Can A Vampire Be Separated From His Curse?? How About A Werewolf?? -- Review of Sue Dent's "Never Ceese"

NEW SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY REVIEWS

Reviews Of Recently Published Science Fiction And Fantasy Books

Reviewer: Forrest Schultz schultz_forrest@yahoo.com 770-583-3258

Blog Address: http://newsciencefictionandfantasyreviews.blogspot.com

August 22, 2012

Can A Vampire Be Separated From His Curse ??

How About A Werewolf?

A review of

Sue Dent Never Ceese (Black Bed Sheets Books, 2010)

356 pp $16.95 ISBN-10: 0976994747 ISBN-13: 978-0976994749

Reviewed by: Forrest W. Schultz

Richard is a vampire who is struggling to be freed from his curse so that he will be able to ask God for salvation, which, for him, will include not only the salvation from sin but also salvation from his vampire nature so that he can be fully human. I am not kidding -- this really is in the story, which, actually, is not so surprising if you know a little bit about Sue Dent, a gal who likes to shake things up!!

Never Ceese has rightly won widespread acclaim as a great story and a good read. And the author clearly has a good imagination. By far the most creative feature in the book, however, is not the story and the characters, but the very concept of vampire salvation, which is radically different both from the classic vampire concept (where vampires are perpetually and irredeemably evil and therefore unsavable) and the various modern notions, such as "sparkly" vampires. I am tired of reading these. Sue Dent's concept of the salvation of vampires may also lead to the salvation of the vampire genre!

And, as if that were not enough, she also has included in her story a werewolf, Ceese, who is trying to rid herself of her (werewolf) curse, so she can ask God for salvation both from sin and from her werewolf nature!! In short, Dent has redefined the very nature of werewolves as well as the nature of vampires! A pretty hefty accomplishment!

This book is the first in Dent's Thirsting For Blood trilogy. The second book, Forever Richard, has been published, and the third book Cyn No More will be published soon. Information is available at http://www.suedent.net/ and www.downwarden.com/BlackBedSheet.