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The Thunder ChildScience Fiction and Fantasy |
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Book Reviews by Stephanie Eve Boone
Another One Bites the Dust features several vampires, but like Dracula and most of Buffy, it is told from the point of view of the vampire fighter. Jasmine "Jaz" Parks is a twenty-something CIA assassin specializing in the paranormal. She's human, but with the extra ability of a Sensitive: one who can sense the presence of vampires, werewolves, and other paranormal creatures. Jaz works with a ragtag support team: Cassandra, a thousand-year-old psychic; Bergman, the gadgeteer; Cole, a new recruit with a flair for languages and an immature streak. Leading the group is her boss and fellow assassin, Vayl, a 291-year-old vampire. In Jaz's world, vampires and humans are not automatically classified as bad and good, respectively; however, most of the vampires are bad, and the humans are generally, if not good, at least innocent enough to be classified as such and merit Jaz's protection. Jaz, Vayl, and company have traveled to the Corpus Christi Winter Festival in Texas to impersonate a carnival act in order to get close to their target. Chien-Lung is an ancient Chinese vampire who's stolen an incredibly powerful government weapon: a high-tech biologically adaptive suit of armor that changes itself to fit each wearer's needs, providing everything from camouflage to weaponry. The team has an extra interest in getting the suit back because Bergman is the one who designed it, but Chien-Lung never takes the suit off: he's almost entirely invincible when he wears it, and it has even adapted itself to his long-held desire to become a virtual dragon. Chien-Lung is associated with several other dangerous vampires, and they have concocted an elaborate scheme that extends beyond simply stealing weapons from the U.S. Government. This storyline is perfectly sufficient, but unfortunately the book is bogged down by a subplot involving Reavers, humanoid creatures that have a third eye and enjoy eviscerating innocents and destroying their souls. The Reavers' characteristics and abilities are confusing and not well drawn, and they do not quite fit into this story. The more interesting subplot involves Jaz's sleepwalking, brought on by memories of her fianc?nd guilt over his death (she mentions briefly that her entire former crew, including him, was killed, and that is a story I would like to read). When I read a book that has a slightly convoluted and too-busy plot, like this one does, I usually want to put it away unless I really like the characters. I like the characters in this book, particularly Jaz, who it is essential that the reader connect with. To her co-workers Jaz probably comes off like the ultimate combination of Sydney Bristow and Buffy Summers, and in her actions she takes the leadership role so often that I wondered why everyone defers to Vayl. But she appears to view herself as a woman with a few too many neurotic tendencies (the aforementioned sleepwalking and a bit of OCD inner-monologue repetition). Sometimes her narration makes her sound like a teen, or at most a twenty-year-old. Of a return from a shopping trip for mission-related supplies, she says: "Four hours later, laden with bags and, okay, a cute green dress covered with silver stars that was on sale and in the same store -- so cut out the guilt, we returned" . But this kind of speech, while not entirely veritable, gives the book some additional levity. Another One Bites the Dust is the second in a series, and I have not read its predecessor or immediate successor. The third book, according to the preview included in this one, appears to deal largely with the Reavers, so I will probably not read it. But I am tempted to read the first. And I think I will mention the series to my former student. If she hasn't read the Jaz Parks series yet, I suspect that she will enjoy it.
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