More Deadly than Skarlet Fever: A Book Review

"Skarlet" is the first in a trilogy of stories from English author Thomas Emson. Although, not his first novel, "Skarlet" suffers from some slow pacing early on. However, once the action is underway a plague involving the new drug "Skarlet" takes hold and does not end until the fever breaks on page 447. An important novel to the world of vampire mythology, "Skarlet" is a novel that cannot be put down for long, as the pages, at times, seems as hypnotic as the denizens in the pages.

"Skarlet" begins with several club-goers at the goth centered Religion undergoing a transformation from quiet, anti-social, placid drug-users to a violent, near immortal, prowling deviant in the early pages of the novel. The novel seems to be stuck in second gear until page 100-110, or so. Here, the infection, within the downtown setting of London, begins to move at a much quicker pace. The action and interaction of characters stays strong until the last lines of the book.

This novel takes a tried and true creature of the night and adds a twist on the stories of Babylon, that ancient city of excess. This time it is not the kings who are the cause for upset, but their ancient guardians.Kea is the cause of much anguish for central character Jake Lawton, while Kea's cohorts Kahash and Kasdeja loom farther out from the core of the story. The vampires are present in the story and so is their god Kea, who has his origins in this ancient city of Iraq.

For the most part "Skarlet" is a real keeper of a novel, minus a few critiques, which are necessary for a balanced review. One other reviewer got the incontinence descriptive factor right, here: "bladders were occasionally 'queasy,' frequently 'heavy,' often 'cold' and sometimes 'cold and heavy'" (Love). It occurs pretty often that characters are about to piss, or shit themselves when presented with these dark, denizens of the night. Also, the response of the government to a new threat of roaming vampires is business as usual. If you shoot a human looking creature three or four times with nothing happening this would be the time to try something else. Maybe this is Darwinian evolution in practice, as the dumber cops die early. One last critique, the character Jake Lawton is the epitome of the hero archetype. Yet, sometimes the hero who does not want to get involved for personal reasons, or who has some personal demons is a better choice for a central protagonist, rather than the personally almost flawless character Lawton. That aside, "Skarlet" has a lot of things going for itself including an interesting story that is action driven, a large cast of multi-dimensional characters, and an ending that will leave most readers wanting more. All of these elements make "Skarlet" a good sit down novel, despite a few flaws.

"Krimson" the second part of Thomas Emerson's vampire trilogy is currently being written and this reviewer encourages you to pick up Emerson's current novel "Skarlet," if you are in the mood for something darker. Emerson's website location is below along with a Twitter link and two further reviews of "Skarlet."

Thomas Emson Website

Thomas Emson on Twitter

On Amazon:



Emerson's first novel:



Sources:

Review at Hellnotes

Review at Love Vampires

Stumble It!

Posted in: 2010,author,book review,characters,novel,writing