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Masquerade, by Tammy L. Gard, could be
described as Romeo and Juliet meets Dracula,
or vice versa. My expectations for this book
about a modern day, London-dwelling,
rock-band chasing, vamping vampire were not
high, but I was pleasantly surprised.
Written as a segmented novel, the book
portrays the search for a soul mate from
multiple perspectives, never losing sight of
the angst that such a search inevitably
entails. The fact that the principles are a
human and a vampire, and that their
respective cultures have been at war with
each other for centuries, serves to spice
things up nicely. 
It is
difficult not to feel an affinity for the
vampires in this novel, who are keenly aware
of their own unfortunate plight. Staying up
late once in a while may be fun, but only
being able to stay out at night is a drag,
and they know it. At some level it doesn’t
seem to matter that vampires roam the modern
foggy city. They aren’t psychotic killers;
they are just…different.
The
story is based in London, but moves in and
out of multiple countries as the rock band
Masquerade plies their trade,
followed, and sometimes joined, by the
delicious Amy. There are steamy sex scenes
aplenty, and while they tend to get a bit
repetitive they are not gratuitous.
The
book had a few minor grammatical and usage
errors, but hardly enough to warrant
mentioning. The writing was crisp and
engaging for the most part, and it came
close to being superlative. There was,
however, some final, elusive ingredient that
held it back. Perhaps a bit more edge to the
dialog would have tightened things up a bit,
and then Masquerade would have been
right at the edge of the envelope. It came
close.
All in
all, I highly recommend Masquerade,
by Tammy L. Gard, and I have a feeling that
we will be reading more from this talented
author.
Masquerade,
by Tammy L. Gard is available from Lulu.com. |
