“Like a big black bat flapping it’s wings”. So the demon Vampire of Mark Allen’s
“Nocturnal” is described by Razor, one of the many doomd adversaries he shortly
consigns to a gruesome death. Elsewhere
the well-dressd anti-hero betrays fastidious annoyance at the bullets Ronald just
fired into him ruining his $400 cashmere sweater, and fear of another victim’s
blood splattering his shoes.
There is little else that seems to scare the Vampire, and
indeed little else that he has in common with the aristocratic vampires of modern
popular culture, besides black hair and pale skin. The son of an immigrant butcher who died
young, he leaves school to go to work and support his mother, only to turn to a
life of crime. Brutal in life, he
suffers a gangster’s death and is then consignd to forever atone for the evil
deeds he committed in life by picking out for his murderous revenge the vicious
and useless “human garbage” such as T-Ball, the junkie crook he kills by
puncturing his carotid artery.
This vampire possesses eyes black like a shark’s, not red,
and can be destroyd only by decapitation, not a wooden stake through the heart. He sleeps in a darkend bedroom rather than a
crypt, drives a car (although how he learnd this skill is never divulged) and
holds down a job (despite having 27 million dollars in the bank). In many ways, therefore, he carries on his
living death as though he were a normal man.
Most significantly, he has morals and principles, only wishing to target
“human garbage” like T-Ball, despite their poor-quality blood, and sparing
those who show courage or compassion. He
is short, only 5 foot 6 in height, as well as skinny, yet possesses powers no
normal man would, being stronger, faster, impervious to bullets, and with
better hearing. He can jump 50 feet
across 4 lanes of street.
He is not afraid of crosses.
But then why would he be, when he is clearly atoning for his sins in
life by performing good deeds in death? Some
aspects of this book and it’s antihero revive traditions of vampirism which
predate those of modern Anglophone culture, such as peasant rather than aristocratic
origins and slaughter by decapitation, yet at the same time Allen’s attempts to
humanize his monster, combined with the supernatural powers with which he’s
been mysteriously endowd, succeed in pushing him away from accustomd notions of
how a vampire is supposed to be, and into the realms of the modern American
superhero.
Some elements of the vampire’s behaviour don’t make sense. If he can store blood in a fridge for later
use why not use his powers to simply raid hospital blood-banks? For that matter, why does he bother to avoid
law enforcement? Others make more sense
than the modern celluloid vampire of Hollywood and Hammer, such as his lack of
libido. Some passages in the story seem
irrelevant, even bizarre, such as the Vampire pausing to lecture us about the
2008 financial crash. Others are grossly
over-detaild and just unnecessary, such as an intimate account of the Vampire’s
digestive tract.
Allen is effective at building characters, although some of
his baddies are too one-dimensional, too fleeting in the story to represent anything
other than fodder for the monster’s rage.
His descriptive prose, pervaded by an attitude of cynicism, is effective
at creating the world of dark sleaze and menace in which his characters move. There are moments of genuine tenderness, such
as in the vampire’s account of his last moments with the love of his life,
Danae. The vampire’s ultimate victory
over those threatening his descendant Reggie is, however, too relentless, too inevitable. He is endowd with weaknesses, such as his inability
to cope with sunlight. Some threat to
these might have made the climactic scenes more dramatic and unpredictable. It’s also a shame that the monster’s powers
didn’t include good proof-reading.
“Nocturnal” is an entertaining read, especially for those
who like plenty of gore with their action, and while it isn’t perfect, it succeeds
where Hollywood has conspicuously faild in recent years. In pulling his antihero Edwin Thaddeus Marx
away from life he did more than just turn him into another vampire. He transformd him into a very modern type of
superhero, dark and cynical, brutal and ruthless, yet driven by morality and an
indelible commitment to those he left behind.
I give this book 7/10.
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