Blood Red

by James A.Moore

Review by Stephen Clark

Not another vampire novel, I hear you moan! Well…yes, but one I think you’d be wise to check out. Reviews of this book have linked it to an ‘early Stephen King’ and put it right up there with ‘Lot’.

Yes, there’s a new face in town! And yes, there are more crows about than normal. People begin to go missing (nothing new there) and characters are given the pages to become familiar. What I liked about this story was the feeling of despair for the town when the action inevitably kicked in, and the slaughter after slaughter of nearly everyone who you’d grown used to. You really get hooked on their plight for survival.

Moore pulls no punches. There are vicious scenes to placate the bloodlust in all of us and a writing style that’s easy on the eye. The relationship between two police officers was a highlight for me – their banter made me laugh a few times, and relieving the tension for a split second was an effective tool before even more chaos began jumping off the page.

The novel ends with loose ends, which in the afterword Moore explains was deliberate. Is there a sequel to Blood Red? All I can say is I’d claw and tear my way to the front of the bookstore’s queue if ever a venture became reality.

I bought my edition from Earthling Publications (a superb small press, specializing in exceptional dark fiction) and is in fact number 1 in their Halloween series. There’s an introduction by Simon Clark and one of the best dust jacket covers I’ve seen for a while (if you’re into that kind of thing!).

Publisher: Earthling Publications (Oct, 2005)

ISBN  0 9766339 1 4    Hardback (336 pages)