wasn't really a surprise to me when it happened. It's like in a science fiction film where the day is saved by something implausible but the audience goes with it because that implausibility had been introduced at the beginning of the movie. It doesn't work if you don't talk about it early on, but if you do the audience will pretty much accept it. That's what the last chapter of this book was like for me.

There is so much more I could say about this book but most of it would probably be boring because it all has to do with the way Grahame-Smith intertwined fact and fiction. I was really amazed at how well he did it; even if the story itself was implausible, he made me want it to be real and he twisted fact just enough that for a moment you could almost imagine that it was.

I'm giving Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter five out of five stars. I borrowed this book from the library but I've decided that the next time I can afford to buy a few books that this is going to be on the top of the pile. It's that good.

-Gabe

PS: The video below is a slideshow of Abe Lincoln set to Aaron Copland's "A Lincoln Portrait". It's a really beautiful piece of music that is accompanied by some of Lincoln's most famous utterances. I've actually performed this piece before and the narration for that concert was provided by a retired military official who had a really powerful voice. This isn't that recording, but it's definitely worth taking a listen to.