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THE REFORMED VAMPIRE SUPPORT GROUP
by Catherine Jinks
Quercus, June 2010
353 pages
6.99 GBP
ISBN: 1847247784


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

I had previously read two of Catherine Jinks's books (THE ROAD and THE DARK MOUNTAIN) but had been unaware of the author's sense of humour. THE REFORMED VAMPIRE SUPPORT GROUP beautifully illustrates that aspect of the author's abilities.

Nina is an author. She writes in the fantasy genre, although some might see it as the horror genre. Her protagonist is Zadia Bloodstone, a vampire with superhuman powers and an ineffably good character. You see, Nina is herself a vampire, but, unfortunately, she is typical of her kind. She dare not venture into sunlight, is terribly weak and is liable to have an ocular haemorrhage if she looks at too bright artificial light. She also lives with her very protective mother.

Father Ramon, who runs the vampire support group, is ferrying his car full of vampires around Sydney when one of his passengers, Sanford, gets a phone call saying that Casimir isn't answering his intercom. Nina isn't unduly worried about Casimir's health since it was he who infected her in 1973. Nonetheless, the carload wends its way to Casimir's abode but horror awaits them when they arrive at their destination. Casimir has been reduced to a pile of ashes, despite being apparently safe within his coffin. Does this mean that the entire group of vampires is at risk?

This is a charming little book, as far removed from horror as one could imagine. It's a bit hard to talk about characterisation since the characters are not human, but the vampire-as-victim is very convincing.

I suppose the best way to convince people that the book isn't horror is to have a priest play a prominent part, and Father Ramon admirably fulfils that function.

There is more than one baddie in the piece, of varying shades of black. Casimir, of course, is a supernatural baddie, but there are humans intent on doing evil as well.

If you are looking for a sympathetic tale about vampires, one that is not intended to scare the trousers off you, you couldn't do better than to read this effort. I thoroughly enjoyed its gentle humour and I defy any reader to find anything objectionable within its all too few pages. THE REFORMED VAMPIRE SUPPORT GROUP is intended for the young adult market, but an older audience will find much here to entertain.

§ Denise Pickles has been reviewing for RTE for many years. She lives in Australia.

Reviewed by Denise Pickles, February 2010

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