Baker (Webs) attempts a fresh spin on the vampire tale in this involved novel, but his effort bogs down in an overstuffed plot and clumsy dialogue. David Bathory, 29, leads an uneventful life as a dealer of snakes and drugs. But after his wife is killed, he begins to rediscover his roots, which he learns are steeped in vampire ancestry. After meeting a mysterious woman named Dara, David quickly becomes engaged in a power struggle between his vampiric ancestors and his present-day family, realizing that he himself is a "dhampire"?a human able to control undead ancestors. The author introduces too much arcane material throughout the narrative, and his convoluted story line, involving Indian snake legends, incest, Satanism, medieval torture devices and various demons, proves difficult to follow. Only vampire aficionados will want to venture into this novel, which, like its pale heroes, is a grim reworking of a dead ancestor: Baker's out-of-print 1982 novel, Dhampire.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
When his career as a drug smuggler comes to an abrupt halt, David Bathory reluctantly returns to the claustrophobic family he has spent most of his life trying to escape. There he discovers the infernal heritage of his ancestors and realizes that, despite his best efforts, he must enter into a dark world of vampiric intrigue if he hopes to survive. The author's revision of his earlier novel Dhampire (1982) employs an amorphous mixture of Eastern and Western vampire legendry liberally dosed with scenes of graphic violence and explicit sex. Weak plotting and unlikable characters limit this novel's appeal to hard-core fans of blood and gore.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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