Citizen Vampire by Les Daniels
Book review
by John Goodrich

 

Rating:

 

This is the third return of Don Sebastian de Villanueva, the vampire horrified by man. The year is 1789, and Don Sebastian is recalled from nearly three hundred years' rest by a wealthy but meddlesome countess, just on the brink of the French revolution. Don Sebastian is caught in the war between the ruthless Countess de Corville, and her vengeful and bloody-minded servant Madeline. And again, we are shown that the supernatural horrors we create are nothing compared to our own history.

Les Daniels' writing style is clean and easy to read, but it broods darkly. Don Sebastian is a dark, frightening vampire � not even close to any of the preening anti-heroes that have gained recent popularity. Les Daniels has a profound sense of the tragic and the terrible, showing us the dark tapestry that modern history is made of. Mixing in with his frictional characters are brief appearances by historical figures � Robespierre, Dr. Guillotin, and the Marquis de Sade are drawn into this tale of horrific revenge. More blood is spilled by humans that could ever be drunk by a legion of vampires. And so the tragedy that is human history moves on, watched from the shadows by Don Sebastian de Villanueva